CategoriesFemale Training Strength Training

Ladies: Here’s Why You’re Not Getting Stronger

Today’s a travel day for me.

I’m heading back to Boston after spending the weekend in Houston, TX with Dean Somerset teaching our (Even More) Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint workshop.

Pinch writing for me today is Lana Sova, personal trainer and competitive power lifter1 based out of Boston, MA.

Enjoy.

Copyright: ammentorp / 123RF Stock Photo

Ladies: Here’s Why You’re Not Getting Strong(er)

After almost five years in the fitness industry working almost exclusively with women, I can tell you that although all of us are the same gender, we are all built differently.

Woah!

Shocker! I know.

Throughout this time I’ve had hundreds of women deadlifting, squatting, benching, and overhead pressing big numbers. But more importantly, they got slimmer and stronger, and kept these results long term.

But their thing might not be your thing — what worked for them may not be 100% working for you. However, ladies who successfully deadlifted, squatted, and in some cases benched their body weights had these three things in common.

To help you stop wasting your time and start succeeding in strength training, here are three things you must do if you want to get strong AF.

#1. Once Again, Eat More Protein

If you look at bodybuilders, whose job is to get as big — muscularly — as they possibly can, they eat, drink, and breathe protein.

Your goal might not be to become the next Ms. Olympia, but if you want to get stronger so you can pick up your kid off the floor, carry groceries in one trip, install a window A/C all by yourself, or, IDK, tow out your car when it’s jammed between two others somewhere in downtown Boston, your muscles need protein.

PERIOD.

And I’m sure you’ve heard about it, you’ve known about it, but it’s not the knowledge about needing the protein where women go wrong.

It’s their choice of protein source.

For some reason, things like chia seeds, nuts, sunflower seeds, and flax seeds became a staple of “feminine” food. Go to any health-related hippie cafe and you’ll find all of the above (often) included in one smoothie.

Well, I’ll tell you what. Save your money, and go buy yourself a nice piece of steak (or tofu for my vegan friends).

While I don’t dismiss the health properties of seeds, nuts, and the like — there are plenty — when it comes to protein, the amounts are so small that you need a truck load to get the amount of protein needed to trigger muscle synthesis. Which means you’ll eat a ton of fat, which then will have an impact on your physique and THAT’s what’s going to make you look bulky. Not the muscle itself.

So, what do you eat then to hit your protein target, and what’s that target anyway?

For active fitness enthusiasts, the number ranges from 1.8g/kg to 2.2g/kg

But, when you have a life, counting every ounce of protein is time consuming. Instead, try this nutrition habit I teach my clients:

Protein hits the plate first. No matter where you are — home, Mom’s house, restaurant, a buffet — a lean source of protein lands on your plate first, and then you add whatever else your heart desires.

If you’re not sure what’s a lean protein, here are a few examples for you: chicken breast (to which Tony G is allergic — fun fact2) turkey breasts, 93/7 ground beef (or any piece a meat that has less than eight to ten grams of fat), plain Greek yogurt, tvorog, and cottage cheese.

If you eat these with every meal, I can guarantee you will improve your gym performance and very likely get slimmer.

#2. CARDI-B Over CARDI-O

P.S. I hope that’s not a ™ and I won’t get sued.3

Steady state cardio has its benefits and should be included in your monthly workouts. Cardio is good for your heart, and if you’d like that thing to work for longer than the average lifespan, you need to do cardio.

Where many women go wrong is the amount of cardio.

Seriously— if we were to use all the cardio machines in every gym in America to power the entire country we’d never have a problem with energy.

If you’re coming to strength training as the last resort to finally tone out and maintain the results, you may still have the mentality that you should do as much cardio as you possibly can, a belief that’s hard do deviate from.

I mean look at any Instagram Fitness Guru and she will without a doubt tell you that you absolutely have to hop on a cardio machine and eat tons of celery to get toned and strong.

But please don’t be fooled — all she’s trying to do is build an army of bunnies. You are not one of them.

And yes, if you are looking to lose weight, cardio will help you burn some calories off. However, if you’d like to get stronger and slimmer, and keep the results, your approach to cardio needs to be a little bit different.

There are two types of cardio training I see women perform often: steady state and High intensity interval training with lots of jump. Both types are usually done for hours with just one goal — burn as many calories as possible.

But when you switch to strength training, cardio training serves a different purpose — to help you to recover from your strength training sessions. The perfect type of cardio training for this is steady state.

Therefore, anything between 20 and 30 minutes of light, steady-state cardio is more than enough for said purpose. And a good rule of thumb is to have at least 24 hours between your strength and cardio sessions.

If you must include HIIT workouts in your program simply because you love it, you can. But be aware that these type of workouts generally do more muscle damage, taking your body longer to recover. So you might have to wait longer than even 24 hours between strength training sessions and HIIT sessions.

#3. Stop Going From One Extreme to Another

So you’ve decided to give strength training a try. You’ve read it’s good for you and it’s something that can help you tone out and get a bit stronger.

And you put on your “I’m a big girl” pants and you step into the strength training area.

You see tons of huge dumbbells, and decide to choose the smallest one — 5 pounds.

With it, you perform about a hundred repetitions of lunges, squats, and tricep extensions and call it a day.

While this is admirable and I’d be the first one to high five you, the thing is, if you’re a normal human being who picks up and carries her kids around, or carries a heavy backpack, or ever, even once in her lifetime, got ready for a party and had to carry a few cases of wine, I can guarantee that all of those things weighed more than five pounds.

 

If you want your muscles to get strong, you need to give them an appropriate stimulus. One of the most common ways to do so is via resistance — free weights, or a resistance band, or even your body weight.

And often five to ten pounds isn’t enough to reach and trigger that stimulus. It’s simply not challenging enough.

On the other side of things, there are those women who’d like to go all out each and every workout — testing their strength every single day of every single week.

While at the beginning they might see huge jumps in their strength because #beginnersgains, soon they stop seeing increases in their lifts, or even become demotivated.

Why?

Because they haven’t managed their fatigue levels properly. If you workout at 100% capacity all the time, you accumulate fatigue quickly, which then will interfere with your body’s ability to build muscle and get stronger. It’s like if you had to work 24-hour shifts seven days a week. You’d probably be dead by now.

So how heavy should you go?

For my online clients, I like to use a rate of perceived exertion (RPE) scale. The scale ranges from 1 to 10, where anything below 6 is a warm up — pretty light.

But then:

6 = you could do 4-5 more repetitions with this weight

7 = you could do  3-4 more

8 = you could do 2-3 more

9 = you could do 1-2 more

10 = you can do just that one

When you just start with strength training, you need to play with the weights a bit. But a general rule of thumb is to work with weights between 7 to 9 RPE if you’d like to get stronger.

Here’s an example.

A1. Front Squats 4×6 @ RPE 7

A2. Dead Bugs 4×6/side

B1. BB Bent-Over Rows 3×10 @ RPE 8

B2. DB Incline Bench Presses 3×10 @ RPE 8

B3. Cable Face Pulls 3×10 @ RPE 8

C1. Reverse Lunges 4×8 @ RPE 8

C2. Farmer’s Carry 4x 20 yards @ RPE 7-8

As you can see, just going and doing strength training isn’t enough.

In order to get stronger and better at strength training you need to supplement your program with important lifestyle habits — like eating protein, going for a walk instead of dying on the stairmaster, and adjusting your efforts to make your workout truly challenging.

The women I’ve worked with who followed these rules always make the strength goals they set for themselves.

About the Author

Lana Sova is a coach at Shameless Strength Academy and a personal trainer in Boston, MA  She empowers women to build and own their strength via powerlifting and strength training.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 9/7/18

Copyright: urfingus / 123RF Stock Photo

BUT FIRST…CHECK THIS STUFF OUT

1. (Even More) Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint – Upcoming Locations Below

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

But now.

BUT NOW……

….It’s the (Even More) Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint.

A bunch of wordsmiths we are.

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.

Houston, TX – THIS weekend (Sept 8-9th).

Ljublijana, Slovenia – October 20-21st. (<— EARLY BIRD rate still in affect)

Los Angeles, CA – November 17-18th. (<— EARLY BIRD rate still in affect)

All registrants to this course (as well as future dates in Detroit, Philadelphia, Minas Tirith) will receive a free download of CSHB 1.0 so that you’re up-to-speed on the content Dean and I will be covering.

To register and for moe details go HERE.

2. RISE Fitness Business Conference – San Jose, CA

I’ve had to decline speaking at this event in the past due to prior engagements1, but I’m headed to San Jose this year baby.

And I…..am…..pumped.

I’ve never been to the Bay area so I’m excited for that. But I’m even more excited for the THREEdays of melt your face knowledge that’ll be under one roof.

The line-up is spectacular and I’m honored to be included amongst such esteemed company – Pat Rigsby, Mark Fisher, Molly Galbraith, Kellie Hart, Craig Ballantyne, and Scott Rawcliffe, to name a few.

I’ll be speaking about shoulder assessment.

If you’re a fitness professional looking to take his or her’s career to the next level this is an event you won’t want to miss.

Full details and registration are HERE.

SOCIAL MEDIA SHENANIGANS

Twitter

Instagram

STUFF TO READ WHILE YOU’RE PRETENDING TO WORK

Online Trainer Academy – Enrollment Now Open (But Not For Long)

There’s more and more demand for online trainers today.

If you’re looking for a way to better leverage your expertise AND earning potential, this is the way to do it.

Jon Goodman is essentially the Professor Dumbledore of online training. Except, you know, he doesn’t have a beard, and he’s not an actual wizard and stuff.

But by golly is it impressive what he’s built with the Online Trainer Academy.

Open enrollment only lasts until September 11th. Do yourself a favor and invest in yourself

Do It and Diet – Dan John

Dan John writes something, anything, I’m going to read it.

You should too.

Dr. Stuart McGill on Footwear, Focal Point, and Cues In the Deadlifts – Travis Mash

Not many people can be so succinct and pithy with their words and pack a punch. Dr. McGill is one of those people.

Thanks for sharing this one Travis!

Categoriespodcast

Appearance On the Empowered Body Podcast: Coaching Gen’ Pop’ Clients to Be Strong

It’s Labor Day and I’m going to keep this brief.

However, on a completely un-related note before I begin: My wife and I binged watched Jack Ryan over the weekend on Amazon.

As in, as soon as Julian went to bed on Fri-Sat-Sun night, I cartwheeled out of the hallway, yelled “LET’S DO THIS,” and we watched all eight episodes…like two bosses.

I’d give it a solid B.4

Copyright: dr911 / 123RF Stock Photo

The Empowered Body Podcast

When I was in London this past July teaching one of my workshops one of the attendees, Adam Willis, asked if I’d be willing to be a guest on his podcast?

He noted his target audience was women who like to train.

Sold!

Our schedules finally aligned two weeks ago and you can listen to our conversation below. In it we highlight:

  • Why performance-based goals are impactful.
  • The importance of movement competency.
  • Assessing hips and shoulders
  • The idea behind 3×52 and why consistency reigns supreme.

For the Apple snobs out there you can download the episode on iTunes HERE.

Spotify HERE.

Stitcher HERE.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 8/31/18

Apologies for the lack of writing content of late.

It’s been a hectic few weeks getting things prepared for upcoming speaking events and travel. The good news (well kinda good news: I’m gonna miss the little booger) is that my one and half year old, Julian, made the transition to full-time daycare this week.

Woo-hoo I’ll soon have my mornings back to write!

Copyright: wamsler / 123RF Stock Photo

BUT FIRST…CHECK THIS STUFF OUT

1. (Even More) Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint – Upcoming Locations Below

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

But now.

BUT NOW……

….It’s the (Even More) Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint.

A bunch of wordsmiths we are.

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.

Houston, TX – is NEXT weekend (Sept 8-9th).

Ljublijana, Slovenia – Octobver 20-21st. (<— EARLY BIRD rate still in affect)

Los Angeles, CA – November 17-18th. (<— EARLY BIRD rate still in affect)

All registrants to this course (as well as future dates in Detroit, Philadelphia, Minas Tirith) will receive a free download of CSHB 1.0 so that you’re up-to-speed on the content Dean and I will be covering.

To register and for moe details go HERE.

2. RISE Fitness Business Conference – San Jose, CA

I’ve had to decline speaking at this event in the past due to prior engagements1, but I’m headed to San Jose this year baby.

And I…..am…..pumped.

I’ve never been to the Bay area so I’m excited for that. But I’m even more excited for the THREEdays of melt your face knowledge that’ll be under one roof.

The line-up is spectacular and I’m honored to be included amongst such esteemed company – Pat Rigsby, Mark Fisher, Molly Galbraith, Kellie Hart, Craig Ballantyne, and Scott Rawcliffe, to name a few.

I’ll be speaking about shoulder assessment.

If you’re a fitness professional looking to take his or her’s career to the next level this is an event you won’t want to miss.

Full details and registration are HERE.

SOCIAL MEDIA SHENANIGANS

Twitter

Instagram

STUFF TO READ WHILE YOU’RE PRETENDING TO WORK

I’m a Coach, Not a Therapist – Krista Scott-Dixon

It can be intimidating if not downright terrifying when a client or athlete confides in you and shares intimate details of their personal life.

There have been times I wanted nothing more than to stick my fingers in my ears and start yelling “La la la la la la la, I can’t hear you, la la la la la” when I client started telling me about their divorce, affair, financial woes, that they actually liked Attack of the Clones.

All fitness pros need to read this article.

Like it or not, as Krista notes in the first paragraph….”you’re more therapist-like than you think.”

Forget About Squat Depth – JL Holdsworth & Geoff Girvitz

I love the intro to this article:

“Warning: This article may cause heart palpitations, ulcers, and sleepless nights. It will make anyone who’s not a competitive powerlifter question everything they thought they knew about the squat.”

How to Choose a Personal Trainer: Myth vs. Reality – Nick Tumminello

As per the usual: Nick offers some insights that not many can emulate. I always appreciate his candor and perspective.

CategoriesProgram Design

Why Introducing New Exercises Can Derail Progress and What To Do About It

Anyone who’s read this site for any length time knows I’m not a big fan of exercise variety.

For most people, most of the time, adding in novelty for the sake of novelty often mounts to nothing more than a one-way ticket to Averageville.

My good friend and strength coach, Chris Merritt (founder and owner of BSP NoVa), has an excellent guest post for you today discussing why exercise variety can be detrimental and how, despite popular belief, you can still keep your clients engaged with the same exercises.

His FREE e-book detailing how you can add variety to basic exercises can be downloaded HERE.

Copyright: spotpoint74 / 123RF Stock Photo

Why Introducing New Exercises Can Derail Progress

“No, get your back flatter … yeah, there you go, but drop your hips … okay, great job, but now get your back flat again … [hm, what the heck is going on?] … maybe set your feet wider?”

Whether you’re the coach or client, everyone is frustrated in a scenario like this, and yet, we’ve probably all been here at some point.

If you’re the client, I’m sorry, it’s not your fault.

If you’re the coach—you guessed it—this falls on you.

When it comes to selecting exercises for our clients, we actually shouldn’t have to coach form all that much. Sure, there’s some base level of teaching that needs to happen on the front end, and occasional cues along the way, but, contrary to what all too often happens across gyms far and wide, people don’t need the newest fancy exercise progression every time they get a new program.

In fact, continually introducing new movements will significantly slow down progress or, worse yet, derail it altogether.

Think about it…

The more time spent on coaching, teaching—whatever you want to call it—the less time the client spends training with appropriate focus and duration to accomplish their goals. Do you think the recipient of the coaching above was able to train with enough intensity (i.e., weight used) and volume (i.e., the total number of sets and reps) to even remotely elicit desired results?

 

… and we can argue about whether it was an exercise selection or coaching problem some other time.

[the correct answer is both]

Now let’s pretend that four to six weeks later they’re finally getting it, and then BAM!, their coach decides to switch things up to the latest squat variation they copped from Instagram.

… here we go again.

A Better System

At our gym, Beyond Strength Performance NOVA, we use a system of strength standards to determine when it’s potentially time to move on, and a subsequent progression of exercises that layer competency gained from the movement prior.

Let’s unpack what that actually means, using the deadlift as an example…

All our members start their training journey with a personal orientation session, typically done a day or two after their 1-on-1 assessment and goal-setting session, and we accomplish multiple things within the hour:

  • Teach the warm-ups, providing context for basic concepts (position, breathing, tension, patterning) that carry right over into their everyday training…
  • Teach them how to deadlift, squat, push, and pull, along with determining what variations and loads are best suited for them from day one…
  • Teach the language we use to coach and cue across all our staff
  • Have the new member work with multiple coaches in the session to introduce them to the concept of semi-private personal training
  • Take them through a short training session with the four movements they just learned, allowing them to train that day and us to see how they took to the information they just learned…
  • Set expectations for what’s to come…
  • Make notes about their personality, learning style, and anything else that will help us to coach and connect with them…

Specific to the deadlift, we start the teaching process in our warm-ups by using the cat-cow drill to learn what it feels like to move through our spine and experience two undesirable positions that we refer to as “macho man”—extension, or belly dropped towards the floor—and “sad dog”—flexion, or a big arch like a scared cat.

We then introduce the position of “tall and tight”—ribs down and belt buckle to sternum—using the push-up position plank.

It’s also at this time that we’ll discuss “tall and tight” being our desirable position for all squats, deadlifts, rows, —essentially everything we do in the gym, with one of the only exceptions being the bench press, where we’ll use an arch, or “macho man.”

Finally, we use quadruped rocking to further provide the perception of what it feels like to move with our hips while staying “tall and tight.”

 

After the warm-ups we teach the deadlift, using a progression of handcuff hinge to barbell deadlift, stopping when we find the ideal starting point for their first program. Rather than write out the whole description of this process, let’s check out a video we filmed in May of last year for a law enforcement group we’re consulting with:

 

NOTE: The only thing we do differently since this video was filmed is introduce the barbell RDL before progressing to the rack pull, as we have found that folks learn to keep the bar tight to their thighs and groove the pattern with a top-down approach more easily than bending over to find the right position before beginning the movement—much like handcuff hinge before the kettlebell deadlift…

Further, we use a strength standard of EIGHT quality deadlifts with a 60kg kettlebell (132# for those of you searching for a calculator), performed for multiple quality sets, before progressing to the barbell RDL. The new member may clear this and move on during their personal orientation session, or they could require multiple phases of training to build the capacity.

So yes, you read that correctly—if they’re four months into training with us and they haven’t passed the kettlebell deadlift standard, that kettlebell deadlift is staying on every one of their programs until they do so. Then they’ll need to demonstrate proficiency with the barbell RDL before they go to the rack pull, and the proper form and mobility with descending rack pulls before maybe progressing to the floor.

Sounds boring, you say?

 

Feeling successful is never boring, and the basics allow for our folks to train with appropriate intensity, volume, and positions to crush their goals. But that doesn’t mean you can’t keep things interesting in your application of the basics.

How Many Ways Could You Program the Kettlebell Deadlift?

If you just thought of things like traditional sets and reps, partial reps, varied tempos, clusters, etc., you’re onto what we refer to as loading types.

Rather than just continually throw the kettlebell deadlift at you in the same fashion, month in and month out, we could do something like this:

  • Elevated kettlebell deadlifts for the first month while we work on hip mobility. Further, we can prescribe more time under tension with the eccentric portion (descent) to really groove the pattern. We refer to this as straight sets with an eccentric focus…
    • Elevated Kettlebell Deadlift (31X2)     2-3 x 8
    • (31X2) = each rep performed with a 3 second descent, 1 second pause on the floor, up fast, and 2 second pause at the top. Do these 8 times and you’ve completed one set—one to two more sets to go depending on how you’re holding up with this new training stimulus.
  • In month two we’re ready to ditch the elevation, however, we haven’t cleared the strength standard, so we’ll program clusters to build our capacity.
    • Kettlebell Deadlift Clusters     3 x (2, 2, 1)
    • (2, 2, 1) = 2 reps, rest 10 to 30 seconds, 2 reps, rest another 10 to 30 seconds, and finally 1 rep—all with the same weight. That’s one set, and you’ve got two more to go.
  • For month three, let’s put weight ladders to use.
    • Kettlebell Deadlift Descending Weight Ladders     3 x (3 heavy, 2 medium-heavy, 1 medium-light)
    • Perform 3 heavy kettlebell deadlifts, right into 2 medium-heavy kettlebell deadlifts, followed by 1 medium-light kettlebell deadlift. That’s one set down, two to go.
  • In month four we bring it back to straight sets, only this time with no elevation…
    • Kettlebell Deadlift     4 x 4
    • … and for example, let’s say you want to test out in week 4. We’ll simply switch your 4 x 4 to 2 x 8. Crush it, and on to the barbell RDL we go…

All For One and One For All

We have strength standards for our core four movements—squat, deadlift, push-up, and pull-up—and progressions/regressions for every exercise we use.

When we put these systems to use in our program design process—appropriately selecting individual exercises and combining them in a manner to work towards the clients’ said goals—coaches don’t need to overwhelm the clients with constant corrections, clients get to see a pathway to success and train their asses off in the process, and decision making with regards to writing one program to the next becomes a simple task.

It’s just plain better for everyone involved.

Want More?

You can learn all about 20+ loading types, providing YEARS of near infinite variety on the basics by picking up my free e-book, “You Can’t Get Bored: Adding Variety to the Basics of Program Design,” by simply providing your email here.

And if you’d like to come learn this stuff in person—and so much more—join us on Sunday September 9th in Queens, NY at Iron Lion Performance for the Program Design One-Day Deep Dive Seminar.  Check out the agenda and get registered here.

Beyond that, feel free to email me anytime! [email protected].

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 8/24/18

Copyright: gregorylee / 123RF Stock Photo

BUT FIRST…CHECK THIS STUFF OUT

1. (Even More) Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint – Houston, TX

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

But now.

BUT NOW……

….It’s the (Even More) Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint.

A bunch of wordsmiths we are.

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 registrants to this course (as well as future dates in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Los Angeles, Detroit, Philadelphia, Minas Tirith) will receive a free download of CSHB 1.0 so that you’re up-to-speed on the content Dean and I will be covering.

To register and for moe details go HERE.

2. RISE Fitness Business Conference – San Jose, CA

I’ve had to decline speaking at this event in the past due to prior engagements5, but I’m headed to San Jose this year baby.

And I…..am…..pumped.

I’ve never been to the Bay area so I’m excited for that. But I’m even more excited for the THREEdays of melt your face knowledge that’ll be under one roof.

The line-up is spectacular and I’m honored to be included amongst such esteemed company – Pat Rigsby, Mark Fisher, Molly Galbraith, Kellie Hart, Craig Ballantyne, and Scott Rawcliffe, to name a few.

I’ll be speaking about shoulder assessment.

If you’re a fitness professional looking to take his or her’s career to the next level this is an event you won’t want to miss.

Full details and registration are HERE.

SOCIAL MEDIA SHENANIGANS

Twitter

Instagram – 30 Days of Deadlifts

I’m a week into my series “30 Days of Deadlifts.”

This was the video that kicked things off.

Plenty more to come so be sure to follow or check in on me over in IG world.

STUFF TO READ WHILE YOU’RE PRETENDING TO WORK

Key to Career Success – Dr. John Berardi

John first started writing for T-Nation back in the early 2000’s and eventually started Precision Nutrition which is now a 200 million dollar company and one of the most respected entities in the industry.

How?

How did he do it?

Was there some secret morning ritual, a daily hack, or maybe he cut a deal with Rumplestiltskin?

None of the above, actually.

As always John keeps it real and provides a ton of practical insights.

Building a Successful Career: Positioning and Intent – Dean Somerset

Not to steal any light from the first article, but this was also a fantastic read from my brother of another mother, Dean Somerset.

In short:

1. Put in the work.

2. Leverage your strengths.

3. Dean and I are non-sexual life partners.

5 Years of Insane Gains – Paul Carter

Why couldn’t have Paul written this back in 1993?

Why?

Whhhhhhhhhhhhhyyyyy?

This is a MUST read for anyone newbies out there reading.

CategoriesExercises You Should Be Doing

Exercises You Should Be Doing: Offset Glute Bridge DB Press

It’s been a while since I’ve offered a glimpse into my exercise library and shared an example of something I’ve been playing around with of late.

Today’s exercise is nothing revolutionary, but it’s simplicity is one of the reasons I feel it’s so effective.

Whether you workout at home or in a commercial gym it can be performed rather easily, and the set-up is minimal.

Copyright: gekaskr / 123RF Stock Photo

Offset Glute Bridge DB Press

 

Who Did I Steal It From? – Your mom.6

Just kidding.

I know Ben Bruno has done similar variations from the floor, so I guess he serves as my muse in this instance.

What Does It Do? – This is a great example of an exercise that provides a high-training effect with a low dose. Here we’re targeting the pecs (obviously), but we’re also getting a high degree of glute activation and an even higher degree of core recruitment.

I’m a BIG fan of “offset” training.

This is where you hold a weight (dumbbell, barbell, KB, Mjolnir) on ONE-side of the body and perform all your repetitions before switching to the other side.

In this case the benefit is you have to do all you can to “steady” yourself and not fall off the bench as the set progresses.

It’s core training 101.

Resisting/stabilizing external forces & vectors.

Moreover, the exercise is made exponentially more difficult when performed in the “off-bench” position (glute bridge) because 1) there’s less of the bench to keep you stable and 2) you have to work to maintain appropriate lumbo-pelvic alignment as a result.

Key Coaching Cues – This is admittedly a bit of a wonky exercise at first, especially with regards to getting into position. The best piece of advice I can offer is to place the DB on your lap first and then use that (and the bench) as leverage as you finagle yourself into the bridge position.

Rest your head on the bench.

When you’re set make a fist with your free hand to help ramp up and maintain full-body tension. Be prepared to get diesel.

CategoriesWriting

Giving Credit Where It’s Due: A Simple Guide For Fitness Pros on Plagiarism

This post will be brief today.

While it may be a bit dearth in prose I hope to make up for it with ample bluster in message.

Here it is:

“Don’t be an asshole.“

It’s rather simple:

  • Call your mother.
  • Don’t recline your seat on an airplane.
  • Turn your phone off in the theater.
  • Give credit where it’s due and stop taking credit for work/ideas you didn’t come up with.
Copyright: sifotography / 123RF Stock Photo

I Don’t Get It

I can’t comprehend why some people risk their reputation and credibility plagiarizing the work of others.

– Is it for the additional clicks and page views?

– Is it due to our infatuation with “likes” and shares on social media and the facade of success it insinuates?

– Is it because some people just lack any form of original thought and commonsense?

I honestly don’t know the answer, and it dumbfounds me why some people would jeopardize their integrity at the prospect of maybe gaining more of a following, maybe generating a few more hits on their website, and/or maybe making a bit more money.

It seems obvious to me it’s not worth the risk given the fleeting euphoria of all of the above when news comes out you’re nothing more than a cut and paste hack.

There have been some egregious examples of plagiarism within the fitness industry of late.

My friend, Georgie Fear, used Facebook earlier this year to call out another fitness professional who was repeatedly copying her work. She only went public after all previous attempts to rectify the situation privately failed to stick.

I’m not gonna lie, it made for great reading.

via GIPHY

Likewise, Sohee Lee took matters into her own hands not too long ago and took another fitness pro to task for blatantly taking credit for her work (and other’s)…repeatedly.

You can read about it HERE.

Heck, I remember a few years ago, when I was still at Cressey Sports Performance, Pete Dupuis typing CSPs mission statement into Google and watching, in a matter of 0.007 seconds, several examples popping up on screen of other fitness facilities having cut/pasted that – word for word – and using it as their own.

I mean, if you can’t even come up with your own mission statement for your facility why are you even in this industry?

What Is Plagiarism?

noun

pla·gia·rism

The practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own.

What Is Not Plagiarism?

Now that we’re all on the same page – thanks to Webster’s – of what plagiarism is, lets discuss what it is not.

Not Plagiarism

  • Anything that is not plagiarism.
  • A cheese sandwich, a free month’s subscription to Hulu, my wife’s curling iron, that weird oddly shaped mark on your left leg below your kneecap (you might want to get that checked out), anything else that’s not plagiarism.

It’s Simple

Go out of your way to give credit.

You will not lose demerit points and people will not think any less of you in doing so. Speaking on a personal level I can’t tell you how many times people have gone out of their way to commend me on my persistence to always give credit.

Whether I’m presenting or writing I’m always name dropping other coaches who’s information and intellectual prowess I borrow.

Here’s an example yesterday from my IG account:

And here’s an example from an article I wrote last week on this site:

In neither scenario did I risk my reputation, compromise my integrity, or spontaneously combust in a flash of ineptitude because I had the audacity (and conscious) to reference someone else’s work.

I didn’t lose credibility in anyone’s eyes (I think).

Give props, people.

It’s not that hard.

Categoriesrant

Well, That’s Weird

There’s no shortage of shenanigans, tomfoolery, and outright WTF’ness tethered to everyday life. We can multiply this by a factor of infinity when talking about stuff we see and hear in the gym.

The gym is a petri dish of grit, determination, chalk, high-fives, blood, sweat, and other bodily fluids I don’t want to think about, plumes of Axe Body Spray, cheesy one-liners, groutfits, selfies, rusty barbells, and a spectrum of head scratching, eyebrow raising, head tilting dumbfoundedness of human behavior.

Shit can get weird.

Today’s guest post by regular contributor, Shane McLean, scratches the surface.

Enjoy.

Copyright: sertikhonov / 123RF Stock Photo

Well, That’s Weird

Whenever I go off on a tangent and start raving about some minuscule subject, my wife often dismisses me with ‘whatever floats your boat dear.’ My reply is ‘you’re the one who floats my boat dear.’

Okay, that’s enough dirty talk.

We all have our own idiosyncrasies, things we do without thinking or habits we do that other people look upon as strange. And if you’re a fitness professional or a hardcore gym goer you probably have a bucket load of things that your family and friends brush off as weird.

via GIPHY

However, if you’re anything like me, you either don’t care what people think or you believe it’s completely natural and everyone should do it because it’s awesome.

For example, checking out your abs in the mirror while every else is lifting.

I’ve been around gyms for over 25 years as a gym goer and a trainer. And in that time, I have developed my own strange habits and I’ve also seen things that I can’t forget because it’s been burned into my subconscious.

The following list is like therapy for the soul.

Let the healing begin.

1. Don’t ever show your underarm fat to a trainer and ask, “What do I do about these chicken wings?”

If you must know, I like them battered and fried and smothered with BBQ sauce.

2. It’s okay to sweat but please, clean up after yourself. The habit of not cleaning up after one’s self and leaving a pool of sweat on the gym floor like a calling card to gross. Your mum is not there to clean up for you, so you do it.

3. I love training bare foot.

I love my feet touching the dirty gym floor because it gives me better feedback on how I’m doing.

Unfortunately, not everyone digs it as much as I do.

4. Do you remember when Monica Seles graced the tennis courts?

Don’t be that guy after every rep.

A little is okay but a lot is not.

5. Do you know the dude who wears a weight belt while doing 55-pound barbell curls? Don’t be him either.

6. If you’re getting dirty looks while on your cell phone, you’re talking too loudly. No one needs to hear what you ate last night. On that note, why are you talking on your cellphone in the gym?

Get back to lifting.

7. Why do people wake up at the arse crack of dawn to run on a treadmill? The weights are over there.

8. Don’t text and lift. It’s hazardous for ones health.

9. Laying the weight plates by the weight stack doesn’t count as putting them away. Don’t be lazy and re rack your weights.

10. Stop bragging to everyone about how much you lift.

Somewhere, someone is warming up with your max.

11. Who doesn’t enjoy eating out of Tupperware containers?

12. There’s a time for dancing and a time for lifting.

Don’t get the two confused.

13. Do you drop your dirty plates on the floor after you’ve finished eating? Of course not. Pay the dumbbells the same respect.

14. What am I doing with the lacrosse ball?

Don’t ask.

15. There’s a reason gyms have lots of mirrors, so take advantage of it you sexy thing.

16. Don’t make me wait for the water fountain while filling a gallon container. Are you really that thirsty?

17. Wearing sunglasses while training is never cool unless your Corey Hart. Is the sun shining in the gym?

18. Playing Candy Crush on your phone while spotting your partner bench pressing goes beyond stupid.

Yes, this actually happened, and I still can’t get it out of my brain.

19. There are some exercises that look like you’re getting lucky. Please don’t maintain eye contact with anyone while doing these.

 

20. Squatting while on a stability ball is a trainers worst nightmare. It’s still giving me the cold sweats.

Wrapping Up

It’s my hope that you feel better now.

I certainty do.

I’ve saved a bunch of money on therapy.

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.

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 8/17/18

 

Copyright: wamsler / 123RF Stock Photo

BUT FIRST…CHECK THIS STUFF OUT

1. (Even More) Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint – Houston, TX

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

But now.

BUT NOW……

….It’s the (Even More) Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint.

A bunch of wordsmiths we are.

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 registrants to this course (as well as future dates in Ljubljana, Slovenia, Los Angeles, Detroit, Philadelphia, Minas Tirith) will receive a free download of CSHB 1.0 so that you’re up-to-speed on the content Dean and I will be covering.

To register and for moe details go HERE.

2. RISE Fitness Business Conference – San Jose, CA

I’ve had to decline speaking at this event in the past due to prior engagements7, but I’m headed to San Jose this year baby.

And I…..am…..pumped.

I’ve never been to the Bay area so I’m excited for that. But I’m even more excited for the THREE days of melt your face knowledge that’ll be under one roof.

The line-up is spectacular and I’m honored to be included amongst such esteemed company – Pat Rigsby, Mark Fisher, Molly Galbraith, Kellie Hart, Craig Ballantyne, and Scott Rawcliffe, to name a few.

I’ll be speaking about shoulder assessment.8

If you’re a fitness professional looking to take his or her’s career to the next level this is an event you won’t want to miss.

Full details and registration are HERE.

SOCIAL MEDIA SHENANIGANS

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My wife is a beast. She crushed her last month of training. #100%humblebrag

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STUFF TO READ WHILE YOU’RE PRETENDING TO WORK

Why You Should Train the Single Leg Deadlift – Artemis Scantalides

I know some coaches find training the single leg deadlift a waste of time, but I am not one of those coaches.

Neither is Artemis.

She’s the shit.

What Coed Kickball and Medical Bills Taught Me About Fitness – Andy van Grinsven

Some really great perspective from Andy in this one.

And a sick The Notebook reference.

Well played.

The Hybrid Athlete Program – Eric Bach

Want to be strong, lean, and not move like the Tin Man?

This program by Eric is sublime.