Affectionately referred to as GWODs, these are workouts designed by both myself and strength coach Dan Trink that will give people a firsthand look as to what a well structured, properly progressed fitness routine should look like.
Taken from the Greatist.com website:
“….these are high-quality, comprehensive strength and conditioning programs anyone can use. GWODs were created after Greatist.com readers expressed their frustration at a lack of quality fitness programming accessible to the average gym goer — not just the most “elite” or “hardcore” individuals among us. So we partnered with some of the best minds in the health and fitness industry to create killer workouts we could give our readers — for free (we think you’ll agree that’s a good price).”
You read that correctly: FREE. As in F to the R.E.E.
A few things to note:
1. It’s purely coincidental that both Dan and I could pass for a Mr. Clean impersonator.
2. We recognize that there are limitations to this program. I think I speak for both of us when I say nothing will trump working with a reputable trainer on a face-to-face basis. But that’s the thing: there are a lot of crap trainers out there writing crap programming which are woefully craptastic at best, and flat out dangerous at their worst.
That said, everyone is unique with their own set of weaknesses, strengths, imbalances, injuries, and experience level and I’d be remiss not to recognize that following a program written for the masses will address every issue for every person in every circumstance.
It ain’t gonna happen.
You’re your own unique flower, and we understand (and appreciate) that.
However, we feel confident that the programming we’ve outlined will be a welcome breath of fresh air for the Greatist community (and the rest of the interwebz for that matter).
3. We’ve covered all the bases from the warm-up (it’s a lot more than just doing some cute arm circles and hopping on the elliptical for five minutes) to laying out, set by set, rep by rep, a well organized, structured, and progressive workout plan (2x, 3x, and 4x per week) that will help people move better, get stronger, and feel like a million bucks.
4. We’re not saying it’s perfect, and we’ll be the first to say that it’s still a work in progress. We’re still very much at the “grassroots” level with this shindig, and we’ll undoubtedly have a few kinks to iron out as the upcoming weeks/months progress.
But we’re really excited that we have the opportunity to help a lot of people and hopefully assist them (and more importantly, YOU) take their fitness and well-being to the next level.
I had the pleasure of doing an interview for Jon-Erik Kawamoto’s site last week, and without tooting my own horn, I have to say it’s arguably one of my best ones, like, ever.
But since I know a lot of people never click on the links (jerks), I wanted to post one of the questions – and my answer – here because I think it’s a message that a lot of people need to hear.
JK: From stalking you on Facebook and your blog, I know there is nothing more important in your life than deadlifting and bacon (and your new cat). There are a kagillion articles on deadlifting out there. In your expert opinion, what’s the best method/program to deadlift two ton Tessie?
TG: That is true, I do love bacon. And, it’s funny: if you would have told me five years ago that I’d eventually own a cat, I probably would have 1) laughed in your face, and 2) make some kind of joke that I was more likely to listen to John Mayer while eating tofu in my Prius on my way to a yoga class.
But it’s true, my name is Tony Gentilcore, and I own a cat (Dagny).
Who’s the most beautifulest pretty Princess on the planet???? You are, that’s who.
So bringing this to a more manly discussion, lets talk about deadlifts! What’s the best method/program to pull over two ton Tessie?
1. For starters, I really wish people would just get off the freakin internet, go to the gym, and actually lift some heavy shit. There are countless “internet warriors” out there that all they do is talk and talk and talk, and speculate, and argue, and brag about how many posts they have on any given forum, and any number of other things equally as dumb, and yet forget one key component: you need to actually lift some damn weight!
Stop talking, get your ass to the gym, place some weight on the bar, get angry, and then lift it……sometimes repeatedly.
2. Speaking more colloquially, it really comes down to one simple concept:
PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD
Here’s a personal reference. I didn’t start deadlifting until 2004. I shit you not, you can probably find posts on T-Nation where I’m asking people “what are these deadlifts you speak of?”
Like a lot of people I started out lifting weight at a young age and followed more of a body part per day split. Chest day, back day, blah blah blah. Trust me, a little piece of my soul dies just thinking about it. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I cringe looking back at how I trained as a high school and even collegiate athlete. If I ever had the chance to take a time machine back to 1994, I’d totally go back and Sparta kick myself in the face.
While I laugh and make fun of it, you know what? I always, and I mean ALWAYS had it in my mind to consistently try to lift heavier loads – whether it was adding a rep here and there, or incrementally increasing the load. That just made sense, ya know? I didn’t need anyone to tell me otherwise.
Anyways, so I started reading a few things here and there and slowly but surely started to understand that, for lack of a better term, I was training like a moron. I started incorporating deadlifts into my weekly training. I nixed the leg press, and started learning to squat to depth (a very humbling experience I might add).
One day I decided to test my 1RM deadlift. Mind you, I had NEVER tested my 1RM before. On day one I hit a 420 lb lift. Not too shabby. The kicker? I didn’t even train for it. All I did was focus on progressive overload. I wasn’t on internet forums arguing about foot placement or set/rep schemes or whether or not Han shot before Greedo (token Star Wars reference there). I was in the gym. Training.
Shut up, and train. It’s that simple. If more people did that…….they’d see marked improvements in their lifts.
I know that that wasn’t the “x’s and o’s” answer you were looking for, but I just feel that we’re living in an age where people are so inundated with information, that they’ve become paralyzed. It’s literally gotten to the point where people over-think things so much – should I do 5×5 or 4×4; So and so said I should wait 47 seconds between sets in order to elicit optimal growth hormone elevation; For max strength, this article said to use a 212 tempo, but my best friend’s brother’s second cousin’s Little League coach said to use a 311 tempo – that they forget one crucial thing.
Fucking lift!!!!!!
To read the rest of the interview (it’s pretty awesome) go HERE.
1. I firmly believe that one of the best ways to bring up any lift is repeated exposures to that lift. One major mistake I see a lot of trainees make – particularly intermediate and advanced lifters (beginners can do ANYTHING and get stronger, and we all hate you for it) – is assuming that training a lift or movement once a week, even if they’re going at it hard, is enough.
For example, I train a fair number of females and one major goal that many of them aspire for is that Brad Pitt stars in the movie adaptation of 50 Shades of Grey to be able to perform a strict, un-assisted chin-up.
For those who missed it the first time around, you can check out my three -part article Chin-Up Progressions For Women- The One Rep Hump: Part I, Part II, and Part III.
One general theme I hit on throughout is repeated exposures. Namely, if you want to get better at chin-ups, you need to do chin-ups. And a lot of them. Why anyone would think that performing “x” number of reps on ONE day is going to get them anywhere is beyond me.
That said, if I were to do little role reversal and point the spotlight on all the guys reading, I think it’s fair to assume that many want a big bench press. Thing is, many go to the gym on Monday (National Bench Press Day), perform their three sets of ten, and that’s it. Yeah yeah, they’ll throw in some incline presses, decline presses, and some pec flies for good measure, but the point I’m trying to make is that it’s that ONE day, and that’s generally it.
Having read Easy Strength recently – and loving EVERY page – both Dan John and Pavel hit on this notion of LADDERS, and how they can be used to help bring up one’s bench.
To give the Cliff Notes version:
You’re going to bench three, maybe even four times per week. Heresy, I know.
Each “session” you’ll perform three bench press ladders of 1,2, and 3 repetitions, using a weight that you know you can handle for 6-8 reps.
From there you rest 3-5 minutes and repeat the awesome two more times.
To give you an idea of what ONE week looks like:
Session 1: THREE ladders: 1,2,3 reps
Session 2: TWO ladders: 1st ladder (1,2,3), 2nd ladder (1,2)
Session 3: TWO ladders: 1,2,3 reps
You want to stick with the SAME weight throughout until you hit every rep of EVERY ladder.
Meaning if you start with 200 lbs, you’ll stick with that weight until you hit every rep during any given session. If you do, you can increase the weight 5-10 lbs on the next session and repeat the same process, only increasing the weight when you hit every rep. Did I mention you need to hit every rep? You need to hit EVERY rep!
I just had one of my distance coaching clients do this for a month and he had amazing results. At the beginning he was using 240 lbs for his ladder sets. Four weeks later, he was hitting ladders using 280 lbs!
We just tested his 1RM, and he hit a solid 315 lbs – a 15 lb PR.
Now, you tell me that repeated exposures don’t work!
Granted, this isn’t something you’ll want to utilize indefinitely, as it’s pretty CNS intensive. But for a dedicated 4-5 week block, it’s a sure fire way to take your bench press to new levels!
2. Since I’m the one who opened up the can of worms and exposed the world to my recent back issues, I’ve been getting a lot of emails from readers asking how things have been coming along.
Swell, actually!
For the last few weeks I had been ramping up the intensity of my deadlifts performing a lot of pulls with chains as accommodating resistance (lighter at the bottom, heavier at the top). About a month ago I hit a 555 lb pull (405 lbs of bar weight with 150 lbs of chains at the top). It felt good, not great…..and Dean Somerset (who was writing my programming) just about blew a gasket when he saw that I did that.
In hindsight it was dumb, and I really lucked out that I didn’t reverse all the progress I had made up until that point.
Fast forward a few weeks – and roughly 12,686 deadbugs – Dean gave me the green light to start pulling heavy again.
I was on that like a CrossFitter on a gluten free PopTart!
Not wanting to be too aggressive, last week, I decided I’d do me speed work and then, depending on how I felt, I’d work up to a sorta-kinda heavy single.
I felt goooooooooood. And when I was done with my speed work, I told Greg (Robins) that under no circumstances was he to allow me to go any heavier than 500 lbs. If I attempted to go any higher, he’d have my permission to Sparta kick me in the groin.
Here’s what 500 looked like (wearing a Dragon tee courtesy of one Jon-Erik Kawamoto)
Not too shabby. Today, I’m going to shoot for 520 ish.
600 lbs by the end of the year. Fingers crossed.
3. I came across this quote the other day and I really have no recollection of where I saw it or who said it, but I thought it was awesome and whoever said it deserves a meatloaf sandwich:
The reality is if you are lifting a weight ten times, numbers nine and ten should be difficult. If you can lift a weight 20 times but choose to do only ten, you are wasting your time. Period.
4. This past weekend I went to the theater to see the remake of Total Recall:
Here’s my one-sentence review: it should have been called Total Regurgitate In My Mouth. HA, see what I just did there? I took the title of the movie and then re-worded it so that you’d get the impression that it sucked, and, well, you get the idea.
5. Lastly, I wanted to give you all a heads up on a really cool site I’ve been using for the past week called RebelMouse.com.
In short, it’s a site that takes all of your social media – Facebook and Twitter – and conjoins everything under one umbrella into your very own social front page. It’s pretty freakin sweet. Check out my page HERE.
It’s currently in Beta, and there’s a waiting list to join, but it might be something worth checking out.
The other day while walking around on the gym floor, I ended up having a small chat with one of our current interns, Doug, on the education system. Random topic I know, and I honestly have no recollection as to how we even got there, but it definitely was something that got the two of us fired up. While I won’t bore everyone with the details, I will say we both came to the conclusion that we can’t believe how ass-backwards everything has gotten.
Maybe it has something to do with reading several books on how higher education isn’t necessarily all it’s cracked up to be – The Education of Millionaires and most recently, Chris Guillebeau’s The $100 Startup – or maybe it’s because I’ve been getting some emails as of late from undergraduates asking me if they should pursue their Masters Degree (in and effort to gain a few more letters next to their name and hopefully have a leg up on their competition), or maybe it’s because I have a sister who’s a teacher.
Either way, the “system” is broken. In today’s society we’re basically programmed right from the get go to think that higher education is the key to being successful, and as a result we have more and more people going into disheartening amounts of debt.
Although, to be fair: no one is pointing a gun at someone’s head that they HAVE to go to a $40,000/per year school….to major in Humanities.
Now, I am in no way saying that going to college is a bad thing or is something that shouldn’t be strived for. But it’s gotten to the point now where 3rd graders aren’t even allowed to go outside and play and have upwards of 2-3 hours of homework per night.
3rd graders!!!!!!
I don’t know about you, but when I was in 3rd grade I was pimpin it on the kick-ball field and figuring out whether or not red Play-Doh tasted any differently than blue Play-Doh.
FYI: it totally doesn’t.
I certainly wasn’t memorizing my multiplication tables.
Anyways, in light of our conversation Doug sent me this TED Talk by Sir Ken Robinson that I thought was amazing, and totally worth 20 minutes of your time.
Last week I posted on how we go about teaching (and implementing) the Turkish Get-Up and kettlebell swing at Cressey Performance (HERE).
From what I could tell it was received well (no hate mail), and at the end of the post I opened it up to the masses to go a head and give ME feedback on how I could go about improving my technique and coaching cues.
Wouldn’t you know it – someone did just that.
Here, Troy Pesola throws me under the microscope and breaks down my KB swing.
This post is a blast from the past that I randomly came across while searching for something else. I re-read it, thought it didn’t suck, and figured that since I wrote it over two years ago and there’s a lot more people reading the site now, it wouldn’t hurt to re-post it again.
On that note, Enjoy the weekend!
Who’s going to see Kate Beckinsale be Kate BeckinsaleTotal Recall?
More appropriately this post should be titled: Exercises You Should Be Doing: 1-Arm ANYTHING.
It’s a bit of a conundrum if you ask me, but why is it whenever you come across articles that discuss unilateral (one-limbed) training, more often than not it ONLY discusses the lower body?
Don’t get me wrong, I think 1-legged training is crucial, otherwise why would I go out of my way to write about it all the time? It’s an important component of any well-rounded strength training program, and something that, thankfully, in no small part to the likes of coaches like Mike Boyle, Ben Bruno, and Mike Robertson, a lot more trainees are starting to implement into their weekly repertoire.
Rarer, however, is the person who includes unilateral upper body training into the mix. At least that’s been my experience.
Using a completely unrelated analogy: It’s kinda like Ben Affleck vs. Matt Damon.
Ben, while respected in the movie industry and a lot of people know who he is, has always lived in the shadow of his best friend, Matt, who, as we all know is freakin Jason Bourne.
In much the same way, unilateral upper body training has always taken a back seat while the lower body has taken all the admiration and accolades.
Well, no longer my friend.
1-Arm Flat DB Bench Press
What Does It Do: This is just one example, of course; there are a million and one variations to choose from – 1-arm push presses, 1-arm DB rows, etc. But while it’s stating the obvious, the 1-arm DB bench press is an awesome way to train overall upper body strength, whether you’re looking to build steel plated pecs or triceps the size of Kansas.
In addition, utilizing more unilateral upper body exercises such as this is a great way to weed out any imbalances that may exist between the right or left side.
A little less ubiquitous is the notion that 1-armed (offset) exercises are a fantastic way to hammer the core as well, as you really have to fire the contralateral side so as not to fall off the bench.
Key Coaching Cues: Well for starters, I’m going to call myself out and say that I really wussed out on the weight selection in that demonstration. Really Tony? 40 lbs?
That notwithstanding, I like to coach a slight arch in the lower back and to use more of a semi-pronated/neutral grip whenever someone performs supine pressing exercises as it’s a little more shoulder friendly to do so.
Moreover, one of the key things to be aware of here is to try your best to keep the butt/pelvis flat on the bench the entire time. As I alluded to above, as you lower and press the weight on one side the offset loading is really going challenge your “core” to fire and to keep the body steady on the bench throughout the duration of the set.
Foot positioning is based off of personal preference. I like to tell people to dig their toes – or heels, whatever is more comfortable – into the floor and to make sure they’re placed more underneath the body rather than splayed out.
I’d say anywhere from 2-4 sets for 6-8 repetitions is par for the course.
As I’m writing this I’m about two hours removed from taking my very first Pilates class, like, EVER. As YOU’RE reading this, it’s more like 24 hours after the fact. But I decided rather than wait until the following morning (today) to write my summary, it was best to hash out my thoughts and observations now while everything was still fresh in my mind.
Well, there’s that, and the fact that my legs are still shaking and I can’t walk anywhere and I’m pretty much glued to my couch at the moment writing this.
So you may be wondering to yourself, “Um, yeah, Tony, how in the heck did this ever transpire?” Good question, because if you were to rate on a scale the likelihood I’d ever take a Pilates class (1 being “lets go, baby!”, and 10 being “Dude, what’s next: eating a tofurkey burger and peeing sitting down?), I’d say it would be around a + 56,000.
Me? Pilates? Hahahahahahahahaha. That’s like trying to mix oil with water; or Ted Nugent with Democrats. It just doesn’t jive.
But 2012 has seen the fruition of a new Tony Gentilcore. As some of you may recall this past winter I stepped outside my comfort zone (waaaaaaaaaaay outside my comfort zone) and took a few yoga classes with my girlfriend. For those interested and who missed it the first time around, I highlighted my experience in Tony Takes a Yoga Class Part I and Part II.
To give the Cliff Notes version:
– In the past I’ve had my misgivings about yoga, and I still feel that it’s woefully misrepresented to the masses as some magical panacea of health and fitness.
– That being said, I took the class, kinda/sorta liked it (the instructor was less than to be desired), and I certainly do see the many benefits that yoga has to offer in terms of flexibility/mobility and the whole mind-body connection.
– As with anything, when done right, yoga is a tool and if it gets someone motivated to get off their keester, get out of their house and move around a little bit, who am I to poo-poo on it?
In light of this, I had still never really considered taking a Pilates class for whatever reason. Maybe I felt I met my “trying new things quota” with the yoga experiment, or maybe I was just a teeny, tiny bit intimidated. Whatever the reason, I never really had the inclination to try it.
That is up until a few weeks ago when a buddy of mine, Mike – who works as a trainer at a local commercial gym here in Boston – sent me an email saying that his fitness manager approached him asking whether or not he felt I’d be interested in trying a Pilates class?
My initial reaction after reading went something like this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1Y73sPHKxw
But after thinking about it, I thought to myself “sure, why the hell not? What do I have to lose?” I’m not that much of an a-hole where I can’t accept a free offer when its given.
Besides, I’m turning a new leaf, right? I’m trying new things, venturing outside my meat-headed ways in an effort to become a more well-rounded, cultured human being.
Next thing you know, I’ll be wearing Lululemon pants!
Okay, not really. That’s taking it a liiiiiiiitle too far.
So anyways, fast forwarding to this morning, I sent an email to Mike (who agreed to join me on this little adventure):
“We still on for today? What time should I show up? What should I wear?
He responds:
1:15. Wear shorts. And underwear.
Dually noted.
At one O’clock, with a clean pair of underwear on hand, I made the seven minute walk down to BodyScapes Fitness in Coolidge Corner. There, I met up with Mike and our instructor Shelley Hardin.
Right from the get go I felt really comfortable with Shelley. She introduced herself and we immediately started chatting about Pilates: what it is, who’s it for, and all the different variations.
For those not familiar – Pilates was designed and developed in the early 20th century (so it’s not that old) by Joseph Pilates, a German born physical-culturist who, I believe, came up with the idea as a way for bedridden soldiers during WWI to still be able to exercise.
In every sense, it was his belief that even if you had a shredded up arm, a broken leg, or some other form of illness or disability, you could still get a training effect.
And I am totally down with that, as I’m constantly telling people that you can ALWAYS train around an injury.
Expounding a bit further (cut/pasted from Wikipedia):
Pilates is a body conditioning routine that helps build flexibility and long, lean muscles, strength and endurance in the legs,abdominals, arms, hips, and back. It puts emphasis on spinal and pelvic alignment, breathing to relieve stress and allow adequate oxygen flow to muscles, developing a strong core or center (tones abdominals while strengthening the back), and improving coordination and balance.
My only qualm with the above definition is the whole notion that you can build long, lean muscles. To be frank, this is utter nonsense, and it takes every ounce of willpower I have not to plant my face into the nearest wall every time I hear or see those words in succession.
Lets be clear: a muscle has a set origin and insertion point, and the only way to make it “longer” is to increase the length of a bone. So, unless you’re into medieval torture or happen to be a character from Harry Potter, you’re not lengthening anything.
But that’s just semantics, and the last thing I want to do is make this into some long-winded rant that takes away from the actual discussion at hand.
Shelley explained to us that, much like yoga, there are several variations of Pilates and that the two most common are classical (mat based) Pilates and those variations that utilize the Reformer apparatus (STOTT being the most common, and one which Shelley said was very popular in Boston).
For her part, Shelley noted that we’d be doing classical Pilates since that’s what she studied and, well, we needed to keep things as basic and simple as possible since both Mike and I were newbies.
She took us into the group exercise room, placed a few mats on the floor, and we were off!
What I Liked
1. As I noted, I felt really at ease with Shelley. For starters, she mentioned that the form of Pilates that she generally teaches has more of a base in Physical Therapy and corrective exercise, which I thought was pretty cool. Secondly, she took the time to ask whether or not either of us had any injuries we were currently working around, which is something that the instructor from the yoga class I took just kinda haphazardly tip toed around.
Above all, she admitted to lifting heavy things on occasion, so she automatically earned a gold star in my book.
2. Unlike yoga which is generally done in a group setting with upwards of a couple dozen people under the tutelage of one instructor, Pilates has a little more of a one-on-one feel, and I really appreciated that Shelley was a little more “hands on” with the two of us.
As a coach myself, and as someone who takes more of a kinesthetic approach when doing so, it was interesting to listen and observe her give her cues and adjust us accordingly.
Oh, so THAT’s what that’s supposed to feel like. Gotcha.
3. Interestingly, in a handful of ways, Pilates is the exact opposite of what I’ve programmed my body to do for the past decade. I tend to want to brace and hold my breath for E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.
Whether it’s hoisting a barbell overhead my head, picking something heavy up off the ground, or, I don’t know, licking a stamp and slapping it on an envelop….
….I’m seemingly engrained to hold my breath, and brace like mofo.
Just learning how to inhale and exhale appropriately and without passing out was challenge in of itself, and probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do in my life. This includes sitting through an entire season of Sex and the City when Lisa and I first started dating, looking at this picture of model Larissa Riquelme and trying really hard not to see how intelligent she looks, and taking (and failing) my driver’s test – TWICE – when I was a teenager.
Yes, I failed twice. Don’t ask.
In any case, learning the proper breathing mechanics while performing all the exercises was really eye-opening and something I feel has a lot of applicability to what I do as a strength coach.
4. Having actually done it now, I can say without wavering that Pilates is no cake walk and that it’s freakin godawful. But in a good way.
I like how every movement was easily progressed (or regressed) using any number of simple tools such as light dumbbells, a strap, or a block.
While I’m not going to disillusion anyone and say that you’re going to break personal records in the gym, there is something to be said for learning how to control your own bodyweight and being more cognizant of what you activate and when (and in what sequence).
Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera with me to take pictures, but I’m pretty sure this picture best represents what Mike and I looked like after our session:
I’ll admit it: it was humbling. But, by that same token, I felt AMAZING afterwards.
What I Disliked
1. The only drawback was that I was a little leery of all of the cues to “draw in the abs” and breath into the chest. It seems Pilates buys into the drawing in or “hollowing method,” and I can’t say I’m a fan of that approach given the amount of time I spend coaching people to increase intra-abdominal pressure (PUSH OUT) – in an effort to increase spinal stability – when they’re lifting heavy weights.
But that’s just my personal opinion, and isn’t necessarily a knock against Pilates. I understand that it doesn’t use heavy weights, and that UN-LOADED spinal flexion is okay
Too, given the prominence of faulty breathing patterns we see in our society (most people are chest breathers and have no idea how to use their diaphragm), it’s a hard pill to swallow to actually cue people to breath into their chest.
But I get it. Shelley fully explained why breathing into our chest was important – to learn to allow the ribs to move – and it wasn’t the end of the world.
2. Outside of that, however, other than my ego being crushed like a bug, I can’t say I had all that much to be negative about. Again, this is a testament to Shelley and the fact that she wasn’t trying to push Pilates as the end-all/be-all of everything.
That said, I can definitely see how given the wrong instructor (ie: someone who doesn’t take into account one’s movement quality, skill level, injury history (past and present), postural deficits, etc) this medium could be construed into one massive ball of fail, especially when you consider taking the spine into end ranges of motion.
But that’s just me being nit-picky.
I really did enjoy myself and I had a blast doing it. I’ve been offered the invitation to go back, and contingent on surviving the barrage of ball busting I’m inevitably going to receive once my colleagues and athletes from CP read this, I think I’m going follow up on it.
If anything, I see this as a way to give myself a day to lay low on the heavy stuff, work on some postural imbalances, RELAX, and more importantly to have some fun.
So I had just finished doing all of my Sunday morning errands yesterday (laundry, grocery shopping, crushing bacon, what have you) and finally sat down to try to figure out what I wanted to accomplish for the rest of the day. I had a few things on tap. For starters, I had to catch up on some writing. I also had a handful of programs that needed to be completed, fine tuned, and sent out to clients so that they could start them today.
And, as is the case with every Sunday, I had to figure out which matinee I was going to go see. Frankly, once I had my “work” done for the day, I really had no set agenda other than to watch a movie (I ended up seeing Take This Waltz), maybe catch a little of the Olympics, touch base with Lisa on Skype (she’s off exploring in Europe for a month), and then spend the rest of the day vegging out.
I flipped open my laptop to check my emails really quick and noticed I had a message from Kevin Larrabee.
“Want to join Fass, Leigh and I for some podcasting at 6pm for like 25 minutes?
Like, whoa. I can’t even remember the last time I was on The Fitcast. I think Lost was still on the air, Paula was still a judge on American Idol, and Tebowing didn’t even exist.
Yeah, it had been a while.
So anyways, what was supposed to be a quick “25 minute” recording turned into an over two hour reunion of catching up, debauchery, and shenanigans. Don’t worry the episode isn’t two hours long, and we also happened to squeeze in some health and fitness content too.
Among a few things we touched on:
– Breathing Patterns
– Internet Gurus
– Cressey Performance expansion
– My cat
– The Dark Knight Rises (relax, no spoilers).
The episode is so chock full of awesome info and nuggets, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if this happened:
While this article may be a little high on the geek factor for some, for those interested in pelvic mechanics and the dichotomy between anterior pelvic tilt and posterior pelvic tilt (and who isn’t?), this one is right up your alley.
As someone who “suffers” from excessive APT myself, Bret hit the nail on the head with this one.
As he notes, while standard advice is to:
Strengthen the rectus abdominis, external obliques, gluteals, and hamstrings.
Stretch the psoas, iliacus, rectus femoris, tensor fascia latae, and erector spinae.
This advice is legit, but incomplete.
I guess you’re going to have to click on the article to find out why. DO IT!
I receive a lot of emails from various trainers and coaches who in one way or another are looking to dive into fitness writing and end up asking advice on how they should go about becoming, well, writers.
I usually say something along the lines of “how do you get better at riding a bike, or deadlifting, or sucking at life?”
Answer: You ride a bike; you deadlift; you listen to Coldplay.
HAHA. Okay, I don’t really say that, but I do often recommend that they just try to get in the habit of writing every day, on any topic.
More to the point, I direct them towards people like Kellie who is someone I really respect as a writer (and trainer), and this article proves why.
Awesome article written by Adam on Arnold Schwarzenegger’s site that I was lucky enough to be asked to contribute to (along with several other awesome fitness peeps). Um, yeah, I’m quoted in the same article as Arnold freakin Schwarzenegger.
I don’t care if we’re referring to kettlebells, TRX, sandbags, strongman, chains, bands, or whatever the hell THIS contraption is supposed to be….you could make an argument that there’s a time and place for everything, and that they’re a tool in the toolbox, and need to be used at the right time, with the right person, for the right job.
When I wrote the piece, I wasn’t entirely sure how people were going to react to it. On one hand, I felt I was making a compelling argument and that a statue would be erected in my honor for making so much sense. Conversely, I knew I was “kinda, sorta” throwing one group of individuals to the lions and was fully prepared for the avalanche of hate mail and push back I was going to receive.
Worse case I figured some kettlebell bully was going to show up at the facility, tell me I was some big stupid head, and give me a massive atomic wedgie.
It never happened. Thank god.
I seems I was able to relay my message successfully and with no major incidents. Yay me!
Nevertheless, in light of what I wrote I felt compelled to expound on a few things in a recent staff in-service we filmed to demonstrate to the world that we actually do incorportate kettlebells in our every day programming. TRUTH!!!!!
A few things to note before we begin:
1. There are only a handful of things I consider myself to be an expert in:
– Omelete making.
– Watching Star Wars.
– Being awesome.
While I feel I’m fairly competent, get-ups and swings aren’t what I would consider my strong suits.
Speaking frankly, I hate doing get-ups. I do them, obviously. I just hate them with a passion. There’s no tip toeing around it: they rank pretty high on the Things That Generally Suck Or Really Irritate Me List , juuuuuust above passing a kidney stone and juuuuuust below Justin Beiber.
Having said that, there’s no denying their efficacy towards building total body strength and bringing to the forefront any mobility and/or stability “leaks” in the kinetic chain.
It’s like what I always say: the exercises that we hate the most are generally the ones that elicit the greatest benefit.
Anyways, admittedly I’m NOT an HKC or an RKC (I do hope to attain an HKC soon) and I’m fully aware that there might be some nitpicky things that I’m doing wrong in the video, as well as a handful of things I missed noting.
I’m all for an open discussion on how I can improve my coaching, and if there’s any glaring mishaps or discrepancies, I’d encourage any experts to chime in. Please!
If, however, you’re going to bust my chops because I didn’t dorsiflex my left pinky toe enough, then all I have to say is: “come on……..really?”
All in all, I feel this is a pretty decent representation of how to go about coaching both the get-up and swing effectively (and safely) – especially with beginner and intermediate trainees. Keep it simple.
2. This was a very, very impromptu presentation. I was literally sitting in my office when Chris Howard walks in and says, “Tony, you’re up. Staff in-service in five minutes.”
Crickets chirping……….
I had no idea I was supposed to do the staff in-service, so I put my shirt on, pounded a protein shake, and I was off.
My apologies if it seems little “disorganized.”
3. I’m REALLY sorry about the length. I realize no one wants to sit there and watch a 30 minute video on anything (unless it’s about Katy Perry’s boobs), and I had every intention of dividing this into two separate tutorials, but for the life of me I couldn’t figure out iMovie.
I sat in front of my computer for at least 45 minutes last night trying to figure out how to import a file, and I just couldn’t do it. You might as well have asked me to figure out how to solve global warming.
Anyways, just to give you a heads up: I begin everything with how to coach someone through a “naked” half get up to a “naked” full get-up. Then, at around the 17:00 minute mark I switch gears and discuss the swing.
Okay, enough with the formalities. Here you go. Let me know what you think!
Things have been cranking the past few days, and it’s been hard for me to keep up with the blog. I posted one up late on Monday, skimped yesterday, and am posting a short one today. I’m slacking, I know.
If it’s any consolation I’m really sorry everyone, but I promise I’ll make it up to you soon.
(Bambi Eyes)
I actually do have a lot on my plate right now:
1. Within the next week or so, strength coach Dan Trink and I will be exposing to the world a project we’ve been working on in collaboration with Greatist.com. It’s thiiiiiiiiiiiiis close to being complete – everyone’s busy putting the finishing touches into place – and we’re pretty certain it’s going to help out a lot of people, if not win us a Nobel Prize.
Stay tuned. News to come shortly.
2. I’m cranking away on my next T-Nation article, which discusses some of more common exercises that trainees tend to butcher.
3. And yesterday I actually spent the afternoon hanging out with JC Deen, lifting heavy(ish) things and eating some dead animals. We met up in the city, headed over to Boston University to get a quick lift in and then spent the afternoon talking about training, marketing, writing, and even read some poetry to orphans.
Okay, we didn’t really do that……..but we did spend a fair amount of time shooting the shit and talking about the industry.
All I have to say about JC is that he’s a great dude, and my man has a very, very bright future a head of him. You might even say I officially have a little man-crush.
I know some of you reading may already be familiar with his work, but if not, I’d highly encourage you to check out his website HERE.
So anyways, enough with the small talk. Lets get to today’s Exercise You Should Be Doing
1-Arm Landmine Row
Who Did I Steal If From: I know Ben Bruno has been posting a lot of new exercises as of late with the landmine, so I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he’s already highlighted this one. However, in my defense I looked at the date from when I actually filmed this video and it was November 23, 2008 (hence the winter skully on my head). HA – take that Bruno!
What Does It Do: Actually, a lot. As with any row variation we’re hitting the upper back, lats, and biceps pretty hard, so this should be a popular “go to” exercise for all the meat heads out there reading – especially for those who train in a gym who’s dumbbell selection is limited.
You could foreseeably load this sucker up pretty heavy.
A little less known is that this exercise is an absolute beast when it comes to anti-rotation (or, rotary) training. Because it’s done in a two-point stance – only two points of contact – there’s a strong demand on the torso to resist rotation, which I feel makes this exercise pretty key.
Key Coaching Cues: Maintaining a “neutral” spinal position throughout is paramount. If we’re going to keep ourselves honest, if one were to place a long PVC stick down the backside, there should be three points of contact – back of the head, between the shoulder blades, as well as the sacrum.
This is just a point of reference, of course, I don’t expect you to really place a PVC pipe on your back while performing this exercise. But it might not be a bad idea for those struggling with proper positioning.
Moreover, it’s important to refrain from using too much “body english” on these. While it’s inevitable there’s going to be “some” movement in the torso, the key objective here is to not look as if you’re having an epileptic seizure and stay as still as possible while performing the movement.
To that end: you’ll want to push your hips back, keep your knees “soft” (don’t lock them), brace your abs, and focus on pulling “through the elbow.” Ideally, I like to tell trainees to pull their elbow towards their hip……..and to NOT go past that point.
Another thing to consider is the size of the plates used. It’s actually less cumbersome to use the smaller 10 lb plates and just load the bar up with as many of those as you need.
Using the larger plates – while they look waaaaaaaay cooler – will just get in the way of everything.
I like to perform these for sets of 6-10/side. Try them out today and let me know what you think.
NOTE: For those who don’t have access to a landmine apparatus (the thingamajig on the floor that the bar goes into), you can just as easily place barbell in the corner between two walls and do the exact same thing. You might have to place a towel around the bar so that it doesn’t mark up the wall, but that shouldn’t be too much of a hassel.
body part per day split. Chest day, back day, blah blah blah. Trust me, a little piece of my soul dies just thinking about it. I can’t even begin to tell you how much I cringe looking back at how I trained as a high school and even collegiate athlete. If I ever had the chance to take a time machine back to 1994, I’d totally go back and Sparta kick myself in the face.
