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Push-Upalooza

Push-ups are like the Rodney Dangerfield of the fitness community – they get no respect.

Often deemed a waste of time, or worse, “too easy,” push-ups are generally an after-thought with regards to exercise selection. I mean, who has time to do push-ups after four sets of bench presses, seven sets of incline presses, and 14 sets of decline presses? Dude, everyone knows you have to hit all the angles!

What’s more, if you really want to blast the pecs, you can’t forget dumbbell flies, cable flies, and the pec dec!!11!1

Sarcasm aside, it’s readily apparent that push-ups aren’t quite as “sexy” as their bench press counterparts, and aren’t considered a high priority for most trainees when it comes to getting their pecification on.

Heck, they’re not even in the same stratosphere as the bench press.  I mean, when was the last time you walked into your gym and saw someone rocking some legit push-ups?  Let alone perform them correctly, or with any external load?

Yeah, I thought so.  You’re more apt to see a Real Housewife win a Pulitzer.

Nevertheless, if I were to make a top five list of exercises that give you the most bang-for-your-training-buck, push-ups would easily make an appearance. For starters, most people can’t do them correctly, let alone do them for reps, so that alone means something.

Ironically, people have a tendency to do what’s easy and what they’re good at.  Push-ups, for all intents and purposes, are considered “easy” by most standards…

….but not a lot of people are good at them.

Most of the time you see the following: for the visual learners in the crowd, refer to the picture to the right.

1.  Head juts down
2. Excessive lumbar curve
3. No scapular retraction (or protraction)
4. Abs “sag” (rectus abdomimus picks up the slack for woefully weak external obliques)
5. Limited range of motion (it looks more like an epileptic seizure than a push-up)

While I’m not going to break it down joint by joint and cue by cue, here are some standard things to focus on when trying to perform a proper push-up:

  • Keep chin tucked  – don’t poke it towards the ground
  • Abs should stay tight or braced (sometimes I’ll gently tap the stomach to help the trainee engage their core)
  • Squeeze the glutes (provides more posterior pelvic tilt and keeps people out of lumbar extension)
  • Hands/elbows should be directly underneath the shoulders.
  • Likewise, hands should be around shoulder width apart
  • Knees should be locked and legs in a straight line.
  • The backside should make a straight line.  Here, I LOVE using a PVC pipe to place on people’s backs so as to teach them what a neutral spine should feel like. There should be three points of contact – the back of the head, in between the shoulder blades, and the sacrum*** Photo courtesy of elitefitblog.

 

  • Elbows should NOT flare out during the set.  Instead, they should stay tight to the body, or at a 45 degree angle.
  • Chest touches floor on every rep

NOTE:  For those interested, you can check out THIS post where I discuss some push-up variations for women (and men) who can’t yet perform a standard push-up from the floor.

Moving on (because I don’t want to make this a “how to” post), compared to the bench press, push-ups are a closed chain exercise, which offers a gulf of advantages, particularly with regards to scapular kinematics and overall shoulder health.

In short, when you’re lying on your back performing a bench press, your shoulder blades aren’t able to move – they’re stuck in place.

Conversely, with a push-up, the scapulae are now able to move more freely, which has huge dividends towards overall shoulder health.

It’s not uncommon for someone to walk into the facility complaining of debilitating shoulder pain (in no small part to the amount of benching they do), only to realize that they can perform push-ups pain free.

Thirdly, push-ups offer a lot of variety. Whether I’m working with an elite athlete, a newbie, or with someone who has a bum shoulder, push-ups offer me a lot of leeway, and I can make them as easy (or challenging) as I want. Literally, the options are endless.

Lastly, and arguably most important of all, from a anterior-posterior perspective, push-ups are a fantastic way to train the core in a more functional manner, as you have to learn to “engage” all the stabilizers in the lumbo-pelvic-hip area to achieve better pelvic alignment.

With this established, the prime movers now appear stronger because the stabilizers are doing their job and force is more easily transferred.

Suffice it to say, I really feel that push-ups should be a staple in everyone’s programming, and it’s unfortunate that they’re often dismissed altogether.

That said, while the first step is to make sure that everyone can perform a push-up correctly (see points above), lets be honest, they can be about as exciting as watching paint dry. Sometimes we need to kick it up a notch, and with that in mind…..it’s not uncommon for us to make them more challenging by adding things like bands, chains, etc.

When those aren’t an option, here are some other variations I like:

T-Push-Ups (with DBs)

The first point to consider is that DBs aren’t necessarily mandatory here.  For some, just using body weight alone will be challenging enough.

Even so, the key thing here is to make sure that the body is locked into place.  A HYYYYYOOOOOGE mistake I see is when trainees tend to rotate with their lumbar spine first and then with their upper torso.

Instead, what should happen is that the rib cage should be locked into place with the lower back so that the entire body moves in unison.

From there, I generally shoot for anywhere from 4-5 reps/PER SIDE.

1-Arm Bodysaw Push-Up

This is definitely one of the more advanced push-up variations we implement at Cressey Performance, but one that’s definitely popular amongst our athletes and clients.

Obviously, having access to a slideboard is useful, but not mandatory:  purchasing a ValSlide or even a pair of those furniture glider thingamajigs would be advantageous (not to mention cheaper).

Here, all of the same rules apply with regards to push-up technique, but with the addition of the slideboard, there’s a definite increased challenge on core stability (especially with the increased range of motion).  Additionally, there’s a bit of a unilateral component which is unique and something I feel is important to consider.

Again, much like the t-push variation above, I like to implement sets of 5-6 reps per side.

Push-Up Kickthrough

Admittedly this is a variation that I’ll only typically use as part of a metabolic circuit, but it’s still kind of badass (despite the Katy Perry playing in the background).

The premise is pretty standard – perform a push-up, and then bring the contra-lateral knee towards the opposite elbow – maintaining a neutral spine as best you can, of course.

I prefer to do this version for time (20-30s) as part of a circuit, but you can certainly shoot for a standard # of reps per side, too.

And that’s it.  While I could easily sit here and plow through 20 more variations, those are just a few (hopefully) new push-up variations you can start to incorporate today.  Just so we’re clear, though, I still feel it’s imperative that people learn to do REGULAR push-ups correctly.  Once that’s in the bag, the options are endless.

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Miscellaneous Miscellany Monday: Bar Speed, Introverts, Charlie Weingroff Seminar

1. One of the funniest conversations I ever had in the gym happened like two years ago when one of our football guys – who’s since become a great friend and is now in law school – was prepping for an “open” NFL Combine.

Having had a successful collegiate career and even spending some time playing professionally overseas in Europe, he decided to give it one last “horrah,” and try to hook up with a team through a handful of open tryouts.

One day while testing his 1RM in the bench, he missed at like 325 lbs. After racking the weight, he stood up, looked at me, and started asking what went wrong:  did he jump up in weight too fast?  Did he lose his arch? Maybe he didn’t allow enough time to supercompensate? Was it because it was Thursday?

I shrugged, looked at him point blank, and said:  “dude, it was too heavy.”

Simple.

There was a split second of crickets chirping – maybe even a slight fear that he’d end up punching me in the mouth for saying something so candidly – but then we both just started laughing out loud.  Even elite athletes tend to over analyze things.

Regular Joe’s aren’t any different. Almost always, the answer isn’t quite as complicated as you think it is.

I say all of this because there’s one aspect of training that I feel many trainees fail to grasp: BAR SPEED.

Whenever I watch a trainee struggling with hitting their reps on any given exercise, or worse, miss a lift (which, admittedly, is something I try to avoid as much as possible), almost always, it’s due to lack of bar speed – or just being fast in general.

Put another way:  it’s a lack of telling themselves to be explosive.

A great example is when I start working with a new female client and I have her perform a standard push-up.  More often than not, it’s really sllllloooooooowwww. For some reason – whether it’s because someone told them to do so, or they read it somewhere – they feel they need to “grind” out reps in order to work the muscle harder and to feel the burn.

As a result, technique falters, and many will struggle to hit five solid reps. Possibly worse, some will think they’re doomed to do nothing but “girl push-ups” (knees on the floor) till they’re blue in the face

I think that’s a bunch of BS.

Conversely, once I tell them “stop flaring their elbows out FOR THE LOVE OF GOD,” to focus on being a little more explosive, and to push themselves away from the floor as quickly as possible, many are surprised to see they can bang out numerous reps like it’s their J.O.B.

One simple cue, and we automatically increased the level of awesomeness.

Likewise, the same can be said when I coach some of our high school athletes through squats.  Once we have proper technique nailed, I try to instill in them to be FAST.  Even if the weight is heavy and it feels like there’s a Volkswagon on their back, so long as the INTENT to be fast is there, that’s all I care about.

So, bringing this little conversation full-circle, when in doubt, if you find that you’re missing reps:

  • It could very well be that the weight is too heavy.  Take some off.  Just a thought…….
  • More likely, though, it’s probably just a matter of following this simple equation:

Put weight on the bar+ lift it with some purpose = good things will happen.

BE FAST!!!!!

2.  I’m a self-described introvert at heart.  Contrary to popular belief, being introverted doesn’t mean you’re shy, or anti-social, or the Unabomber.  Rather, what it means is that, at times, you gain much of your “energy” from doing things on your own.

I THRIVE off of this.

While my job predicts that I’m “on” much of the time, which is great, I LOVE my job; by the end of the week you’re more apt to find me staying at home with a container of Ben & Jerry’s watching Notting Hill in the local coffee shop or bookstore catching up on some reading than at the local bar.

I crave some down time where I can just sit back, chill, and not have to listen to Rage Against the Machine blaring in my ears.

Having said that, below is an excellent TED talk by Susan Cain titled The Power of Introverts.  If you’re an introvert (and even if you’re not) it’s 20 minutes I feel is well spent.

3.  Charlie Weingroff is coming to my old stomping grounds!!!!!

My first job in New England was back in 2005 where I worked in Ridgefield, CT as a trainer at the Ridgefield Fitness Club.

Without getting too sappy, I look back at my time there with fond memories because 1) it got me the hell out of central NY, and 2) I was able to grow as a professional and understand what it was like to work in an environment with like-minded individuals.

As it happens, they’re going to be hosting a one-day seminar with the one and only Charlie Weingroff, which should be a great opportunity for those in the CT and New York City area (it’s only like a 45-60 minute train ride) to go and get their learn on.

Here’s the dealo:

Date:  April 6, Friday, 12-8 PM

Cost:  $255 early bird by 3/17, $295 regular.

Description:  In this seminar, Charlie will discuss the evidence-based approach to motor control skills acquisition as it relates to corrective exercise. Charlie will also discuss the most contemporary approach to corrective exercise within the context of the Functional Movement System. This class will focus on corrections for the non-painful client or patient.

Contact Info:  Ridgefield Fitness Club, Ridgefield, CT:  203-431-7796

I’m hoping to attend myself, and if I do, you can bet that I’ll get my revenge for the Kenny G incident.  Yes, I’m talking to you Mike Subach.  Oh yes, I’m talking to you. (sorry everyone, inside joke.)

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2011 Bits of Awesomeness: Part II

In keeping with the same theme as yesterday, today I’m going to share the remaining top posts/articles from 2011 on TonyGentilcore.com that, for one reason or another, were the most popular.

For those who missed the first part, click HERE.

Guess What:  You’re Not an Elite Athlete

This was a post that struck a chord with me because, well, people need to understand that they’re not as advanced as they think they are. Don’t get me wrong:  I want people to train with some intensity and purpose.  But at the same time people need to take a step back into reality and understand they’re not on the same level as an Olympic athlete.

What’s the Real Key to Fat Loss?

With the New Year right around the corner, there’s no doubt we’re going to be inundated with infomercials, advertisements, and god knows what telling us how “x”  fad diet or “y” exercise gizmo is the key to unlocking your body’s potential.  The truth of the matter is, though, stepping away from the cookie jar and actually following the advice in this post will probably be more effective in the long run. Not to mention save you three easy payments of $99.

How to Set Up to Deadlift Properly

This was the most recent post of the bunch, but the amount of people who responded and the feedback I received easily made this one of the most popular of 2011.

Taking a risk and going a little out of my comfort zone, this was my first attempt at vlogging (video blogging).  Sure, there were times where it seemed like I was fumbling around like a teenager trying to unclasp his first bra, but all told, I wasn’t too shabby – especially considering I did it in one take!

Look for more of the same in 2012.

Who Ever Said Lifting Things Ain’t Cardio….

I never quite understand why it is people are so obsessed with their “cardio.” Of course, there are a million and one health benefits, and I’d never dissuade anyone from getting in exercise – regardless of their chosen mode.

But, come on peeps:  who says you HAVE to be on a treadmill or elliptical trainer in order to hit your “cardio” quota for the day?

Regression <—-> Progression

I think the opening paragraph to this post says it all:

As trainers and coaches, I think we often get too carried away with our programming to the point where we’re more concerned with impressing our clients with bells and whistles than actually getting them healthier.

I can say – unabashedly – that I’m not perfect and neither are the programs that I write. Sometimes I hit the nail on the head, and I come across like a program writing ninja.  At other times, not so much.

That notwithstanding, having the ability to REGRESS an exercise is an act in progression. Confused? Just click the link for the love of god!!!!!

Top Exercises For the Rotator Cuff

Given we train a lot of valuable arms at Cressey Performance, it only makes sense that I’d write a post here and there on some of the exercises we incorporate to improve or maintain shoulder health.

And this post isn’t just limited to athletes either. We use a lot of these same exercises with our general population clientele as well.

I know, I know:  it’s a boring topic and watching grass grow would probably be more exciting, but I promise it’s short and sweet, and will undoubtedly help a few people out there reading.

And that about wraps it up!  Again, thanks to all of you who supported the site in the past year, and here’s hoping that 2012 will be just as informative (and entertaining) as 2011.

 

 

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2011 Bits of Awesomeness

2011 is quickly drawing to a close, and I thought I’d take this time to review some of the more popular blog posts from this past year. Collectively all of them made the list either because they were the most viewed, had the most responses/comments, or I just felt they kicked ass and thought you should read them again; or if you’re new to the site, for the first time.

Everyone does a top ten list. Ten is lame, so I thought I’d become a trend setter and go with twelve – albeit in two parts.

It’s interesting, though.  In dissecting the stats, those posts which I felt I put a lot of time and effort into, weren’t necessarily the most popular.  Jerks!

Conversely, some posts, which I literally put together at the last minute, were an instant hit.  I don’t get it.  Nevertheless, it’s readily apparent that there’s a lot of diversity on this site (not to mention I have no idea how to interpret my Google Analytics page), and there’s really no one “category” that reigns over another. It seems, at least transparently, I have a nice mix of geeky content and infotainment that appeals to a wide variety of people.  It works, so why fix what ain’t broken?

With that, I can’t thank all of you enough for the support.  Here are some of 2011’s highlights.

High Heels, Deadlifts, and Attitude (Part I and II)

I had a handful of superb guest bloggers this year:  Kellie Hart Davis, Jason Bonn, Michael Gray, Jonathan Goodman, etc.  But it was this two part post from personal trainer and co- Girls Gone Strong* founder, Molly Galbraith, that stood out.

* For those out in the dark:  look for the Girls Gone Strong page on Facebook.  They do an amazing job at putting out solid content geared towards women.

Perfecting the 1-Legged RDL

My “Exercises You Should Be Doing” series is one of the more popular staples on this site, and this post I did on the 1-legged Romanian Deadlift seemed to resonate with many people.  Maybe it was the killer commercial gym story at the beginning to set the tone, or maybe it was the random picture of Jessica Alba.  Either way, it worked.

My Case Against the Leg Press

Here, I opened a can of worms and left myself open for public scrutiny, but felt I made a solid case as to why I’m not a huge fan of the leg press. For 95% of people, 99% of the time, they’re worthless.  And, what’s more, I somehow managed to include a joke about Tom Selleck’s mustache into the mix.  If that doesn’t get your attention, I don’t know what will.

Mistakes Skinny Guys Make: Eating Like an Olsen Twin

One of my goals last year was to start an on-going series that, unlike those shitty Transformers movies, didn’t suck.

This was the inaugural post that marked the beginning of my Mistakes Skinny Guys Make saga. I think the title says it all, but you should read it anyways because there is a lot of useful information in there.

Don’t You Think You Look Tiny: A Psychological Look Into the Female Brain

This was actually a surprisingly popular post, and I was amazed at how many people chimed in with their own personal stories of others – friends, family, colleagues – giving them backhanded compliments about their transformations.

This post only reiterates why I absolutely LOVE reading things on behavioral economics.

Intimidate the Weight

This one was an absolute blast to write, and I get fired up reading it every time. I’m so sick of people going through the motions when they train, and with little to no purpose.  GET ANGRY!!!

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Extreme Makeover: Deadlift Edition

Anyone familiar with popular show Extreme Home Makeover knows the premise:  a family, fallen on hard times and down on their luck, is sent on vacation for two weeks while Ty Pennington and his team of contractors, designers, carpenters, not to mention an entire town of volunteers, build them a brand spankin new house – hopefully with an indoor bowling alley attached.

If you’re like me, ten minutes into the show, you’re already half way through a box of Kleenex, and when you’re girlfriend happens to show up expectantly – like a ninja – you quickly fumble for the remote and change it to Spike TV or something.

Oh, hey babe.  How was your day?  Huh, what was that?  Why are my eyes all red?

Yeah, well, uh……I just got a little something stuck in my eye, that’s all. I’m gonna go make a sandwich – want one?

Anyways, it’s a great show, and after receiving an email from a distance coaching client of mine (for the sake of anonymity, lets calls him Matt Damon) asking me to critique is deadlift technique, it got me thinking:  Why not take the same concept and apply it towards fixing or cleaning up someone’s deadlift?

But first, a little backstory

“Matt Damon” started working with me about a month ago.  Like many guys in his situation, he had done several programs on his own, and to no avail, never really saw the progress he was hoping to attain.   Frustrated, he decided to contact me inquiring about distance coaching.

Now, before I continue, I’ll be the first to admit:  distance coaching definitely has its disadvantages (see exhibit A below), but at the same time – and not to blow sunshine up my own ass – I feel my experience and abilities as a coach trumps any program some local boxed gym, pencil necked personal trainer could come up with.

Not to get into the particulars, but in order to become a client, I have people fill out a few lengthy questionnaires detailing, among others things, stuff like training history, injury history, goals, equipment availability, and other pertinent information like their ideal training split or whether or not they have any weird eating habits (penguin anyone?).

In addition, to help me better ascertain what it is they’re looking to accomplish, I also have them send me some full-body postural pictures (interestingly, some guys will send me a picture of their rear double bicep pose.  I have no clue why), and I also ask them to send me a video of their squat and deadlift technique.  You know, just to see what’s going on.

Well, fast forward to last week when I received the following email from “Matt Damon:”

Hi Tony–

I just started Week Three, and I realized I never sent you these squat and deadlift videos from my first week.  So here they are.

The squats are from my first day when I forgot my gym shoes, so I’m in my street shoes.  I also sometimes forgot to pause at the bottom.  And the video’s from kind of a funny angle.

I thought my gym had a trap bar, but it turns out they don’t.  So I’ve been doing regular deadlifts instead of trap bar deadlifts.

Let me know what you think!

As I noted above, distance coaching has its disadvantages – the most obvious being that I’m unable to be there in person to offer coaching cues and to otherwise keep people from hurting themselves.

That being said, here’s what I wrote back:

STOP……..DOING……THAT…….NOW.

Okay, that’s not really what I wrote, but you can imagine the look on my face when I watched that video for the first time.  Truth be told, I don’t think it’s possible for someone’s jaw to drop any further than what mine did.

Nevertheless, “Matt” is a trooper and he’s agreed to allow me to exploit him for your own education.  I asked if he’d be cool with me sharing this on my blog, and he was more than willing to participate.  So without further ado, here’s the actual email I sent him once I retrieved my laptop after throwing it out the window.

  • You need to elevate the bar more.  If you load it to 135 lbs (45 lb plates on each side), the bar will be at regulation height.  That will help.  If that’s too much weight – I’d suggest placing the bar on top of steppers or plates so that you can get it to the right height.  From there, a few key points to note
  • You’re essentially squatting the bar down.  A big no no.  Deadlifting should be more of a hip hinge pattern, not squat.  So, to that end, try to SIT BACK.  Basically you want to focus on pushing your hips back until you feel a pretty significant stretch in the hammies.  When you can’t go any further, THEN you’ll bend the knees to get down to the floor.
  • The bar should slide down your thigh, but again, you need to SIT BACK!!!!  I attached a video to demonstrate what it should actually look like.  If you see how I descend, you’ll notice how I don’t have to lower the bar AROUND my knees like you do.  See what I’m talking about?

  • Moreoever, a great cue I like to use with people is to pretend there’s someone standing behind you with a rope tied around your waist.  As you descend, they’re pulling your hips back.  See if that helps at all.
  • Frankly, there’s a lot more we need to work on, but lets focus on those few things for now and see what kind of progress we can make.

A few days later, “Matt” sent me this (practice) video:

While not perfect by any means (he’s not getting his hips through at the top, his upper back is still just a teeny tiny bit kyphotic, and he NEEDS TO USE MORE WEIGHT.  If you can curl it, you certainly shouldn’t be deadliftng it.), it shows a marked improvement from the original video he sent.

if anything, what I hope this demonstrates, is that 1).  I’m awesome and 2).  More importantly, by just using a few simple cues, you can make huge strides in terms of cleaning up someone’s technique.  I think a major mistake that many personal trainers and coaches out there make is trying to OVER coach things and using waaaaaay too many cues that do nothing more than complicate things and frustrate the client.

All I told “Matt” to do was sit back, and feel a stretch in the hammies before bending the knees, and look how many other things just sorta “fell into place” as far as his technique is concerned.

And to think, I did all of this without ever having met him in person.   O’Doyle rules!!!!!

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How to Get Better at Writing Programs

Q:  What are the best resources for getting awesome at writing programs? Besides CPT textbooks?

I remember watching a movie a few years ago (okay, a lot of years ago) – I think it was either Finding Forrester or Dead Poets Society (or something that was equally as likely to lower my sperm count) – where one of the main characters, a writer no less, asked his mentor a simple question:  “How do I get better at writing?”

“Simple,” the man replied, “you write.”

In much the same way, the best way to get better at writing programs is to……wait for it……….wait for it………………..WRITE PROGRAMS!

Sorry if you were waiting for something profound, but really, it’s as simple as that.

Lets be real for a quick minute.  There are plenty of internet gurus out there, living in their mother’s basement, with over 10,000 posts on 17 different forums who can quote the likes of Mel Siff, Yuri Verkoshansky, Vladmir Zatisiorsky, Tudor Bompa – or anyone else who’s a lot smarter than any of us will ever be – like it’s their job.  Guess how many people these gurus train?  I’m willing to bet, zip, zero, nada.

Taking it a step further, and maybe throwing a little tough love your way, you can have all the book smarts in the world, and could very well be a walking encyclopedia of knowledge bombs, but if you’re unable to actually apply that knowledge to an actual real-live person, then what’s the point?

Reading about program design is a helluva lot different than actually siting down and writing a well-thought out, and structured program.  You know, much like reading about driving a car is much different than actually sitting behind the steering wheel for the first time; or how reading about asking a girl out is a walk in the park compared to the real thing.

*enters time machine, and travels back to 1997*

Me:  Hey

Girl:  Hi

Me:  Okay, good talking to you.

In all three scenarios, until you actually do it……a lot, it won’t get any easier.   And, if you ask me (and you did), that’s the quintessence of program design – just doing it.

Which isn’t to say, that there aren’t any valuable resources out there that can help.   There are plenty.  Some that quickly come to mind would be things like Mike Boyle’s Functional Strength Coach series vol I, II, and more recently III, Mark Rippetoe’s Practical Programming, Charlie Weingroff’s Training=Rehab, Rehab=Training dvd set, or even Assess and Correct will undoubtedly lay down a solid foundation – a blueprint if you will – for designing programs.

Even still, none of the above, alone, are going to end up being the panacea of program writing ninja awesomeness – because writing (good) programs doesn’t come down to ONE book you read, or ONE dvd you watched.  It comes down to experience.

If you had access to my laptop right now, you’d easily find 500+ programs I’ve written over the years – some good, some bad, but mostly good (at least I think so).

I look at programs I wrote when I first started in this industry, and I can’t help but wonder: what the hell was I thinking?????  I feel like I should go to an AA meeting for bad program writing.

Hello, my name is Tony Gentilcore, and yes, there was a time where I used to write leg extensions into my programs.

At the time, I’m sure I thought I was the mack daddy, but in reality, I just didn’t have much experience.  Since then, I’ve worked with everyone from professional athletes to 85 year-old grandmothers (and everything in between, including teenage girls, soccer moms, and weekend warriors).

I’ve worked with fat-loss clients, powerlifters, people with chronic back pain, obese clients, and have even trained several women through their pregnancies.  All of which had different goals, needs, injuries, weaknesses, strengths, imbalances, you name it.  Either way you slice it, that’s a lot of programming, and I feel fairly confident that I could write a program for a one-armed Centaur coming off an ACL injury if I had to.

So, in closing, here’s what I’d do if I were you.  Sure, you could buy any one of the resources I mentioned above, you could read blogs, articles, books, whatever.  All of those will definitely help.  Please, read to your hearts content.

But the real dealski is this:  just practice writing programs.  Ideally, you’d be writing programs for actual clients, but you could just make up crazy scenarios and see how you would program for each one.  We do this all the time with our interns, and they love it.

Case in point:  Twenty-four year old male, former college football player, just diagnosed with a disc bulge at L4, AND has a sports hernia.  What would you do?

Time to get started.

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Sometimes the Little Things DO Matter

We’ve all heard the adage, “don’t sweat the small stuff.”  Taking it a step further, we’ve even gone so far as to say – at least in the gym setting – that those people who focus more on the minutia are doing nothing more than spinning their wheels.

Take for example the guy who walks into the gym at 150 lbs soaking wet, and has always struggled to put on weight.  Rather than, you know, walk over to the squat rack and use it for its intended purpose (squats), he sets up shop to get his bicep curl on – usually spending an entire hour training a muscle the size of a tennis ball.  Makes a lot of sense, right?

Or, what about the female who, despite being 15 lbs overweight and admittedly sick and tired of always trying to lose those extra pounds, walks into the gym and spends the next 60 minutes on the elliptical machine watching Days of Our Lives.

Conventional wisdom would tell her that despite what the machine says, she didn’t just burn 750 calories (for the record, you’re an idiot if you really think those machines are accurate), and that her time would have been better spent performing some form of resistance training and interval work.  And, even more importantly, it probably wouldn’t hurt if she skip the Dunkin Donuts pit stop afterwards.  Just sayin…….

Basically, in short, when it comes to exercise, or life in general for that matter, people tend to spend the bulk of their time focusing on the small, intricate things that probably won’t even matter in the first place.  Like the guy who’s struggling to put weight on, yet is concerned about his bicep peak; or the girl who’s struggling to take weight off, yet has been doing the same, boring, cardio routine since 1998.

At the expense of back pedaling a little bit, though, sometimes, focusing on the small things does make a difference.

Much like a director spending half the day trying to perfect the lighting to get that one aesthetic shot on camera; or the nuclear physicist triple checking his math to make sure the world doesn’t shit itself; or just doing something as simple as trapping your fart underneath the covers as sign to your significant other that you love them – it’s the small things can make all the difference in the world.

The world of strength and conditioning is no different.   I can’t tell you how many times during the day I tell someone to tuck their chin while deadlifting, to sit back more on their squats, or to stop shrugging during their seated rows FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT’S HOLY!!!!!!!

People want to train hard, and I can respect and appreciate that.   Hell, I want that; I strive for that.  But oftentimes, when the “go hard or go home” mentality starts to take over, the little things tend to get thrown to the wayside.

Knees start caving in on squats.  Elbows start flaring out during benching.  Backs start to round just a smidge more during deadlifts.  Athletes start compensating with more lumbar rotation during med ball drills.  It’s a slippery slope to take, and one that I’m not too comfortable traveling down as a coach.

The last thing I want is for another coach or trainer to walk into our facility and freak the freak out when he or she watches our athletes train.   Kinda like what would happen if I walked in and saw this circus going on.  Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

So, in the end, I guess all I’m trying to say is this:  While it’s true that many people tend to place too much emphasis on minutia – as coaches, it’s often what’s needed in order to be successful in the long run.  Sometimes, the small things DO matter.

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Are You As Advanced As You Think?

With both EC and Pete away on (a much deserved) vacation this week, to say I’ve been running around like a chicken with its head cut off would be an understatement.  Between checking e-mails, scheduling clients, taking phone calls, tracking sessions, and babysitting the high-school kids who are supposed to be here helping out, the last thing on my “to do list” is updating the blog.

Alright, that’s it!  Tyler and Tish:  put the scissors down!  You’re both going into the timeout corner. Goddamit, who tied Chris to the pole?  hahahahahaha.  Wedgie!!!!!  Weeeeeeeeeeeeee.

With that being case, today I’m going to re-post part of an interview I did for NYC-based trainer Mike Arone a few weeks ago on his site (mikearonefitness.com) – mostly because I sound really smart, which is a rarity.

What do you feel defines someone as ‘advanced’– if there is such a thing?

There’s definitely a fine line between what separates someone who’s a beginner, from someone who’s an intermediate, to someone who is  considered more of an “advanced” lifter.

Beginners, with few exceptions, are those who have never really followed a structured training program in the past.  Sure, he or she may have stepped into a gym once or twice in their lifetime, and did a Cybex circuit here and there; but for all intents and purposes, they’re pretty wet underneath the ears.  Jazzercise gets them sore.

Intermediates, on the other hand, are a bit easier to define.  These are the people who, in one way or another, have been training for a while, and read sites like t-nation.com or maybe follow the monthly Men’s Health workout.  Generally speaking, they know their way around the gym, know the difference between a supinated and pronated grip, can perform a proper push-up without making me want to pour gasoline into my eyeballs, know that squats/deadlifts should be the foundation of any decent training program, and heck, they may even be able to name all external rotators of the hip.  But I doubt it.

In short, intermediates tend to be those you see at your local commercial gym on a consistent basis.

Lastly, are the advanced trainees, which are a little (okay, a lot) more difficult to define.  It’s funny, though, EVERYONE thinks they’re advanced.   I’m always perplexed as to why a lot of people follow advanced training protocols when they can’t even perform one simple bodyweight chin-up, or do a lunge without tipping over.

They think just because they can load the leg press up with all the 45s (and piss everyone off to boot), and do those partial range of motion thingamajigs, that they somehow know what the hell they’re talking about.

Lets put it like this:  you’re not advanced if you can’t deadlift at least 2x your bodyweight. (as an example).  More to the point, I was listening to Dan John speak a few weeks ago at Mike Boyle’s Winter Seminar and here are the MINIMUM number for his HIGH SCHOOL varsity requirements:

Power Clean: 205 lbs
Front Squat: 205 lbs
Back Squat: 255 lbs
Deadlift: 315 lbs
Power Clean and Jerk: 165 lbs
Military Press: 115 lbs
One-Arm Bench Press: 32 kg Kettlebell (5 right, 5 left)

I’m sure many reading right now would be hard pressed to hit a lot of those numbers.  Still think you’re advanced?

What’s more, I just walked out and looked at the CP High School Leaderboard, and just to crack the bottom, you’d have to hit a 285 lb front squat and a 250 lb 3-rep chin-up (bodyweight + external load).

I’m sure I could go on and throw out specific numbers that I feel defines someone as “advanced;” but the truth of the matter is – it depends.

There are plenty of people out there who can’t squat 400+ lbs, but they can pound out picture perfect one-legged pistol squats like it’s their job.

Who’s to say they’re not advanced?  Likewise, watch any of those Cirque du Soleil shows.  Are you telling me that they’re not advanced because they can’t bench press 1.5x their bodyweight?

I think many of us in the industry are quick to ONLY use quantifiable numbers to label someone as advanced.  While that’s a nice starting point, and I feel those are good measures, there’s so much more that goes into it.

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Wicked Smaht: 3 Questions with Tony Gentilcore

Every so often I get random emails from other fitness professionals asking me if I’d be interested in doing an interview for their website.  Admittedly, it’s always humbling for me to know that people actually want to listen (or, in this case, read) what I have to say.   It’s an honor, really.

I mean, I don’t necessarily consider myself that big of a deal – I piss excellence just like everyone else out there – but it’s a nice feeling, nonetheless, to know that there are some out there who don’t think I suck.  I’m sure they’re out there, no doubt, but at the end of the day I like to think I’m doing something right.. 

That said, today, I want to share an interview I did for fellow-trainer, Mike Arone, over on his site mikearonefitness.com.  Mike’s originally from Boston (hence, the blog title) and currently resides in NYC.  In much the same way, Mike takes more of an “infotainment” approach with his blog that I feel many of you who read my stuff consistently will definitely appreciate.

He’s not scared to call B.S when he sees it, tells people to lift heavy things, thinks Tracy Anderson is kinda douchy, and, what’s more, he’s representing Red Sox nation in the Big Apple.  In a word – he’s legit.

Check out the interview HERE, and let me know what you think.

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Time For a Little More Focus

So, yesterday marked the start of a new “plan,” in a manner of speaking.  Outside of posting the occasional video of me lifting heavy things off the floor or just my general awesomeness, I never really go into any great detail on my training or what my goals are.

Believe it or not, it’s not just always about having a steel plate for a chest 24/7.

As it stands now, I spent the past few weeks following Lean Hybrid Muscle, and while it kicked the living piss out of me (a good thing), I’ve decided I need a little more focus and something specific to train for.  To that end, I’ve decided that I’m going to do something similar to what I did roughly two years ago when I did Project Tony Gets Sexified.

To review, back in January of 2009, I put myself through a short, planned out, six-week phase where I was going to get as lean as possible and then, like an idiot, not take pictures.  In hindsight, it was a horrible time to do an experiment like that.  I mean, who gets shredded right smack dab in the middle of winter, anyways?

Anyways, I had a few stipulations:

1.     I couldn’t get too sexy.  It would have been unfair to all the other guys out there.

2.     I didn’t want my bodyweight to drop below a certain threshold – 195 lbs to be exact (starting weight was around 205 lbs at the time).

3.     And, maybe most important of all, I wanted to maintain my strength levels.  Simply put, I didn’t want to end up looking like an emaciated Abercrombie model that couldn’t punch his way through a wet paper towel.

That was about it, really.

Looking back – while there was definitely some structure (my good friend, Jen Heath, wrote my nutrition plan) – there was no real end-goal other than to diet for six weeks, hate life, think about carbs all…..the…..time, and say that I did it.

In the end, I was happy with the results and I looked pretty damn good if I do say so myself.  Well, as good as you can expect in mid-February with no tan.

So, here’s the dealski.  I’m going to give it another go, but not until mid-May/early-June.  I’m saying this NOW because by writing it here on my blog, I’m hoping that the sense of accountability will actually force me to go through with it – because unlike two years ago, there IS an end-goal this time around.

The game plan is as follows:

  • Take the next three weeks and clean things up a bit.  My girlfriend and I booked a flight down to Florida at the end of the month for a week, and I can’t, in good conscience, be walking around on a beach in the shape I’m in right now.  In the grand scheme of things, this is nothing more than dialing in my nutrition for a week or two, and maybe throwing in some quick, ten-minute finishers at the end of my training sessions.  Although, on an a side, I trained with EC yesterday and it was a doozy, so I may not have to worry about it.

A1.  Front Squats vs. Chains (3 per side) 2×3, 2×6
A2.  Stretch/activate something (which we didn’t do, LOL)

B1. DB Reverse Lunge 3×8/leg
B2.  Half Kneeling Cable Anti-Rotation Press 3×8/side

C1.  SUMO Thick Bar Deadlifts 3×10*
C2.  Slideboard Bodysaw 3×8

D1.  1-Legged Hip Thrusters – off bench 3×8/leg

D2.  Rotator Cuff Shiznit

  • Once we’re back from Florida, I’m going to spend the next 6-8 weeks getting after it.  Eric is currently doing a 5-6 day per week split (two upper body days, two lower body days, one “specialty day**,” and one carry/strongman day), and I’m just going to follow suit….I think.  Personally, I want to take this time and really “bring up” (yes, I just used a bodybuilding term.  And yes, a little piece of my soul just died) my lower body, so I may just toy around with a Smolov squat cycle, depending on how sadistic I feel.

  • By the time mid-May/early-June hits, it’s go time!  There’s no need to go into the details now (truthfully, I don’t even know what they are yet), but suffice it to say, I’m thinking I’m going to do it right this time.  Which is to say, I’m going to diet down, do an actual water manipulation/deplete/carb up the final week, and possibly hire a professional photographer to come to the facility and take pictures.   If you play your cards right, I may even show them to you.  You’ll have to beg, though……;o)

And no, I’m NOT stepping on a stage – so save your breath.

  • Then, after all of that, I’m going to make a run at that 600 lb deadlift I’ve been talking about for a while now.  Time to put up or shut up.

So, um, yeah, that’s it.  This should make for an interesting next few months in terms of my training.  Having some focus – a plan – will undoubtedly light a fire under my ass.  What about you?  What’s your game plan?  If anything, I hope this post got you in the mindset that having some kind of plan is kind of important.

* I pulled heavy last Friday, working up to 495 lbs for 4×3, and this was absolute torture.  Anything over five reps is cardio to me, and I can’t remember the last time I did ten reps on deadlifts.  Jesus, that sucked.

** Translation:  arm day.  ROTFLMAO.   No but seriously, though, I’m on it.