CategoriesUncategorized

Edmonton Workshop: Dean and Tony’s Sequel (That Doesn’t Suck)

I hope everyone had a relaxing and well deserved Labor Day weekend.  The weather here in Boston was piss poor all weekend, so there wasn’t much that Lisa and I were able to do.  We did meet up with her old college volleyball team and ate dinner with her coach on Saturday night.  And some of you may recall on Facebook a few weekends ago I was asking for advice on bike buying tips.

Lisa’s new job is only 1.5 miles from our apartment, and it makes a lot of sense for her to start biking to and from work to help save time in the mornings.

We know as much about bikes as we both know about World of Warcraft.  If you ask me the only thing you need to know about buying a bike is which one makes you look the most jacked.  But needless to say there’s a bit more to it than that.

After test riding a few different brands, Lisa ended up really liking the Specialized Vita, and that’s exactly what she ended up getting.

This is her after I dropped her off at the bike store and she rode her brand spankin new bike home.

And as much as I’m sure everyone is thrilled to read about Lisa’s new bike – I mean come on, how good does she look? –  lets jump into more pertinent territory.

Namely:  Dean and Tony’s Traveling Fitness VooDoo Magic Time Roadshow

Or, to put it in non-five year old speak:  Dean Somerset and I doing a sequel to our Boston Workshop, but this time in his neck of the woods up in Edmonton.

AKA:  The Edmonton Workshop.

But unlike most sequels, which generally bite the big one (thanks Matrix Reloaded), this one won’t suck. I promise.

We’ll be covering the exact same material as we did in Boston; you know stuff on assessment, corrective exercise, breathing patterns, coaching the big lifts, and how to make an F-16 out of paper mache.  But I’m sure we’ll be adding a few smaller details to the mix.

For a full breakdown and tentative itinerary go HERE.

The Boston Workshop was a huge success (no one left early!), and many who attended were more than happy to offer their words of appreciation and praise:

“The workshop with Dean and Tony was fantastic. They mixed science with real life, in the gym, practical solutions. I feel like I’m better off after attending in all aspects of my ability to train others.”

– Ryan Andrews, Precision Nutrition Coach, author of Drop the Fact Act & Live Lean.

“This clinic was a home run!  I’m a trainer with a yearly budget for continuing ed. I’m glad I spent it here.  I signed up because I knew these guys would drop some knowledge bombs…. I wasn’t disappointed. Tony and Dean’s Excellent Workshop gave great insight on post-rehab exercise and how it can be used in conjunction with training, as well as hammering technique in the basic lifts. I’ll admit I went back to the drawing board to re-evaluate my training techniques.

These guys are tops in their field. I would recommend this seminar to any beginner level trainers /strength coaches, right on up to advanced.  It will separate you from the pack.

Thanks Guys!”

– Clark Evans, Boston based trainer.

“Dean and Tony are not only two of the brightest guys in the field, and they’re also two of the most entertaining.  Newer trainers will get brought up to speed on progressive training strategies and take away hands-on coaching techniques.  More experienced coaches will benefit from Tony and Dean’s refined understanding of more complicated concepts.  The only part that was weird was at the end when they made everyone do a group hug for 10 minutes, but after they explained it was really a “mind meld,” we all understood.  Don’t miss this seminar!”

– Mark Fisher, co-owner of Mark Fisher Fitness, NYC

We want this to be a one of a kind learning opportunity for those in attendance.We’ll do our best to cover the stuff YOU want to learn about, and want to spend less time talking and more time doing. As coaches ourselves, we both feel more comfortable on a training floor with people working their tails off. We want to give you that same kind of experience.

As such, we will also limit registrations to a max of 30 people in order to keep it as intimate and give you as much face time with Dean and Tony as possible. This will also allow us to give more individual instruction on coaching specific movements, spotting corrective strategies to implement, and answer questions efficiently.

The whole shindig is going down the weekend of October 19th and 20th at World Health City Centre in Edmonton.  It’s the weekend AFTER Canadian Thanksgiving, and the weekend before it starts getting cold as balls.

So you really have no excuse not to attend,

For more information and to sign up, please follow the link below:

—> Edmonton Workshop <—

CategoriesUncategorized

Boston Workshop: Come Hang Out With Dean and Tony (Early Bird Special Ends)

I don’t think I’ve ever posted a blog post on a Sunday, so this must be for a good reason.  And it is.

It’s just a quick reminder that the EARLY BIRD special for mine and Dean Somerset’s Boston Workshop hosted at Cressey Performance the weekend of July 27th is ending on Monday, July 1st (whenever Dean wakes up from is beauty sleep).

We’re priming this whole shebang to be an epic weekend for sure. For starters we have a special guest speaker to kick things off Friday (the day prior) for all those people who arrive early and want something to do other than stare at their hotel walls or watch re-runs of Game of Thrones on HBO.

I don’t want to spoil anything but whoever this guest speaker is, I can tell you he deadlifts a metric shit ton of weight and he has an affinity for shoulder anatomy.  Oh, and his last name rhymes with Schmessey……;o)

Day numero uno is going to be all about assessment. We’ll go through the ins and outs and rationale for an assessment, but also include a large “hands on” portion as well. And, if we all play our cards right, Dean will use interpretive dance to demonstrate how to go about assessing one’s diaphragmatic breathing prowess.

Day two is going to be a hodgepodge of a number of things:  corrective exercise, programming considerations around hip, shoulder, knee, and core issues, and knowing how (and when) to regress or progress exercises.

In addition we’re going to cover coaching cues and technique when it comes to squats, deadlifts, and overhead dwarf throwing, to name a few.

It’s going to be an intimate affair since we’re capping the total number of seats available to 30. Our goal is to make this as dynamic and informative as possible, and we want to give people as much access to us as possible.

To help sweeten the pot, CEUs will be available through the NSCA and ACE. As well, I heard through the grapevine there may be some other “fitness celebrities” making the trip, so it’s looking like this is going to be a worthwhile networking opportunity as well.

Like I said, though, the early bird special ends on Monday (July 1st), and the price is going to increase significantly after that.

===> Come Hang Out With Dean and Tony <===

 

CategoriesUncategorized

Gentilcore/Somerset Boston Workshop

When asked to name popular dynamic duos many people will inevitably toss out examples such as Batman and Robin, The British Bulldogs, Thelma and Louis, peanut butter & jelly, and while many non-nerdy types will gloss over this last one, even Optimus Prime and Megatron were once BFFs and “brothers-in-arms” while on their home planet of Cybertron.  That is, of course, until their friendship turned into an episode of Gossip Girl.

You see Optimus was given the title of Prime by the Council of Cybertron, a title that Megatron felt was rightfully his. Megatron called Optimus a big, fat meanie head.  Optimus was like, “oh no you didn’t!”  And then all hell broke loose, and the two brought their little disagreement to Earth.

And while I’d love to sit here and discuss Transformer mythology with you until the cows come home, I know that’s not necessarily the reason you log onto this site on a daily basis. Besides, I have some pretty BIG news and more important matters address.

Speaking of dynamic duos, both Dean Somerset and myself are going to be putting on a two-day workshop here in the greater Boston area the weekend of July 27th.  Saturday July 27th and Sunday July 28th to be exact.

Dean and Tony’s Excellent Workshop High Five

While we’re half jokingly using that as the title, anyone who reads our respective blogs understands that even though Dean and I like to NOT take ourselves too seriously, we also pride ourselves on providing top-notch information and doing our part(s) in trying to make the industry better.

This workshop is going to be our attempt at doing just that.

Our goal is to cover a litany of topics ranging from assessment to corrective exercise to exercise technique to how long it takes before I start saying “eh” every other sentence from hanging out with Dean for an entire weekend.

Pssst:  Dean’s Canadian…..;o)

In all seriousness we’re really excited about this opportunity, and while the goal is to target personal trainers and coaches, anyone who has an interest in fitness and making people better would gain a lot from attending this workshop.  As Dean put it:

You’ll be able to follow along even if you’ve never taken an exercise physiology course or worked as a trainer before. If you know the difference between your diaphragm and your knee, you should do alright.

The workshop itself will be held on my home-turf, Cressey Performance, and for those curious CEUs will be provided!

Also of note: our goal is to keep this fairly “intimate” and small(ish) in size, as we’d really like to give people the opportunity to interact as much as possible with myself and Dean. To that end, we’re capping the number to 30 attendees.

Space is expected to go quickly, so if you’re teetering on whether or not you should come (and you totally should!), you’ll want to take advantage of the early bird special as soon as you can.

For more information – including topics covered, dates, cost, hotel info, etc, please follow the link below. Really hope to see you there!

====> You Should Come to Boston! <====

CategoriesUncategorized

Registration Open for the 1st Annual Cressey Performance Fall Seminar

Do me a favor and mark Sunday, October 28th on your calendar. Write “MUST GO TO THIS” with a bright neon colored highlighter if you have to. Better yet, use glitter paint.

Why?

No, it’s not opening weekend of Michael Buble’s new concert tour or the release date of the next chapter in the 50 Shades of Grey hooplah (ladies). And no, it’s not the same weekend as the Victoria Secret wet t-shirt contest or the next Star Wars convention (guys).

As cool as all of those things are (with the exception of the first two), what’s actually going down that weekend is much, much more more awesomer (yes, I just used incorrect grammar). That weekend marks the first of what we hope will be an annual Cressey Performance Fall Seminar.

This event will showcase both the brand new Cressey Performance, as well as the great staff that helped build it, and our outstanding sponsor, New Balance.  We want to make this an affordable event for everyone and create a great forum for industry professionals and fitness enthusiasts alike to interact, exchange ideas, and learn.

Here are the presentation topics:

Understanding and Managing Congenital Laxity

Presented by Eric Cressey

In this era of semi-private training, boot camps, and group exercise, it’s not uncommon for coaches and trainers to try to train all athletes and clients the same. This can quickly lead to injury in a population with significant congenital laxity.  In this presentation, Eric will teach you how to assess for laxity and safely train with it to improve how people feel and move.

The Food Freakshow: What Will You Be Eating in the 21st Century?

Presented by Brian St. Pierre

Burgers grown from dinosaur DNA?  Tomatoes carrying a delicious basil lemon gene?  Red meat with the fatty acid profile of an avocado?  Science is starting to change the way we look at food.  And in the coming years our food will be very, very different.  Want to know what you’ll be eating?  What your kids will be eating?  What your grandkids will be eating?  Let Brian untangle the mystery.  In this talk he’ll discuss what’s on the horizon for those of us who like to eat, and like to eat healthy.  Join him for a fascinating exploration of the future of food – and for useable, practical strategies you can put into action immediately.

“Out with the Old” – A new model for preventing injury and improving performance in the throwing athlete.


Presented by Eric Schoenberg

The system is broken!  Injury rates at all levels of baseball are alarming.  Despite improvements in research, technology, and sports medicine principles, the numbers continue to rise.  Each year, teams work tirelessly and spend millions to recruit, draft, and sign the best talent from all over the world.  However, only a small percentage of that money is invested to keep these athletes healthy and allow them to showcase their talent on the field.  This presentation will help to debunk some common myths, identify disturbing problems, and provide solutions to help keep athletes on the field and out of the training room.

How “Strong” Does An Athlete Need To Be?

Presented by Gregory Robins

In this presentation, Greg will discuss how various strength qualities contribute to an athlete’s power potential. Each sport requires a slightly different blend of these strength qualities to provide for high-level performance.  Learn which qualities athletes need to improve and how to get the job done.

Current Trends in Manual and Manipulative Therapy

Presented by Nathaniel Tiplady

Nate will present a review of Active Release Technique, Graston Technique, Fascial Manipulation, and joint manipulation.  He’ll cover what we know, what we don’t know, and present his thoughts and experiences on the best methods to get people pain-free.

Program Design Considerations for the Young Athlete

Presented by Chris Howard

In this presentation, Chris will discuss important considerations one must take into account when designing and implementing programs for young athletes.  Topics to be covered are exercise selection and progression, creation of a fun training environment, and the role of the strength coach in educating young athletes.  He will stress the fact that young athletes can be trained similarly to adults, but that there are distinctions that need to be made.

How to Get “Fight Club” Abs Deep Squats: Are They Worth It?

Presented by Tony Gentilcore

In this presentation, Tony will highlight research on the squat under various conditions and discuss population-specific considerations one must take into account when programming squat variations.  He’ll discuss improving the squat pattern, as well as exercise recommendations for those who should avoid squatting altogether in their programs.

Location: 

Cressey Performance,
577 Main St.
Suite 310
Hudson, MA 01749

Cost:

Regular – $99 early-bird (before September 30), $129 regular, $149 day of the event
Student (must present current student ID at door) – $79 early-bird (before September 30), $99 regular, $129 day of the event

Date/Time: 

Sunday, October 28, 2012
Registration 8:30AM
Seminar 9AM-5:30PM

Continuing Education:

NSCA CEU pending (seven contact hours)

Hotel Information:

You’ll receive hotel information in a PDF information packet following registration.

Click Here to Sign-up (Regular)

or

Click Here to Sign-up (Students)

We’re really excited about this event, and would love to have you join us! However, space is limited and each seminar we’ve hosted in the past has sold out in less than two weeks, so don’t delay on signing up!

If you have additional questions, please direct them to [email protected]. Looking forward to seeing you there!

CategoriesUncategorized

Box Squat vs. Squat TO Box (Yes There’s a Difference)

A few months ago I wrote an article for t-nation.com titled Squatmeggedon – All Things Squatting, where I discussed several different thought processes I had as it relates to SPOILER ALERT:  squatting.

One topic that struck a chord with me (which is why I wrote about it), as well as with many people who read the article, was the differentiation I made between box squats and squats TO a box.  While some may feel it’s borderline redundant – dude, aren’t they the same thing? – I’d argue they’re anything but.

Sure, they both have the word squat in their title, and yes, they both incorporate a box.  You got me there. But outside of those two obvious things, that’s where the similarities end.  You see, for me, it comes down to WHY you would use one over the other.  What’s the rationale for having someone box squat compared to having them squat to a box?

Simple.  Watch the video, and find out.

A few quick notes beforehand:

1.  This wasn’t meant to be a dissertation on how to squat. While I do go into a little detail on the proper set-up and things to look for on the descent, the real meat and potatoes lie in the separation between a box squat and a squat to box. Besides, the video is six minutes long, so cut me some slack for crying loud.

If you want to have your world rocked, and are looking for something that goes into more length, I’d highly suggest checking out Matt Wenning’s So You Think You Can Squat series HERE.

2.  A huge thanks goes out to Kennet Waale, who’s currently visiting CP on school break all the way from Brisbane, Australia.  I asked him to be my squatting guinea pig on the spot and he came through like a champ.

3.  Also, I want to thank one Chris Howard for the Spielberg’esq camera work.

4.  Compared to my first video on deadlifts, no sexual innuendos this time around.

If you found this video informative or helpful or maybe even a smidge “the best video you’ve ever watched,” please share it on your Facebook page or on Twitter.  Likewise, if you can also do me a huge favor and click the “Like” button at the bottom of this post, I’ll be your BFF for like a day.  Maybe even two.  But only if you make me a meatloaf.

On that note, feel free to leave your comments below.  I’d love to know what you think!  Additionally, if there are any topics you’d like me to cover in future video blogs, let me know.  I’m always looking for ideas.