The deadlift is arguably one of the more technical strength movements to master, and it’s no wonder that it oftentimes takes trainees months, years (maybe even more) to really hone in on the technique side of things.
So many variables and factors come into play, and if we were to make an impromptu checklist it may look something like this:
Can you demonstrate proper spinal position, or what we like to call “neutral spine”. This also includes packing the neck and not destroying the back of your pants.
Do your hips come up too quickly on the initial pull?
What about on the descent: do you tend to sit back and engage more of the hips and glutes, or do you use more of a squat pattern?
How about bracing and intra abdominal pressure: can you get and maintain ample (360 degree) expansion?
Do you have sufficient ankle, hip, and t-spine mobility to maintain proper position throughout?
Are you “finishing” with your hips/glutes at the top?
Do your socks match your shirt? Oh, god….they don’t! Shit, now everyone’s going to think you’re an idiot and are going to laugh at you! Hahahahahahahaha.
No one is the same, obviously. What works for one person, may be a recipe for disaster for the next. But one common mistake I see many trainees making when setting up to deadlift – especially with regards to conventional or trap bar style – is placing their foot stance too wide.
Hopefully this video demonstration – done on ONE TAKE, thank you very much – helps shed some light on the topic.
Hope everyone (here in the States) enjoyed the 4th! Mine was pretty uneventful all told, and was actually the first time in the six years I’ve lived here, that I actually spent it in Boston – in years past, I’ve always gone up to Maine to enjoy the fresh air and EC’s grandma’s carrot cake.
This year, though, Lisa and I elected to stay in the city and went and bought a new air conditioner instead – cause we’re romantic like that – and then went to go see the movie Ted, which was freakin hilarious!!!!!
Go see it. Now.
30 Years, 30 Health & Fitness Tips – Jon-Erik Kawamoto
Jon-Erik and I have been stalking one another on the internet for the past year or so (the guy is literally EVERYWHERE now: Men’s Fitness, T-Nation, Oxygen, lurking outside your kitchen window) and I finally had the pleasure of meeting him in person a few weeks ago at the PTDC seminar up in Toronto.
I’ve had my fair share of instantaneous man-crushes in my day – Matt Damon, The Rock, to name a few – and Jon-Erik ranks right up there. He’s one of the most humble guys you’ll ever meet, and he’s just someone who’s passionate about this industry and just “gets it.” He’s already blowing up, but I expect even bigger things for him in the near future.
Do yourself a favor and book mark his website. You won’t be sorry.
And, for those interested, I did a similar piece back when I turned 34 titled 34 Years, 34 Favorite Things.It’s the exact same things as Jon-Erik’s post, except with four more years of asskickery (and hair loss) added in.
The Surprising Science of Motivation – Daniel Pink
This is an older TED talk that I came across recently, but the title says it all: despite what we’ve always been told, it’s surprisingly surprising what actually motivates us to succeed.
While many are quick to point to incentive based programs as the impetus that really motivates us to meet certain deadlines or attain high quotas, Dan Pink – author of the phenomenal book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us – flips it around and states that such things do nothing but IMPEDE progress and dulls our minds and creativity.
One of – if not THE reason – why I like to do this weekly “stuff you should read” series is that it allows me the opportunity to relay quality content from other health and fitness professionals that otherwise wouldn’t get too much exposure.
Granted, I link to a lot of articles from other really smart people that are way more of a bigger deal than myself, but I also like to “pay it forward” and help bring some lesser known personalities to the forefront as well.
Monika’s a dancer and she trains a lot of dancers. Unlike many dance coaches, however, she actually understands that strength training can be an important fail safe to not only improve their performance, but prevent their bodies from breaking down at a break neck pace.
While the post is geared towards dancers and may turn people off from reading it, I’d encourage you to read anyways for the message alone.
Today I’m throwing everyone a bit of a curve ball, and doing something a little differently compared to what I normally do. To be as succinct as possible, I had an interesting email exchange with one of my female clients last weekend about the difference between weight loss and fat loss, and I thought I’d share the dialogue both she and I exchanged here as I felt it would make for some decent blog fodder.
I think this is a topic that leaves a lot of trainees flummoxed, and it’s something that unfortunately, despite our best efforts, is a message that gets lost in translation – especially within the mainstream media.
If nothing else, I thought my insight would serve two purposes:
1. I think it’s a topic that a lot trainees (especially women) need to hear more often, and is something I feel pretty strongly about.
2. Hopefully help turn the tides and help people realize that it’s not necessarily an “education thing” (we all know that pounding beer isn’t the answer), but rather a BEHAVIORAL issue that we need to address.
With that said, below is the email exchange between her and I, which has been edited slightly so that it would “flow” more easily in blog format.
On that note: Bagels suck!
Female Client: Hey Tony, it’s been several weeks since I’ve seen you and I’m excited to get back to CP to train! Having said that, while I still have some things I’d like to work on in terms of some aches and pains, and I definitely want to get my strength back, I would like to work on weight loss, do you have any good suggestions for me in that area?
Me: Hey Kate Beckinsale (name has been changed to protect the identity of the actual client)! Great to hear from you. With the weight loss issue, I think it’s important to understand that there’s a huge difference between weight loss and fat loss.
Far too often – at least in my experience, and this may or may not pertain to you – women get overly caught up on what the scale tells them. Weight loss can be completely subjective, and the truth of matter is the scale really doesn’t tell you anything.
If I told you to not eat for eight hours, you would weigh less.
If I told you to not drink water for a day, you would weigh less.
If I told you to cut off you right arm, you would weigh less.
In all three scenarios you weigh less, but does that really mean you made any significant progress?
Answer: Um, no.
Sure, you weigh less……….but all you’ve really accomplished is to make yourself a smaller, weaker, armless, version of your original self. There’s no shape, form, or contour to the body. What’s more: now you have to do everything with your left arm. And that just sucks!
How most women (and I’ll throw a lot of men under the bus here, too) approach weight loss is wrong. Many would bode well by changing their mindset altogether and start thinking in terms of FAT loss.
More to the point: to MAINTAIN as much muscle as possible (even better, build some muscle) and focus on fat loss.
One lb of muscle weighs the EXACT same as one lb of fat – well, DUH!! – the difference, however, is that muscle is more dense than fat and takes up less space.
Stealing a little thunder from my good friend, Nia Shanks, here’s a great example of why it’s often a VERY good idea for women to not only toss their scale into the trash, but to not be skeered of adding a little muscle to their frame as well:
Muscle is more dense than fat, and that’s why a woman who’s been training hard and, despite losing body fat, hasn’t seen the number on the scale change much, if any, because she’s built muscle, too.
This is one reason why building muscle is a very good thing for women.
Here’s a picture to show that you can look better even if you gain weight. This is one of Jason Ferruggia’s clients.
As you can see, she gained 9 pounds but looks leaner, more “toned”, and more athletic because she lost body fat and built muscle. Good thing she didn’t let the number on the scale upset her!
I could write an entire book on what type of training one should follow in order to elicit similar results (Note to Self: write a book), but I don’t really want to get into that here with you.
This might come across as beating a dead horse, but when it DOES come to fat loss, almost always, nutrition is going to be the biggest determining factor.
So, with that said, we need to come up with some “system” that starts to change your behaviors. I’m sure we can sit here and figure out a multitude of things that you need to change from a nutrition standpoint (eating more veggies, stressing protein with every meal, increasing healthy fats, food prep, etc), but that’s not going to help you.
Instead, and this is a concept I “stole” from another buddy of mine, Mark Young, who has a lot of experience in these sort of things, we need to figure out a way to fix/change your behaviors one at a time. As an example, on a scale of 1-10 (one being “I’d rather swallow a live grenade and ten being “I could do that in my sleep”) how confident do you feel about omitting fast food or weekend brunches out of the mix?
If it’s not at least an eight or above, then we need to take a step back and figure out a better approach. It’s only when we can figure out a way for you to be successful and to carry that over into a CONSISTENT behavior that things are going to really make a difference.
If you don’t feel overly confident about eating protein with every meal (using another example), then what about two meals? Once you start making two meals a day a habit, then we can push the envelop to four meals per day, so on and so forth until it becomes standard procedure.
You go girl!
But remember: YOU CANNOT OUT TRAIN A POOR DIET
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ In case you were wondering, I used capital letters so that you’d understand that this is kind of an important point
You. Can. Not. Out-Train. A. Poor. Diet.
It’s just not going to happen. I can write you the most kick-ass fat loss plan in the history of the human race – training 4-5 times per week, throwing in any combination of circuits, finishers, or anything else we can think of that will make you hate life – but it’s not going to matter if we don’t tackle the nutritional side of things.
Using an analogy I’ve used in the past, if we KNOW that fat loss is (more or less) determined by calories in vs. calories out, which seems to be a more efficient use of our time:
A) Spending upwards of 45-60 minutes (maybe) burning off 350-500 calories (depending on the mode, intensity, duration) exercising ?
Note to Everyone Reading: trust me when I say this, despite the machine telling you otherwise, you DID NOT just burn 700 kcals walking on the treadmill for 30 minutes at a 5% grade. Those machines are WOEFULLY off and not remotely accurate.
Seriously, think about it. Unless you’re walking with Volkswagon on your back, you’re not burning that many calories.
OR
B) Electing not to eat that bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios before bed?
Ding, ding, ding, ding.
If we were to take the simple equation that a lb of fat equals 350o of excess kcals (which I know can be argued, but bare with me, I’m trying to make a point), we can surmise that subtracting 500 kcals per day (whether through diet or exercise, or both!) leads to a lb of fat loss per week. Give or take.
Again, from a time efficiency standpoint, and with FAT LOSS as the goal, nutrition is going to trump exercise in terms of better use of our time no matter what.
Here’s the rub though: as I noted above, it’s not an education thing. You know that it’s not the best idea to crush Doritos (or whatever) or to forego preparing a home cooked meal in lieu of hitting up McDonald’s on your way home from work.
You know that eating a boatload of highly processed carbohydrates on a day where you’re less active probably isn’t the best idea. You know ALL of this. So what’s holding you back?
It’s all about behavior change.
We need to have some sort of default “path” to help you succeed. So, instead of McDonald’s, maybe you hit up Chipolte Grill and order a meat salad with a heaping pile of guacamole on top?
While still not the best option, it’s a heckuva lot more conducive to your goals, and a step in the right direction.
The same can be said for trying to include more veggies, healthy fats etc. We need to find a “spot” where you feel confident you can be successful. Going back to the scale suggested earlier: how confident are you that you can include five servings of vegetables per day? Is it an 8 or above?
If not, then what about three servings? Two?
Hopefully this all makes some sense, and more importantly sheds some light on why I feel weight loss is not where your head should be at at the moment.
Still think cutting off that arm is a good idea?…..;o)
1. I woke up this morning and turned on SportsCenter to see that Cubs first basemen, Bryan LaHair, had been voted onto the 2012 MLB All-Star team. After picking up the chunks of omelete that launched out of my mouth after seeing the graphic, I immediately got onto Twitter and Facebook to spread the word.
Said Dale Sveum, Bryan’s manager on the Cubs:
‘‘It’s one of those things as a manager that you get that’s a special time,’’ Sveum said. ‘‘You tell a kid who’s [29] he’s an All-Star after so many years in the minors. That’s what we live for in this game, those special moments.”
I couldn’t agree more. Bryan’s been training with us at Cressey Performance for the better part of the past three off-seasons, and this couldn’t have happened to a more deserving human being.
Congrats Bryan!
2. For those looking for some good books to read in the realm of fitness, I have two new suggestions.
This was a book that was handed to me by one of the attendees a few weeks ago in Edmonton at the Spinal Health and Core Training seminar, and admittedly I haven’t started to read it yet. But after perusing it for a few minutes, and noticing how there’s an entire chapter dedicated to debunking all the myths that a lot of a-hole physicians STILL have towards cholesterol, I know it’s going to be a game changer.
This was another book that was sent my way a few weeks ago – actually, the entire staff at CP received a copy – and I was able to sit down and start reading it yesterday while Lisa and I were heading back home from Nantucket (more on that in a bit).
It’s a quick read, but I can’t advocate this book highly enough to any personal trainers out there looking to take their business to the next level.
If nothing else, all the information on “interviewing” your potential clients – as well as just learning to listen to them – is worth the price alone.
3. I am the man from Nantucket. Well, at least I was for a 27 hour window this past weekend.Lisa and I were invited to Nantucket Island to help celebrate the grand opening of The Nantucket Hotel and Resort.
I think I heard Lisa say, “I loooooooooove Nantucket” at least 37 times while we were there, and to piggy back off her sentiment……words can’t even describe how beautiful the ENTIRE island was, let alone the resort itself (pictured to the left).
The coolest part, though? The guy who owns the resort and is responsible for building it, is also a client of mine, and the crazy bastard put dumbbells up to 120 lbs in the fitness center.
Hahahahahahahaahahaha. He did it because he wanted it to be a talking point amongst the guests. Mission accomplished. I think Lisa and I overhead at least four different people mention the dumbbells. Uh, hello??!?!?! We’re in paradise! Screw the dumbbells!
Nevertheless, the entire trip was amazing, and if anyone reading ever goes to Nantucket, you now know where the most diesel gym is on the island!
4. My back is starting to feel better as of late, and I owe a lot of gratitude towards both Milford, MA based physical therapist Eric Schoenberg and the one and only Dean Somerset.
NOTE: for those who are new or maybe haven’t been in the loop for a few weeks, you can catch up HERE and HERE.
Anyways, both have been holding my hand through this entire process, and while I still have a little ways to go, I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Dean even told me I can test the waters this week and work up to a heavy(ish) pull of around 80% of my 1RM to see if my back barks at me or not. The way I see it, one of two things are going to happen:
I dominate it, shake hands, kiss babies, and invariably a ticker tape parade is held in my honor.
I literally shit my spine.
Fingers crossed! I’ll try to post a video of it later on….so stay tuned!
1. Read THIS. It will change your life. Well, not really. But at the very least it will (hopefully) clean up your technique.
2. Wolff’s Law and Davis’s Law. You can’t discount physics. The former states that bone in a healthy person or animal will adapt to the loads it is placed under. The latter states the same thing, except with regards to soft tissue.
Deadlifting = strong bones + soft tissue. You need a minimal essential strain (MES) in order for tissue to adapt. Likewise, in order to strengthen tissue, you need to load it. Sorry, but your cute little leg extensions and leg curls aren’t going to get the job done.
3. I’m biased. You’d be hard pressed to convince me otherwise that the deadlift isn’t one of the best overall exercises for hypertrophy, not to mention the best functional exercise you can do with respects to posterior chain strength, core stability, glute activation, power development, and transference of force throughout the entire body.
And lets not forget: a heavy set of deadlifts will make any woman within a two-block radius spontaneously conceive. True story.
4. Deadlifts done incorrectly are horrible for your spine. I can’t argue with that. However, when done correctly – with a neutral spine and proper hip hinge – they’ll do more as far as “bullet proofing” the body than any other exercise.
5. Speaking of the hip hinge. This is an excellent drill to learn to groove it. Just make sure to maintain three point of contact throughout – back of the head, between the scapulae, and the sacrum. If at any point the stick comes off loses contact with the body, you’re doing it wrong.
6. Make sure to finish with your hips (hump the bar) with every rep. One of the biggest mistakes I see trainees make is that they don’t finish the rep with their glutes – their butt just kinda sticks out J-Lo style.
Squeeze those bad boys at the top. Deadlifts teach the glutes to share the load which will also help spare the spine.
7. Conversely, at the other end of the spectrum, you have those who compensate with lumbar hyperextension for hip extension:
Yeah, um, don’t do that.
I like to tell people to “finish” with the glutes or to “stand tall.” Those cues seem to work well for most, but not everyone.
In any case, here’s what a proper “finish” should look like.
Very sexy.
8. Not every deadlift variation is created equal. Pick the one that’s right for you. What’s so great about deadlifts are that they can easily be conformed or “tweaked” to fit the needs of the lifter, and not vice versa.
Trap Bar Deadlifts
– Fantastic for beginners due to less shear loading on spine (center of gravity is INSIDE the bar).
– Elevated handles make it easier for those with hip flexion/ankle restrictions
– MUCH easier to maintain neutral spine due to the bar placement.
SUMO Deadlifts
– Excellent choice for those with mobility restrictions.
– Guys who are built to squat and bench (alligator arms, long torsos) like this version – because they don’t have to work so hard to get as low.
– Wider stance, toes out = easier to maintain neutral spine.
– CAVEAT: these tend to eat up people’s hips, so I’d be reluctant to include them for more than a few weeks at a time.
Conventional Deadlift
– Although it’s the most recognized, it’s also the most advanced variation (more shear loading on the spine, center of gravity more anterior).
– Trainee MUST have ample ankle, hip, and thoracic mobility in order to get into proper position. If they don’t (which is a lot if you), then tweak the lift as needed either by elevating the bar on mats or maybe reverting to rack pulls.
– Lack of the above will inevitably lead to lumbar flexion, which is a major no-no when using significant loads.
9. I really feel the ideal rep scheme to teach deadlifts is in the 3-5 rep range. Anything more and technique goes to the crapper and it takes every ounce of will power I have not to want to throw myself in front of a bus.
10. For those who have a little more experience, 5×5 ain’t gonna cut it forever. If you want to get strong – I mean REALLY strong – you HAVE to include more singles and doubles into the mix.
More specifically, including more lifts at or above 90% (of 1RM) will almost certainly help.
In a nutshell, lifting maximal weight (90%+) has a number of effects:
– Maximum number of motor units are recruited.
– Fastest MU’s are activated.
– The discharge frequency (rate coding) is increased.
– Activity is synchronous.
– Improved coordination between synergistic muscles.
– Potential for future hypertrophy gains. Ie: loads that used to be heavy are no longer heavy.
– Increased serum testosterone levels.
– Girls will want to hang out with you. Not proven by science, but it just makes sense.
11. As far as how to go about setting up a training session utilizing the 90% protocol, here’s the general idea:
Assuming original PR is 300 pounds, the goal for this training session is to get five lifts at 90% and above.
135×5
185×3
225×3
275×1
305×1 (PR! But it was a grinder. The girl on the elliptical is impressed though.)
At this point the trainee has already gotten two lifts above 90% (275, 305), which would mean he needs to get three more lifts in to get to the goal of five. The objective now is to stay at or slightly above 90% (usually in the 90-92% range) and focus on bar speed and NOT missing any lifts.
280×1,1
Follow this with a few fist pumps, pound a protein shake, and then hug someone.
12. Take your shoes off when deadlifting. Doing so will get you closer to the ground (less distance the bar has to travel), as well as help engage the glutes and hamstrings more (which is what you want anyways).
13. I’ve stated in the past (HERE) that when it comes to weight belts, they should be reserved for more maximal effort lifts. I’m starting to change my mind on this one a bit. With regards to teaching trainees to “feel” what it’s like to increase intra-abdominal pressure – as well as to teach them get more of a 360 degree expansion – I think utilizing a (loosely fit) weight belt would be ideal here.
Bill Hartman explains this in a little more detail here:
14. Do you have a hard time deadlifting without rounding your back? Maybe you need to stiffen it up! Read THIS.
15. For those too lazy to click the link, essentially all I said was to implement more upper back work – horizontal rows – into your weekly repertoire.
Oftentimes the back rounds because it’s weak. Fix it!
16. Along the same lines, we can’t discount poor t-spine mobility. You need to HAMMER it on a daily basis – especially those who are sitting in front of their computers upwards of 10+ hours a day.
17. Include more single leg work into the mix as well. Oftentimes, especially when working with beginners, a huge monkey wrench that becomes readily apparent is that they have poor kinesthetic awareness. You can tell them to arch their back all you want, but if they don’t have proper body awareness, you might as well pound you head into a brick wall.
To that end, when coaching cues don’t work, maybe it’s wiser to take a step back from deadlifts and just throw in more single leg work. Doing so will undoubtedly help get them stronger, but also improve hip stability and core stability to boot.
After a few weeks, try deadliftng again, and I can almost guarantee they’ll nail it.
In reality, though, including more single leg work in general is never a bad idea.
18. Slow people down!!!! When performing deadlifts, I like to tell people that each rep is its own set. Meaning, when they pull the bar off the ground, lock it out, and then descend back to the floor, tell them to rest for a second or two (after all, it is a DEADlift, not a bouncelift) and re-adjust their spinal position, get their air, and properly set up for the next rep.
Instead of thinking of it as a set of five repetitions. Think of it as a set of five separate singles.
19. And finally, watch this video. I wore my glasses, so I obviously know what I’m talking about.
Q: I need to improve my knowledge of functional anatomy (who doesn’t?). I know Cressey took a very comprehensive gross anatomy course down at UCONN as a grad student, but I was wondering how you approached improving this area in your based of knowledge?
Was there a specific text that you used? Did you go to town on memorizing points of origin, insertion, and anatomical structures in a musculoskeletal anatomy index? There’s a ton of information out there for me to access, but I’m trying to get a handle on what the best approach to take is to avoid spinning my wheels.
Thanks in advance for any help you might be able to offer.
A: This is actually a really good question, and something I feel is a monkey wrench for a lot of new and upcoming trainers out there.
Functional anatomy is STILL something I’m trying to get a good handle on, and by far is one of my weaker areas. Well, that, and the bench press. God, I suck at that.
Anyways, while I DO feel I can hold my own with regards to anatomy – boys have boy down there parts, and girls have girl down there parts – I’d be lying if I said I was in any way an expert on it. I mean, all I have to do is sit in on EC discussing shoulder kinematics for ten minutes and I’ll instantly feel like an anatomy asshat.
Often I feel like there’s nothing going on in my head except crickets chirping when I try to have a conversation with him.
Usually I “get” what he’s saying, but sometimes I just end up looking like this:
Seriously. Dude is Robocop when it comes to anatomy. I’m still playing with Crayola while he’s using the iPad.
Which, when you really think about it, that’s actually one way to get better: surround yourself with people who are smarter than you!
I’ve long been an advocate of telling people to actively seek out mentors or local coaches/therapists that they can observe. Most are more than willing to allow someone to come in and “shadow” them for a day or two (maybe even on a weekly basis), assuming you’re not some sociopathic social filter moron who’s going to inundate them with non-stop questions and inquiries at inappropriate times while they work.
Trust me: there’s a time and place to “talk shop.” Doing so while they’re trying to coach four athletes at once or treat a patient is not that time.
You have two eyes, two ears, and one mouth. Use them in that order.
For me, though, it’s a matter of repeated exposures to the material. It isn’t necessarily about what book or what article you read, or who you observe, but just consistently giving yourself exposure to the material. Variety is the spice of life, right?
If given the choice, however, I’d pick various blogs and articles over text books. I definitely tend to gravitate towards those resources which are able to “dumb down” anatomy into simpler forms and contexts that I can easily digest.
I’ve read those books – but can only take them a few pages at a time before my brain turns into soggy cereal. There’s just soooo much information packed into those pages that it sometimes feels overwhelming more than helpful.
Instead, I prefer things such as Mike Robertson’s Functional Anatomy for Bad Asses parts ONE and TWO.
Granted Mike wrote those two articles close to six years ago – and I’m sure he’d go back and change a few things given the amount he’s learned since then – but I defy anyone to find a more well written, informative, and precise “overview” of functional anatomy than those two pieces.
Another EXCELLENT resource would be both Robertson’s and Eric Cressey’s Building the Efficient Athlete DVD series, which not only includes all the geeky anatomy stuff but also applies it to how to develop sound programming.
I’d keep going, but don’t want to spend an entire hour searching and linking back to various things. Just do yourself a favor and bookmark the following websites:
Those dudes will definitely keep you occupied as far as learning functional anatomy is concerned.
Note: if anyone reading wants to share their “go to” resources, please feel free to share them in the comments section below.
Likewise, for further ideas on what other resources I like check out my Recommended Resources page.
Also, to add to everything – and this is something that I feel a lot of trainers neglect – I can’t stress the importance of just becoming a better COACH!
It’s funny: whenever a new batch of interns start at the facility and we ask them what they’d like for us to cover during our weekly staff inservices, they always want to talk about anatomy and assessment.
That’s great and all, and we definitely DO cover both, but in truth, many struggle just to
teach a proper push-up!
While I do feel it’s important to know origins and insertions of muscles, and can appreciate the desire to come off as the next Rain Man when it comes to spewing out anatomy knowledge bombs, I think it’s equally as important to possess the ability to coach well.
More to the point, actually honing in on your coaching skills is a sure fire way to better learn anatomy.
Become a REALLY good coach, and I can promise you you’ll become very successful in this industry.
Of course, I’m not saying this is the case with you – I have to assume you can teach a push-up – but it’s just some food for thought.
To Review:
The gold standard texts are the gold standard texts for a reason. I think if you’re really serious about mastering anatomy, you’d be wise to invest in them – if for nothing else as a reference point. Or as something to put on your bookshelf to make you seem really smart and interesting.
Lets be real, even though those are the gold standards, they make our heads hurt. Repeated exposure from various sources is the key here. Try to read as many different blogs and articles as you can. I provided a few above, but that certainly doesn’t mean there aren’t hundreds (if not thousands) of other great resources as well.
Rain Man is a film from the mid-80s starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman that won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Just wanted to throw that one out there for those who didn’t really get the joke earlier. You should watch it.
Coach your ass off! Nothing irritates me more (and I’m NOT saying this is you) than when some internet warrior who lives in his parent’s basement spews off about how this program is wrong and how this muscle doesn’t do that, blah blah blah…….yet he’s never trained a person in his life. Become a really good coach, actually apply what you learn to a real, live person, and you’ll do very well.
When I was in Vancouver a few weekends ago for a friend’s wedding, the groom and I started chatting about movies (cause we’re both nerds) and he mentioned that he and a bunch of his friends often get together and show 5-15 minute clips of their favorite scenes from their favorite films.
I think that’s the coolest idea ever, and am dumbfounded that I never thought of that myself.
If girls can have their stupid tupperware and Avon parties, why can’t us guys have parties where we watch stuff explode and give one another high fives?
Speaking personally, outside of lifting heavy things, watching movies is my second passion and something that’s always been a part of my life since a young kid.
I still remember the afternoon seeing Return of the Jedi for the first timewhen I was seven years old and thinking to myself, “Wow. Just wow.” And I’m pretty sure that was the official start of me not thinking girls were “icky.” I can thank Leia in a bikini for that one.
And, you know, the space stuff was cool too.
Anyways, it got me thinking: what scene(s) would I pick if given the same opportunity to showcase my movie going prowess?
It’s a tough call, and this is by no means an exhaustive list, but off the top of my head here are twelve selections.
Enjoy.
Also, just a fair warning: most of the clips below aren’t safe for work. So, unless you have the coolest boss ever, you might want to put on some head phones.
The Pub Scene from Inglorious Basterds
I’m a Quentin Tarantino guy through and through, and I could have just as easily made this entire list clips from all of his various movies – Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill (vol I and II), Death Proof, and Inglorious Basterds.
Anyone who says they don’t like or care for Tarantino movies:
1. Probably sucks at life.
2. Hate movies in general.
Seriously, how can anyone say something like that with a straight face?
At a time when Hollywood is releasing heaping piles of crap like 21-Jump Street, Battleship, or any other example you can think of referencing cheesy 80’s tv shows and board games, at least Tarantino writes his own stuff and comes up with original content.
Which is why I also like guys like Paul Thomas Anderson, Christopher Nolan, Wes Anderson, Darren Aronofsky, and Woody Allen. They rarely (if ever) regurgitate old material. An exception could be made with regards to Nolan and the Batman franchise, but at least he had the gonads to do it right and stay true to the material, which is a far cry from the previous Batman films.
Anyways, I’m getting off track. Where was I again?
Oh yeah: Tarantino.
Picking a favorite scene out of his body work is like picking your favorite Victoria Secret model – a daunting task to say the least. But if I HAD to pick one, I’d pick the “Pub” scene from Inglorious Basterds.
I LOVE listening to good dialogue, and this scene is quintessential Tarantino, using a steady crescendo – highlighted by a brilliant performance by Michael Fassbender – culminating into one of the best “OMG…..this is freakin awesome” shoot outs of all time.
The clip below isn’t even the full scene (from start to finish), but it’s the best one I could find that had decent quality.
“How Am I So Funny” Scene from GoodFellas
Hands down, without question, there’s been no one movie I’ve watched more than GoodFellas.
I’m pretty sure I could quote the entire movie without batting an eye, and it’s one of those movies that, no matter how many times I’ve watched it, if I happen to come across it on television, I’m going to put the remote control down and watch it again.
This scene gets me every time, and as a funny aside: my mom didn’t take too kindly when, at 13, I attempted to reenact it at the dinner table. Sorry Mom!
“Rudy Gets Into the Game” Scene – Rudy
I can think of two other cases where I weeped like a teenage girl at a Justin Bieber concert.
– When Old Yeller got rabies and had to be taken out back to get shot.
– When Rose told Jack she’d never let go. Whatever. Don’t judge me.
This scene from Rudy probably takes the cake, though. And don’t play it off like you don’t get teary eyed every time you watch it you son of a bitch.
The Last Fifteen (or so) Minutes of Seven
Or what I like to call – “hooooooooooolllllllyyyyyyyy shit. Did that just happen?”
I don’t think any one movie has ever made my brain melt as much as this one did.
I saw this in the theater – TWICE – when it first came out. And the final 10-15 minutes still ranks up there as arguably one of the more intense, WTF is going to happen, I swear to god I’m going to pee my pants, oh my god, oh my god……..what’s in the box. WHAT’S IN THE BOX???????????” moments I’ve ever watched.
Though, to be honest, pretty much ANY scene where Gwenyth Paltrow dies is cool in my book. Sooooooo, yeah, I just gave away the ending. Sorry.
“How You Like Dem Apples” Scene – Good Will Hunting
Given I’ve lived in Boston for the past six years, it goes without saying that I HAD to include this scene on my list. Awesome.
The Final Scene in The Usual Suspects
I should have put this above Seven, because NO movie has ever had a better ending than this one.
For those who’ve never seen it:
1. Shame on you.
2. You’re officially banned from this site until you walk down to your local video store and rent it or queue that badboy on Netflix.
Get it done.
I’m not going to include the clip here because I don’t want to spoil anything, but suffice it to say, it’s pretty freakin epic.
“Now F**k Off and Die” Scene – Closer
This is not an easy film to watch, and much of that is a testament to the diabolical bastard that Clive Owen plays.
Side Note: he won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for this role, as did Natalie Portman for her role in this film.
Relationships aren’t always about butterfly kisses and rainbows, and I think what I love most about this scene is that it showcases EXACLY that. It’s primal and “real,” and is just brilliantly acted by both Clive Owen and Julia Roberts.
A close second would be the scene between Clive Owen’s character and Natalie’s character (Alice) as she strips for him in the nightclub. Rumor has it that the director, Mike Nichols, shot a take of Portman topless, but then chose to not use it and destroyed the only copy.
Rumor has it that 99% of the male population thinks Nichols is an a-hole for doing such a thing.
Anyways, this is a pretty graphic and dirty scene. Note: DEFINITELY NSFW.
Trinity Escapes – The Matrix
I picked this not necessarily because it was the best fight scene ever, but because up until that point, nothing (NOTHING!!) compared to it.
The Wachowski brothers’ seminal masterpiece literally changed the way movies are made, and prompted dozens upon dozens of posers to copy their vision.
I throw this scene under the same umbrella as when Darth Vader told Luke he was his father or when we watched the first victim (the female swimmer) in Jaws bite the big or when Jack Nicholson chopped through the door with an ax in The Shining or when Halle Berry showed her boobies in Swordfish…….
……movie moments we’ll never forget.
Opening Scene – Boogie Nights
Fun facts: This is probably my favorite movie of all time, and I actually took my (then) 15 year old brother to go see this when it first came out back in 1997, which basically makes me the coolest brother ever.
Arguably one the best tracking shots (no breaks in camera work) in movie history.
As soon as we see the words “Boogie Nights” get thrown into your face in bright neon lights, you know it’s going to be quite the ride. (<—-completely aware that that sounds a lot like a cheesy porno description. HA!).
Wilson Floats Away – Cast Away
Yet another tear jerker (that is, assuming you have a soul); this scene gets me every time. How Tom Hanks was able to pull off such an emotional scene with a freakin volley ball is beyond me, and is something that only proves he’s a once in a generation actor.
Star Wars vs. Lord of the Rings – Clerks 2
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaaha.
It’s funny because it’s true.
“Bikers vs. Mobsters Bar Fight” Scene – A Bronx Tale
The only way this scene could have been more badass is if it also had ninja’s vs. pirates.
The part where Sunny locks the door, turns around, and says, “Now you’s can’t leave” is so freaking badass I can’t even stand it.
Do you have any favorites of your own? Share them below in the comments section!
As some of you may or may not know I’ve been banged up as of late, and haven’t really been training up to my normal standards. I’m still heading to the gym everyday, of course (I work in one, so I have no excuse not to), but it’s been a bit of a downer the past few weeks knowing that I’m unable to do many of the things I’d really like to do.
Sometimes, though, we have to follow our own advice. I’ve been quoted as saying that part of the job of a strength coach and personal trainer is to play the bad guy sometimes and force our clients into doing what they need to do, and not what they want to do.
Using myself as an example, I want more than anything else to head to the gym, load a metric shit ton on the bar, deadlift that sucker from the floor, and then get so fired up that I tear infants in half.
Okay, I got a little carried away there. Admittedly that’s a bit much………..
……..but I DO miss heading to the gym and training with some gusto and panache in my step.
Call me crazy, but performing endless repetitions of supine dying bugs is about as exciting as watching paint dry. But, unfortunately, that’s what has to be done at this point in time.
The good news: My back is feeling better. The bad news: It’s just a slow, mind-numbing process and I’m bored to tears.
Goddammit – I hate taking my own advice. I want to lift heavy stuff!!! You’te ruining my life Tony, I hate you!!!!!!!!
*turns around, stomps up the stairs, and slams door*
All theatrics aside, a few weeks ago I asked my good friend, Dean Somerset, if he’d be willing to help me out and write up a little sumthin sumthin for me to follow to hopefully get myself back on track sooner rather than later.
He came through with flying colors and I’ve been following his program for the past week. I’ve often been quoted as saying you can ALWAYS train an injury, and Dean certainly concurs!
While I won’t give away all his trade secrets, I will say that he’s definitely provided a nice mix of the corrective stuff I need to be doing in conjunction with some cool stuff I’ve never done before.
Which brings us to today’s exercise you should be doing:
2-Bench DB Plank/Row
What Does It Do: Before I get to that, I have to say that I’ve done my fair share of exercises that make me hate life – bulgarian split squats, turkish get-ups, high rep squats, Prowler pushes, etc – but as simple as this one looks, it’s about as enjoyable as setting your face on fire.
To that end, this is an excellent exercise that trains both core stability while simultaneously allowing for one to get a bit more horizontal pulling into their repertoire.
The added “row” component really pushes the envelop in terms of making this a brutal core stability exercise, though. That’s where the true benefit lies.
Key Coaching Cues: Again, this looks simple and I know there are going to be a lot of people who are going to scoff when they watch the video – how hard can it be Gentilcore???? – but I’m telling you when it’s performed correctly, it’s brutal.
Start with a lighter DB than you think – in the video I used a 30 lb DB, and that was plenty – and assume the starting position with your opposite forearm resting on one bench and your toes on the other.
As with any plank variation you want to make certain that the body is in a complete straight line from your head to the toes, so you’ll need to make a concerted effort to not poke your head forward or allow the hips to hike or sag. If you do, lower the weight being used. And, after that, if you still can’t perform the movement correctly without compensating, it’s too advanced you need to take a step back and regress as needed.
In addition, you’ll want to brace your abs, squeeze your glutes, and don’t forget to breath!
Perform 5-8 repetitions on one side, and repeat on the other.
So the last two days I’ve put up some rather lengthy blogs – one over 2000 words, and the other just a shade over 1000, which by blogging standards is a lot. Especially when you consider that many of the “experts” will tell you that the ideal word count for a post should be anywhere from 600-800 words.
I woke up this morning and knew I had to hunker down and write several programs and wasn’t quite sure whether or not I’d be motivated to do any writing. As it turns out, my assumption was correct. Instead I tried to occupy myself with more productive things such as piling all the coasters, organizing my DVD collection, and trying to eat a potato chip without chewing on it, which is actually more difficult than it sounds.
Above all else, it’s freaking gorgeous outside and I’d much rather be outside enjoying the nice weather than sitting here tapping away on a keyboard.
To that end, I’m bidding everyone a fair farewell today and leaving you with some cool stuff to read.
Whenever it comes to women and training, I often defer to Nia, and this post is the reason why. She just “gets it.”
I particularly love her thoughts on isolation exercises. You know, things like isolation bicep curls, tricep kickbacks, and the like. Whenever I work with a woman and she starts asking me if or when we’ll start including some direct arm work into the mix I point out two things:
1. Chin-up variations and row variations will usually be all the “direct” arm work one will ever need.
2. If she can’t perform at least two (un-assisted) chin-ups and/or ten clean push-ups, then we’re not going to waste our time with trivial exercises.
Sure there’s a time and place for them, but as Nia points out……you have to EARN the isolation exercises.
This was the feature article over on t-nation.com yesterday, and I thought it was fantastic.
A large portion of my talk last weekend in Toronto dealt with this whole notion of fillers and how integral they can be in terms of covering or “corrective exercise” bases.
Here, Todd does an awesome job showing the reader how to implement them into one’s programming and offers a lot of cool variations to boot.
This article has been all over Facebook and Dave actually sent me a note saying how I was a huge inspiration for him writing this article.
It goes without saying that I love anything and everything deadlifts, so it should come as no surprise when I say I read this and immediately peed myself a little.
This one definitely receives the Tony G seal of approval.
Check em out, and let me know that you liked them!. Show the authors some props as well!
