CategoriesNutrition

How to Approach Pre and Post Workout Nutrition

I’m over in Europe being all bourgeois and stuff at the moment.

Thankfully I had a few people reach out asking if they could write some content for me while was away chasing foxes in England with the Queen.

Today I’ve got a good one from Toronto based nutritionist, Marc Capistrano, discussing a few intricacies of pre and post-workout nutrition.

Enjoy!

How to Approach Pre and Post Workout Nutrition

The goal of this post isn’t to give you the ideal plate of food that should be eaten before or after training, but rather to provide you with some insight into that immediate post workout window before your next meal.

The same goes for the odd time that occurs 30 minutes to an hour before training.

I know many of you may be rolling your eyes saying that things like “the post workout window is a myth” and that in the greater scheme of things, what you eat immediately before or after training isn’t as important when your intake of food is balanced throughout the day.

I’ll agree that this is somewhat true, but I’ll also say that the timing of your food intake in and around training can have an effect on overall performance.

Before we get into the sexy takeaways like the specific foods to eat before and after our workouts, let’s get a couple things straight. First, we need to consider a few factors to help inform our unique, individual pre and post workout meal needs:

Current Eating Habits

At the end of the day, nutrition will always come down to the individual.

What works for you may not work for someone else.

As an example, I know some people who thrive training fasted and then there’s some people who need a little bit of glucose in their system to perform. Some people are fat adapted and some people, like myself, need their carbs before training.

With that being said, don’t build around a set of nutrition rules, instead, build off of what has worked for you and upgrade that shit.

Nutrient Intake

If vitamins and minerals are cofactors for the body to support ATP production, then we need to  consider how nutrient dense our food actually is. Nutrients are more influential on energy production more than calories.

Calories aren’t the only influence on energy production.

Blood Sugar Management

If you’re counting macros, then you’ll have your food and caloric intake set for the day, but the specifics of pre and post workout nutrition takes into consideration meal timing and what types of foods you choose to eat around your workout.

Some may argue that meal timing isn’t that important. But to me, meal timing means blood sugar management. When it comes to the fine details, the time in which you eat and digest your food can play a role in overall performance.

Rate of Digestion

The rate at which we assimilate and digest our food matters. This influences how efficiently our food is used as substrates for energy production. Also, have you ever eaten at a buffet then trained immediately after?

Keep the garbage can close if you do decide to try it.

The Intensity of Your Workout

If you’re a power-based athlete then consider fueling your body with expensive fuel; aka carbs.

As for the keto people reading this, I think we can all agree that being fat-fueled is an efficient method of energy production, but utilizing fat vs. carbs prior to training is the difference between using a Hybrid and a Ferrari to win on a race track.

The same can be said for the lower carb Paleo followers as well.

Carb Consumption

Are your goals recovery-oriented?

Or are you more concerned with body composition?

Recovery methods will usually require higher carb intake before and after your workouts, while lower carb intake will allow the body to use fat as a substrate to fuel your workouts if improving body composition is your goal.

Pre-Workout Nutrition

To keep it simple, pre-workout nutrition is based around providing the body with the right amount of amino acids while also maintaining a slow and steady release of glucose to be used during your workout.

Here’s what to eat…

Have Some Fat

If you’re fat adapted this is especially important, as it’s the primary substrate of energy production for you.

Even if you’re not following a strict keto diet, I like having clients include some sort of quality fat source prior to training because of its ability to provide a slow and steady release of available glucose during your workout.

I especially like Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCT’s) because of their ability to cross the mitochondrial membrane and be used as energy immediately. Other fats require a series of events that need L-carnitine for entry into the mitochondrial membrane while MCT’s don’t.

Some quality fat options include: coconut, avocado, cheese (if dairy is your thing) and most nuts and seeds are great options. In case you were interested, below is a quick video of how I incorporate MCT oil into my pre-workout training session.

 

Just a Little Bit of Protein Bro

You’ve heard this before, but I’ll remind you that having protein and its available amino acids limits protein from being used as a substrate during exercise while keeping protein synthesis (MPS) levels steady as this tends to go down during workouts.

A full steak may be too dense of a meal immediately prior to training, but a protein shake or BCAA supplement will do just fine.

Other quick and easy protein source for pre-workout nutrition include: beef jerky, turkey jerky or a simple protein shake.

Coffee. The Original Pre-Workout

Coffee offers a jolt of energy by blocking adenosine receptors in the body that would otherwise reduce neural activity.

For a more balanced and reduced intake of caffeine, opt for a Green tea, which contains an amino acid known as L-Theanine, which balances the stimulatory effect of caffeine. It also contains far less caffeine than the average cup of coffee.

Post-Workout Nutrition

For the most part, post workout nutrition involves higher insulinogenic foods paired with adequate protein intake.

Not only does the consumption of carbs post-workout replenish glycogen stores that we tapped into or depleted during intense exercise, but as a storage hormone, it promotes the absorption of amino acids into the blood stream needed for protein synthesis.

The body also happens to be more insulin sensitive and more receptive to food right after exercise, which is why I opt to have my calorically dense meals in the post workout window.

Ketosis and being fat adapted aside, post-workout nutrition can have an effect on cortisol secretion. This is particularly important post-workout as we’ll want cortisol to gradually come back to normal levels.

Don’t get me wrong, cortisol has a very important role during training, but if chronically elevated, it can have negative effects. Post workout carbs will bring cortisol levels back to a normal range and have favourable effects on things like the immune system.

Here’s what to eat…

Fast Carbohydrates

When it comes to starchy carbs, I opt for faster digesting carbs like white rice. The fact that its fibre content is lower is beneficial in this context.

The faster it spikes insulin, the faster the absorption rate. Good post workout starchy carb sources include white rice, potatoes, rice cakes, and yes, bread. Clearly there are more fun ways of spiking your insulin (sugar, candy, cake), but lets consider gut health, long-term health and quality when choosing post-workout food options.

Fruit

Opt for fruit lower in fructose as fructose is slower to absorb. This is due to the fact that it needs to be processed in the liver first.

Fruits that are lower in fructose include blackberries, blueberries, pineapple, kiwi, papaya, strawberries and grapefruit.

Protein: Whey or Vegan Protein Powder

It’s fast, easy to prepare, and even easier to digest…making protein powders an ideal option for post workout consumption. The amino acid Leucine is particularly beneficial because of its ability to keep protein synthesis (MPS) high after exercise.

Notice that fat is excluded here?

That’s because of its ability to slow down the absorption of food.

This is beneficial from a blood sugar standpoint as this can be useful for times when we need a slow supply of glucose, but not beneficial during a the post workout meal where quick absorption and assimilation is needed. When it comes to post workout nutrition, taking advantage of the body’s insulin sensitive state is the most important note to take home.

I get it.

For some: These recommendations may simply not matter, but for someone in the dark or struggling with general nutrition, building a habit based approach to what’s eaten immediately before and after training will produce at the very least, consistency.

For the trainers out there: Providing clients with a set of go-to recommendations gives the client a feeling of purpose and direction with training and nutrition. That in itself carries value and at the very least something to take away from this.

About the Author

Marc Capistrano is a Toronto based Certified Nutritionist, fitness enthusiast and content creator. He currently works out of downtown Toronto and maintains the Live It Holistic Nutrition blog.

Catch him on his YouTube channel and Instagram page.

CategoriesOff Topic

Day 4: Cologne!

Due to some kind of error on my part, we are in an AirBnB with no laundry. You cannot travel to Europe for 2 weeks with carry on-luggage – and a baby – and not have laundry! Oops. So we were planning to do some laundry on Sunday, but NO Laundromats were open! I know, it’s bonkers.

Anyways, as you can imagine I had a plan to attack the laundry situation first thing Monday morning. So when Julian woke up at 6am, we seized the opportunity. With Julian in the stroller, notes-on-paper, old-school style directions (due to no cell service) we made our way to the “Waschsalon”, only to find German-only directions and a very confusing looking computer that looked like it came out of 1987!

Thank GOODNESS there was one other desperate laundry-doer at 6:30am in Bonn, because he helped us how to figure out the weirdest Laundromat computer system I have ever seen! We threw the Landry in, headed out for diapers, milk, bananas, and bread (like any family on vacation should), and then back to the Laundromat to put the wash into the dryer. During this time I watched a elderly woman, and seemingly regular patron of the Waschsalon, take off her shirt and bra, and place it into the wash. So there was that. We rolled with it, and had a little breakfast:

Anyways, laundry done, groceries gotten, 78 fresh new diapers! Let’s go… Today was our day to see Cologne.

Did you know that Cologne is a favorite city of many Germans? Apparently it has a special something about it. It is also Valentina’s favorite city – so if your guide loves the city you’re visiting, so do you!

We started with the Cathedral – because… well, have you ever seen the cathedral?

Actually, there is really no photo that could ever do it justice. The cathedral (The Dom) is insane. We walked in and around for awhile, taking photos and being tourists.

After exploring the city center, we headed across the river:

Where there’s a tall building topped with a fabulous observatory and a 360 degree view. Here are some photos:

After some looking at the Rhine and the city from the “other side”, we had lunch! More Kolsch, a bratwurst, and more potatoes – naturally.

We made our way back to Bonn, because Valentina has a business to run, after all, and we were so sorry to say goodbye! She is a fabulous person, and was an amazing host. He hope to see her again soon!

 

I was happy to be home by 5pm. It felt like the first time we got to relax! We relaxed, made some easy dinner, and packed up.

Tomorrow… Holland! See you then.

CategoriesOff Topic

Day 3: Bonn Day

Guten Morgan! Julian, Eileen, and Tony slept well.

Me, not so much, but what can you do?

Luckily, my life-long love affair with coffee sustains me in times like this, so I was awake at 4:30 and up at 5:30am dosing myself, while the family slumbered.

After a few cups of coffee and a slice of amazing German bread, I went back to sleep at 7:30, and awoken by Julian at 10:30 (thank the Universe for 12 hours of sleep for the baby!) We realized Julian was down to his last few diapers, and that I had just used the last coffee filter (!!!), so we headed out to buy some of each. Do you know that Every. Thing. Is closed on Sunday in Germany?!

I did not believe it was not possible to buy a diaper – but believe it! I did find some coffee filters in a gas station (Aha! At least the gas station is open) but no diapers. So we counted the last 4 and hoped this would not become an issue…

Due to everyone sleeping in, we got a late start, and headed into Valentina’s gym for a jet-lag rehab workout. Unique fitness is gorgeous! And the workout really helped – chin ups, bench press, deadlift, swings… and everything feels 30% better! Tony, Eileen and I all got in our workout while Julian observed (and napped more!) in his stroller.

After the workout and a quick shower we were out to sightsee in Bonn! A cute little city, one of the major tourist attractions is the birthplace of Beethoven. Tony and Eileen went inside to visit, and due to the no-stroller accessibility situation, Jules and I hung out on the street and watched the tourists come to take photos of the front door

After some walking around, Valentina recommended a restaurant on the other side of the Rhine, with amazing food! So of course, we made the trek, and by the time we arrived we were starving!

But the walk was totally worth it.

Owned by a husband and wife team, this was “The” place to get Schnitzel, if you want good Schnitzel… So of course, I had to get Schnitzel! I opted, of course, for the “Classic Schnitzel” which is veal, with bits of bacon on top, because why not? This was accompanied with potatoes, naturally.

One thing I love about the area is the beer – Kolsch.

If you are a local, you drink a small glass of Kolsch, which is light, and because it’s in a small glass, it’s always cold and bubbly. So you have a little beer, then another, and then maybe if you want, another.

So you’re never drinking “too much” beer, and your never drinking warm or flat beer – brilliant!

Apparently other kinds of Germans make fun of drinking light, easy-drinking beer out of small glasses, but I loved it!

Anyways, after dinner I was SOOOO full I was ready to sleep right there! But we left and made the journey back home to our Airbnb.

Goodnight, and fingers crossed for some sleep!

Categoriespersonal training

Confessions of a Middle-Aged Personal Trainer

I’m currently in Europe.[/efn_note]Nah, nah, nah, nah, nahhhhhhhh.1

I had a speaking engagement Bonn (Germany) this past weekend, and I’m doing a 2-day workshop in London this coming weekend.

Before that, though, Amsterdam is on the docket starting tomorrow. Figured it would be a good idea to queue up this guest post from personal trainer Shane McLean today rather than wait till any shenanigans and debauchery take over.

Which is to say: I’ll still be in bed by 9 PM. Who am I kidding……;o)

Confessions of a Middle-Aged Personal Trainer

If you’re thinking this is some old dude ranting, who longs for the good old days, then you’re partly right.

I’m not yet 50, but I love stepping up to my soap box and offering my opinion.

Although gyms have been around for a while, personal training is still a relatively new profession that has a (reasonably) low barrier for entry and has seen its fair share cowboys come and go in the attempt to make a quick buck.

To pay the bills as a fitness professional usually involves getting up at the arse crack of dawn, working long hours, attending management meetings and consuming copious amounts of coffee in the hopes you have enough energy to workout.

NOTE – this is changing due to the rise of online personal training.

And when working for most commercial gyms, the trainer will be lucky to earn a 50/50 split, which sounds good in theory but those new to the industry fail to account for all the work that goes into preparing for a session.

Hint, when the trainer is a newbie (like I was) it’s a lot.

However, most fitness professionals want to help people and not stack their wallets full of cash, unless you’re a celebrity trainer who really likes to be on TV endorsing crappy products that act as overpriced clothes hangers.

Do I really need to name, names? I’ll get into trouble.

However, I’m stepping off my soap box now and stepping into the confessional and revealing my deepest, darkest secrets that I’ve been hiding from my clients for years.

I hope none of them are reading. 😊

1. I’m a Lousy Repetition Counter

There’s a saying around the industry that trainers are gloried rep counters. They count the reps, write it down on the workout card and say “good job” as they move on to the next exercise.

 

Unfortunately, for my clients I’m terrible at counting reps because I’m focused on technique, external cues to fix their form or encouraging them. Amid all of that, I lose count and when they ask how many reps to go I say, ‘Do 2 more.’

Then a dirty look comes across their face as they respond with ‘you’ve got no idea.’

I’ll never tell. However, wait, I just did.

2. It Never Turns Off

Being a coach and getting paid for it is one of the greatest jobs in the world. Essentially, coaches get paid for telling people what to do, how do it and to rip them a new one when they screw up.

 

Furthermore, coaches get to wear comfortable pants and pass off their caffeine addiction as hydrating. However, there’s a price to be paid for this……….

The coaching button is always on.

When I’m working out or training a client, I’m always looking around the gym and judging people’s form to see if they’re performing an exercise well or poorly. And the more I tell myself not to look and judge, the more I do it anyway.

So, when you see some guy at the gym slapping his forehead and shaking his head while someone is humping the ground doing push-ups, that will be me.

Please wave and say hi.

3. Do As I say, Not As I Do

Good nutrition and exercise work hand in hand for superior health. One is better than none, however both are ideal if you want to crush your goals. And I recommend this to all my clients like a broken record but there’s only one problem, my diet is far from perfect.

I love chocolate, beer, potato chips and burgers and sometimes all at once. If it’s battered and fried, it’s in my mouth and when I eat out, I finish what’s on my plate, no matter how full I am.

When telling a client, they must eat better, cut the crap and suck it up if they want to lose weight, I feel like the biggest hypocrite of all.

4. I Am Working, Really.

The gym floor is a unique workplace environment because the trainer is always on show. It’s not like your usual office cubicle with a desk, chair and a computer where you can pretend to work while catching up on the weekend highlights.

You can definitely tell when a trainer is not working.

However, it seems hard for the general gym public to realize when a trainer IS working with a client. I’ve lost count the amount of times I’ve been interrupted (other trainers can back me up here) when a client is in a middle of an exercise.

“Can you take a picture of me and my friend?”

“What’s the best exercise for (insert body part here)?”

“Are you using this?”

“Is this squat rack free for biceps curls?”

“Do I look fat in this dress?” Oh wait, now I’m getting confused.

I often reply with ‘can’t you see I’m working?’ Which is often met with a blank, confused stare and snooty huff and puff as they storm away. The next person who does this to me, I’ll go all Samuel Jackson on their butt.

That will learn teach them.

5. Sometimes the Gym is the Last Place I Want to Be

Like a chef who orders pizza for dinner when he or she gets home from work, sometimes I’d rather watch Oprah re runs than drive to the gym and train.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the gym environment but after a while of training clients, watching silly people do silly things and the management chewing your butt out for not tucking your shirt in, the weight room is the last place I want to be.

I’d rather take my dog for walk.

Finishing Up

That feels great to get that off my chest and I hope it was as good for you as it was for me. Please keep in mind that coaches are human too and they’re not perfect.

And please don’t break my concentration when I’m working. You’ve been warned.

About the Author

Shane “The Balance Guy” McLean, is an A.C.E Certified Personal Trainer working deep in the heart of Texas. Shane believes in balancing exercise with life while putting the fun back into both.

CategoriesOff Topic

Day 2 – Strong Body, Strong Mind, (and Jet Lag) in Bonn, Germany!

So… it happened! Strong Body, Strong Mind, Bonn.

 

 

After a quick breakfast, Tony and I popped back downstairs to meet Valentina, leaving Julian and Eileen behind to fend for themselves. We returned to Unique Fitness, where we met an amazing collection of trainers from various parts of Germany and Prague! It was a fabulous group, and a great day.

I take on the morning during our workshops, covering general topics within the psychology of coaching and training clients: understanding and enhancing motivation, professional self-care and boundaries, and working with tricky clients, among other things.

The group was fantastic and I learned a great deal from them over the course of the morning. We broke for lunch, and then Tony took over the afternoon, covering other psychological topics, like framing and priming, and then moving on to some shoulder assessment, and finally squat assessment to round out the day. Here are some of our new friends!

During Tony’s talk, my jetlag really set in.

After the seminar I felt like a zombie, but, I had to push through, because a Biergarten!

We headed over to a local restaurant in old town, where Tony and I enjoyed a “typical local dish” called Sauerbraten. Beef, potatoes, purple cabbage – what’s not to love? There should be a photo here, but because Tony and I inhaled our dinners (and because Julian was melting down – again) you’ll just have to see a stock image of Sauerbraten (which does not do it justice).

Another quick trip to the grocery store, another tram ride, and we were home again, home again. For reasons unexplainable, we all hit a second wind, and were sitting on the porch, enjoying a snack, when we realized it was approaching 10pm! That’s what is so cray-cray about jet lag. All of the tiredness, with none of the sleeping.

Julian hates the German bathtub, so after forcing him to take a bath, and getting in the shower myself, I was pooped. I got into bed, and Tony got Julian to bed… fingers crossed for some sleep tonight!

CategoriesOff Topic

Let the European Adventure Commence!

Hello Friends and Family! Once again, the Gentilewis’ greet you from Europe, only this time with the addition of Julian-the-baby, and Eileen-the-nanny! After much planning, we set off for Bonn, Germany at 3pm on Thursday afternoon – here we are, in good spirits:

We took an overnight flight to Dublin, and even under the best of circumstances, trans-continental flights are tiring. Julian’s first hop over the pond could have gone worse, but truth be told, it could have gone much better. Although Tony and I did not sleep one wink, Julian slept for a few hours, draped over one of us, and we arrived in Dublin at 5am local time, 11pm Boston time.

Everyone felt gross, and weird, but that’s part of the adventure. We had a snack, and Julian snuck into the bar across the terminal for a quick pop-up-Julian!

#popupjulian hits up Dublin Airport and grabs a pint at 6 AM. Off to Germany.

A post shared by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore) on

After a few hours we were on our way again, this time to Frankfurt. The flight was 2 hours, and fortunately I slept most of the way! So did Eileen and Jules, so it was only poor, poor Tony who endured another sleepless flight.

When we arrived in Frankfurt we all felt even weirder, and even grosser. It was 10:15 local time, and 3:15am Boston time. Eww. Frankfurt is a massive airport! So after all kinds of taxi-ing, de-planing, and walking, we arrived in the airport lobby, in search of caffeine.

Julian had already lost most of his mind at this point, and the rest of us were doing the best we could. With the help of a coffee and some free wifi, we found the train terminal and walked over to purchase our tickets from Frankfurt to Bonn. Unfortunately the next available train was not until 2pm! So we hung out in the train terminal for a good part of the day. Julian was not a fan, but we all did our best. Here we are, in semi-good-yet-weary spirits:

At long last, we got on the train! Julian chose this occasion to have a meltdown, which our fellow passengers did not appreciate, but who can blame them? And who can blame Julian either, really? Here he is, delirious and seemingly drunk:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZQuQndRA2o

 

The train was crazy fast. We arrived in Bonn within 45 minutes and met our amazing host and guide for the weekend, Valentina! Owner of Unique Fitness, Valentina invited us to come and speak at her gym and helped us coordinate our European Adventure! Upon our arrival Valentina then took us on the Tram, where we made our way to her gym, Unique Fitness, then to the grocery store, and then to our AirBnB (local time, 5pm, Boston time, 11am).

Needless to say, we were weary!

But our apartment was lovely, with a room for Tony and I, a room for Eileen, and even a room for Julian! We made a quick dinner, took a quick shower, and tried not to fall over. Julian was all the way outside of his mind by this time. We all passed out early, and had an up-and-down night of jet-lagged sleep, interrupted by a crying baby, every few hours or so. Tony and I took turns sleeping with Julian, and by the time 6:15 rolled around, I was awake and looking for the coffee pot!

CategoriesStuff to Read While You're Pretending to Work

Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work: 6/30/18

What the what?

A Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work? On a Saturday?

I know what you’re thinking:

“This is the best Saturday……….EVER!”

Or, that’s probably not what you’re thinking.

Either way, pretty cool right?

Copyright: wamsler / 123RF Stock Photo

BUT FIRST…CHECK THIS STUFF OUT

 1. Strong Body-Strong Mind – Boston, MA

We had such a great response when Lisa and I hosted a SBSM Workshop in Boston last year that we decided to do it again this summer.

I’ll be speaking to assessment, coaching up common strength exercises (squats, deadlifts), and how to better “match” your programs to your client’s abilities and goals.

Lisa will be discussing how to better manage client expectations, motivation, and how to adopt better mindset strategies for success.

The umbrella theme of this workshop is to enhance the SOFT skills of coaching, how to garner a connection, and build rapport with your athletes/clients.

  • Spots are limited
  • Early Bird rates apply for both students ($99) and professionals ($129)
  • CEUs will be available (NSCA)

For more details (including itinerary and registration) go HERE.

2. Even More Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint– Dates/Locations Announced

Dean Somerset and I are currently in the throes of drumming up new content for our staple workshop series.

We’ve presented this workshop all over the world – London, Vancouver, Oslo, Prague, Boston, LA, Hoth – and even turned it into a popular digital product HERE so everyone can enjoy it.

We’ve already nailed down dates in Slovenia, Houston, and LA this fall (2018) and are also in talks to bring it to Detroit, Philadelphia, Edmonton, Australia, and Singapore in 2019.

If you’re someone who’d like to host this event/participate in a tickle fight please reach out to either Dean or myself.

Go HERE to register in the announced cities.

STUFF TO READ WHILE YOU’RE PRETENDING TO WORK

Glutes, Core, and Pelvic Floor Workout System – Sarah Duvall, Kellie Davis, and Meghan Callaway

If you’re a human, trust me, you likely could use some improvement in one – if not all three – of these areas.

Sarah, Kellie, and Meghan have curated a lovely resource that women, men, fitness professionals, and non-fitness professionals alike can benefit from.

You only have until Monday (7/2) to take advantage of the sale price.

Learn How to Fail – DeShawn Fairbairn

Learning how to fail well – in both life, but more germane to this article, the weight-room – is one of the best traits you can possess.

This article is MONEY.

What’s the Deal with Eggs and Cholesterol? – Physiqonomics

 

Well, shit, an article written entirely as an infographic.

Brilliant.2

Social Media Shenanigans

Twitter

Instagram

I’ve long championed the notion pretty much anyone can train around pretty much any injury. My client, Ben, a local high school basketball player here in Boston, is a testament to that. He had knee surgery two weeks ago, is in a knee brace, and using crutches to get around. But he’s still getting after it coming to CORE to train. In the top video I took inspiration from @benbrunotraining and had Ben do some Hollow Position Landmine Presses. Man, these are hard. In the bottom video we’re doing 1-Legged RDLs w/ Wall Assist (on the non-injured leg only). Being injured isn’t a death sentence, and it certainly isn’t an excuse to not train. Make your “trainable menu” (make a list of what you CAN do), and get to work.

A post shared by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore) on

Categoriescoaching Strength Training

Stack the Rings For Better Squat Performance

There’s a lot that can go awry with the squat.

  • Knees caving in too much.
  • Excessive rounding of the back.
  • Getting stapled to the ground.
  • Explosive diarrhea.

There’s one cue, however, I believe has carryover to pretty much anyone and it’s almost guaranteed to make your squat look and feel better.

Copyright: spotpoint74 / 123RF Stock Photo

Stack the Rings

It’s not lost on me there’s an easy Lord of the Rings reference to be had here, and I’m going to try my best to be professional and abstain and….

Fuck it.

One ring………..to bind them.

Okay, with that out of the way, what do I mean when I say “stacked rings?” and how how can that possibly help your squat?

I had to audit myself a few years ago when it came to coaching the squat. After being introduced to the concepts of PRI (Postural Restoration Institute) and listening to other strong dudes like Chad Wesley Smith speak on the topic, I wondered if cueing people to “arch, hard!,” and to” sit back” were the right things to be saying to the bulk of my athletes/clients when they were getting under the bar?

Very few were competitive powerlifters and even fewer were geared lifers. I.e., none wore squat suits when training (which require an aggressive arch and sitting back to reap the benefits).

To be clear: There are still many very strong dudes (and coaches) who advocate squatting with a hard arch, and that’s their prerogative. The thing to appreciate, however, is that what works and is ideal for a geared lifter won’t necessarily (read: rarely) ever translate well to a non-geared lifter.

If I were to balance the “I want to be brutally strong AND not shit my spine on this next set” teeter-totter, I’d opt for not arching (aggressively).

Like this.

The ribs & diaphragm are pointing in one direction (up) and the hips & pelvic floor are pointing in another (down).

Put simply, this is all sorts of fuckeduppery not a stable position.

We’re placing a ton of shear load on the spine.

What’s more, this will invariably force the lifter to initiate the movement by sitting back (rather than down, you know, like a squat). As a result, often, the chest will fall forward, and the cue we default towads is “arch, arch, arch, chest up, chest up, chest up, you crap you’re going to fall on your face, too late.”

This only feeds instability.

A better approach, I believe (again, for non-geared lifters) is to tone down the arch and adopt what’s been referred to as the “canister” position or to “stack the rings.”

Giving credit where it’s due, the first person I ever heard use this phrase was Dr. Evan Osar. A simple analogy he used was to think of your pelvis as one ring and your rib cage as a bunch of other rings.

We want all those rings to be stacked.

This will nudge us into a more stable, joint-friendly environment

Now, a minor glitch in this way of thinking is that some people think this infers going into posterior pelvic tilt, where we flatten out the lumbar spine.

This is not what’s happening. As you can see in the picture above, my hips are still behind the bar (still very important) but there’s less of an aggressive arch. Telling people to posteriorly tilt their pelvis towards spine neutral is different than telling them to flatten out their spine.

From there it’s a matter of owning the canister position and to squat down rather than back.

Maybe this quick 3-minute video will help:

Want More Tips Like This?

Yeah, I thought so.

My friends Dr. Sarah Duvall, Kellie Hart, and Meghan Callaway released a stellar product this week – Glutes, Core, and Pelvic Floor Online System – and it hammers home points like the one above. It’s often necessary to break down movement(s) into their respective parts to make certain we’re getting motion from the right areas and that we’re using/engaging the areas we want to use/engage to perform exercises well.

GCPF is a 12-week online course that will teach you how to assess movement and how to implement the correct drills and exercises to help you (or your clients) get stronger and to move better.

TODAY (6/29) is the last day to get it at it’s FULL sale price. You can still get it at a discount until Monday (7/2), however today is your last chance to get it at $200 OFF.

It’s a great resource and one I feel will help a lot of people.

—-> I Like Saving Money, Tony. Thank You <—-

CategoriesCorrective Exercise Program Design

Are You Engaging the Right Muscles When You Squat?

I’m in Europe for the next two weeks traveling.3

Fear not. I’ve still managed to queue up some stellar content for you in my absence.

Today Dr. Sarah Duvall is pinch-writing for me talking about a topic that’s relevant to anyone who likes to lift heavy things: Squats (and how to make them feel better).

Her new resource, which she developed alongside fellow coaching superstars Kellie Hart and Meghan Callaway – Glutes, Core, and Pelvic Floor Workout System – is on sale starting today (6/28) and runs through 7/2.

It’s stellar and I think you should check it out.

Copyright: viacheslavmaksimov / 123RF Stock Photo

Are You Engaging the Right Muscles When You Squat?

Several months ago Tony and I met at Caffe Nero to talk shop.

After a combined 30 + years of working with people, we have both come to the conclusion that strength is your friend!

It’s your friend for rehab, for life and for aging.

In other words,

“You need to lift shit to fix shit.”

It can get a little tricky, because I’ve often found for patients with tightness or pain that we have to first make sure the right muscle is doing the work before overloading.

A great example of this is doing squats but primarily loading quads and low back instead of balancing the lift with glutes and abdominals. Or doing deadlifts but primarily feeling them in your back, never your glutes or hamstrings.

So you’re lifting and trying to get stronger, but in reality if you’re experiencing the above you’re overworking a subset of muscles instead of the intended target.

That’s why you should always know what muscles you want to work and where you should feel it.

Educated lifting!

Let’s take a second to break down the ever-elusive squat a little further. There are so many varieties from goblet to back to front squats and everything in between.

You’ll want to pick a variety that feels best for you, but I’d like to share a couple tricks for squatting in a way that targets your glutes and abs. This will be especially helpful if you primarily feel squats in your quads and low back.

Let’s work from the ground up at 4 key areas of the body.

#1. Keep Your Toes Firmly on the Ground

Somewhere along the way the cue to lift the toes got popular.

This is an easy way to shift your weight back to help get the squat more into your hips instead of your knees.

When we make cues too easy they often miss the mark. It’s true that you want to sit back into your hips, but the body follows patterns and when you pick up your toes you set off a flexion chain in your body that can increase hip flexor activation and decrease abdominals.

Give it a try now.

Pick up your toes for a squat and focus on how much you feel your abdominals. Now, give me a nice short foot (big toe down, arch engaged, weight spread evenly between the ball and heel) and see if this grounded foot turns your abs on more.

Those hardwired neuro patterns are hard to break, and having great foot placement sets the tone for the rest of the body.

 

So how do you sit back instead of coming forward onto your knees? Try practicing your squat by sitting back to a box or chair.

This will help train the pattern without picking up your toes.

#2. Sit Into Your Glutes

You want to feel your glutes lengthening for your squat.

It’s not a deadlift, your knees will bend, but it shouldn’t be all knees.

Two signs you’re not lengthening and sitting into your glutes:

  • You have to fold in half to sit back. (Now, if you have really long femurs or a narrow stance, you’ll need to lean forward a bit more. But if you widen your stance and you still find yourself bending over at the waist, it might be a good idea to check your rockbacks.)
  • You start with a neutral spine but then overarch your back to sit into the squat. Overarching the back and lengthening the hamstrings is a great way to look like you’re sitting back into your glutes when in reality you’re just going into a big anterior pelvic tilt. If this is the case, your low back will often feel tight after your squat.

To fix the folding in half, try holding on to something when you squat, like suspension straps. Then you can practice sitting back and down into those glutes.

 

#3.  Neglecting to Keep a Neutral Spine

How we initiate a motion sets the tone for that exercise.

So if you arch your back to start, then your brain gets the signal, “this is a back exercise.” If you lengthen your glutes to start, then your brain gets the signal, “this is a glute exercise.”

Sitting the tone is important!

It’s much easier to do something right from the start than it is to play catch up. Wait, are we talking about life or squats?

See if you can spot the difference between initiating for the glutes lengthening vs the low back overarch?

 

#4. Head Alignment

Let’s do a test.

Look up at the ceiling and squat.

Did you feel how you wanted to overarch your back?

Now, put your chin to your chest and squat.

See how you wanted to tuck your bottom?

Our body follows our head. You’ll never see a gymnast look the opposite way for a flip.

Playing around with head positioning and where the eyes are looking can dramatically change a squat. If someone is having lots of trouble keeping their abs engaged, I might have them look down just a pinch more. If they are really having trouble sitting into their glutes, I might have them look up a pinch.

The real takeaway from this is to know where you should feel an exercise and make sure that is what’s working. When you’re doing squats, you should feel both your glutes and quads working, as well as your abs and low back. A balanced squat works everything, and working everything means you’ll be able to do more and get stronger without getting hurt because the effort is shared.

Want to learn more about where you should be feeling an exercise and which muscles should be working?

You’re in luck!

Glutes, Core, and Pelvic Floor Workout System

Three expert coaches in the fitness and rehab industry came together to build an incredible 12 week workout program to help you reach your fitness goals.

Everyone – women AND men, powerlifters AND CrossFitters, Batman AND Care Bears – can spend more time developing their glute, core and pelvic floor strength and integrity.

Sarah, Kellie, and Megan are phenomenal coaches and have put in a ton of work to make this a resource that can equally help (and be applied) fitness professionals and general population alike.

Fitness Professionals: to be able to assess and write effective corrective and training programs to address things like pelvic floor dysfunction, rectus diastasis (which effects males too), incontinence, and many other “intricate” issues that aren’t easy to train around (much less talk about).

General Population: to show you the basics needed to feel great and to set yourself up for as much success as possible if or when you choose to attack the iron.

Batman (in case you’re reading this): to fight crime in a more efficient and timely manner.

This program is thorough AF and the beauty is that it requires minimal equipment and can be done at home or in a gym.

I’ve performed a few of the workouts & movements myself and lets just say its highlighted a few glaring weaknesses on my end. What’s more, I’m learning a lot. This WILL make me a better coach.

The price is heavily discounted – $200 OFF – for two days only (6/28 and 6/29).

  • It increases $100 on June 30th – July 1st.
  • And then increases to full price on Monday, July 2nd.

You don’t have much time to take advantage, so I encourage you to do NOW.

—> Hurry! Click Me <—-

CategoriesUncategorized

Win a Free Ticket to the RISE Fitness Business Conference in San Jose

I am honored to be speaking on stage amongst some of the pioneers in the fitness and business space this October at RISE 2018 in San Jose, CA.

Copyright: spvvk / 123RF Stock Photo

Tony’s Coming to the Bay Area – Whoop, Whoop

I’ve never been to the Bay area and am pumped for this opportunity.

Yeah, yeah, I just Googled Mapped it and San Jose is 55 miles from San Francisco.

Close enough.

Either way I’m totally coming a day early so I can visit the Full House houses.

After that I’ll mozy on down to Palo Alto and try to make a cameo appearance at Stanford University to hang out with my boy Cory Schlesinger (<— Epic beard and an even epic(er) strength coach. You should follow him on Instagram HERE) and attempt to beat him in a game of H.O.R.S.E.

After my victory parade I’ll head to San Jose, either in a Nissan Sentra or a tank (whichever is a cheaper rental), to take part in what will inevitably be an amazing weekend hanging out with like-minded fitness professionals.

I’ll be presenting on the third and final day, first thing in the morning actually.4

My presentation will be: The Shoulder: From Assessment to Badass.

I.e., How to improve overhead mobility and shit. <— a working sub-title.

There are many outstanding presenters lined up for the RISE 2018 weekend including Molly Galbraith, Mark Fisher, Kellie Hart, Craig Ballantyne, and Pat Rigsby (to name a few).

If you’re a gym owner, studio owner, personal trainer, independent trainer, strength coach, or, I don’t know, a one-legged pirate, and you’re serious about taking your fitness business to the next level this is an event that can’t be passed up.

Register ——–> HERE.

Early Bird Rate Is In Effect ——-> HERE. (same link as above, but marketing research suggests you’re 136% more likely to click this link5).

I’ve Got 5 TICKETS to Giveaway for FREE

As a presenter I’ve been given five tickets to give away.

“I……have…….the………power!”

[NOTE: One ticket has your name written all over it Matt Damon, Gal Gadot, Nolan Ryan, and/or He-Man.]

To that end, everyone who signs up within the next two weeks will be put into a raffle where I’ll randomly pick five names to win a FREE ticket to the event.

Pretty sweet, right?6

All you have to do is go HERE to register and your name will automatically be put into the drawing.

Easy peasy.

I’ll then notify the winners via email in a few weeks.7

Hope to see you there.