I’m pumped to announce the inaugural Strong Body-Strong Mind Workshop featuring myself and my wife, Dr. Lisa Lewis.
*smoke bomb, smoke bomb*
TA-DA!
This is an event Lisa and I have been marinating on for a few months now, and something we’re really excited to explore and hopefully make into a “thing.”
The 10-second Elevator Pitch:
1) I’ll spend the bulk of my time speaking on the Art of Coaching, program design, as well as sharing pictures of my cat spending a fair portion of time dissecting common barbell lifts; going over technique cues, troubleshooting strategies, and regressions/progressions.
2) Lisa (Doctorate in Sports Psychology) will speak to the Psychological Art of Coaching, as well as peel back the onion with regards to behavior change and how fitness professionals can best set up their clients and athletes for long-term, consistent success. In short, she’s totally going to demonstrate some Jedi mind-tricks.
This workshop will be an asset to any fitness professional or enthusiast looking to not only hone their coaching/programming prowess, but it will also provide more depth into the art of mindset, in addition to helping attendees learn to create/develop better interpersonal skills (with themselves and their clients).
The Deets
When: Saturday, June 18th.
Where: Life Time Fitness – Austin South, Austin, TX.
Why: Because Lisa and I are the bomb to hang out with (and we want some good BBQ).1
Cost: Early Bird (until June 1st) – $149, and $179 thereafter.
As a fitness professional part of the job description is the ability to answer questions. Specifically those questions posed by your athletes and clients.
This makes sense given, outside of their primary care practitioner, you’re the person your clients are trusting with their health and well-being.
Granted, you’re not curing cancer or writing prescriptions for irritable bowel syndrome or anything2. But it stands to reason that as a personal trainer or strength coach you’re numero Uno when it comes to being most people’s resource for health & fitness information.
You’re it.
You’re the go to.
And like or not…You’re “the guy (or girl)” whenever someone says “I gotta a guy (or girl)” whenever they’re asked a fitness or health related question.
“Will intermittent fasting help me lose 20 lbs of fat while also increasing my squat by 55 lbs AND give me x-ray vision?”
“Is it normal not to be able to feel the left side of my face after performing last night’s WOD? Also, it stings when I pee.”
I don’t know about you, but it’s a “challenge” I don’t take lightly.
I want to be a reliable and valuable source of information for my clients. They have (a lot of) questions, and I want to be able to answer them to the best of my ability.
I don’t know everything.3 I’m not a pompous a-hole who’s afraid to say “I don’t know.”
It’s rare when I get stumped with a question, but when I do I’m fortunate to have a long-list of people I can reach out to to get the answer(s).
I know when to stay in my lane and refer out when needed. You want to train for a figure competition? Not my strong suit. You need some manual therapy? Definitely not my strong suit. That irritable bowel problem mentioned above? Don’t worry, I gotta guy.
Most questions I receive are generally un-original in nature and something I can handle on the spot.
One question I get on an almost weekly basis, while inert and mundane (but altogether apropos), is this:
“How much weight should I be using?”
It’s a very relevant question to ask. And one that, unfortunately, takes a little time to answer.
To be honest whenever I’m asked this question two things inevitably happen:
1) The theme music from Jaws reverberates in my head.4
2) The smart aleck in me wants nothing more than to respond with “all of it.”
That would be the dick move, though.
Like I said: it’s a very relevant question and one that many, many people have a hard time figuring out on their own.
As it happens I was asked this question last week by a client of mine during his training session. It wasn’t asked with regards to that particular session per se. Rather, he was curious about how much weight he should be using on the days he wasn’t working with me in person.
NOTE:the bulk of my clients train with me “x” days per week at the studio and also “x” number of days per week on their own at their regular gym. I write full programming that they follow whether they’re working with me in person or not. Because I’m awesome.
When working with people in person I have this handy protocol I like to call “coaching” where I’m able to give them instant feedback on a set-by-set basis.
I’ll tell them to increase/decrease/or maintain weight on any given exercise as I see fit.
The idea is to give them a maximal training effect using the minimum effective dose without causing harm or pain.
Challenge people, encourage progressive overload, but not to the point where they feel like they’re going to shit a kidney.
Pretty self-explanatory stuff.
Where things get tricky is when people are on their own and don’t have someone telling them what to do.
What then?
Here Are Some Options/Suggestions/Insights/WhatHaveYou
1) Write That Shit Down
In the case of my client above, when he asked “how much weight should I be using?” I responded with “how much weight did you use last week?”
[Crickets chirping]
He hadn’t been keeping track of anything.
He’d simply been putting a check-mark when he completed a set, and then moved on.
I, of course, was like “nooooooooooooo.”
I can’t blame him. It was on ME for not being clearer on the importance of writing things down and being more meticulous with tracking everything.
But the fix was/is easy: write down what you did, and try to do “more work” the following week.
I realize we like to overcomplicate things, but that’s part of the problem.
Write shit down. Really, it’s that simple.
2) What Is “Do More Work?”
What does that even mean? Do more work?
It means that in order for the body to adapt, you need to give it a stimulus and then nudge it, over time, to do more work. There are numerous ways to do this in the weight room, but for the sake of simplicity we can think of “more work” as more sets/reps or load.
Do the math. If you’re keeping track of things take your total sets and reps (and the weight you lifted) and figure out your total tonnage.
Try to increase that number week by week.
One strategy I like is something I call the 2-Rep Window.
If I prescribe 10 repetitions for a given exercise, what I really mean is 8-10 repetitions.
If someone picks a weight and they can easily perform more than 10 on every set, they’re going too light. If they can’t perform at least 8, they’re going too heavy.
The idea is to fall within the 2-Rep Window with each set and to STAY WITH THE SAME WEIGHT until the highest number within the range is hit for ALL sets.
**I’d rather someone cut a set short a rep or two rather than perform technically flawed reps or worse, miss reps.
If I have someone performing a bench press for 3 sets of 10 repetitions it may look something like this:
Week 1:
Set 1: 10 reps
Set 2: 8 reps
Set 3: 8 reps
Week 2:
Set 1: 10 reps
Set 2: 10 reps
Set 3: 9 reps
Once they’re able to hit ALL reps on ALL sets, they’re then given the green light to increase the weight and the process starts all over again.
Another simple approach is one I stole from strength coach Paul Carter.
Simply prescribe an exercise and say the objective is to perform 3×10 or 15 (30-45 total reps) with “x” amount of weight. The idea is to overshoot their ability-level and force them to go heavier, but within reason.
They stay with the same weight until they’re able to hit the upper rep scheme within the prescribed number of sets.
It’s boring, but it works.
Another layer to consider is something brought up by Cincinnati-based coach, PJ Striet:
“I’ve went over and above in my program notes to explain this subject. I used to just give 2 rep brackets, and, like you pointed out here, told clients to increase weight when they could achieve the high end of the range on all sets, and then drop back down to the lower end of the bracket and build back up again.
The problem though, as I soon figured out, was that people were doing say, 4 sets of 8 (bracket being 6-8) with a weight they could have probably gotten 15 reps with on their 4th set. This isn’t doing anything/isn’t enough of a stimulus. This isn’t meaningful progression. Feasibly, one could run a 12+ week cycle in the scenario above before the 4 sets of 8 actually became challenging. And this was on me because I should have realized most people will take the path of least resistance (literally).
Now, in my notes, I tell clients to do as many AMRAP on the final set of to gauge how much to progress. If the bracket is 4×6-8, and they get 8-8-8-9, weight selection is pretty good and a 2-5% increase and dropping back down to 6 reps is going to be a good play and productive. If they get 8-8-8-20, there is a problem and I should either stab myself in the eye for being a crap coach or schedule a lobotomy for the client.”
Brilliant.
3) Challenging Is Subjective
I feel much of the confusion, though, is people understanding what’s a challenging weight and what should count as a set.
Many people “waste” sets where they’re counting their warm-up/build-ups sets as actual sets, and thus stagnating their progress.
A few ideas on this matter:
I like to say something to the effect of “If your last rep on your last set feels the same as your first rep on your first set, you’re going too light.”
Using a Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE) scale is useful here. Give them some criteria using a scale of 1-10. A “1” being “super easy” and “10” being “who do you think I am, Wolverine?” Ask them to be in the 7-8 RPE range for ALL sets.
And That’s It
There’s a ton of trial-and-error involved here, but it’s your job as the fitness professional and coach to educate your clients on the matter.
It’s important to consider context and everyone’s starting point, of course…comfort level, ability, past/current injury history, goals, etc.
However, beginners are typically going to have a much harder time differentiating “how much weight to use” compared to advanced lifters. There’s definitely a degree of responsibility on the trainer and coach to take the reigns on this matter.
But the sooner they realize it’s not rocket science, that there are some simple strategies that can be implemented to make things less cumbersome (and maybe even more importantly, that there’s a degree of personal accountability involved), the sooner things will start to click.
1) A civic holiday commemorating the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first battles of the American Revolutionary War on April 19, 1775?
2) Tom Brady’s birthday?
HINT: It’s the former.
Patriot’s Day is also the day the Boston Marathon is held, and the city more or less shuts down to cheer on the thousands upon thousands of participants. As a matter of fact, my apartment is located around mile 24 of the course and the elite runners will be passing by shortly.
I need to make this post quick so I can go watch.
1-Arm Landmine Reverse Lunge
**Technically this exercise could be labeled “1-Arm Landmine Reverse Lunge – Perpendicular Grip” since you’re not facing the barbell itself. But that’s too long of a name. So, whatever.
But for real, I can’t recall who I stole this one from. Clifton Harski perhaps? I saw him perform a more advanced variation of this exercise with the barbell itself resting in the “crook” of his elbow – Zercher Landmine Reverse Lunge.
What Does It Do: Reverse lunges in general are a more “joint friendly” single-leg option since the tibia can stay more vertical, and because there’s less deceleration involved (as opposed to a forward lunge where one has to “decelerate” their entire bodyweight).
They’re an excellent choice for people struggling with chronic knee discomfort or pain.
Too, the landmine reverse lunge provides an added core challenge due to the “offset loading” involved. There’s a massive rotary stability component, which makes it a nice fit for those looking to get a little more bang for their training buck.
Key Coaching Cues: I always err on the side of being conservative when it comes to single leg training. Far too often I find trainees playing “hero” on their single leg work, going too heavy, and missing out on all the benefits (hip stability/strength, knee stability, foot strength, grip strength, training multiple planes w/o compensating (knee valgus), core strength, hamstring/quad strength, overall level of sexiness, to name a few).
QUALITY of movement is important here.
Load barbell up with plates (those with longer arms may need to use smaller plates; not bumper plates as shown in the video), “cup” the barbell with your hand, and step back making sure to gently tap the knee to the floor.
Be sure to finish each repetition at the top by squeezing the glute of the working leg (the one that’s not moving).
Not that I’m complaining. I actually like to travel and enjoy the opportunities I get to visit various cities and towns, meet new people, and catch up with old friends/colleagues.
It’s just, you know, sometimes you feel like you’ve been run over by a Mack truck.
So I’m really looking forward to a weekend home with my wife and enjoying the beautiful weather we’re expecting to have in Boston.
After that, though, it’s game on:
PHILADELPHIA – Sunday, April 24th @ War Horse Barbell
I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Duhigg’s first book, The Power of Habit, so it wasn’t a hard sell for me to swipe this book off the bookshelf when I saw it a few weeks ago.
We all know someone in our lives who can seemingly juggle responsibilities of work and home life, yet still have time to coach three different youth teams, read poetry to orphans, and still workout 5x per week.
Eric first spoke on the Perform Better Tour when he was 25.
Unreal.
Another fun fact about Eric: when he and I lived together, while I’d be in the living room watching Lord of the Rings for the 47th time, he’d be in his room writing Maximal Strength.
The man had unparalleled work ethic even then.
This was an awesome read by Eric, and something I hope the bulk of fitness pros reading take the time to read themselves.
I posted a video on my IG account a few weeks ago of a woman I had just started working with – literally, it was her first session with me – and I was able to get her to deadlift from the floor without any pain for the first time in years.
I had her perform a modified sumo-stance deadlift.
She crushed it. It looked good, it was pain-free, and I was able to show her SUCCESS on day #1. Win-win-win.
Of course, several coaches chimed in questioning my coaching abilities because I didn’t have her perform a conventional deadlift. Apparently they deemed me an inferior coach because of it.
It’s the internet. It’s to be expected.
Anyways, this is why I LOVED this article by Mike. Not everyone HAS to deadlift conventionally, and not everyone HAS to deadlift from the floor.
At the end of the day: any competent coach will understand that the BEST approach is one that’s best suited for the individual, and not to stoke his or her’s ego.
During the Complete Hip & Shoulder Workshop in Seattle last weekend I spoke on the importance of the test/re-test concept with regards to assessment.
It’s nothing fancy or elaborate.
You test something – whether it be range of motion or maybe a strength discrepancy – implement a “corrective” modality if something’s deemed out of whack, and then re-rest that shit to see if it worked.
The test/re-test approach helps set the tone for any future “corrective” strategies or programming considerations you’ll do as a coach or trainer.
In addition, and something I’d argue is equally as important, it also provides an added layer of value to the assessment.
If you’re able to demonstrate to someone a significant change or improvement in ROM or reduction in pain/discomfort by implementing a drill or two, and it’s something they’ve been struggling with despite countless interactions with other fitness professionals, what’s the likelihood they’ll bust out their checkbook or Bitcoin wallets (<—depending on their level of geekery)?
I suspect highly likely.
It demonstrates a perceived level of “mastery” and knowledge-base towards the assesser (you) and, in a roundabout, reverse psychology kind-of-way, delves into the “pain center” of the assessee (athlete/client).
In this example it can refer to literal pain such as a banged up shoulder, knee, or lower back. But it can also speak to pain in the figurative sense too. Someone who’s frustrated and “had it up to here!” that they can’t lose weight, or maybe an athlete who was cut from their high-school team would have a degree of “pain” that would incentivize them to take action.
Show someone success or a clear path of action, however little, and they’re putty in your hands.
Of course this assumes you’re not some shady shyster who tries to up-sell the benefits of some super-secret concurrent, 47-week, Easter-Bloc training program you copied from Muscle & Fitness or, I don’t know, organic raspberry ketones laced with mermaid placenta.
People who promote and use smoke-and-mirror tactics are the worst.
But lets get back to the topic at hand.
Test/Re-Test
One of the main screens I use with my athletes and clients is their ability to lift or elevate their arms above their heads.
Shoulder flexion is important for everyone, not just overhead athletes and CrossFitters.
If someone lacks shoulder flexion, and they’re an athlete, it’s going to affect their performance. A baseball pitcher may be “stuck” in gross shoulder depression, which in turn will have ramifications on scapular positioning and kinematics, which in turn will result in faulty mechanics and compensatory issues up and down the kinetic chain.
Conversely, regular ol’ Hank from accounting, who likes to hit the gym hard after work, if he lacks shoulder flexion, he too could have numerous issues arise ranging from shoulder and elbow pain to lower back shenanigans.
Shoulder flexion – and the ability to do it – is a big deal in my opinion. And it’s a screen that should be a high-priority in any fitness professionals assessment protocol.
So lets say I’m working with someone who lacks shoulder flexion. I test it both actively (standing, picture above) and passively (on a training table).
I surmise that it’s limited and that it may be feeding into why a particular person’s shoulder has been bothering him or her.
I can use the test/re-test approach to see if I can nudge an improvement.
Now, as I’ve learned from many people much smarter than myself – Mike Reinold, Sue Falsone, Dr. Evan Osar, Dr. Stuart McGill, Papa Smurf, etc – you shouldn’t rely on any ONE screen/corrective.
Everyone is different, and what works for one person might not even scratch the surface for another.
With regards to addressing (lack of) shoulder flexion10, there are a handful of “go to” strategies I like to use.
And then it’s just a matter of seeing which one sticks.
1) Encouraging a Better Position
In order to elevate the humerus (arm) above your head, the scapulae (shoulder blade) needs to do three things:
Upwardly rotate
Posteriorly tilt
Protract
The ability to do so is vastly correlated with the thorax. Those who are super kyphotic (ultra rounded upper back) will have a hard time elevating their arms overhead. Often, the simple “fix” here is to foam roll the upper back and work on more t-spine extension and you’ll almost always see an improvement.
Bench T-Spine Extension
Side Lying Windmill
But what about the opposite? Those who are stuck in more “gross” extension and downward rotation?
I.e., the bulk of athletes and meatheads.
Here the shoulder blades can be seemingly “glued” down.
In that case some positional breathing drills to “un-glue” the shoulder blades (and to encourage more 3D or 360 degree expansion of the ribcage/thorax) would be highly advantageous.
All 4s Belly-Breathing
It’s amazing what a few minutes of this drill can do with improving shoulder flexion ROM, without having to yank or pull or “smash” anything.
2) Allow the Shoulder Blades to Move
Some people simply don’t know how to allow their shoulder blades to move. A prime example is this past weekend.
An attendee who’s a personal trainer – but also competes in figure – mentioned how her shoulders (especially her left) had been bothering her for eons, and she couldn’t figure out why.
We had her perform this drill.
1-Arm Quadruped Protraction
In reality, both protraction and retraction are occurring, but many people have a hard time with the former.
The idea here is to learn to gain movement from the shoulder blade itself and not via the t-spine.
Here’s another angle (because, triceps):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyNFNxqFlSc
After a few “passes” with this drill, she saw an immediate improvement in her ROM. What’s more, the following day when she showed up for Day #2, the first thing out of her mouth was “my shoulder feels amazing today.”
That’s a win.
3) Pin and Go
Another route to take is to have the person foam roll their lats. Not many people do this, and there’s a reason why: It’s un-pleasant.
I’ll have the person spend a good 30 seconds or so on each side and then have them stand up and perform a simple SMR drill using a lacrosse ball against a wall.
They’ll “pin” the teres minor down (basically, find the tender spot behind their shoulder and hold it there) and then work into upward rotation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OiGt_O1FvY
Another five or so passes here, and I’ll re-test.
Many times I’ll see a marked improvement in their shoulder flexion.
Caveat
NONE of this is to insinuate that anything mentioned above will work for everyone. The idea is to understand that it’s important to “test” a number of modalities and then re-test to see if you find an improvement.
If you do, you’re likely barking up the right tree which will make your corrective approach and subsequent strength training more successful.
Note From TG:Today’s guest post comes from good friend, Todd Bumgardner. Todd’s written several articles for this site, and when he reached out recently asking me if he could write something I, of course, obliged.
After all, Todd was the inspiration behind THIS post I wrote several months ago which resonated with many people who read it. He’s a deep thinker, and I really respect his approach to life.
So I said, “Sure! How about something on what it means to be a man?”
This is what he sent back. Enjoy.
Are We Men?
My maternal grandfather’s name was Alfred C. Traxler. He was born in 1926 and died in 1964; he didn’t reach his thirty-eighth birthday.
Unconscious at the wheel, he was a truck driver, his truck swerved from the road and he crashed.
I’ve heard the story a hundred times from my childhood to now, but I can’t remember if he died before he wrecked or if the wreck took his life. He left behind four children, including my mother who was eight years old, and a wife two years his junior. I was born in April of 1986. I never got to meet him, all I know is relayed to me through a vague family mythology.
In 1944, before he finished high school, he enlisted in the army. Within the year he found himself in Europe, fighting in World War II as a member of the field artillery. Don’t ask me to list the battles he fought in, I can’t catalogue them. The only one I’m sure of is the Battle of The Bulge. I’m also sure that he came home with two Purple Hearts, one for being shot in the head.
I’m not certain of his other wound—maybe he was hit in the head twice—or how normal his life was after coming home with a head injury.
My mom tells a story about a time she and her sister were fighting in the basement. As he was walking down the basement steps to stop them, he lightly tapped his head on the ascending staircase that climbed from the first floor to the second, in opposition of the basement staircase’s descent. His 6’3”, thin frame crashed on to the steps, unconscious.
I’m certain that, were we matched; thirty year-old Al Traxler would kick thirty year-old Todd Bumgardner’s ass. It’d be a lopsided thrashing, despite me having around forty pounds on him. Despite having my jaw tested throughout my childhood and college years. Despite me being a physically strong human being.
Alfred Traxler would beat my ass.
Guess what? Your grandfather, were it possible for you to be paired at the same ages, would monkey stomp your goofy ass in a hurry.
Things were different when my grandfather grew up. Men then had something men now don’t have.
Men, and manhood, were different.
I’m not here to reminisce on good ol’ days that I never saw, or to say we need to return to a time when men were men while extolling bravado’s benefits. But there are differences between then and now—some good, some bad, some indifferent. My goal is to create a contrast in behavior so we that we may compare.
We’re struggling to understand what it means to be men.
The problem is, there is no ideological man.
The definition, man, is a derivative of culture and context.
What it means for us in Western culture is different from that of Middle-Eastern cultures. It’s different from how Eastern men define themselves. As we derive our definition, gender roles are evolving.
Male and female don’t carry the same connotations that they once did. We’re evolving, it seems, into androgyny and some folks are struggling with this.
To cope, we’re constructing a lot of empty definitions.
My grandfather grew up during the Great Depression, voluntarily entered himself into the greatest destruction the world’s ever seen and was doing his best to raise a family when he lost his life. I’ve never put my ass on the line for anything that I didn’t want to do.
That’s a stark contrast.
Of course, I’ve stepped up when my family’s needed me. And I’ve taken an ass whooping or two to defend a friend. But I haven’t really done a damn thing that laid my ass on the line. Not like he did.
It’s generational.
My experience isn’t atypical—unless a man or woman of my age has chosen to enter the armed forces, we’ve never had to truly experience a great deal of sacrifice. That’s why we’re struggling to define a lot of who, and what, we think we are—especially males.
Men of my grandfather’s age faced the scarcity of The Great Depression and the horrors of killing, watching your friends die and the reconciliation of all of it. Even if a guy was a pussy, he had an ideal to work from.
While men then were outwardly tougher, had thicker skin and better prepared to deal with adversity, they also orchestrated a world with more misogyny, more racism and less tolerance.
Past generations provided us the stoic ideation of manhood while also demonstrating negative behaviors and beliefs that contrast our current evolution toward tolerant humanism. There is no concrete ideology. While manhood is built on certain principles, at least in my belief, there is no ideal example.
It’s increasingly amorphous and it confuses us.
We talk a lot of shit.
We have the internet in all it’s amazing, constructive glory. Despite its opportunity-bearing beauty, it’s also an open pulpit for empty pontification. An endless array of diatribes on what men should be able to do. We make up silly little trials because we have so few real trials to overcome. Mostly, it’s look what I can do. I’m a man. Do this and you’re a man too.
Beyond that, and even sleazier, men propagate to other men that they can help them engineer a personality, a new life, a new body if they follow the advice in their book. Get laid. Get money. Be a stud. It’s cunttastic marketing at its worst. Deny self-acceptance and progression toward something worthy, something that teaches us about ourselves, and work your dick off to become something that you’re not. Horse-fucking-shit.
Lifting weights doesn’t make you tough/hardcore or any other cockamamie masculine ideation. An outrageous expression of physical strength or capacity, while beautiful and worthy, doesn’t qualify anyone as a man. Hardcore is working a job for twenty years so your kids can eat and getting up every day, and going to that motherfucker and kicking ass with a smile on your face, and perspective in your mind, because that’s what you have to do.
We idolize the image of the alpha, and dudes sure do a lot of talking about being one. Alphas don’t have to talk about being alphas. They are just alphas. And in most instances we do our best to segregate them from society: they become Navy SEALs or go to jail.
Please distrust any individual that tells you, via conversation or via print, that they can help you become an alpha. Nine chances out of ten, you’re not an alpha. And that’s totally cool.
You are who you are.
Kick ass at being that dude, accept him and develop him as much as you so desire. But don’t listen to some dick-head that tells you that you can become something that you’re not if you simply listen to his advice.
These are examples of our continual strivings for a male identity in a world of limited trials, a famine of opportunities to construct a real identity chisled out of struggle and strife. This is the bullshit that we imagine to placate ourselves…and we sell it to each other every day.
It’s an adolescent screaming and yelling, an upheaval originating from male frightened immaturity, despondent because, collectively, we’re afraid to take responsibility for our own lives in a world with so much opportunity and so little direction.
Many males are frightened of blurred gender roles and assertive women. And, of course, by acceptance of homosexuality that’s nearly universal. Which is one of our best cultural achievements. It leaves insecure males with the inability to define manhood along side those that also love other men.
Maybe it’s a step in the progression toward evolving into better humans. We’re trying to understand what is happening around us and we need some kind of self-definition. So we devolve slightly so that we may move forward.
I like to believe we’re collectively ascending as a species. But there’s a lot of vacuous dick measuring that makes me ask some questions.
Especially when it’s realistic to believe that most men under forty have never been punched in the face.
Again, I’m not extolling bravado as manhood’s end-all-be-all, but exuding machismo comes with certain prerequisites.
Let’s also not revert to ‘good ol’ day’ thinking, but something tells me Alfred Traxler would have a hard time relating our modern male squabbling to define ourselves after coming home from Europe as a twenty year-old man with battle scars and two Purple Hearts.
So, after all this opinion bearing, what does it mean to be a man in 2016?
This is, of course, one man’s take, extrapolated to the entire Western world equipped with external human plumbing.
It’s the best ideal I could construct.
Take it for what it is; maybe I’m an asshole.
Being a man starts with giving a shit about yourself. Not the faux self-care that fills space with materialistic yearnings and celebrating the “cult of me”, the tending to every somatic and sensational need.
No, not that, but true self-care.
The kind that gives you the strength to embark on your own hero’s journey to find out what’s actually inside of you, to define physical and mental feats for yourself, disregarding aggrandizement and celebrating self-validation.
It’s finding the inner solace, the inner core that gives a guy the ability to define himself without the need for anyone else to adopt his definition. It’s this core that solidifies manhood.
A man is compassionate.
Compassion is the truest expression of strength. From compassion emanates kindness. Each is the product of a deep serenity that allows us to give others what they need because we’ve done all we need for ourselves. All are the product of taking responsibility for our own lives.
Manhood is having the nuts to act on our individual constructs of the “right thing” all of the time. No matter who is watching. No matter if no one is watching. It’s consistency of purpose and alignment with deep routed personal ideals that firmly extend a middle finger in the face of that which we independently believe is wrong.
And while we contain this ferocity, we encapsulate it with respect, respect and openness toward other cultures and points of view.
Respect for other humans.
Respect for life.
Men have fierceness of purpose, a deep connection with why they’re here and what they’re going to do about it.
Being a man, when distilled clearly to its essences, is a balance between confidence and humility. It’s having the balls to take responsibility for your own life and take action to shape it into an art worth sharing. It’s an ever-present consideration that we’re damn lucky to be alive and a grateful use of the time we’re granted. It’s authenticity.
These are the musings of a lucky thirty year old that’s done his best to develop himself into someone worth being around, a man people would be proud to know. It’s my definition of manhood, no one else’s.
But fuck, man, I don’t know. I’ve never been shot in the head.
I’m currently 34,000 feet in the air as I type these words.11 I’m on my way to Seattle to meet up with my boy, Dean Somerset, so he and I can teach our 2-day Complete Hip & Shoulder Workshop. (< — be sure to go HERE to check for future CHSW dates and other speaking shenanigans).
It’s my first time visiting Seattle. I’ve always wanted to go, have heard nothing but wonderful things, and can’t wait to hoist my backpack over my shoulders and explore since I have a few hours to kill after I land.
I heard Pikes Market is legit. Maybe I’ll catch a fish or two.
I was hoping to hit up a Mariners game and say hello to long-time CSP athlete, Steve Cishek, but alas, I won’t have time for that.
I guess I’ll just have to find a coffee shop to chill out at. I “think” Seattle has a few of those, right?
Today is your last day to take advantage of the 50% off sale of Eric Bach’s excellent resource, The Power Primer 2.0.
Do you train athletes or just like to pretend you’re one yourself? Give this manual a look. What I like about Eric’s approach is that is not only about power development. Even if you’re only interested in looking good nekid, this manual will help get you there.
With apologies to any 90s hip-hop and R&B fans, today’s exercise has nothing to do with Aaliyah’s hit “Rock the Boat.”
OMG – such a classic song.
I listen to this song – as well as other songs from all her albums (Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number, One in a Million, Aaliyah) – and can’t help but wonder “what might have been?” if she hadn’t died so tragically back in 2001 in an airplane crash.12
Alrighty then, lets move away from the somber tone shall we?
I’ve got a quick-n-dirty exercise for you to try this week.
Rock the Boat
Who Did I Steal it From: Surprisingly, not Ben Bruno (the landmine Jedi that he is).
Last week, before heading to NY, I stopped by Mike Reinold’s place, Champion Physical Therapy & Performance (in Waltham, MA), to film a few podcasts and to get a quick lift. Strength coach Rob Sutton showed me this bad boy, and I really liked it.
Outside of that, it’s an excellent drill that trains the abdominals (core) in a more “functional” manner. I.e., anti-extension, not to mention there’s a high degree of resisting rotation (loop stress) as you, you know, “rock the boat” moving the barbell from side-to-side.
Key Coaching Cues: This is a self-limiting exercise in that the ROM used by each individual is going to be determined by his or her’s ability level. The idea, however, is to “lock” things down and place a premium on lumbo-pelvic-hip control (no excessive lumbar flexion or extension).
Foot width will vary (closer together = harder).
Shoot for 5-8 repetitions per side. But you could also make this a timed event, say, 15-20s, working up to 30-40s.
I am not a perfect coach. While I feel I’m above average in my abilities, I’ll be the first to admit I have many “gaps” in my knowledge-base.
Some things I’m good at: coaching the barbell lifts, assessment, hand-to-hand combat vs. zombies.
Some things, not so much: Olympic lifting, speed and jump training.
I’ve written about my thoughts on Olympic lifting in the past, and it’s been within recent months that I’ve decided to take a more proactive approach to addressing my gap in speed & jump training.
I’ve been devouring resources from Lee Taft and Adam Feit on the topic.
To that end, today’s EPIC post, written by strength coach Eric Bach, continues said gap narrowing.
FTY: his new resource, The Power Primer 2.0, just went on sale this week at 50% off the regular price. It jumps (<– HA, get it?) into jump training; and why, even if you’re not an athlete, is something you should be incorporating into your training program(s) to become a lean, mean, machine.
Enjoy. It’s a VERY thorough and informative post.
Jump Your Way to Power Development
Here’s a new twist that answers an old question: how can you bridge the gap between performance-oriented training and physique training?
Can you really look great and improve athletic performance, no matter who you are?
Put more bluntly, can you really have it all?
And does it matter where you train?
The surprising answer has more than a little to do with jumping, of all things.
WTF?
But let me back up to set the stage.
A few months ago, I moved from a sports performance facility to an independent facility. I work with fewer athletes and more people who just want to look great naked and stay healthy.
Note from TG: Hey! Just like me!
Most trainers try to move in the opposite direction. They train general population clients, but really want to train athletes.
It’s been quite a transition. But I noticed something interesting. None of my clients – old or new, in-person or online, athlete or ordinary Joe — JUST have physique goals or JUST have performance goals. Everyone wants the total package.
And why not?
Everyone wants to be confident struttin’ down the beach to jump into a Volleyball game, whether they are 26 year-old ex-athletes or 50-year-old executives.
Here’s the secret: explosive intent is everything. This blog post will explain how you can jump your way to success.
For every high-performance gym with turf and bumper plates, there are 30 “regular” gyms packed with machines and dudes reading the newspaper on a preacher curl.
Being jacked, tan, and strong is nice. But it’s best to top off your physique with real-world athleticism.
Jumps improve performance for recreational athletes.
Jumps build stronger, more powerful legs.
Jumping requires explosive hip and knee extension. It’s the same movement needed to accelerate in sprinting, crush a heavy squat, and to a lesser degree, get you from your Lazy Boy to grab leftover pizza.
Key Point: Jumps Increase Your Athleticism
You need to generate strength quickly to generate force that propels your body (or an object) through space.
That’s where jumps come in. Incorporating jumps into your training bridges the gap between the strength you have and the speed you need.
Get Powerful with a Minimal Learning Curve
Just load up and jump, right?
It’s not quite that simple, of course. But it’s a lot simpler than learning how to clean and snatch.
Jumps work the same athleticism-developing movement pattern as most Olympic lifts, squats, and deadlifts: explosive hip extension, sans the technicalities and steep learning curve.
Compared to mastering the Olympic movements, jumps provide the best bang for your buck to add an explosive component to your training in any gym environment.
Boost your Deadlift and Squat Numbers
Let’s get all rigorous and sciencey and stick to the irrefutable facts, backed up by the finest peer-reviewed literature. We know with certainty that:
Tony likes Star Wars and deadlifts (P.S: Imagine if they did deadlifts in Star Wars?)
Donald Trump’s mullet is the same color as mustard.
Strength serves as the foundation that allows you to improve every other quality in the gym.
Digging into my third point, maximum strength is vital. But lifters would benefit from an occasional change.
They should add explosive training to further improve their strength gains. Even the strongest lifters will derive huge benefits to adding jumps to their training.
The reason is improved nervous system efficiency. In both the deadlift and the squat, extending the hips and knees with power is key to performance. The same holds true for crushing jumps.
Adding jumps to your training grooves the same hip and knee extension movement with lighter weights and more explosiveness.
This is huge for two reasons: Intramuscular and intermuscular coordination.
Don’t let these complicated terms intimidate you. I’ll break it down:
Intramuscular Coordination is the ability of individual muscle fibers (say your quads in a jump) to fire and generate force together.
Intermuscular Coordination is firing of muscle groups to work together in a movement pattern, such as your quads, hamstrings, and glutes contracting and relaxing during the jump.
By training similar movement patterns with various loads, like a heavy squat and a jump squat, you’ll teach your nervous system to recruit more muscle fibers to fire faster. And you’ll groove agonist and antagonist muscles to produce smoother movement.
Training with explosive movements improves your muscles ability to work individually and concurrently with other muscles, producing stronger and more explosive movements.
This is important for a few reasons:
Lighter, more explosive exercises are less stressful than always lifting heavy ass weights.
Lifting heavy weights is still important to build strength, but for most lifters less Central System and joint stress is a good thing.
Replacing a heavy strength session with explosive, sub-maximal exercises opens the door for multiple training improvements.
Because stress is lower, you’re capable of practicing a movement pattern more often for faster improvements in technique.
By and large, less stress allows you to train with more volume. This sets the table for progressive overload and muscle growth.
Keep doing heavy strength work. But consider making it less frequent. Use explosive jumps or sub-maximal speed squats as an alternative.
Jump to Prevent Injuries
We all know someone who’s played flag football or pick-up basketball, only to land awkwardly and shred a knee.
Sometimes, these are the guys that look like they’re in the best shape.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t always matter how strong and athletic you are. If your mechanics stink, your injury risk will skyrocket.
If you’re not performing an exercise right or landing correctly, you’re grooving a technique that’s dangerous and inefficient, whether it’s a squat or a jump.
When you get out the gym and onto the field, fatigue can set in and form can go out the window, leading to injury
In the interest of not winding up thigh deep in a leg brace, it’s best to groove optimal mechanics every time you jump. Here are some guidelines:
1) Your feet should be flat, rather than in an anterior weight displacement on the toes. If you’re landing on your toes, you’re not getting full hip extension and limiting power. And you’re placing more stress on the knee joint due to greater shear stress.
2) Knees should be neutral, rather than in valgus or varus (knees diving in or diving out, respectively).
3) Abs braced: any rounding of the back and trunk shows a power leak that will cascade down the kinetic chain and place stress on the hips, knees, ankles, and feet. Keep the abs engaged so you can absorb force and transfer power.
4) Eyes ahead, chest up: Stand up, keep your head down, and walk ten stops. Starting to trip over your toes yet?
Wherever your head goes, your body will follow. Keep your head neutral and eyes ahead, otherwise the rest of your mechanics will go out the window.
Activate More Muscle Fibers For Growth
You can’t build muscle fibers that aren’t activated. That means step one to building muscle is activating a greater number of muscle fibers.
That happens in two ways:
First, Lift heavy weights. By being a dedicated reader to this blog I’d assume you already are. Just sayin’…
Second, lift lighter weights (or your bodyweight) faster, which…this case means jumping. TADA!
Now, you could argue that except for beginners, neither lifting explosively nor heavier weights directly builds muscle. What they do-do (Yay, a poop joke) is increase neural drive to your muscles, activate dormant fibers, and crank up the efficiency of your central nervous system.
Take it a step further. If you only lift heavy and moderate intensity weights, adding in lighter more explosive exercises improves muscle unit recruitment. You’ll be throwing a figurative lightening bolt to your nervous system.
This is where it gets cool! You’ve activated more muscle fibers and your strength should increase.
By being stronger, you’ll be able to lift more weight for more reps with more muscle fibers. This gets you progressive overload: the driving force for all progress in the gym.
Getting more explosive provides another tool to turn on muscle fibers. This allows you to more aggressively train the muscle building mechanisms needed to get jacked, tan, swole, and sexy.
This is all fine and dandy, so what the hell are we supposed to do…Jump Volume Training?
Not quite. We can’t jump to conclusions. First, lets cover different types of jumps and why each variety is important.
Static Versus Countermovement Jumps
Static jumps and countermovement jumps look similar, but there are distinct differences in how they train your body.
On static jumps you start loaded, just like the bottom of a squat before jumping. In this position you negate the storage of elastic energy, making the static squat jump a great way to build static strength and explosiveness. Further, because there’s no countermovement, these jumps are less complex and generally safer for most lifters.
Static Jump:
Countermovement jumps differ because you start tall, using a downward arm swing while dropping into a squat. Then, from the bottom of your squat you rapidly extend and jump.
This countermovement makes the jump more complex, adding a full eccentric motion (dropping into a squat) before rapidly transitioning to your concentric (going up).
Note: I’m using dumbbells in this case, hence no countermovement with the arms, but there is still a countermovement in the lower body.
Countermovement:
I’d recommend starting with static jumps for at least 4-6 weeks to groove proper take off and landing technique. Then, as dictated by technique, incorporate countermovement jumps for more complexity.
Single Versus Multiple Jumps
As you guessed, single jumps are done as individual jumps within a set, with a re-set between each rep.
Most of the time, these are a better option to groove technique and train explosive power.
Multiple Jumps are a set of jumps performed in rapid succession. In this case, a set of 3 jumps would be 3 squat jumps performed with a consistent range of motion without spending too long in transition.
This transition time, known as the amortization phase, should be kept to a minimum. Otherwise, energy stored during the eccentric of each jump dissipates.
Bring in multiple jump sets gradually, grooving proper landing and takeoff mechanics before going all-out with multiple jumps.
Types of Jumps
If you haven’t squatted in years it would be a bad idea to load the bar with near-maximum weights and giver’ hell, right?
Right?
Well, the same thing applies to jumps.
Jumps are stressful, especially if you haven’t done explosive training or played sports in years. So ease into jumps, starting with jumping rope, building up to box jumps, squat jumps, and then broad jumps (if appropriate.) You’ll groove technique while conditioning the tissues in your lower body for the impact of jumps.
Jumping Rope:
Jumping rope is an exceptional tool to build foot speed, athleticism, and coordination with little space or equipment. Start by adding three to five minutes before and after your training. A huge benefit of jumping rope is it’s a rate limiting activity. The exercise ends when your technique breaks down, making it damn near impossible to jack yourself up.
Box Jumps
Box jumps, when done for power rather than a conditioning exercise, are a great tool to building explosiveness. Box jumps are an ideal candidate if you’re working on technique because they allow you to groove takeoff and landing technique while reducing joint stress on impact.
On each jump make sure you’re emphasizing hip extension—not testing hip mobility. Pause at the top of each rep to reinforce landing technique. Use another box to step down onto. Jumping off backwards defeats the purpose of focusing on technique and decreasing joint stress.
Squat Jumps
Squat jumps are an explosive lower body exercise with a short learning curve, making them perfect for most non-athletes. Start jump squats as static, single jumps before moving on to weighted or multi-rep jump sets.
Broad Jumps
Broad jumps are awesome for developing explosive hip extension in a more hip dominant manor than squat jumps. This may lead to more carryover on hip dominant exercises like deadlifts…along with activities that require horizontal power development, like sprinting.
But with a horizontal trajectory comes a caveat: increased shear stress on the knee, making broad jumps tougher on the joints.
To minimize joint stress, perform broad jumps for lower reps and focus on jumping up and out to reduce shear stress on your knees.
Adding Jumps into your Routine
Squat jumps are an explosive exercise ideally programmed after a dynamic warm-up and before lifting.
To increase your hops and potentiate your body pick one type of jumps once or twice per week.
Focus on technique and explosive intent, not high volume. Try 2-4 sets of 3-6 reps on lower-body training days.
1) Workout A: Lower Body, Squat Dominant
Full Dynamic Warm-Up
1a. Static Squat Jump 3×5 Rest 60 seconds
1b. Plank 3×45-60 seconds rest 60 seconds
2. Front Squat 4×6, 6,4,4 Rest 120-150 seconds
3a. Dumbbell Walking Lunge 3×8/each rest 60
3b. Half kneeling pallof Press 3×8 each rest 60
4. Dumbbell RDL 3×12 rest 90 seconds
2) Workout B: Upper Body
3) Workout C: Lower Body, Hinge Dominant
Full Dynamic Warm-Up
1a. Broad Jump 3×3, rest 90 seconds
1b. Single arm farmers walk 3×30 steps, rest 60-90 seconds
2. Deadlift 4×4, 4,2,2 Rest 120-150 seconds
3a. Barbell Single Leg RDL 3×5/side rest 30 between sides, 60 after set
3b. RKC Plank 3×20 seconds, rest 60 seconds
4. Goblet Bulgarian Split Squat 3×8 each, rest 30 between sides, 60 after set
Height isn’t the most important factor, form is.After all, there’s no point in building power on top of a faulty foundation. Keep your focus on full hip extension and sound landing mechanics.
Then, once you’ve nailed your technique, progress to dumbbell and/or multi-response jumps.
A progression of exercises would be:
Bodyweight single response –> bodyweight multi-response –> dumbbell/vest single response –> dumbbell/vest multi-response.
Next Steps: Power Up Your Training Today
May I offer additional help?
I’ve just written an eBook and compiled a video bundle that that elaborates on these concepts. It’s called The Power Primer 2.0.
And it will help you get strong and lean.You’ll supercharge your athleticism and build muscle, no matter who you are.
More than two years in development, The Power Primer 2.0 bridges the gap between your performance and looking your best.
It’s a package of four eBooks 200 pages over 50 videos that gives you the best of both worlds: A body that looks great and performs great — inside and outside the gym.
You will:
Increase training frequency and nervous system efficiency for strength.
Build more muscle due to greater training frequency and muscle fiber recruitment
Improve your athleticism functional ability for the long-term haul
Improve performance and maximize muscle retention while shredding body fat.
And I’ve offering everything for 50% off this week only. That’s less than a jig of your favorite protein powder.
If you’re like most people you’ve felt…
Discouraged by ineffective workouts that leave you discouraged from training and skipping training sessions
Unathletic and incapable of performing outside the gym
Like you couldn’t build lean muscle, despite training 5-6x per week
Plateaued in your strength, stuck lifting the same weight as last year
Help me, help you. You deserve a plan that gets you the best results.
with “how much weight did you use last week?”
change.
By training similar movement patterns with various loads, like a heavy squat and a jump squat, you’ll teach your nervous system to recruit more muscle fibers to fire faster. And you’ll groove agonist and antagonist muscles to produce smoother movement.
