CategoriesExercise Technique Program Design

Deadbugs Are Gucci. However, Pump the Brakes a Little and Try These Regressions First

First off: Yeah, that’s right I just put the slang version of “Gucci” into the title of a blog post about deadbugs.

Second: I promise I won’t ever do that again

Third: I’ve been swamped with travel the past few weeks (and the subsequent catching up on emails, programs, projects, and life shit-show) and I apologize for my lack of writing prowess. Thankfully I’ve had a handful of regular contributors to the site help to pick up the slack in my absence.

Thanks to Boston based coach, Lana Sova, for today’s contribution.

Fourth: Maybe I should have used “lit?” No? Okay, I’ll GFM.

Copyright: ammentorp / 123RF Stock Photo

5 Deadbug Regressions You Need To Try

When it comes to core training, people often fight over which exercises are the best, but that’s kind of like arguing whether Cardi B or Nicki Minaj is a better rapper.

In my opinion (which no one really asked for, but Imma say it anyways because #internet) there is space for both, much like there is a time and a place for different core strengthening exercises.

When people ask me which is the best core strengthener, I give the most boring answer — it depends.

There are many things I take into consideration when I include core strengthening exercises in a client’s program.

Things like goals, training levels, level of lumbo-pelvic control, and mind-body awareness all matter.

Much like the aging process, things are never the same with core training — what could be the best core exercises for a client today will not be the same a year or two from now because they’ve gotten stronger and advanced their skills.

Which leads me to today’s article.

For some reason, when it comes to core training, we go from zero to a hundred in no time. And by “we,” I mean personal trainers. I get it, often we’re tempted to impress clients and show them what we’ve got under our sleeves.

 

And, often, our clients swear by the fact that they are so advanced they can hold a plank for ten minutes while multitasking and doing 20 other things.

Cue *major eye roll*.

While it’s a good thing to keep your clients happy and help them fall in love with training and working out, there is also a thing called common sense, not to mention the art of giving a client not only what she wants, but also what she needs.

Enter Deadbugs

The deadbug exercise is my all time favorite core strengthening exercise.

When done correctly, it’s one of those exercises that looks easy, but isn’t when you do it yourself.

Progressions to this exercise are diverse and can be lots of fun. And while progressions are great and we do need them to help a client succeed, we also need not forget about regressions.

Deadbugs are one of the exercises where attention to the details matter. It’s easy to spot bad form on a deadbug when you see a client arch her back from the get go. But it’s much more challenging to notice incorrect form when things are not so obvious.

For example, ideally we want a client show us that she can maintain a canister position while performing a deadbug. What’s a canister position? If you live under a rock and never heard Tony speak about this concept, here’s a video for you.

 

But often, clients will cheat.

Like when I see clients bring their knees closer to their chest to help them with a posterior pelvic tilt.

Or maybe the second they begin to extend their leg out, they lose any core tension; to help them reach the floor, they’ll shift into an anterior pelvic tilt.

It’s our job as coaches to help a client succeed with this exercise without cheating, because the key to their success is doing exercises with correct form.

Happy client AND successful client = Happy coach.

Here are FIVE of my favorite deadbug regressions.

1) Deadbug ISO Hold with a Dowel

 

Deadbugs are a core stability exercise. This is where I often introduce the concept of an open or closed canister in relationship to the hips and rib cage.

Pssst: (Watch the video earlier in the post.)

Before we start moving the legs and arms and begin to resist any movement in the hip region, it would be a good idea to learn to own the closed canister.

The reason I love this exercise is it helps the client learn how to keep tension in the whole body while also feeling the abdominals working. Adding a dowel to the equation, with the client holding it above her chest while keeping her legs up in a tabletop position, helps her to learn what it means to activate her lats, which can translate to more advanced exercises like bench pressing or deadlifting later on.

I often use the cue ‘’Try to bend the dowel with your pinkies.” Go ahead and give it a try. This should fire up your lats like crazy.

2) Core-Engaged Deadbug ISO Hold with Band

 

Much like the previous exercise, this variation teaches the client to keep the closed canister position while keeping the tension in the entire body. However, she’ll hold a resistance band above her chest, which acts as a multiplier in creating the tension in the upper body.

3) Core-Engaged Deadbug March

 

This is an exercises I stole from Florida-based coach William Richards in one of his guest post for Tony on this site.

Note From TG: You can check that post out HERE.

This is the exercises where, once your client learns how to control the canister position and knows how to create tension in the whole body, she can start moving her legs and making the exercise so much more advanced.

4) Deadbug w/ KB Overhead Hold

 

This exercise can teach your client how to maintain the canister position with her hands above her head. I like to use this exercise to build up the context for future exercises such as overhead presses.

5) Deadbug with a Pallof Press

 

This is probably more advanced than the previous exercises; nonetheless it’s still a great regression before you dive head first into all the glorious deadbug variations and completely destroy your client’s core.

It’s great to show your clients advanced movements and spice things up here and there. But before you do so, make sure your client is competent with the exercises and can perform them well. This will help your client show up at the gym more willingly and ultimately reach her goals.

About the Author

Lana Sova is a powerlifter and an in-person and online strength coach in Boston, MA. She helps women to change the way they look by making them strong.
Check out her website at Shameless Strength Academy.
CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 11/16/18

Copyright: wamsler / 123RF Stock Photo

BUT FIRST…CHECK THIS STUFF OUT

1. (Even More) Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint – 2019 Dates

This workshop will piggyback on the material Dean Somerset and I covered in the original Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint.

With this iteration, though, we’ll be going a bit deeper into the coaching and programming side of things:

  • How to program around common injuries.
  • How to “connect” the appropriate exercises to the client/athlete.
  • How to squat and deadlift like a boss.

We’re in LA this weekend teaching the course, which is our last “h0orah” in 2018. We have plenty of dates lined up for 2019, however.

Check em out HERE.

2. Small Cameo in The Boston Globe

I tweeted this Tweet recently:

Fast forward a few hours later and I’m talking to a reporter from the Boston Globe about when is it too early to start listening to Christmas music?

Never. NEVER I say!

Check it out HERE.

SOCIAL MEDIA SHENANIGANS

Twitter

Instagram

 

View this post on Instagram

 

I consider it a privilege I’m allowed the opportunity to travel the world to present and speak to other fitness professionals. . This weekend marks my last “work” travel of the year; heading to Los Angeles to present the (Even More) Complete Shoulder and Hip Blueprint with @dsomerset1 . All told, this year, I’ve presented in LA, NYC, Washington DC, Boston, Dallas, Houston, San Jose, Vancouver, Victoria Island, Bonn (Germany), London, and Ljubljana (Slovenia). . 2019 has me headed to London, Vancouver, Edmonton, Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, NYC, LA, Dallas, Houston, Sydney (Australia), and Singapore. . I hope this doesn’t come across as me being a braggart. Growing up in a small town in central NY that’s surrounded by dairy farms and corn fields, (still) doesn’t have a traffic light, and nothing exciting happens outside of the occasional carnival stopping through, I never would have imagined I’d be seeing the places I’ve seen, experiencing different cultures, and meeting so many interesting and eclectic people. . So, simply, thank you, everyone – my wife, family, friends, colleagues, “fans,” Matt Damon (because, why not?) – for your support. . It’s pretty fucking cool.

A post shared by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore) on

STUFF TO READ WHILE YOU’RE PRETENDING TO WORK

When Is It Okay to Lift With Less Than Perfect Form? – Fayiz Dabdoub (via DeanSomerset.com)

Internet commenters. Gotta love them.

And by “love” I mean the opposite of that.

I’d rather spend a year in Azkaban than deal with some of them myself.

But this was a great read.

How Much Should a Personal Trainer Keep Personal? – Hayden Perno

Movies, relationships, politics, religion, favorite He-Man characters?

What’s “safe” to reveal to clients, and what’s taboo?

Inside the Retreat Where Grown Men Go to Cry – Nate Green

This was a lovely read.

Not gonna lie: it got me.1

CategoriesProgram Design Strength Training

What Being An Army Ranger Taught Me About Getting Strong Using Only Bodyweight Exercises

SPOILER ALERT: I didn’t write this article.

The closest I’ve ever been to calling myself a “ranger” was when I used to watch Walker, Texas Ranger growing up and pretend to roundhouse kick unsuspecting (and imaginary) bad guys in the face.

Oh, and there was that one time I dressed up as the Green Power Ranger for Halloween.2

I am not, nor have I ever been, an Army Ranger.

I did stay up past midnight the other night, though. That’s kinda badass.

A big “thank you” to ACTUAL Army Ranger, Tom Coffey, for pinch-writing for me today as I make my way to Los Angeles this weekend to present.

Enjoy!

Copyright: supernam / 123RF Stock Photo

 

Fate whispered to the warrior ‘you cannot withstand this storm.’ The warrior whispered back, ‘I am the storm.’

For thousands of years, before comfortable fitness centers dotted every corner, the world’s greatest warriors relied on a steady dose of bodyweight exercises—from building high levels of superhuman strength, to increasing cardiovascular conditioning, and even developing mental toughness bodyweight exercises accomplished it all.

In the rest of this article I want to briefly share with you what my experience as an Army Ranger taught me about getting strong, using only my body.

Life as an Army Ranger

The life of an Army Ranger is quite busy.

Between endless training and extended “business trips” to lands far away there is often more to do than hours in the day. Yet the job requires a certain level of what we’ll call “real world strength.”

Let me give you an example of what I mean: I weighed about 250 pounds in full military gear (+80 pounds above my bodyweight). Do you think you could also throw on 80 pounds of your own gear, pick me up, throw me over your shoulder, and sprint full out for 100 or 200 yards?

That’s what I’m referring to when I say real world strength.

But, no matter what elite military unit you’re talking about there is always a high premium placed on being functionally strong. Admittedly, as much as possible my Ranger buddies and I tried to workout in an actual gym. However, life liked to throw us curve balls and often times we were in situations with no iron around at all.

But not having access to a gym simply wasn’t an excuse to not workout and get weak. So, how did my Ranger buddies and I keep getting stronger when we didn’t always have access to a gym?

The answer: using the best only gym we had available—our body.

Are Bodyweight Exercises Better for Building Strength Than Barbell Exercises?

Ok, before we dive headfirst into this rabbit hole I know someone is going to ask if bodyweight exercises are better for building strength than barbell exercises.

The word “strength” can mean a lot of different things. And, depending on who you ask you’ll likely get a lot of different answers.

Listen, if you want to get strong AF there’s no arguing that picking heavy shit up and hoisting it over your head is the way to go. Unless you’re humongous, green, and your name is Hulk, you very likely won’t be joining the 1,500 pound club by using bodyweight exercises.While you probably definitely won’t build world class powerlifting strength with bodyweight exercise, they do offer tremendous value in building real world strength.

Bodyweight exercises strengthen the body and allow you to express that strength in ways which the barbell can’t.

They can humble even the most experienced of lifters.

I’ve seen, with my own two ocular receptors, guys who can easily squat four wheels crumble like dust when attempting a simple pistol squat (one legged squat).WTF?

How is that even possible?

Ok dude I get it, but how do you build strength using only your bodyweight?

I’m glad you asked.

And, I’m making the assumption here that you’re stranded on a desert island with no gym equipment in sight. This is only to hammer home the point that you literally need zero equipment to make this stuff work.

Obviously, if you start adding gym equipment back in the mix your strength building options skyrocket.

But, that’s easy.

If you learn how to manipulate your body for strength building purposes you become bulletproof. You can literally get strong from anywhere in the world.

Pretty cool, right?

Anyway, below are four ways you can turn lowly bodyweight exercises into serious strength builders.

Did someone order a serving of humble pie?

NOTE: I chose to demonstrate each of these ideas using the pushup. However, you can apply these principles to any number of bodyweight exercises.

1) Remove a Limb (Or Two)

Removing a limb (or two) creates a very unstable environment. Instability causes your muscles to tense harder, and tension is good for building strength. That’s just good science.

Also Useful For:

– Pistol squats
– Single leg hip bridges
– BW romanian deadlifts
– Free standing handstand pushups…if you dare.

NOTE FROM TG: For those watching Tom perform a 1-arm, 1-leg pushup and thinking to themselves “that’s a whole lotta nope,” I’d encourage you to check out THIS article by Nick Tumminello on how to progress towards it.

2) Remove a Limb, Slow Down the Rep, and Add Pauses

Speaking of tension, another great way to increase it is by slowing down your repetitions. This is also known as time under tension (TUT). Pausing at certain points in the rep ensures that you kill all momentum.

Again, this makes the exercise much harder because you have to be stay tense and in control through the entire rep.

There is an inherent difference between taking 30 seconds to perform 1 pushup vs. cranking out 30 pushups. Try a 30 second (or 60 second) pushup and you’ll see what I mean.

 

Also Useful For:

– Frog holds
– Human flag hold
– Single arm/leg planks

Be Explosive

To be explosive you must be powerful. And power is more or less strength expressed over a very short time. Paradoxically, you must first be strong before you can be powerful. Explosive bodyweight exercises are great for training you to express the strength you’ve built.

 

Also Useful For:

– Jump squats
– Jump lunges
– Muscle ups

4) The Kitchen Sink Approach

Have you ever opened the drawers under your sink only to find soap bottles, cleaners, yellow gloves, old sponges, bleach bottles, leaky pipes…etc.

I mean, it’s chaos.

The kitchen sink approach is our version of controlled chaos by combining many different strength building elements together. In the video below the spiderman pushup involves using slow reps, removing a limb, dynamic movement, abdominal bracing, and re-distributing weight.

Pro Tip: Make sure that if you’re doing Spiderman pushups in a field with fire ant hills that you don’t unknowingly place your hand directly on top of one. I did this once, and can safely say I’d rather get stabbed by a Nazgul (like twice) than ever do that again.

Desert Island Strength Building Workouts

Ok, now you know how to use bodyweight exercises for strength building. So, my challenge to you is try it.

Below are examples of two ways you can spin basic bodyweight exercises into tough little workouts. And the best part, you can literally do these anywhere, anytime—no equipment needed.

Sample Routine 1- “Destroyer of Legs and Core”

(1)

Three rounds of:

5 pistol squats, per leg →  Pause for 1 second at the bottom of every rep
8 single leg hip bridges, per leg → After the 8th rep hold the top of the bridge for 8 seconds (ouchy)

(2)

Five rounds of:

15 air squats
20 walking lunges steps
8 jump squats
8 jump lunges

(3)

Three rounds of:

20 second plank w/ left arm lifted
20 second plank w/ right arm lifted
30 second hollow hold

Sample routine 2- “Pushups Seem Harder Today”

(1)

Three rounds of:

3 explosive pushups→ focus on being fast off the ground

(2)

Three rounds of:

2 single arm/single leg pushups, per side

(3)

Four rounds of:

1 thirty second pushup w/ a leg lifted → take 10 seconds to lower, pause above the ground for 10 seconds, take 10 seconds to raise

*On sets 1 & 3 keep your left leg off the ground
*On sets 2 & 4 keep your right leg off the ground

Final Thoughts

Building strength is certainly a noble and worthy pursuit of one’s time. Yes, you’ll make the fastest gains when you have access to all the bells and whistles of a fully equipped gym.

However, when life throws you the inevitable curveball and you don’t have access to the iron, it’s an invaluable skill to be able to bust out a strength workout anywhere, anytime.

I appreciate your time, and I hope you enjoyed the read.

About the Author

Tom Coffey is a former Army Ranger, certified nutrition coach, and currently pursuing a master’s degree in Exercise Science.

Due to his last name, he is on a lifelong quest to brew the absolute “perfect” cup of coffee. You can follow Tom’s quest for coffee brewing perfection, or just read more of his other work, over at his blog: https://tomcoffeyfitness.com 

 

 

CategoriesMotivational

Limit Your Mistakes

Learning from our mistakes is what we do as humans.

Like that one time I was a teenager taking my driver’s exam and I forgot to put the car back into “drive” after the “reverse” part of my 3-point turn attempt.

Oops.3

Or that other time I wanted to warm up my previous night’s dinner and forgot to take off the aluminum foil before placing it in the microwave.

My bad.

Failing, as a standard practice, is what makes us better in the long run. We fail, we learn, we (hopefully) don’t make the same mistake again.

Today’s guest post by Shane McLean delves into this concept as it relates to health/fitness. He’s made some mistakes so you don’t have to.

Copyright: oskanov / 123RF Stock Photo

Limit Your Mistakes

Starting your fitness journey when everything is shiny, and the gains are coming thick and fast is exciting. You feel like you can’t do anything wrong because every weight you touch turns to muscle.

OR

You’ve been in this game a while and you still enjoy working out, but the gains have slowed, and you’re frustrated by your lack of progress.

Any errors made at the start are covered up by newbie gains and these slip ups become more magnified the longer you’re in the lifting game.

How do I know this?

I’ve been there.

After training clients for 10 years and training in gyms for longer than I care to remember, I’ve witnessed or experienced these blunders myself that can hold back progress.

And while making mistakes is all part of the learning process, minimizing them while you’re under the bar will help keep you safe, keep you making gains and keep the doctor away.

Think of this as all gain and no pain.

1) Program Hopping

It’s natural to think the grass is always greener on the other side. After all, you’re saturated with new exercise fads and their results look incredible and besides, your program isn’t doing squat.

Change is not a bad thing.

Change is required when you plateau and or when your routine has become stale. However, too much change doesn’t give your body a chance to adapt to your current program because not everything in the weight room happens straight away.

It’s a fine line.

My general rule of thumb is finishing the program first and then evaluating whether it worked or not.

For example, loss of body fat, smaller waist or bigger muscles.

Or if you see no changes after six weeks, then it’s okay to try something new. Which brings me to the next point.

2) Not Tracking Progress

How do you know if a program working when you’re not tracking progress? That’s a rhetorical question.

Look that up, if you don’t know what it means.

If you’re not recording your sets, reps, weight lifted or taking measurements of your waist, hips, arms and legs before, during and after your program, you’re guessing and not assessing.

Because going by what you see in the mirror and the scale shouldn’t be your only measurement of progress. And occasionally testing yourself to see if you can lift more weight than before, never goes astray either.

3) Not Working on Strength

No matter what your goals are in the weight room, whether it’s muscle building or fat loss, all goals are easier by being stronger in the core lifts.

Which are:

By getting stronger, you’ll have more gas in the tank, and the ability to more work without constantly burning yourself out. And while there’s a whole bunch of strength standards in cyberspace, concentrating on adding more weight to the bar or performing more reps with the same weight is all you need to worry about.

 

Working in the 2-6 rep range in the core lifts for cycles of 4-6 weeks will get you where you want to go sooner.

4) Not Asking for Help

There’s no such thing as perfect form in the weight room because we’re all put together differently.

You can take a deep dive into cyberspace and find out how to do certain lifts, but nothing beats a trained professional (like me) to pick up on any major technique issues

For instance, I deadlifted incorrectly for years and ended up herniating three discs. If I’d asked for help sooner, I would have saved myself a lot of pain and money. So please, if you’re unsure about a lift, please ask for help.

I wish I did.

5) Ignoring Pain

Common complaints heard in gyms around the world.

“ My shoulder hurts.”

Then he goes straight to the bench press without a warm up.

“Squats hurt my knees.”

Goes back to the point #4.

“My back hurts.”

Then they go straight into their crunch routine.

There are times when stuff hurts, and you feel the need to push through it because you feel you’ll be left behind, or you need to work off the hamburger you ate last night. However, ignoring pain and exercising through it over a long period never leads to anything good.

Please remember the adage ‘if it hurts, don’t do it’.

It will save you from a ton of pain and your wallet from despair.

6) Groundhog Day

Have you seen this movie?

If you haven’t, check out the clip below:

 

Doing the same routine over and over, for weeks on end when you’re starting out is okay if you’re still making progress.

However, if you’re experience, doing the same program repeatedly and not making gains, then you need your head read.

This goes back to point 1 and 2. Finish the program and track your progress. If what you’re doing isn’t doing it for you, it’s time for a change.

Finishing Up

Yes, mistakes happen along the way but learning from them and limiting them will help you progress in the safest possible manner. Because lying on a Physical Therapist table wrapped in resistance bands is not the definition of a good time.

Author’s Bio

Shane “The Balance Guy” McLean, is an A.C.E Certified Personal Trainer working deep in the heart of Louisiana with the gators.

CategoriesExercise Technique

Squat Down, Not Back

vadymvdrobot@123rf.com

What follows is what works for ME and MY clients. This shouldn’t be taken as a personal attack against YOU, your favorite coach, or any methodology that’s seemingly at odds with my point of view.

By all accounts you’re still a decent human being, even if you happen to disagree with what I’m about to say.4

Here goes.

I prefer people to squat down rather than back.

I want the squat to look like a squat.

I Can Hear the Cacophony of Moans Now

But, “moment arms!“

And, “hip extension torque!“

“Biomechanics, Tony. WHAT ABOUT THE FUCKING BIOMECHANICS!?!U?!!!AHHHHH!??!JUMPSOFFCLIFF“

via GIPHY

Relax: In no way, shape, or fashion am I discounting any those things, nor turning a blind eye to science or evidence-based approaches and modalities.

I’m on your side my fellow anthropometrical nerds.

What I AM discounting, however – but not necessarily turning a blind eye towards (maybe tossing some shade?) – is the fact that, while all those things mentioned above – moment arm lengths, hip extension torque, biomechanics – can be used to make a solid case for squatting the most amount of weight possible, as coaches we often forget two things:

1) Many people could give two shits about squatting the most amount of weight possible.

2) Most people aren’t powerlifters.

Don’t get me wrong: I am all for people training with intent, striving to get strong(er), and pushing some appreciable iron. The tagline for this site is “Because Heavy Things Won’t Lift Themselves” for crying out loud.

That said, I’m also very much interested in the long-game. I want to keep my clients/athletes healthy and set them up for the most long-term training success possible.

One such way I accomplish this is how I prefer to coach the squat. Again, what follows is what works for me and what I feel fits the needs/goals of the bulk of MY clients and athletes.

If you disagree you’re wrong hopefully we can hug it out if we ever meet in person.

Squat Down, Not Back

 

The video above demonstrates me initiating the squat by pushing my hips back, but specifically getting a lot of motion via the lumbar spine.5

This won’t bode well for most lifters.

Is it wrong?

Well, no.

Plenty of lifters do this and move a lot of weight. However, what often works for powerlifters, wearing squat suits, won’t be the best fit for “natural” non-powerlifters, not wearing squat suits.

Plus I’m pretty sure a a piece of my soul dies every time I see it.

Instead, I prefer this approach:

 

Take in your air at the top, create a flexion moment (clamp down abs to prevent excessive lumbar movement), and squat DOWN by breaking with knees and hips simultaneously.

For most lifters, most of the time, this will be the better long-time fit in terms of being able to 1) not only squat a decent amount of weight, but also 2) make it less likely your lower back will hate you.6

CategoriesAssessment Program Design

The Inundation of Corrective Exercise In Strength and Conditioning Makes Me Want to Throw My Face Into a Brick Wall

Just to help calm the waters: I am not anti “corrective exercise.”

And I am not really going to throw my face into a brick wall.

I respect and can appreciate that, sometimes, our jobs as fitness professionals require us to pump the brakes and to venture down the corrective exercise rabbit hole.

Some people require a bit more TLC with regards to improved movement, motor control, and/or, and I’m paraphrasing here…”just learning to turn shit on.”

Some people will require a laundry list of additional mobility work, stretching, or positional breathing drills to point them in the right direction and to help them feel better.

What I am against, though, and what drives me bonkers, is when coaches and personal trainers go out of their way to:

1) Overstep their scope of practice and end up performing really shitty physical therapy with their clients and athletes.8

OR

2) Highlight every minor “dysfunction” with a client/athlete – excessive anterior pelvic tilt, kyphotic posture, left eye is lower than the right (you freak) – making him or her feel as if they’re walking ball of fail.

Copyright: alexytrener / 123RF Stock Photo

Training Is Corrective

Here’s another gleaming example of how TRAINING is corrective and how, if we do our jobs as coaches, we can often accomplish a lot sans the brick wall.

My client, Emily, who’s a trainer herself, has been dealing with some left shoulder issues. I had her come in the other night to see if I could offer some insights and to listen to some sick EDM beats.

The latter has nothing to do with anything, but whatever….give THIS a listen.

Emily showed up and I took the picture below. It shows something clearly awry and that some sort of shoulder clusterfuckey was at play; namely lack of shoulder flexion on the left side.

What was the culprit?


It could have been a few things:

  • Capsular issue
  • Lack of scapular rotation (namely upward rotation).
  • Soft tissue restriction.
  • Lack of lumbo-pelvic control.
  • It was a Wednesday.
  • I don’t know.

What I do know is that I had to respect my lane and understand it wasn’t my job as a strength & conditioning coach to diagnose anything.

I could, however, assess her general movement capacity, use my knowledge of anatomy, and perform a little trial and error to see if I could improve things.

What follows is more or less a brain dump and an attempt to explain my thought process as I worked with Emily for the next hour.

I’m not gonna say that what ended up happening was on par with some Matrix level shit, but I will say I basically know Kung-Fu.

via GIPHY

I Know Kung-Fu

To start I thought to myself:

“What actions have to happen at the scapulae in order to get the arms overhead?”

– Upward rotation
– Protraction
– Posterior tilt

Emily wasn’t getting much upward rotation on that left side. When I asked her to bring her arms overhead it was as if her left arm hit a massive speed bump and came to an abrupt stop. She could push through it, but not without pain.

So I had to think about what muscles help with that action (upward rotation)?

– Upper and lower traps
– Serratus

 

Too, I noticed she also had a more depressed shoulder girdle as a whole; her clavicular angle was more horizontal rather than having a slight upward grade.

HERE‘s Eric Cressey discussing this in a little more detail.

I surmised her UPPER traps needed some attention.

The upper traps often get a bad rap and are avoided like a Coldplay concert. In certain populations (think: desk workers) and instances, the upper traps are OVERactive and can play a role in increased shoulder elevation as well as superior migration of the humeral head, and hence an increased risk for shoulder impingement.

In this scenario, it behooves us to not go out of our way to increase upper trap activation.

However, we often forget the upper traps are a major player in UPWARD ROTATION, not to mention help with scapular elevation…both of which, in my eyes, Emily could have used some more of.I didn’t get over corrective with Emily and start having her perform some voodoo like tapping her pinky finger three times while flossing her teeth with a strain of hair from a Hippogriff.

I didn’t have her perform a laundry list of “correctives” that, for all intents and purposes, would have likely made her feel like a patient and bore her to tears.

Nope, I had her TRAIN and just modified a few things.

We did:

1. Landmine Presses with a Shrug/Reach

 

2. Face Pulls in an upwardly rotated position (so the upper traps were more engaged)

 

3. And, instead of performing movements that would pull her into more shoulder depression and downward rotation (deadlifts, farmer carries, etc) we opted for Landmine Squats, Zercher RDLs, and Hip Thrusts.

 

In short: We turned shit on (upper traps) and trained movements that (likely) wouldn’t feed into the root causes of her symptoms.

Here’s the picture I took at the end of her session:

I’m Gandalf.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 11/2/18

Copyright: wamsler / 123RF Stock Photo

BUT FIRST…CHECK THIS STUFF OUT

1. (Even More) Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint – Los Angeles, CA

This workshop will piggyback on the material Dean Somerset and I covered in the original Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint.

We just returned from Slovenia where we taught the course to 40+ fitness professionals from across nine different countries. We received amazing feedback

With this iteration, though, we’ll be going a bit deeper into the coaching and programming side of things:

  • How to program around common injuries.
  • How to “connect” the appropriate exercises to the client/athlete.
  • How to squat and deadlift like a boss.

All who register will:

1. Receive free access to the digital version of the first series.

2. Receive 1.4 continuing education credits via the NSCA.

3. You also get a super secret bonus we won’t reveal until the weekend of. HINT: Attendees are blown away by how cool is is.1

To register and for moe details go HERE.

 2. Coaching Competency Workshop – NYC

I’ll be back in the city that never sleeps this Fall to put on my popular Coaching Competency workshop. Albeit this will be condensed version (five hours instead of seven); a fitness amuse bouche if you will.

Honestly a better title for this workshop would be: From Assessment to Clients.

I’ll go into detail on how to create better “buy in” with potential clients, in addition to creating a better (current) client experience starting with the assessment to programming suggestions.

Full details (itinerary, location, and cost) can be found HERE.

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Here’s another gleaming example of how TRAINING is corrective. . First picture shows a clear asymmetry and lack of Shoulder flexion on the left side. What’s the culprit? . It could be a few things: capsular issue, lack of scapular rotation, soft tissue restriction, lack of lumbo-pelvic control, it’s Wednesday? I don’t know. . I have to respect my lane and understand it’s not my job as a strength & conditioning coach to diagnose. . I can, however, assess movement, use my knowledge of anatomy, and perform a little trial and error to see if I can improve things. . What actions have to happen at the scapulae to get the arms overhead? . – Upward rotation – Protraction – Posterior tilt . Emily wasn’t getting much upward rotation on that left side, so I had to think about what muscles help with that action? . – Upper and lower traps – Serratus . I noticed she also had a more depressed shoulder girdle as a whole; her clavicular angle was more horizontal rather than having a slight upward grade. . I surmised her UPPER traps needed some attention. They often get a bad rap and are avoided like a Coldplay concert. We often forget the upper traps are a major player in UPWARD ROTATION, not to mention help with scapular elevation…both of which, in my eyes, Emily could use some more of. . I didn’t get over corrective with her and have her start performing some voodoo shenanigans like tap her big toe three times while flossing her teeth with a strain of hair from a Hippogriff. I didn’t have her perform a laundry list of correctives that would likely bore her to tears. . Nope, I had her TRAIN and just modified a few things. We did: . – Landmine Presses with a Shrug/Reach – Face Pulls in an upwardly rotated position (so the upper traps were engaged) – And instead of performing movements that would pull her into more shoulder depression and downward rotation (deadlifts, farmer carries, etc) we opted for Landmine Squats, Zercher RDLs, and Hip Thrusts. . In short: we turned shit on (upper traps) and trained movements that (likely) wouldn’t feed into the root causes of her symptoms. . The second pic was taken at the end of her session. I’m Gandalf.

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STUFF TO READ WHILE YOU’RE PRETENDING TO WORK

4 Best Compound Sets For Size – Lee Boyce

Are compound sets the same as super sets?

Nope.

Is this is an awesome article by my boy Lee?

Yup.

Assessments You May Be Overlooking: Installment 6 – Eric CresseyEric possesses a keener eye than most when it comes to assessments.

He sees stuff many of us mere mortals overlook. I wouldn’t be surprised if he can see SOULS.

Nonetheless, per the usual…Eric is smart and provides some great insights in this latest installment of Assessments You May Be Overlooking.

And, you totally are. Me included.9

Should You Fear Lumbar Flexion? – Sam Spinelli

I’m a little late in getting to this article (it was written in August), but that’s par for the course when you have a toddler at home.

EXCELLENT stuff by Sam here.

CategoriesExercises You Should Be Doing

Exercises You Should Be Doing: Band Resisted Hinge Row

Copyright: realstock / 123RF Stock Photo

 

This edition of Exercises You Should Be Doing puts a little spin on a similar iteration I stole from Joel Seedman a few years back.

Or maybe it was John Rusin?

Either way, my brain doesn’t work the same way their’s does and I gladly borrowed the idea.

It involved adding resistance bands to KB/DB Rows while in the hinge position. The pull of the bands really (and I mean REALLY) added another element to the exercise I wasn’t expecting.

Because I had to resist the anterior pull of the bands, the exercise hammered my lats, and I loved it.

Well, here’s the same exercise, albeit with a little bit of a twist.

Band Resisted Hinge Row

 

Who Did I Steal it From? – Doug Balzarini of Iron Village Strength and Conditioning in Beverly, MA.

What Does It Do? – A lot.

As Doug noted in a recent post of his:

“This one checks off a lot of positive boxes. The accommodating resistance of the super-band, the constant tension from the active hinged position, the big range of motion from the scapula, the muscle squeeze at the top…goodness.

And the wall support allows you to “sit back” a bit and really focus on the squeeze of the mid/upper back.”

Key Coaching Cues – It may take a little trial and error to get the setup juuust right, but when you do:

  • Make sure to push your hips back INTO the wall. It’s still important to feel a fair amount of hamstring tension, though.10
  • With pretty much any row variation I like to tell people to think about allowing their shoulders blades to move AROUND the ribcage; you should feel a reach/slight stretch when your arms are extended out in front.
  • In playing around with this exercise myself, I think it bodes best to do it for high(er) reps, in the range of 12-15 reps.
CategoriesProgram Design Strength Training

30 Days of Deadlifts: Days 11-20

There are many things in life I enjoy:

  • Dead animal flesh.
  • A good Jason Bourne fight scene.
  • Making my two-year old laugh.
  • Filling my wife’s love tank by making the bed every morning.

Few things give me as much jubilation as deadlifts, though. I like performing them, I like coaching them, I like dreaming about them, and I like writing about them.

I did a series on Instagram not too long ago called “30 Days of Deadlifts.”

Each day, for 30 days, but not necessarily in a row, I provided a quick 60 second programming note, technique consideration, and/or general piece of advice on the deadlift.

It was a big hit.

So much in fact that T-Nation.com asked to repurpose the whole enchilada to use on their site; albeit I’d expound on things a bit more in exchange for them tidying up my prose.

Here’s Part II (or Days 11-20).

—> BOOM, Shaka-Laka <—