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Peaks and Valleys of Training

Oh, hello.

Remember me?

It’s Tony.

You know, the guy who used to joke about having pecs that could cut diamonds1 and who also wrote a ton of content on this site?

Well, as you can see 1) I’m still alive, and 2) the website has had a bit of a facelift since I’ve last posted anything. I’m still getting used to it myself. Looks pretty legit, right? RIGHT???

To update you on my life:

  1. I opened a brand spankin new 5500 sq. foot gym here in Boston with my wife, Dr. Lisa Lewis, called Core Collective.2
  2. Julian is now in the 2nd grade.
  3. The best movie I’ve seen so far this year is Sing, Sing.
  4. I’m still jacked.
  5. That’s pretty much it.

Although, if I am being honest, on that last point (the still being jacked part), I’ve been a little more “jacked up” than “jacked.”

I.e, the Cambridge Dictionary definition:

Having strong, well-developed muscles, especially as a result of working out

The fitness industry is likely one of the most fake and fickle industries out there. No where will you find more photoshopped images, self-aggrandizing, and exercises NO-ONE actually performs once the publish button has been pressed.

All of it in an effort to accrue maximum “likes,” comments, and/or potentially more clicks on that industrial strength diarrhea inducer detox tea affiliate link. More to the point, social media tends to be a facade of everyone’s best life. Decadent looking dinner plates on tables. Cat pics. Our best feats and accomplishments. Our best angles under good lighting.

I’m not judging or bemoaning anything. I do it too…to a degree.

Which segues into the inspiration behind my first piece of writing since the last solar eclipse.

Training (and by extension…Progress) Comes in Peaks and Valleys

Lift heavy things

This past March, while walking from my car to the gym, I slipped on a patch of black ice and did what can only be described as the “World’s Fastest and Most Un-Graceful Sissy Squat.”Both of my knees slammed into the pavement and I felt a slight pop in my right.

Needless to say it didn’t feel great. Thankfully, when all was said and done, I didn’t suffer a catastrophic injury, having ruled out any ligament tears or obvious structural damage. However, in the month’s since it’s been an on-going nuisance working around things in order to train and workout the way I am accustomed to.

While I have still been consistent with my training…

#findyourtrainablemenu
#trainablemenu

…to say that I haven’t been frustrated would be an understatement. I’d say that from March of this past year to roughly two weeks ago, it’s been the worst stretch of training in my adult life. My desire to train was less than exemplary, there’s no question I was going through the motions, and not surprisingly all of my lifts took a bit of a hit.

And that’s kinda what I want to highlight.

I want to keep it real and remind people that there are always going to be inevitable speed bumps, road blocks, and general windows of clusterfuckery that will affect your training.

Progress is never going to be linear.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

There will always be peaks AND valleys

Now, what causes those valleys to occur can be anyone’s guess:

  1. Injury
  2. Work and family obligations
  3. Vacation
  4. Season four of Slow Horses started.
  5. Explosive diarrhea
  6. It’s a Tuesday

The important thing to keep in mind is that, 1) despite what social media will lead you to believe, even those coaches/trainers/influencers you look up to the most have setbacks in their training (trust me) and 2) setbacks are normal and will undoubtedly happen.

There are a handful of strategies I’d encourage you to try when this happens.

1. Again, I can’t reiterate this enough…it’s normal

It won’t last forever, it will pass

    2. Reframe and Prioritize a New Lift or Body Part

    If your knees are cranky and you can’t hit your lower body as aggressively as you’d like, it might be an opportune time to prioritize your bench or overhead press or, I don’t know, your kipping pull-ups.

    Except, there’s never an opportune time to prioritize kipping pull-ups because they’re absurd.

    Photo by Alora Griffiths on Unsplash

    3. Find Your Trainable Menu

    Pigging back on the above, focus on what you CAN do rather than what you CAN’T do. I have never had a client who was working around an injury show up for a session and not feel better by the end of it because they did something.

    4. Choose One Lift, Do That, and Leave

    I actually like this approach a lot when I am feeling beat up (or traveling). Psychologically speaking there’s something to it. I know that if my intention is to train one lift hard and that’s all I plan to do for that particular training session it helps set me up for success. As an example it may look something like this:

    A. Barbell Romanian Deadlift – Work up to 1×5 @ RPE 8

    B. Accumulate 15 total reps at 90% of top set above.

    C. Wu-Tang is for the children.

    Photo by Erik Mclean on Unsplash

    Of course there are a plethora of other scenarios and options to choose from, but those are the ones that come up at the top of my head. I hope they help.

    1. But I wasn’t really joking ↩︎
    2. It’s pretty legit. Half of the space is dedicated toward appointment only personal training. The other half has dedicated “wellness” offices for physical therapy (Ripple Boston), chiropractic services (Stephen Laski), pelvic floor therapy (Dr. Mariam Taha), nutritional services (Cristine Seitz), and mental health therapy. Of note, 2% of the space is sequestered off for freestyle rap battles, Jason Bourne fight scene reenactments, and the occasional hug. Just because. ↩︎

    Categoriescoaching

    The Trainable Menu Revisited

    A few years ago on Mike Robertson’s Physical Preparation Podcast (<— you should check it out if you haven’t already) I listened in as Memphis Grizzlies’ Director of Performance, Chris Chase, went into detail on the concept of the Trainable Menu.

    It was such a simple phrase, yet so eloquent of an idea that it:

    • Blew my mind.
    • Melted my face.
    • Made me hate him because I didn’t think of it.
    • All the above.

    I’ve written several blog posts and adopted the concept as my own in the years since, even championing the hashtag #findyourtrainablemenu on Instagram.

    It truly is a splendid way to re-frame training (and program design) into highlighting what people CAN do rather than what they can’t.

    Copyright: lightfieldstudios / 123RF Stock Photo

    The Trainable Menu Revisited

    One of my biggest pet peeves in the industry is when coaches or personal trainers treat program design as this one-size-fits all phenomenon; as if it’s an Old Navy knit scarf.

    It drives me bonkers.

    To take the mentality that a 60 year old “computer guy” with a history of low back pain (and who hasn’t touched a barbell since Dalton was practicing shirtless kung-fu and busting heads in the movie Road House) should have the same “menu” as a 21 year-old college basketball player is, well, dumb.

    Don’t get me wrong.

    Across the board – whether we’re talking about computer guys, basketball players, baseball players, someone training for fat loss, or Orcs – there are going to be more commonalities in everyone’s trainable menu than differences.

    Meaning, most are going to be squatting, deadlifting, pushing stuff, pulling stuff, throwing stuff, carrying stuff, performing single leg work, doing an array of dedicated core work, and otherwise just getting after it.

    However, where the difference show up are in the types or variations of those movement patterns being performed.

    As an example, if I am working with a 6’7″ basketball player I’m probably not going to be too concerned with his or her’s ability to squat ass-to-grass.

    I mean, it’s possible they’ll be able to do it (and do it well), just like it’s possible I’ll someday make-out with Jennifer Lopez.

    But, it’s unlikely.

    Rather, more often than not, if I’m working with a tall(er) individual, their trainable menu (which is an amalgamation and compromise between their health/injury history, training goals, ability level, and anthropometry) will consist of things like box squats, rack pulls, elevated Trap Bar deadlifts, pin squats, and the like.

     

    Likewise, I can take the same train of thought with regards to any sport. For instance, I work with a fair number of endurance runners here in Boston; a handful of which train yearly for the Boston Marathon.

    Do I have them deadlift?

    Can Gandalf smell the color blue?1

    Of course I do!

    Strengthening a runner’s hamstrings and glutes and developing the ability to put more force INTO the pavement – in short: getting strong(er) – will undoubtedly help with getting to the finish line faster.

    However, none of them are competitive powerlifters or Olympic lifters so I could care less whether or not they deadlift with a straight bar (or from the ground for that matter).

    Every trainable menu should take into account an athlete’s sport, the demands it places on the body, what (s)he needs to do in order to succeed at that sport (from a movement standpoint), and then the cost-benefit of the exercises being prescribed.

    To steal my own quote:

    “A football strength & conditioning coach may look at a program that doesn’t include Olympic lifts and back squats as a joke.

    Well, if we’re not talking about football players, what the fuck? That’s a completely different menu we’re talking about.”

    A more germane angle to take would be what I am going through currently with my Achilles injury. For the past several weeks I have been highlighting some of my training sessions on my Instagram feed.

    My goal in doing so is to prove to people that I’m still jacked AF despite an injury – even a significant one – you CAN still train.

    I remember vividly as my wife and I were driving home after rupturing my Achilles I was sitting in the passenger seat actively building a mental rolodex of exercises I KNEW I was still going to be able to still pull off:

      • All the bench pressing and pull-ups I wanted.
      • Arms.
      • Affected Leg: open chain band curls and leg extensions, hip clams, etc.
      • Non-Affected Leg: Supported 1-Leg RDLs, 1-Leg Squats, etc.

    Heck, even 1-week post surgery Hallway Lightsaber Battles were on the menu…

     

    View this post on Instagram

     

    The #hallwaylightsaberbattle continues… . …at a slight disadvantage. . No mercy given.

    A post shared by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore) on

    I didn’t attempt anything asinine, and in fact, took a full three days post-surgery to just chill and sleep like a champion. But I’d be lying if I didn’t reach a tipping point on Day #4 and was like…I…NEED…TO…DO…SOMETHING.

    By Day #5 I was back in the gym doing a little of this and a little of that, and if felt gooooooood. Seated DB Bicep curls and 1-Leg Hip Thrusts never felt so empowering.

    In my mind it was more about starting the healing process (without being an asshat about it) while also giving me a much needed mental boost.

    I’m now six-weeks post surgery and fully weight bearing on my affected side (still in a boot, though). Just the other day I performed my first bilateral RDL @ 135 lbs.

    Nothing crazy in terms of the weight on the bar, but I’m constantly tweaking and adjusting my Trainable Menu to match my current capabilities.

    I have zero doubts this mindset is going to help expedite my recovery and rehab.

    That’s the beauty of the Trainable Menu: It’s applicable whether you’re an athlete prepping for a competitive season or you’re someone trying to train through an injury.

    It’s a powerful mindset.