CategoriesUncategorized

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.

CategoriesUncategorized

You Can Always Train Around an Injury

Last week, during our staff in-service training, I took it upon myself to discuss programming with our batch of new interns.  Specifically, my goal was to give them a hypothetical situation and see whether or not they could come up with an effective training strategy.

In doing so, my thought process was this:  While assessment, functional anatomy, and understanding movement is kind of a big deal; having the ability to effectively write a program based off of those findings is just as equally important.  Essentially, given “x” scenario and “y” limitations/goals/needs, can you come up with a “z” program that’s not only safe, but will get results?

You’d be surprised at how many trainers and coaches out there can crank up the geek factor and quote research verbatim, or brag about how many books they’ve read, or even how many followers they have on their Youtube page, but when push comes to shove – write really, really, really sub-par programs.  And I’m being really nice when I say that.

Moreover, as I noted with the guys – and as counterintuitve as it may sound – it’s rare when I write a program and it’s followed without any interruption, 100% through.  Stuff happens and life gets in the way sometimes: long work hours, cars break down, girlfriend’s break up with you (bitch!), kids are up all night, Little League games, paper is due, tweaked shoulders, lower back is pissed, explosive diarrhea, not enough sleep, so on and so forth.

At the expense of over-generalizing, the mark of a good coach and trainer is being able to program on the fly when the unexpected happens.  If your athlete or client walks in on any given day, and he or she twisted their ankle during practice yesterday; or, quite simply, they’re just out of juice, and it just so happens they have a heavy squat session that day, can you still give them a training effect even though you may have to change up the programming?

The answer, I hope, is a resounding yes.

Using an example from the in-service talk, how would you program for a 15 year-old pitcher who was just diagnosed with spondylolisthesis (and is in a back brace), but also has a “lax” (loose) shoulder on his throwing side?

Similarly, how would you program for a 40 year-old fat-loss client with a sports hernia?

[Cue Jeopardy theme music]

The point of this post isn’t to go into specific details on what those programs should entail (although I could do that in the future).  Rather, the point I’m trying to make is that you can always train around an injury……always.

And, for the record, hang-nails aren’t an injury.  Nor is a headache for that matter!

When writing programs for clients, try not to think about what they can’t do – but what they CAN do. 

Doing so will make writing programs infinitely easier and will undoubtedly make you a better coach.

Left arm is in a cast?  Well, thankfully, you still have a right arm you can train, not to mention an entire lower body.

Shoulder hurts?  Stop benching three times per week for the love of god!, incorporate more close-chain (push-ups) and horizontal rowing variations, hammer scapular stability/t-spine mobility, front squat instead of back squats, and pick up a foam roller every now and then.

Tweaked lower back?  Nix any axial loading for the near future, hammer single leg stuff and core stability, get some aggressive soft tissie work, and you’ll be back in no time.

Obviously, these are just simple examples and certainly not exhaustive, but I’m sure most get the idea.

And for those of you who have clients that bitch and whine no matter what you do with them, have them watch this video and see if they still can come up with excuses:

Outside of ebola, not training isn’t an option in my book.

CategoriesUncategorized

Sometimes You Just Gotta Let Someone Else Do the Thinking For You

I write a lot of programs.  It goes without saying that I write programs for many of the athletes and clients at Cressey Performance; I also write programs for various distance coaching clients I have around the world; I write my girlfriend’s programs; and I even write programs for family and friends, too.  Basically, I spend a lot of time writing programs.  Big surprise, I know.

And, to be perfectly frank, sometimes, the last person I want to program for is myself.

Typically what ends up happening is that I’ll write a program to get my swole on, and while I’ll start with good intentions and do every exercise prescribed to a “t” – for a few days, atleast (maybe even a week) – inevitably I’ll start to tweak things.

Before you know it, what started as program “A,” turns into program “whateverthe****,” where I just revert back to exercises I know I’m good at, or that I like to do (it’s okay to deadlift five times per week, right?). 

We all do it – and I’m no different.

So, when Mike Westerdal and Elliot Hulse contacted me a few weeks ago and asked whether or not I’d be interested in checking out their latest product, Lean Hybrid Muscle Reloaded, it couldn’t have come at a better time.

I needed a change, and as cliché as it sounds, it was exactly what I was looking for.

Sometimes, you just need someone else to do the thinking for you, and the fact that this program is written by two guys who are hella strong (and actually train people), only makes it more appealing to me.

So, that being said, what makes the program so great?  How is it different than any other program you can find on the interwebz?

1.    Concurrent Programming – in short, concurrent training refers to training multiple qualities simultaneously.  Unlike, say, linear periodization (which focuses on ONE quality in any given training cycle), concurrent training allows the trainee to focus on several qualities at once, which I feel has a lot more carry over to the world of athletics and leads to better results in general.

2.    “Hybrid” Training – as the name implies, this program takes bits and pieces from several modalities (powerlifting, bodybuilding, strongman, etc) and combine them into one balls-to-the-wall, no frills, kick-ass program. 

As noted by both Mike and Elliot:  what hybrid workouts do is take the best of everything, combine them into a single, cohesive strategy that gives us all the benefits, but leaves behind the drawbacks.  As a result, you’re able to build muscle and get lean at the same time.

In layman’s terms, you’ll basically turn into a sexual Tyrannosaurus.

3.    Miscellaneous Awesomeness – unlike some manuals you’ll come across with little to no detail on the programming side of things, Lean Hybrid Muscle comes with a pretty extensive video database which makes following the program that much easier. 

Moreover, it also includes the Hybrid Diet Nutrition Plan, which includes, among other things, detailed meal plans ranging from 1900-3000 kcals.

Simply put, Mike and Elliot cover all the bases and have gone out of their way to provide a quality product.

But I’ve done enough talking.  Head over to the Lean Hybrid Muscle Website and check it out for yourself!