It’s not uncommon for people to seek out a coach or trainer because an exercise doesn’t feel right or because something – a shoulder, a knee, lower back, their soul perhaps – routinely hurts and they can’t seem to get out of their own way.
That’s where I come in to save the day.
Most of the time.
To fix someone’s squat technique and to maybe (probably) give him or her a reality check.
This is a term I stole from a friend of mine, Dan Pope of Champion Physical Therapy & Performance, and to a larger degree has its roots from a presentation I watched him do centered around the conversation of understanding shoulder pain.1
“Boom or Bust” refers to the person who handles their business as follows:
Train/Overload –> Do a lot –> To the point where it becomes painful –> Get pissed off, becomes upset, is inconsolable, and inevitably increase their volume of ice cream and Julia Roberts’ movies –> Feels better –> Repeat –> What an asshole.
I’m sure many of you reading – whether the above sequence of events describes you or some of your clients – can commiserate.
It can all be summarized using the following graph:
Again, props to Dan Pope. I essentially drew his graph, but added a little Tony LOLs.
What this depicts is a scenario and approach that keeps the alarm system sensitive as well as pain levels up. They train hard on Monday and hit their bench pretty aggressively, of course.
A day or two passes, the shoulder feels okay, and they decide to test the waters again and perform a bunch of high-rep push jerks. Another day or two passes, the shoulder starts to feel, normal again, and since they have zero fucks to give, decide it would be a swell idea to perform kipping pull-ups paired with handstand push-ups for AMRAP on broken glass.
All they do is perpetually plow through their pain threshold and the cycle continues over and over and over again like an episode of Russian Doll.
This, of course, is absurd, and makes zero sense.
Conversely, what also makes zero sense is the opposite approach…
…UNDER-loading, over corrective exercising people to death, or worse, doing nothing at all.
I’m not dissing the corrective component. Depending on how sensitive someone’s pain threshold is, we may very well have to resort to a myriad of side lying external rotations, arm-bars, and band work.
The key to improving pain, though, particularly with the long game in mind, is to elicit a smidge (key word: SMIDGE) of it during training. You want to tease it, buy it a drink, make out with it a little bit.
If you want to elicit change, you need to move. When we move, we induce something called mechanotransduction, which is just nerd speak for “tissue begins to heal.”
Pain, when DOSED ACCORDINGLY, can be beneficial during exercise. When we push into a little pain there’s generally better short-term results than if not. Think of it like this:
There’s a line in the graph above labeled “pain threshold.” On a scale of 1-10 (1 = no biggie, I got this and a 10 = holy shit, a panther just latched onto my carotid), exercise should hover in the 2-3 realm.
In this case, the person can tolerate things like push-up, landmine, and row variations.
When (s)he perform those exercises, the pain level never exceeds a “3.”
When (s)he’s done exercising, along with the hours after, the pain level never exceeds a “3.”
The following day, the pain never exceeds a “3,” and in an ideal situation is back down to baseline, which is a “1.”
That’s the sweet spot and what we’re after from a managing pain standpoint. We’re doing juuuust enough to elicit a training effect, playing footsie with the pain threshold, but avoiding any boom or bust scenario where we place commonsense ahead of our ego.
And then, over time, the graph looks like this:
I’m an idiot. That arrow pointing up should be labeled “Improvement in Pain.”
The pain threshold slowly creeps higher and higher, and before long, push-jerks, bench pressing, and fighting Jason Bourne ain’t no thang.
Training (with weights), when matched with someone’s current ability level, and when dosed effectively, can be corrective.
NOTE: For the Singapore event you’ll need to use THIS link.
2. Coaching Competency Workshop – Raleigh, NC
I’ll be making my first appearance – ever (<— how’s that possible?) – in the wonderful state of North Carolina this coming March to put on my popular Coaching Competency Workshop.
This is a great opportunity for other fitness professionals to gain better insight into my assessment and program design process.
And cat memes.
Can’t forget the cat memes.
Full details (date, location, itinerary, how to register) can be found HERE.
EARLY BIRD rate ($50 off regular price) ends THIS weekend (2/17).
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When performing Prone Y’s/Prone Trap Raises, a subtle tweak that’ll make things feel better is to adopt a thumbs up position (bottom vid).This allows for more external rotation and opens up the acromion space. pic.twitter.com/IWSjQL3B86
– 17 total hours of content (tackling issues that every trainer/coach can commiserate with).
– 1.7 CEUs available.
I’m really proud to be a part of this resource which is designed to help build and improve other fitness professional’s businesses. Whether you’re a commercial gym trainer, a strength coach, physical therapist, a gym owner, an industry veteran, or new, you’re bound to learn something from this resource that will help separate you from the masses.
The launch sale ends THIS WEEKEND (2/17), so you have to hurry if you want to take advantage of it…HERE
I’ve often championed the notion that there’s “no such thing as textbook technique.”
How we’re taught to execute certain exercises in a textbook often won’t translate to the real world because, well, we don’t live in textbooks.
This is a theme that’s hit on several times in The Complete Trainers’ Toolbox. Sam Spinelli, one of the contributors, was kind enough to share a bit of an amuse bouche from his presentation “All Things Squats, Knees, and Hips” with everyone today.
To check out the full presentation, as well as contributions from eight other renowned industry leaders, go HERE for more information.
Humans are these incredibly awesome, adaptable, and diverse creatures.
Within our awesomeness, over time we have adapted to have a diverse set of unique features in our anatomy that provides for a wide range of movement from person to person. This is something that we did not readily acknowledge for a long time and tried to fit people into square holes.
The squat is a perfect example of this topic.
For such a long time it has been advocated to squat with your toes forward and perfectly hip width apart. The unfortunate thing is that this limits a significant majority of people from being able to squat comfortably – or to an appreciable depth.
While some people may be able to do so with practice and working on range of motion, for a vast majority it is just not realistic due to their bony anatomy.
As we examine the ankle, knee, and hip, we can see that there is significant variation within the bones forming them and the resulting joints.
For example, at the hip we have an acetabulum that can vary in depth of which will impact how much motion a set sized femoral head can have. This will impact the capacity of motion for hip range between individuals, leading to diverse squat stances already. When we begin to layer on the other ways our anatomy differs, it compounds and leads to a breadth of variations in how people may squat.
How Should I Squat Then?
There isn’t a set stance that will accommodate everyone – some people will do well with a hip width stance and slight toe out, others may do better with a narrower stance and feet directly forward. Finding what works best for you can be a challenge at first and require some experimentation.
To help expedite the process, try out these four methods:
1) Find Your Squat Stance – Standing
2) Find Your Squat Stance – Supported
3) Find Your Squat Stance – Seated
4) Find Your Squat Stance – Kneeling
The goal with each is to start with feet together and progress foot/knee width. You will find that one width generally feels better than the others, that’s the one to stick with for now. Then you can start playing around with foot/knee angle and continue experimenting.
This will get you a great head start on your squat stance and making it unique to you.
Two additional details – you may find your stance more comfortable with your feet not symmetrical and you may find that your stance changes with time. These things are normal for many people.
Did I Just Blow Your Mind?
This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of stuff I cover in my presentation “All Things Squats, Knees, and Hips” in the Complete Trainers’ Toolbox, an online resource that became available this week that also features presentations from eight other industry professionals – including Tony Gentilcore, Dean Somerset, Dr. Lisa Lewis, Alex Kraszewski, Kellie Davis, Meghan Callaway, Dr. Sarah Duvall, and Luke Worthington..
It includes 17 total hours of content covering a wide range of topics every health/fitness professional is bound to relate with. It’s on sale this week at a significant discount, but only until Sunday, February 17th at midnight.
If I want to learn more about astrophysics I listen to Neil deGrasse Tyson.
If I want to learn more about how to to be jacked while rocking a bowl cut I listen to He-Man.
Moreover, if I want to learn about or become a legit badass at pull-ups, my go to expert is Meghan Callaway. She’s a straight-up gangster when it comes to pull-ups and pull-up programming.
With the release of The Complete Trainers’ Toolbox this week, of which Meghan and myself are a part of (along with seven other health/fitness professionals), we felt it important to give people a bit of insight as to what kind of information they can learn from this resource.
Meghan goes into the weeds on anything and everything regarding programming for the pull-up and today she offers a little insight on some commonly made mistakes people make.
Countless people of all genders have the goal of being able to perform one or many pull-ups. Yet it is no secret that most people struggle to execute a single strict pull-up, and this includes many elite athletes.
Sam Bennett, the number one draft pick in the 2014 NHL draft, made the news when he failed to perform a single pull-up at the NHL draft combine.
So the inability to excel at pull-ups definitely isn’t limited to the general population, or purely beginners. Most people fail to conquer pull-ups, not because they are physically incapable, but because they are making some key mistakes.
I have great news for you.
This can be rectified.
Case in point, shortly after Sam Bennett bombed his pull-ups in the NHL draft combine, with some proper training, he banged out 11 reps.
Note From TG:I actually wrote an article a few years ago on the reaction to people giving Sam Bennett grief about not being able to perform a pull-up initially. You can read it HERE.
In this article I am going to discuss FIVE key mistakes that are preventing an abundance of people from excelling at pull-ups.
Mistake #1: Relying on the Arms to Perform the Movement
When pull-ups are being executed correctly, the shoulder blades, not the arms, should be initiating the movement. Instead of using the muscles in the mid and upper back to perform the bulk of the movement, a myriad of people rely on their arms.
To be clear, while the muscles in the arms will play a role, they should only be assisting the muscles in the back, not performing the majority of the work.
During the initial phase of the movement, and as your body is traveling towards the bar, you want to draw each shoulder blade in towards your spine and down towards your opposite hip (depression, retraction, downward rotation), not pull with your arms.
During the eccentric phase of the movement, rather than keeping your shoulder blades pinned, a mistake that plagues many individuals and can again cause them to rely on their arms to execute the movement, your shoulder blades should perform the reverse movements and should move away from your spine and away from your opposite hip (elevation, protraction, upward rotation).
As you can see, the ability to control the movement of your shoulder blades is a key component of being able to perform pull-ups.
Solution
The scapula pull-up is a really useful pull-up specific regression as it teaches you how to initiate the movement with your shoulder blades instead of pulling with your arms. This exercise is also specific to pull-ups as it requires you use the same body positioning, and it helps improve grip strength.
A few key points:
Initiate the movement by drawing your shoulder blades in towards your spine and down towards your opposite hip (retraction, depression, downward rotation).
In the top position, pause for a brief count.
Perform the eccentric component with complete control.
During the lowering/eccentric portion of the movement, your shoulder blades should perform the reverse movements as they did during the concentric component, and should move away from your spine and away from your opposite hip (protraction, elevation, upward rotation).
For the duration of the movement, your elbows should remain in a fixed position and should not bend at all. All of the movement should occur via the shoulder blades.
Mistake #2: Inability to Maintain the Proper Body Positioning
This might surprise you, but if you hope to perform pull-ups as efficiently as possible, your entire body must function as a synchronized unit.
Pull-ups are not just an upper body movement.
If you are not able to maintain the proper body positioning, and in order to do so your lumbo-pelvic region and lower body must remain in a relatively fixed position for the duration of the movement, you will struggle.
Your path to the bar will likely be longer and less efficient as you will be more prone to swinging, and you will likely be forced to move unnecessary deadweight to and from the bar. This is not conducive to optimal pull-up performance. Keeping your head, torso, and hips in a stacked position, something I often liken to a canister, is extremely important. Proper breathing, bracing, rib positioning, and glute engagement are crucial. In terms of your lower body, you want to fully extend your knees and contract your quadriceps, cross one foot over the other, and dorsiflex your feet.
Solution
The dead bug, and its many variations, is one of my go-to exercises for improving lumbo-pelvic stability.
This exercise, which can accommodate people of most fitness levels and abilities, trains your anterior core muscles to generate the requisite levels of tension needed to perform pull-ups efficiently. This versatile exercise also trains your muscles to resist the extension of the spine, and this is an area where many people labour. When heaps of people perform pull-ups, it is extremely common to see their ribcage flaring and lower back hyperextending. Dead bugs will help resolve these issues.
A few key points:
For the duration of the exercise, keep your head, torso and hips in a stacked position. Keep your ribcage down, and do not allow your lower back to hyperextend. In other words, maintain the canister position.
As you initiate each rep and lower the opposite arm and leg towards the floor, steadily exhale, and brace your anterior core muscles as hard as you can.
Start out with your knees bent at a 90 degree angle and maintain this position for the duration of the movement. Only extend your knees (and perform more advanced variations) once you’ve mastered the movement with your knees bent, not before.
Here is an innovative and extremely effective dead bug variation you can try.
Mistake #3: Lack of Specificity
Are you spending endless hours training yet are still unable to execute one or more pull-ups?
The exercises you are performing might not be specific enough to pull-ups.
With your pull-up training, you need to perform exercises that develop pull-up specific mechanics and pull-up specific body positioning. Pull-up regressions develop these key components, and serve as great stepping stones towards being able to bang out one or many unassisted pull-ups. In terms of body positioning, exercises like hollow body holds, dead bugs, and hanging leg raises help you learn how to develop and also maintain proper pull-up specific body positioning.
Some common culprit exercises that many people believe will help their pull-up performance, yet have a relatively low carryover as they are not specific enough to pull-ups, include lat pull-downs, biceps curls, and machine assisted pull-ups.
These are just a few of many exercises I could list. The fact I named machine assisted pull-ups as one of these exercises might surprise you, so I will discuss this in my next point.
Mistake #4: Relying on Machine Assisted Pull-ups and Band Assisted Pull-ups
In most cases, I am not a fan of machine assisted pull-ups.
At least, I strongly believe there are many better options.
While machine assisted pull-ups do allow you to focus on scapular movement, so this is one benefit of the exercise, due to the fact you are kneeling on a pad, your body is in a completely different position to when you are performing regular pull-ups, and you don’t need to generate and maintain full body tension.
In essence, the need for pull-up specific body positioning and lumbo-pelvic stability are almost entirely removed from the overall equation. When it comes to training for actual pull-ups, there are plenty of other pull-up regressions and accessory exercises that are much more specific to actual pull-ups, and will have a vastly greater carryover to your pull-up performance.
Now when it comes to band assisted pull-ups, if they are implemented and execute correctly, and at an appropriate time in your training program, they can have a positive impact.
However, an abundance of people make the mistake of training for pull-ups by relying purely on band assistance, and they omit performing all of the other extremely important pull-up specific regressions.
With band-assisted pull-ups, the band provides the help in the bottom position of the movement, and this is when most people do not need the most assistance. Another key issue with band assisted pull-ups, the band makes it easy to disregard proper body positioning, and generating the requisite levels of tension around the spine, hips, and lower body.
Due to all of the above, when many people eliminate the band and attempt to perform regular pull-ups, they flounder.
Before you introduce band assisted pull-ups to your training program, you should have already developed the proper pull-up specific technique, the ability to control the movement of your shoulder blades and shoulders, and the ability to generate the requisite levels of tension and pull-up specific body positioning.
In short, when you are utilizing band assistance, it is imperative that your form is identical to when you are performing regular unassisted pull-ups. Also, you want to use as little assistance as needed, but as much as necessary so you can perform 100% of your reps with impeccable form.
Mistake #5: Insufficient Grip Strength
While this kind of goes without saying, if you cannot support your bodyweight from a hanging position, your ability to perform pull-ups will suffer. An insufficient grip plagues many people of all fitness levels and abilities, not just beginners.
Adding some grip specific exercises to your training program will positively impact your overall ability to perform pull-ups.
A few of my favorite exercises for improving grip strength include loaded carries, and bottoms-up kettlebell presses.
Loaded Carries
Key Points:(describing loaded carries with dumbbells by sides)
For the duration of the exercise, maintain the canister position. Your head, torso and hips should remain in a stacked position. Do not allow your lower back to hyperextend or ribcage to flare.
Keep your arms rigid (all the way down to your hands), and pretend you are trying to crush something in your armpits.
For the duration of the exercise, maintain your 360 degree brace, and maintain regular breathing (360 degrees of air around your spine).
Bottoms-Up Kettlebell Presses
Key Points:
For the duration of the exercise, maintain the canister position. Your head, torso and hips should remain in a stacked position. Do not allow your lower back to hyperextend or ribcage to flare.
Keep the muscles in your forearm engaged, and wrist in a vertical position.
Do not keep your shoulder blades pinned. They are supposed to move. This applies to both the concentric and eccentric components of the movement.
Before you initiate each press, take a deep breath in, (360 degrees of air around your spine), brace your core (360 degree brace around your spine), tuck your ribs towards your hips, and squeeze your glutes. This will help stabilize your hips and spine.
Nine fitness professionals tackle a bevy of topics ranging from assessment and program design to differentiating flexion & extension based back pain and battling negative self talk.
We all have encountered the same problems you have as a fitness professional; so here’s how we handled them.
And while no where was there any reference to writing our own Star Wars movie script, starting our own Laser Tag franchise, or, I don’t know, eating carrot cake, by the end of it, Dean Somerset had sold me on the idea of collaborating with a collection of other fitness professionals to curate a continuing education series called The Complete Trainers’ Toolbox.
Once I knew the premise – to create on online resource designed BY trainers for trainers to emulate having some of the brightest minds in the industry coaching you through your biggest hurdles so you can feel confident growing your business– I was in.
Nine coaches are involved in this project.
Nine.
Hmmm, what other events or, dare I say, FELLOWSHIPS, have involved nine individuals?
Yeah that’s right.
You didn’t think I was not going to include a LoTR reference here did you?
I liken this resource to the Fellowship of the Ring; except instead of fighting Orcs, Balrogs, back-stabbing wizards, dragons, and all the other demons, ghosts, and what-have-you’s amidst the depths of Mordor….
….we’re fighting mediocrity.
We wanted to create a product – which we’re hoping becomes a recurring series – that helps separate health/fitness professionals from the masses by connecting them to some of the top minds in the industry.
Those trainers, strength coaches, physical therapists, (and a psychologist) who are in the trenches, every day, working with real people, getting real results, making it their mission to improve the industry, and, for what it’s worth, are all kicking ass and taking names.
So Who’s In the Fellowship and What Are They Talking About?
Tony Gentilcore (Aragorn) – Improving Overhead Mobility & How to Write Stellar Fitness Content
Dean Somerset – Programming 101: How to Design an Effective Workout.
Luke Worthington – Assessing For Excellence.
Dr. Lisa Lewis – Dealing With Negative Thinking (Your Clients and Your Own).
Sam Spinelli – All Things Squats, Knees, & Hips.
Dr. Sarah Duvall– Core and Pelvic Floor Lifting Considerations.
Meghan Callaway – The Ultimate Pull-Up Webinar.
Alex Kraszewski– Understanding Flexion & Extension Based Back Pain.
Kellie Davis– Finding Your Ideal Client.
And that’s not even all of it.
In fact, there’s 17 total hours of content when all is said and done. What’s more, all 17 hours have been approved for CEUs’ (1.7) via the NSCA.
I’m fully confident this is a resource that will help other fitness professionals hone their coaching skills, build better rapport with their clients, and maybe even most important of all…make more money.
And speaking of money, the cost of The Complete Trainers’ Toolbox is set at $100 OFF the regular price all this week. You have until this Sunday (2/17) to take advantage.
I’m really proud of this resource and I hope it helps you as much as I think it will.
I already wrote similar posts covering how I implement fillers with deadlifts and squats, so it only makes sense to finally follow suit with something discussing the bench press.
As a quick refresher for those first tuning in: “Fillers” are low grade exercises that address a specific mobility or stability issue – lack of glute activation, tight hip flexors, poor scapular upward rotation, as examples – which are performed during rest periods of a main exercise.
Fillers could also be a simple stretch.
In short the idea is do something productive during your rest periods – other than stalk your ex on Instagram – that’s not going to affect or deter performance on subsequent sets of deadlifts, squats, bench presses, and the like.
Another way to look at it is this: I know it, you know it, your parent’s mailman’s second cousin’s godfather knows it, we all know it…
…you’re (probably) going to skip your warm-up.
Fillers are the compromise.
Instead of giving people a laundry list of warm-up drills they’re not going to do, I’ll sprinkle fillers in as PART OF THE PROGRAM.
So in no particular order here’s a quick-n-dirty rundown of some of my go to fillers on bench day.
1. Rows
Okay, I’m cheating a little bit here.
I’m only speaking for myself, but I find rows are something most people can’t include enough of in a program. Many of us are so overdeveloped and/or tight in our anterior chain – namely pecs – that it’s not uncommon practice for me to pair a rowing variation with EVERY set (including warm-ups) of bench press to help offset the imbalance
I don’t care if it’s a DB row, Seated Cable Row, Chest Supported Row, Seal Row, TRX Row, Face Pulls, or Band Pull-Apart…I want some kind of row tethered to every set of the bench press.
And then I’ll include 1-2 more rowing variations later in the session too. The whole notion of a balanced approach to program design – where you attempt to include a 1:1 (press:row) ratio – while noble and good place to start, tends to be a bit underwhelming.
I’ll often say it’s more beneficial to UN-BALANCE someone’s program (to the tune of 2-3 rowing variations for every press) to to better “balance” them.”
So, as more of an umbrella theme to consider, just staying cognizant of rowing volume (and adding more of it into someone’s program) is going to be leaps and bounds more effective for long-term shoulder health and training domination than the litany of correctives that can be substituted in.
2. Band Posture Corrector
This is a drill I stole from my good friend and strength coach Jim “Smitty” Smith of Diesel Strength.
Sitting at a desk all day, every day, can be brutal.
The muscles on the back side (namely, rhomboids) get long and weak, while the muscles on the front (namely, pecs) get short and overactive.
A good bench press requires a fair amount of scapular retraction and depression to help protect the shoulder joint and to provide a more stable “surface” to press from.
This drill targets those muscles involved.
Simply grab a band, loop it around your shoulders, and “reverse” the posture.
I like to perform 10-20 reps with a 1-2 second hold on each rep.
3. Foam Roller Snow Angel
Likewise, the bench press also requires a decent amount of thoracic extension (which makes it easier to retract and depress your shoulder blades).
The Foam Roller Snow Angel allows for a few things to fall in place:
A nice pec stretch.
Nudges more thoracic extension (by lying on the foam roller).
I like 10-12 reps here.
4. Child’s Pose – off Med Ball
Pigging back off the above drill, this one also helps to improve thoracic extension in addition to strengthening the scapular stabilizers when you add a static hold at the top of each rep.
Adding the medicine ball into the mix along with flexed hips helps to keep the lumbar spine out of the equation.
NOTE: For the Singapore event you’ll need to use THIS link.
2. Coaching Competency Workshop – Raleigh, NC
I’ll be making my first appearance – ever (<— how’s that possible?) – in the wonderful state of North Carolina this coming March to put on my popular Coaching Competency Workshop.
Full details (date, location, itinerary, how to register) can be found HERE.
EARLY BIRD rate is currently in effect ($50 off regular price), so make sure to take advantage of it while you can.
3) The Complete Trainers Toolbox
I’ve been pretty mum about it, but this is dropping next week…
SOCIAL MEDIA SHENANIGANS
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One thing I try to keep young trainers/coaches more cognizant of when writing training programs is grip intensive exercise. Example: Row paired with DB Reverse Lunge. Both require a lot of grip. Maybe switch to GOBLET Reverse Lunge? Boom, you’re a program writing Jedi.
Mike Robertson’s podcast is always a must-listen, but this one featuring my good friend Pete Dupuis was particularly eargasmic.
Pete has an uncanny ability to keep things real when it comes to discussing fitness business shenanigans. If you’re a gym owner (or plan to be)….fire this episode up.
For starters I’m involved with a pretty cool product – The Trainers Toolbox – that’s set to be released next week that’s going to set the fitness industry on fire. I won’t give away too much here, but suffice it to say it’s going to help a lot of fitness professionals.3
Second, we’ve had a cranky toddler on our hands all week this week (wake-up call of 4:30 this morning as a matter of fact), so, basically, FML.
Hence I haven’t had much time to write for my own site this week. Thankfully I have some awesome contributors – like Dr. Nicholas Licameli – who are more than willing to send me articles out of the blue and make me want to buy them a steak dinner.
There are some things that you just don’t hear everyday”
-“Who keeps eating all of the kale!?!?”
-“Of course I understand why my cable bill is $37.97 more this month than it has been in the past 15 months.”
-“I hope I get placed in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff…please, Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff…”
-“Let’s talk about Fight Club.”
-“A strong core? No thanks, not interested.”
There seems to be a slight stigma surrounding training the abs and core while lying down because, as some say, there are “better” and more “functional” ways to train.
While this may have some truth to it, I don’t mind training the abs and core on the ground. Whether or not something is “functional” really depends on the individual and his/her goals (is a standard plank really “functional?”).
In order to have functional carryover to the task at hand, the training must be specific to the activity (more on this below).
This means that “functional” will be different for everyone.
If you’re a weight lifter or powerlifter, “functional” core strengthening may include tempo reps, pause reps with postural bracing, breathing drills under sub-maximal loads, etc.
If you’re a baseball player (check outMike Reinold and Eric Cressey, if you haven’t done so already), “functional” core strengthening may include plyometric twists, anti-rotation movements, quick accelerations and directional changes, etc. The point here is that “functional” is different for everyone and if the goal is simply to progressively load and train the abdominals, don’t fear the floor.
Today I’d like to share with you an exercise that I call the lying overhead pullover (LOP) (see the video link at the end of this article). I think I invented this exercise, however Chuck Norris and Total Gym do have a variation of it in their manual and let’s be honest, I do not want to get on the bad side of a man who once challenged Lance Armstrong to a “Who has more testicles” contest and won by five.
Other than the Total Gym variation, I have not seen it anywhere else.
How To Do It
Before we dive into how to perform the LOP, let’s have a quick review on what it means to “brace the core:”
“From the top down, we have the diaphragm, from the bottom up we have the pelvic floor, and around the sides we have the deep abdominals that surround the midsection like a corset. To engage the diaphragm, take a breath in through the nose and brace. To engage the pelvic floor, pull up as if holding in gas or urine. To engage the deep abdominals, tighten up the midsection as if putting on a tight belt after Thanksgiving dinner or walking into a cold pool as the water drifts up to your navel.”
It is imperative that you understand how to perform a pelvic tilt and properly brace the core…the entire exercise depends on it.
For more on this, check out my videos right here and here (these are from the archives, so bear with me…but the content is still relevant!).
To perform the LOP, lie on your back in front of a low cable station or a low anchored resistance band. Bend the knees and perform a posterior pelvic tilt by pressing the small of your back down into the floor. Reach overhead and grab the rope or band. Maintaining the pelvic tilt, bracing the core, and keeping the arms straight, pull the rope down toward your knees.
Squeeze the abs for a count, and slowly return to the start position.
Progressions and Regressions
As with any exercise worth writing about, it must have the ability to be modified to better meet individual needs such as level of experience, pain, personal preference, etc. It may seem intuitive that decreasing or increasing the resistance would make this exercise easier or harder to perform, however how changing the range of motion affects the difficulty of the exercise may be less intuitive.
The LOP is an anti-extension exercise, which means it challenges primarily the anterior abdominals to resist spinal extension.
During this exercise, the spine and pelvis collectively become a fulcrum and our arms and legs become levers. The lever arm and extension moment increase simply by stretching out a leg or stretching the arms overhead. As the lever arm increases, it becomes more challenging to prevent the spine from arching off the ground into extension.
By maintaining that pelvic tilt, we are resisting extension.
Looking for a nasty little extended set to take past failure?
Start with the most difficult position and regress in a stepwise fashion to easier versions as muscle failure is reached, again and again.
Another simple way to alter the range of motion would be to add a small crunch to the mix.
This would allow us to not only resist extension, but also overcome it with slight flexion. Be sure to crunch up almost into a 45-degree diagonal as opposed to down toward the feet or straight up toward the ceiling. This will ensure proper tension and alignment with the line of pull and resistance curve of the exercise.
Why I Like the LOP
There is one very important function of the abs that is often overlooked, and that is resisting movement. Sure, everyone knows that the abs flex, side bend, and rotate/twist the spine, but besides causing movement, the abs collectively function to resist movement and stabilize the spinal column.
The LOP challenges that function nicely.
Another reason why I like it is that the LOP trains lumbo-pelvic stability during upper and lower extremity movement.
Why is that important?
In order to perform pretty much any sport, exercise, or functional task, the spine has to provide a stable base for the extremities to move about, otherwise it would be like vertical jumping on sand or firing a bazooka off of a kayak (why you’d have a bazooka on a kayak is beyond me…).
I am not saying that performing the LOP will directly increase power output and safety during running, cutting, kicking, punching, squatting, overhead pressing, etc.
Nope. Sorry, but the principle of specificity still reigns supreme.
If you want to improve your 40 time, better get sprinting! If you want to improve power output when kicking a soccer ball, better get out on that field and kick! If you want to improve your squat, better read this article and of course…squat!
What I am saying is that the LOP is a great way to feel, get accustomed to, and train spinal stability with extremity movement, which is foundational to all of those previously mentioned tasks.
And That’s That (LOP in Action)
So be sure to give the lying overhead pullover a shot. Depending on how it is done, the LOP can be used as a top down ab movement, a bottom up ab movement, or a core stability movement. Feel free to experiment and find what works best for you and your goals.
Enjoy!
About the Author
Nicholas M. Licameli, PT, DPT
Doctor of Physical Therapy / Pro Natural Bodybuilder
Nick believes in giving himself to others in an attempt to make the world a happier, healthier, and more loving place. He wants to give people the power to change their lives in hopes to leave this place better because he was here. Bodybuilding and physical therapy just act as mediums for carrying out that cause. Love. Passion. Respect. Humility. Never an expert. Always a student. Love your journey.
We’re smack dab in the middle of that time of year where people start to falter on their New Year’s resolutions. It’s okay, you’re certainly not the only one and there’s no need to be too hard on yourself.
Fat loss can be tricky, and oftentimes what derails many people are simple “things” they may be oblivious to. My buddy, P.J. Striet, who’s a fantastic fat loss coach, was kind enough to contribute today’s guest post.
I know: you vowed and resolved to get all “shredsville” come January 1st.
If it’s working out for you thus far, fantastic…commence to kicking more ass.
But if you started out strong that 1st week or two of the new year, and now maybe things seem to be flaming out like season two of your favorite binge show you had such high hopes for, well…it’s no mystery as to why.
Here are FIVE likely culprits (for many it’s more than one as if one breaks down others seem to synergistically follow) and how to get back on the track to looking like Rambo or Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2.
#1: You Were Not in The Correct Caloric Deficit to Begin With
A common problem I see in New Year’s dieters (or frankly with anyone who decides to lose fat at any time) is that they take a qualitative approach. That’s a fancy way of saying they vow to “eat clean,” make better choices, exercise portion control, etc.
And hey that’s great.
That’s a positive step in the right direction for many.
However, the reality is…what gets measured gets managed.
While qualitative nutrition methods can work, I typically only see them working for a short while before someone stalls. It’s kind of a crap shoot: maybe you are in a caloric deficit on some days and on others maybe you are not. And over the course of time, you will eventually stall using the “I’m trying to eat cleaner/better” approach.
If you want to bake the best cookies, you don’t look at the box and say “Ok, I need eggs, milk sugar, oil” etc. and just start throwing random amounts of those in a bowl and mixing them up, hoping for a jaw dropping finished product. No, instead, you’d not only have the right ingredients, but you’d also measure out the ingredients-what the box calls for to get the best result-in the proper amounts.
So, if your fat loss has already started to sputter out into the new year, you may want to consider moving towards a more quantified approach.
That means setting calories somewhere between 10-12 calories/lb. of body weight, making sure protein is where it needs to be (.8-1g/lb. of bodyweight), and drawing up a meal plan for yourself which fits that mold. I can virtually guarantee you’ll start moving again.
#2: You Have A Concrete Meal Plan but Your Compliance Sucks Dog Ass
Shock-A-Khan alert: having a perfect, macro-optimized meal plan on paper means little if it’s not implemented and followed. For whatever reason, that’s a difficult thing for people to wrap their heads around but I digress.
In my experience in working with hundreds of fat loss hungry clients over 20 years, compliance to a plan has to be 90%+.
That’s the result getting range.
Fall into the 70’s or 80’s?
Expect maintenance (at best) or a little regression.
Fall below that?
Well…I don’t think I have to tell you and won’t insult your intelligence (although many are dumbfounded as to why they are not dropping doing things half the time, but, once again…I digress).
Many will say “that’s just too regimented and stringent…that just doesn’t fit into my lifestyle!” Well, sorry: It is what’s required. If you want the prize, you have to do what’s necessary. Your prior lifestyle put you in a bad spot-to a point where you wanted to change and lean up-so you can’t really expect things to mesh with YOUR lifestyle…not logically.
This is now your new lifestyle.
Beyond that, 10% or so of the time, you can loosen it up a bit.
Let’s put that in perspective.
If you eat four times a day, 365 days/year, that means you can be off your plan 146 times per year and still get some great results.
That’s hardly dietary prison.
It’s just the lifestyle.
And, again, if getting leaner and losing fat (and then maintaining it) is something you say you want to do, then you can hardly moan about what it entails. You are not being forced. It’s a choice.
#3: Your Preparation Is “No Bueno”
This goes hand-in-hand with point #2.
Preparation drives compliance and compliance drives results. If your prep isn’t up to snuff, the entire thing falls apart.
Yes, meal prep is a big component of this.
There is no “ideal” way to meal prep, and different strategies work for different people based on life circumstances. Some bulk prep for the entire week. Others bulk prep for a few days or bulk prep only certain items (like cooked meats) for a few days and then do it again mid-week. Some people bulk prep some items for the entire week and prep “on the spot” for other foods. Some people do a hybrid of all what I just listed.
No matter what you do or how you choose to do it…you need to DO IT!
Preparation also means getting in your calendar (Sunday IS A GOOD DAY FOR THIS 🙂 and trouble-shooting the week ahead, identifying potential roadblocks, and, MOST IMPORTANTLY, plotting out your desired off plan meals/special occasions (TRUE special occasions…NOT “Wine Wednesday”).
Get in your meal adherence tracker (there are several online or just create one in excel or google sheets)) and mark it all off ahead of time, to include your pre-determined off plan meals.
I tell my coaching clients to mark every meal off for the week as 100% compliant and then back track, plotting out when they might be or want to be off plan while staying within the result getting range of compliance (90%+). Then you have the entire week laid out in front of you and you expect success.
It’s on paper.
It’s then just a matter of doing what you said you’d do and honoring the contract you made with yourself.
#4: You Are Getting Caught with Your Hand in The Cookie Jar (Extras)
If you have a sound, quantified meal plan, are following it with a high degree of compliance, are prepared…but your fat loss is stalling, or you are regressing…you might want to be honest with yourself about the extras.
The bites.
The licks.
The spoon fulls.
The hand fulls.
The four glasses of wine you forgot about last week.
The two times you finished up your kids’ uneaten chicken tenders or mac and cheese.
Just understand, a little of this + a little of this + a little of this will eventually not be so insignificant anymore and can either drastically reduce or wipe out the caloric deficit you are in on paper. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve had to dive deep with clients who are reporting 100% compliance to a plan which has them in a large deficit but are either consistently stalling or regressing (because it’s rarely physiologically possible for that to be happening). When I start to ask them if “maybe they forgot about some things”, the vast majority of the time, well, they have.
If this is “you” …clean it up.
#5: Your Off-Plan/”Cheat” Meals Are Outrageous
As I said above, there is room for deviations from your meal plan (10% or so) while still getting great fat loss results.
That said, if your off-plan or “cheat” (and hey you are only cheating yourself) meals leave you feeling and looking like that guy Kevin Spacey fed to death in the movie Se7en…waaaaayyyyy too much.
“But I only had two cheat meals last week!” is a common thing I’ve heard from clients over the years.
When I ask them what those entailed, Joey Chestnut would have been appalled.
You can, in fact, derail all your weekly progress in a meal or two (typically on the weekends).
It’s really not that hard.
So, if you are going to be off your plan (and you can), it needs to be kept mindful. You need to act like and eat like an adult. You can’t look at these meals as a reward (are you a dog?) or an opportunity to “get it all in”.
That’s disordered, low-achiever thinking.
Wrap Up
So, after all that, if your New Year’s attack on fat isn’t going quite as you’d enthusiastically hoped for on January 1st…where are you falling short? It’s one or more of the above…trust me. Be honest and introspective with yourself and course correct.
If you don’t, you’ll be back again January 1st, 2020 vowing to do the same deal, and this whole thing stays on repeat like a bad Spotify workout playlist.
About the Author
P.J. Striet is a 20+ fitness industry veteran and the owner of Revive Fitness Systems LLC, an online coaching company solely dedicated to helping the general adult population meet their fat loss goals. His work has been featured in the likes of Shape, Women’s Health, Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Vanity Fair, and he has also contributed to several popular fitness industry books, in addition to authoring his own, The 60-Second Sweat.
I’ll be making my first appearance – ever (<— how’s that possible?) – in the wonderful state of North Carolina this coming March to put on my popular Coaching Competency Workshop.
Full details (date, location, itinerary, how to register) can be found HERE.
EARLY BIRD rate is currently in effect ($50 off regular price), so make sure to take advantage of it while you can.
Don’t expect “perfect” from your clients, especially new ones. Perfect technique, perfect nutrition compliance, etc. They don’t need the added pressure.
Nothing like a KSD article to kick everyone in the ass.
“All you have to do is start.
And then, moments will keep moving, as moments do.”
I thoroughly enjoy reading Krista’s writing. I mean, part me hates her guts because she’s soooo good. But then the other part of me remembers how much of a writing crush I have on her and all is forgotten.
I’m always asked what are some podcasts that I like or listen to?
Here’s one.
Eric is a superb interviewer and he has an uncanny ability to make conversation flow seamlessly. He’s also one of the more prolific podcasters, releasing a new episode every couple of days with some pretty big names to boot.
Dean Somerset, Dan John, Jonathan Goodman, Sarah Duvall, Pat Rigsby, Jessi Kneeland, and some weirdo with the last name Gentilcore.
What’s more he interviews an eclectic array of fitness professionals ranging from those who focus on body recomposition or the ketogenic lifestyle to those who’s cup of tea is fitness marketing and brand awareness.
It’s superb, and if you’re looking for a new podcast to follow you’re welcome.
If you don’t have the attention span to read the entire article, you can pick up the gist by looking at the charts at the end.
Fucking A.
SIDE NOTE:HERE‘s my take on the Keto Craze, if you’re interested. I wrote it a few months ago and parallels very much with what Mike has to say (albeit Mike is way more eloquent than I).
Nicholas M. Licameli, PT, DPT
P.J. Striet is a 20+ fitness industry veteran and the owner of Revive Fitness Systems LLC, an online coaching company solely dedicated to helping the general adult population meet their fat loss goals. His work has been featured in the likes of Shape, Women’s Health, Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Vanity Fair, and he has also contributed to several popular fitness industry books, in addition to authoring his own, The 60-Second Sweat. 
