I’ll just come right out and say it: Feelings are a motherfucker.
NOTE: “motherfucker” in this sense can be used interchangeably here: good or bad.
“Did you just see how far I hit that baseball?
Motherfucker!
I.e., Good. You know, you’re happy and excited you hit the baseball a long ways.
“I had to take my car in, again, to get the transmission fixed.
Motherfucker! (punches the wall).“
I.e., Bad. Sucks, dude.
Hopefully you get the gist.
They (feelings), as we all know, encompass a wide range: from how we feel when we first fall in love to what happened a few days ago in Las Vegas. They cross a spectrum: from warmth, empathy, and unconditional positive regard on one end…to how I feel whenever I see someone perform a kipping pull-up on the other.
Annoyance peppered with spontaneous rage.
Feelings aren’t right or wrong.
How you feel at any given moment, under any given circumstance, is how you feel.
Who am I – or who is anyone, really? – to disregard or question how you feel?
That said, facts matter.[/efn_note]It’s not lost on me, given the current political environment we live in, that this point (facts matter), unfortunately, can (and is) debated. Climate change isn’t real, 3,000,000 people voted illegally, Unicorn tears are an excellent aphrodisiac…whatever. Who needs facts?[/efn_note]
I mean, I feel like leaving the toilet seat up is perfectly fine and no big deal. The facts – my wife’s dropkick to the side of my face – state otherwise.
I feel like early 90’s Mariah Carey and I were meant to be soul mates. The facts – hahahahaha – state otherwise.
Feelings vs. Facts In Fitness
A few weekends ago Lisa and I were in Toronto presenting our Strong Body-Strong Mind Workshop when one of the attendees, a local personal trainer, shared a story.
She went into detail on how a client of her’s, another female, had been giving her a hard time. You see the client was a perpetual pessimist and had a hard time deflecting negative self-talk.
This trainer even went so far to say that her client admitted to her that the only reason why she even signed on to start training in the first place was to prove to her that personal training didn’t work.
That she was a lost cause.
A failure.
As I was listening to the story I couldn’t help but think to myself, “man, that’s horrible. Who’s got time to deal with that? Fire the client!”
Lisa, to her credit, made a beautiful reframe and rebuttal:
Lisa: “How long as the client been working with you?”
Attendee: “Over a year.”
Lisa: “How many times per week?”
Attendee: “At least twice, if not more.”
Lisa: “And she’s making progress?”
Attendee: “Yes, although in her eyes she hasn’t.”
Lisa: “Hmm, interesting. She’s obviously getting something from her time with you. What she’s focusing on are feelings and not facts.
The facts demonstrate your client has been consistently training for over a year despite her initiate “goal” to prove to you personal training doesn’t work.
The facts state otherwise.”
*Smoke bomb, smoke bomb, exit stage left.*
We see this all…..the…..time in fitness and the strength & conditioning world: people allow their feelings to convolute the facts.
Take my client, Alexandra, for example.
I get that we’re all our own worst critic, but she’s made amazing progress since we first starting working together. Back when we first started working together she came to me with some chronic shoulder and low back pain, and was frustrated with her lack of progress in the gym in terms of some strength markers she wanted to hit.
Namely: deadlifting over 200 lbs and performing her first strict chin-up.
She’s been working her tail off.
She no longer has shoulder or back issues, she hit her DL goal (and then some), and she’s thiiiiiiiiis close to hitting her chin-up goal. Yet, sometimes, like everyone, she has a hard time with allowing her feelings to override the facts.
A post shared by Tony Gentilcore (@tonygentilcore) on
The cool part was Alexandra’s response in the comments section:
“Thank you Tony!! It’s so awesome to see this cause in my head I’m not making much progress and then I’m ok like damn okayyy haha. 💪🏽💪🏽💪🏽💦 It’s so close i can taste it!”
Taking things a little further we can see the same parallel in other aspects of fitness.
Some coaches feel everyone should squat the same way – same foot spacing, same stance, same depth, etc – but the facts state otherwise.
Likewise, some coaches feel everyone must squat or deadlift with a straight bar, but the facts – not everyone is a competitive power or olympic lifter, you asshat – state otherwise.
You feel as if you’re 7% body-fat, but the facts, well, you’re not.
You may feel you’re better off jumping into a live volcano than eating any gluten, but the facts are against you my friend.
Feel the Feels
I am not insinuating you should avoid or disregard all your feelings. By all means love your spouse, enjoy that succulent steak, feel anger whenever someone performs a KB swing overhead, don’t be shy to cry it out when you binge watch This Is Us.
Let your feelings marinate.
However, when it comes to you and your fitness/health goals be cognizant of facts and learn to boycott your feelings when necessary. You’ll be better off for it.
One of the biggest honors for me is when other fitness professionals take time out of their schedule to come shadow me or observe what I do at CORE.
Truthfully I don’t feel what I do on a day-to-day basis is altogether revolutionary or going to win me any Nobel prizes in coaching badassery. I mean, I have people deadlift, squat, throw things, and carry stuff, all while listening to some sick techno beats.
No biggie.
However, this was pretty cool and a nice surprise.
Below is a nice write-up by UK based trainer, Stuart Aitken, describing his experience observing me for a few hours a few Saturdays ago.1
I walked into CORE, Tony’s small private gym in Boston, for a day of shadowing a few weekends ago.
Here are a few of things I saw within the first 30 minutes of being there:
Accommodating resistance.
Accentuated eccentrics.
Advanced periodization.
Complicated exercise terminology.
Of course, this wasn’t what I saw and truthfully, there was was nothing special about the way Tony coached, what was special was HOW he coached.
I often think us fitness professionals can be a bit hypocritical.
We tell clients “play the long game,” “stay consistent and good things will happen” and “don’t search for the magic pill, it doesn’t exist,” yet we think we’re one book or course away from solving all of our career issues.
Tony doesn’t programme any differently than I’ve seen him write about, nor does he have a cueing roster that addresses every single movement issue a client has. He still has clients who don’t push their knees out and who need a quick reminder to squeeze their glutes at the top of a hip extension movement.
Perhaps this is what makes Tony, and really any other coach I know, excellent – the basics, done brilliantly.
1) Client-Centered Coaching
I’m a huge fan of constantly checking in with myself about whether I’m being client or philosophy centered.
Lisa, Tony’s wife, talks about this heavily in her work, but for anyone who is reading who hasn’t heard of this before, client-centered coaching would be where you’re taking into the client’s needs and wants into account.
Philosophy-centered would be where you’re putting your philosophies first and forcing square pegs (clients) into round holes (your programming). An example in my career would be when I started to enjoy some gymnastics and started to ‘push’ gymnastics onto the people I work with.
It’s so easy for us to start pushing clients towards what we think is best for them, but when we think about what encompasses effective coaching, this couldn’t be further from how we know clients are likely to respond best.
Think about someone telling you how to do something – how does that you feel? Yes, at times this type of coaching may be necessary, but for the most part, you should be focused on guiding clients towards the decision that is best for them.
Jenny, who is a mum of three and simply wants to feel better, might enjoy doing some deadlifts, but she probably doesn’t want that deadlift to be the only thing she does in her training. Tony loves deadlifting, but not every single one of his clients is going to deadlift, nor will they all “need” to deadlift.
2) Window Coaching
I learnt this off of Tony at a shoulder workshop he ran in the UK earlier this year. Essentially what it means is if you worked in a facility where everyone who walked by could look in and watch, how do you look?
Are you active or are you passive? Are your arms crossed and are you looking disinterested? Is it your tenth session of the day and you look like the last place you would rather be is in the gym?
At one point Tony was dancing to some 90s rap, and at other points, he was either laughing with clients or actively coaching, if you walked past it would look like the kind of environment his type of client would enjoy being in.
Potential clients are always watching.
3) “Move Well, Move Often, Move Under Load”
It wasn’t actually Tony who said this quote but rather my colleague at Lift the Bar, Gregg Slater, but it sums up how I viewed the way Tony has progressed his clients. All of them could hinge, they all knew how to brace, and breath and they all came in early and got on with their warm-ups.
Before you throw a barbell onto a new clients back for squats, do they know how to create tension in their body? Do they know how to disassociate between their hips and upper back so they can hinge effectively? Can they get even MORE out of their sessions by doing their own warm-ups?
Teaching clients how to move well before you start loading them up will not only have a positive effect on their results, but it’ll also decrease the risk of injury.
4) Communication Skills
One of the brilliant things I watched Tony do with each of his clients was the way he related to them. Whether that be in the type of language he used (swearing vs not swearing for example), how much he listened vs spoke, the type of feedback used or right down to the choice of music, his communication skills were appropriate to the client who was in front of him.
I think this is such an under-appreciated aspect of effective coaching; the ability to wear different coaching hats dependent on who you are communicating with.
You know how Susan loves knitting? Make sure you ask about that new scarf she’s working on.
You know how Jonny is a huge football fan (that’s not American football, by the way, that’s good old British football where you kick the ball with your foot)? Make sure you have a glance at the latest football scores.
This kind of stuff matters and to quote Seth Godin:
“A small thing, done repeatedly, is not a small thing.”
If you’re relating to clients, creating an environment that leaves them feeling great, keeping their goal in mind and delivering a quality service, you’ll do well in this industry.
Tony Changed My Life (<– Note From TG: I Wrote That)
Overall I had a fantastic five hours at Tony’s gym, and I can’t recommend doing this kind of thing more often.
There are always others coaches, who are often more experienced, and within a few hours of you, who you could go and shadow.
An afternoon spent with another coach can keep you fresh, allow you the space to level up your coaching and network with other trainers in and around your area, (and it doesn’t even cost anything!) I can’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be doing more of it.
About the Author
Stuart Aitken is the head of member support at Lift the Bar and host at the LTB Podcast, which are both educational services for Personal Trainers. He also works as a Personal Trainer out of Good Health and Fitness in Dundee, Scotland.
It’s been a hectic past few weeks of travel and speaking. Two weeks ago I was in Chicago, last weekend Lisa and I were in Toronto presenting our Strong Body-Strong Mind workshop, and this weekend I’m heading to Saratoga Springs, NY to present my Coaching Competency workshop.
Annnnnd, the next few weekends after that I’m pumped because I get to sit down, relax, take a seat, and be a student myself.
John Rusin and Christian Thibaudeau will be in Boston (10/7-8) presenting their Advanced Performance Coaching & Programming Strategies workshop. Then, on the weekend of 10/15 I’ll head out to Springfield, MA for the Clinical Athlete Workshop with Dr. Quinn Henoch of Juggernaut Systems who will be presenting alongside Matthew Ibrahim and Zak Gabor.
The Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint is finally coming to Boston. Not “fake” Boston, either, on the outskirts of the North or South shore, and we end up calling it a Boston workshop.
No, this sumbitch is going to be IN Boston, at AMP Fitness located near Government Center in the heart of the city.
This shindig goes down the weekend of November 11th and will likely be mine and Dean Somerset’s last hoorah presenting this particular workshop.
The early bird rate is currently in effect. Hope to see you there.
I really enjoyed this article by Andy – short, sweet, and to the point. What I also appreciated was that it didn’t make my head hurt with big words and super scientific explanations and mumbo-jumbo.
Not that approach isn’t important (sometimes), but, you know, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
“Scapular winging” can be a bastardized term tossed around by PT’s and personal trainers alike. It is a “thing,” but it’s not as prominent of a “thing” as people think.
I.e., true scapular winging is an actual medial diagnosis (long thoracic nerve, which innervates the Serratus anterior isn’t doing it’s job).
HOWEVER: when scapular winging is a thing (due to muscle weakness, pain, and/or faulty movement), this article explains how you should approach it.
Social Media Shenanigans
Twitter
20 year old me: “dude, I worked out for 2 hours today, it was amazing.”
40 year old me: “dude, 2 hour workouts? Don’t be cray-cray.”
Outside of several other health/fitness arguments – steady state cardio vs. HIIT, low bar vs. high bar squats, weight belt vs. not wearing weight belt, Paleo vs. eating like a normal human being with a life, blue yoga pants vs. black – there aren’t many topics which rev people up or bunch panties more so than the deload week.
Some people believe they’re crucial for long-term progress, while others feel they’re a complete waste of time?
For the uninitiated, in simplest terms, the deload week or “deload” is a purposeful, structured, and oftentimes planned reduction in training volume or intensity (or both) with the intention of improving performance, recovery, and/or injury prevention.
The concept has its roots via the Fitness-Fatigue Model (or, Two-Factor Theory Model) popularized by I have no idea (probably some Russian dude, they’re smart) and is a tool used to help optimize an athlete’s preparedness for training, and subsequently effect their ability to “peak” or perform at a high-level in his or her’s respective sport.
Photo Credit: BarbellShrugged.com
Feel free to peruse Wikipedia – or any number of my friend’s and colleague’s websites – for a more thorough, eloquent, and potty-mouth free explanation.
However, in even more simpler terms the Fitness-Fatigue Model can be explained as follows: you lift heavy shit in the weight room and you either build “fitness” or accumulate “fatigue.”3
Broadly speaking deload weeks are widely accepted as most “relevant” for a few demographics:
Professional or elite-level athletes (<— probably not you).
Advanced or “strong as shit” lifters (<— probably not you).
Jason Bourne (<— probably not you. But if so, can we hang out?).
Those who are often injured (<— might be you).
If you’re a competitive athlete with an in and off-season and your livelihood relies on your ability to perform at a high level or you’re someone who’s strong AF, it’s likely you’ll benefit from a healthy diet of deload weeks.
On the other hand, if you’re Dale from accounting and you spent two weeks on 5/3/1 or, I don’t know, took a CrossFit class two days in a row, relax, you don’t need a deload week.
“Deloads are like cheat meals everyone wants one but not many have earned one.”
In reality, though, the real best answer as to whether or not a deload is warranted is: it depends.
I mean, if you want to keep things as succinct as possible look no further than a brilliant quote I stole from Molly Galbraith (courtesy of Greg Nuckols):
“If you feel good and are making progress, do more. If you feel bad and aren’t making progress, do less.”
Jordan Syatt has written in the past regarding the idea of the traditional deload and why he feels it’s a bit misguided to assume everyone needs to follow it.
In short, a traditional deload encompasses a full-week of pre-planned reduction in training preceded by three weeks of intense training. The deload week usually involves using submaximal loads (40-60%) and can also include nothing more than dedicated mobility/activation work, bodyweight drills, or, for those inclined to do so, Netflix and Chilling.4
An important distinction Jordan makes is that the traditional deload (three weeks “on,” one week “off”) doesn’t always fly or serve people’s best interests:
“Not only does it neglect individual needs and preferences, it fails to account for inevitable variances in how you feel on a day-to-day basis.
Cybernetic periodization, a term coined by the late Mel Siff, essentially refers to accounting for and modifying your program based on your subjective perception of how the weights feel on that specific day.
This skill, learning how to listen to your body and understand what it needs based on how you feel, is arguably the single most important skill to master for both coaches and lifters a like.
Unfortunately, the traditional deload completely neglects cybernetic periodization.”
Often times this approach can derail one’s training mojo. Just when someone is starting to make decent progress in the gym and starting to move some appreciable weight, and despite feeling great on any particular day and ready to get after it, they tap the brakes too soon and toss in a deload week.
You know, because that’s what’s supposed to be done.
NOTE: Admittedly, from a programming perspective, regardless of most variables, it’s not uncommon for me to toss in a “fake” deload week every fourth week. Part of it is because of how I prefer to write the bulk of my programs.
Each one is written in four-week blocks (in terms of overall training volume):
Week 1 = High
Week 2 = Medium
Week 3 = Hahaha, You’re Going To Hate Life
Week 4 = Low
And then the following week after that a “new” program starts and the intention is the client/athlete feels “fresh” to handle the additional volume and/or handle the novelty of any new exercises that may be thrown their way.5
Of course, this is not set in stone. Someone who’s training 2-3x per week as it is probably doesn’t need a dedicated deload week every fourth week. In this case it may be extended to every six to eight weeks, if not more. It depends….;o)
In addition, from a business and gym owner standpoint, the Week 4 “fake deload” subconsciously primes people into preparing for the next program.
I.e., they pay.
All That Said
If we’re honest: most people don’t work hard enough to warrant a deload.
Some people will use any excuse – they had one hard workout, they strained a little bit and their neck vein appeared, it’s Wednesday, anything – to not work hard.
Most general population clients don’t require structured deloads because the clusterfuckedness of “life” (work, school, family obligations, vacation) feeds them more than enough.
“Life will sprinkle in more than enough deloads. I’ve always found too many people take a deload right when they start making progress. They get the slightest bit uncomfortable, or they think they need to be on some three week on, one week off deal…and in pops a deload that’s more a derail of progress.”
As an industry we jest that “cardio will steal your gainz.” I’d posit that “you’re lack of making gainz (via incessant training deloads) is stealing your gainz.”
When To Deload
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer here.
However my sentiments tend to mirror that of many other coaches:
Even with my most consistent and dedicated clients they’ll still miss some time every month due to work or vacation or any other legitimate reason (Laser Tag Tournament?).
If it’s been 6-8 weeks of heavy training, I’ll incorporate a low(er) volume/intensity week and we’ll turn the page and get back after it the following week.
Heck, sometimes a client will walk in on a random day and I know he or she is not feeling it. When that happens I’ll gauge biofeedback and ask questions about sleep, how they feel, etc and adjust accordingly.
Again there’s no one-size-fits-all approach here, but below are some of my favorite options:
I find the term overtraining is drastically overused. Most trainees don’t come close to overtraining, but if they do volume is usually the culprit. To that end my “go to” deload strategy is a simple one.
1. Keep intensity high (as a % of 1RM) and cut training volume by 50%, sometimes as high as 2/3rds.
2. Another approach comes via strength coach Chris Butler: Deload the main lifts to 40-60% of training max (5/3/1).
3. Perform bodyweight only circuits for a week. Use the week as an opportunity to re-charge and prioritize mobility/activations drills like this:
4. Toss in a training curveball. Change up your training entirely. Instead of focusing on the “Big 3,” maybe do a body-part split for a week. Mentally this is huge.
5. Along the same lines maybe a deload week is nothing more than omitting all axial loading exercises.
Give your joints (particularly your spine) a break.
6. Some coaches use the deload week as a “Test Week.”
Meaning, choose one lift per session and go to town. Hit a top set (or maybe a PR?), drop the mic, and peace out.
7. Movement Variability – incorporate movements you rarely perform.
Experiment.
Go outside and do some agility work (skipping, sprinting, etc).
Play around with some sled work KB swings.
Never done frog pumps and try to make people feel really uncomfortable watching you?
Do that. DO IT.
Like I said, there’s no right or wrong here. Have your own strategies to share? I’d love to hear about them.
For the past three years Dean Somerset and I have had the opportunity to practice karate travel together all over North America (and Europe) presenting our Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint to the masses.
Here we are at Movement Minneapolis
All told we’ve had over 500 people – ranging from personal trainers, strength coaches, yoga/pilates instructors, physical therapists, chiropractors, people who like to lift heavy things, and Chuck Norris6 – attend the course, in addition to having over 100o people purchase the online video series.
This November, though, in Boston, MA, will likely be our LAST workshop.
Well, not the last last workshop.
It’s not like he and I had a falling out or something and hate each other’s guts. That could never happen.
Rest assured we have plans to do future workshops together, just not this workshop.
Why Should You Come Hang Out With Us In Boston?
1. I’m serious, I’m 99.7% sure this will be the last liveComplete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint event in the foreseeable future.
Now, granted, Brett Favre retired and un-retired 33 different times and even Crystal Pepsi has managed to make several comebacks, so I’ll never say never.
But unless Disney decides to put Dean and I in some magical vault alongside a pair of glass slippers and several Dwarfs, and re-release us every 40 years, this will be our last CS&H workshop.
2. I’d venture a guess there aren’t many workshops that can give you the same experience as us. We geek out over some geeky shit, but we also make things very digestible and fun:
Every workshop is different and we’re pretty flexible in terms of catering the two-days to what our audience wants to watch and listen to.
3. Learn to connect the dots, if any, between assessment, corrective exercise, and effective strength training strategies for common shoulder and hip ailments and dysfunctions.
100% of your clients have shoulders and hips, I think.
I can almost guarantee you’re going to learn something that you’ll be able to apply right away to help your clients/athletes get better.8
4. It’s an amazing opportunity to network and meet other like-minded individuals.
5. CEU deadlines are coming up at the end of the year and I’m willing to bet you’re someone who’s waited till the last minute. Tsk, tsk, tsk.
This sucker provides 1.4 CEUs (via the NSCA).
6. The weekend of this workshop is an extended Holiday weekend, so most personal training clients will be peacing out anyways.
Why not come visit a cool city, do some sightseeing, and make a weekend out of it?
The Early Bird rate is currently in effect – $100 off the regular price – and seats are limited. Click the link below for full details on the itinerary, location, payment options, and which is Dean’s favorite Spice Girl.
Today’s guest post comes courtesy of Syracuse, NY based coach and personal trainer, Ricky Kompf. He covers a topic I believe every up and coming fitness professional can commiserate with, but more importantly learn from:
Even though I have been working as a trainer for a little over four years this past year and a half I have completely engorged myself in the lifestyle and business mindset of a trainer.
I write this article to share some of the lessons I have learned while building my own personal training career and business.
I have come out of this period of my life with a whole new perspective on what works and what doesn’t in this industry and let me tell you something….it is hard!
Plain and simple, the fitness industry can be one of the most challenging fields to start a career in.
While it may be very challenging in the beginning the lessons and rewards that you encounter makes the difficulties of this field very much worth it. What I wish to share with you are four lessons I have learned growing from 0 clients on day one to 50 plus active clients now.
Lesson 1: Priority Number One is Gaining Experience
Gaining experience and knowledge while in the company of very good and successful trainers in the industry will teach you to stay humble and always continue to educate yourself and develop your craft as a trainer and coach. If you want to be the best, be around the best and study their behaviors to bring into your own practice.
That experience will pay for itself.
For my first two and a half years as a trainer I was training out of college gyms in the student section as well as various commercial gyms.
I had no long-term clients, but knew the experience gained along the way would help me forge full-steam a head down the road.
It was only after finishing my internship at Cressey Sports Performance a year and a half ago that I felt comfortable taking money from people to let me train them.
With experience comes confidence.
At the end of the day if your clients don’t trust your knowledge and experience as a trainer you won’t be able to bring results to them.
Additionally, with experience comes knowledge, and with knowledge comes confidence in yourself, and that is the foundation in which you should start your journey to building your training business and brand.
Have confidence in yourself to deliver an amazing service.
Lesson 2: Over Deliver
I can’t stress this enough; to this day with the 50 plus clients I have to manage I am always searching for ways to over deliver to them.
One thing that I heard Eric Cressey say in a Podcast as well as many other fitness professionals is:
“They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
Remember that we are in the service industry and what sets you apart from the competition is the quality of your service.
Your clients should be saying “I can’t believe I only pay this much for this training” more than “I can’t believe how expensive this is!”
Some easy things you can start doing right now are giving free consultations and assessments, without trying to push your services on them. Look at it as you trying to work on your assessment process and how you deliver information that is helpful for that person.
I have done well over 200 assessments in the past year and a half. Probably less than half signed up for training. That being said, I have a great assessment process that I have created and it is very rare now that someone doesn’t sign up.
Go overtime.
If you’re training someone and you know you have some extra time at the end before you have to start your next client or group, spend more time with them.
They will appreciate the extra work you give them and will be more likely to refer someone to you.
Even now that I have my clients and groups pretty much back to back, I give them extra work to do at the end.
Follow up with them outside their training sessions.
Text or call your people, ask them how they’re feeling. Talk to them about their goals outside of the two or three hours out of the week in which you see them. This will show them that you care and that you’re invested in their journey.
Lesson 3: Don’t Waste Your Time (Right Away) Trying To Brand Yourself.
After a year and a half of building my reputation only now am I considering making a website. And even then it’s mainly to communicate with my current clients, giving them information more effectively, in addition to allowing potential clients to see what I’m about and have to offer before signing up.
At my current job one thing we preach to our clients and athletes is that we’re not for everyone.
That being said in the beginning when you first start out, guess what….you are for everyone.
Don’t try to brand yourself as the athlete guy or the basketball guy or the fat loss guy. Train as many different people as you can so you can find your strengths and to find out what/who you really enjoy working with.
For example, I know my strengths are in female and male youth athletes, and adult groups.
This doesn’t mean I don’t train collegiate level athletes or have any one-on-one clients.
I do.
However, I found in the past few years I get jazzed up and excited to train young athletes and to be a mentor towards them. So why not gravitate towards what brings me joy and fulfillment?
I encourage you to do the same – BUT YOU NEED TO TRAIN AN ECLECTIC GROUP OF PEOPLE FIRST BEFORE YOU CAN BRAND OR MARKET YOURSELF TOWARDS A UNIQUE SUBSET.
Lesson 4: Find a Place or Group of People That Will Help You Grow and Enjoy the Process.
I owe a lot of my success and accelerated progress to my boss and partner strength coach, Vinny Scollo.
He’s been an amazing mentor towards me.
Together we have created an environment in our gym that breeds great athletes and amazing results.
We build each other up when energy levels are low and challenge each other to be better coaches. I couldn’t have asked for a better boss and work environment.
If you wish to last in this field and turn it into a career, you must find or create a team that will build you up, challenge you to get better, and enjoy the process.
I have trained and worked in very bad environments with very negative co-workers and I have experienced the best environments and co-workers. An environment that will build you up is a place you want to be in for the long haul, and will make the challenging moments in your career seem not so bad.
About the Author
Richard Kompf, BS, CSCS
Strength and conditioning coach and Internship supervisor for Scollo Strength and Performance. Located inside of Pacific Health Club, based just outside of Syracuse, NY. Specializing in explosive athletes and general population clientele.
The Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint is finally coming to Boston. Not “fake” Boston, either, on the outskirts of the North or South shore, and we end up calling it a Boston workshop.
No, this sumbitch is going to be IN Boston, at AMP Fitness located near Government Center in the heart of the city.
This shindig goes down the weekend of November 11th and the early bird rate is currently in effect. Hope to see you there. And by “there” I meanHERE.
This article was my pick for “article that gave me the biggest nerd boner of the week.”
I’ve long championed the notion that far too many people stretch their hip flexors thinking they’re tight, when the exact opposite is true. As a matter of blunt fact: most people would be better off swallow a Matchbox car whole than stretch their hip flexors.
Dr. Sarah Duvall takes things to the next level in this article, especially as it relates to women and postpartum issues – via pelvic floor/diaphragm – that may arise or never be dealt with, even years after the fact.
1o Keys to a Big Bench Press: Parts I and II – Tony Bonvechio
Tony is one of the best bench pressers I know. It actually pisses me off how good he is at bench pressing.
You know what, never mind, I fucking hate his guts because he’s so good at it.
In all seriousness there aren’t many coaches I’d trust more to turn someone into a bench pressing Wolverine than Tony. Read this two-part article above and then go check out his new manual, Bench Press Like a Beast, which is available now at a very, very, very affordable price.
When it comes to neck pain, as a strength coach, I (generally) don’t touch that with a ten-foot pole. It’s case dependent of course, but more often than not, if someone I’m working with walks in with a some significant discomfort in their neck I 1) start hyperventilating into a paper bag and 2) immediately refer out to a someone who has more diagnostic and manual therapy skills.
This is not to say, however, that there aren’t any avenues to take if you’re a personal trainer or strength coach. It’s not like you can’t do anything. In today’s guest post physical therapist, Dr. Michael Infantino, goes into great detail on some things to consider if you ever find yourself in this predicament.
The Gym Is a Pain In My Neck: Two Movements To Cure Them All
Are you struggling with neck pain?
Does the gym make it worse?
Do you find yourself looking at a lot of informative websites for ways to resolve these issues, but wish it were compactly put in one place?
Does this sound like an infomercial?
Well it’s not!
But for just $29/month you can… just kidding.
This article is here to solve all of those problems. Neck pain is often blamed on poor form when exercising. This is absolutely true. Unfortunately this does not answer a crucial question, “why?” Discovering WHY your form is poor is the goal. On top of that, people often fail to recognize other human errors that are contributing to their symptoms. We will provide a guide for figuring out why you have neck pain and how to resolve it.
In most cases, pain attributed to the gym can be tied to the following:
Limitations in the necessary mobility to perform a movement
Limitations in the skill needed to perform a movement
Limitations in the capacity to perform a movement (Strength and Endurance)
Human error [Electrolyte and Fluid balance, Self-Care, Rest, Sleep, Breathing, Posture, Medication and Fear.]
Limitations in MOBILITY: 2 movements to cure them all!?
Limitations in your ability to put yourself in optimal positions during almost any upper body movement are a result of two movement limitations.
Limitations in these positions can lead to a host of different complaints. For the sake of time we are going to pick on NECK PAIN. If you are struggling with one exercise you are likely struggling with another, you just might not realize it.
Position #1: Shoulder Extension Test
Movements: Push Up, Pull Up, Row, Dip, Pull Up (top), Jump Rope, Punching someone in the nose because they have one of those weird miniature poodle mixes.
Attempt to perform the ^^THIS^^ motion
Instructions: Keep the neck retracted while extending the shoulders just beyond the trunk without the following:
Increased forward head position
Forward shoulder translation
Shoulder shrug
If you are unable to replicate the picture above you likely have a MOBILITY problem.
If you can’t perform this motion when you aren’t under load, you will definitely struggle when you are. Especially with repeated repetitions and the addition of weight.
Target Areas for Treatment
Soft Tissue Mobility
Pecs
Serratus Anterior
Upper Traps
Stretches and Joint Mobilization
Chin Retraction
Thoracic Extension (arms overhead)
Open Book Stretch
After working these bad boys out I want you to RE-CHECK the test position.
Is it better?
If not, you need to keep working on it.
Assuming you now have the necessary MOBILITY to perform this motion, we need to make sure you have the required SKILL with the particular movement you are interested in.
Skill: the necessary strength, stability and coordination to perform the most basic form of a loaded movement (pull up, push up, dip, row, etc.).
Are you able to maintain a good position in the:
Bottom of your push up
Row
Top of your pull up
Bottom of your dip
Jump roping
As you load the arm for a hay maker!
We aren’t as complex as you might think. Many of our daily activities are broken into a few movement patterns.
Follow this sequence:
Create the mobility necessary to perform the pattern in its most basic form. (In this case, Position #1 and #2).
Ensure you have the skill needed to perform your desired movement (Push Up, Pull Up, etc.)
Build capacity with that movement (Endurance and Strength).
If you don’t have the skill to perform a specific exercise or movement, you need to practice. Look at the above definition of skill to make that judgement. If you don’t have the baseline strength to perform one good push up, pull up, dip or row, see below for regressions that will allow you to maintain good form as you work your way back to mastering these moves.
Here are some ideas:
Push Up: Inclined position (Ex. against weight bench or counter), knee push ups
Pull Up: Assisted with a band, inverted row
Dip: Assisted with a band, bench dip
Row: Kind of an outlier since this move typically doesn’t require body weight. Use a weight that allows good form. TRX Row and inverted row are body weight options. Adjust the angle of your body to reduce the difficulty.
The goal here is to demonstrate the ability to maintain proper form throughout each movement with a regression that is appropriate for you.
Joe Muscles next to you may need to take 50 lbs. off his 200 lb. weighted belt during his pull-ups to maintain good form. You may need to work on getting one pull up with good form without any extra weight.
Most of us have one or two good pull ups in our bag of tricks to whip out for an “impromptu” Instagram post. Preventing injury is going to require you to build the strength and endurance to exceed Instagram’s one-minute time cap. DAMN you Instagram!
Adding repetitions and weight to the regression will help you work your way back to a standard pull up, row, dip, push up, etc.
I can’t emphasize this point enough.
We all have high expectations of ourselves. Neck pain after 10 reps is not necessarily a “push up” problem. It may be the fact that you did three other exercises before push ups that started to fatigue the neck. The push up was the breaking point. You need to have a realistic expectation of your current ability, or capacity.
Position #2: Overhead Test
Movements: Overhead Press, Pull Up (bottom position), Snatch
Instructions: Lie on your back with knees bent. Tuck chin (neck flat to ground) with arms flat to the ground in the start of a press position. Press arms overhead by sliding arms along the ground.
Common Faults:
One or both arms come off the floor at any point in time.
Compensatory forward head or extended neck position to keep arms on floor
Compensatory spine arch to keep arms on the floor
Assuming you repeatedly tried to replicate this position without success, once again we have a MOBILITY PROBLEM.
Target Areas for Treatment
Soft Tissue Mobility
Pecs
Lats
Rhomboids
Stretches and Joint Mobilization
Chin Retraction
T-Spine Drop In (or T Spine Extension)
Open Book Stretch (Add: External Rotation at Shoulder)
1st Rib and Scalene mobility
After finding the weak link, it is time to RE-CHECK. If it looks better, great let’s move on. Similar to Position #1, assuming you now have the pre-requisite MOBILITY to perform this motion we need to make sure you have the SKILL necessary.
*If you are having trouble improving your mobility or resolving pain, seek the advice of a qualified medical provider or fitness professional.
Can you maintain the same control and form during your overhead press, snatch, hang position of your pull up (or any variation- kipping pull up, toes to bar)? If not, we need to REGRESS the move. Unlike the shoulder extension position, many of the overhead exercises can be regressed by reducing the weight or working on single arm presses instead of two arms. Other regressions include:
Regressions:
Overhead press: Landmines (Tony goes into more depth in this article).
Snatch: Cleans, Single arm overhead kettlebell squat, single arm overhead lunge
Pull up (bottom): use a resistance band for support, inverted row
Human Error
Now that you have mastered Position #1 and #2, it is time to make sure that you are limiting HUMAN ERROR.
I think everyone should have someone in their life that serves as an extra pair of eyes. Even the best fitness trainers and medical providers in the world have a hard time being objective toward different areas of their own life. Barbers don’t cut their own hair, right? Not positive about that one. Either way, you can’t go wrong with some quality feedback!
Most of us are quick to blame the boulders in our life when it comes to pain, but we overlook the pebbles.
With pain we can’t overlook the pebbles.
The pebbles are diet, water intake, sleep, and self-care habits.
Patients usually tell me that they are doing “better than most” or that they are “pretty good” about optimizing these areas of their life. It isn’t until their spouse shows up to the appointment that we get the whole truth.
I love it!
Proper Fluid and Electrolyte Balance
Paying attention to what you consume pre and post workout is important. Proper fluids and electrolyte intake prior to exercise can help delay muscle fatigue and cramping.
Many people can get by with less than optimal effort when it comes to this category. However, if you are having neck pain you need to give yourself the best chance at success.
“At least 4 hours before exercise, individuals should drink approximately 5-7 mL·kg−1 body weight (~2-3 mL·lb−1) of water or a sport beverage. This would allow enough time to optimize hydration status and for excretion of any excess fluid as urine” (Sawka, 2007).
This is not always possible, I understand. Do your best. Some is better than none.
Warm Up
Proper warm up is also important.
Engaging in a warm up that gradually increases heart rate and muscle flexibility is a great way to prime the muscles. Dramatic increases in blood pressure and heart rate can lead to less than optimal muscle performance and increased risk of exertion headache during your workout.
Your warm up should be focused on getting the heart rate up; along with preparing the body for the movements you are going to perform during your workout (squat, push up, deadlift, clean, etc.).
Taking the time to stretch and do some soft tissue work after exercise will help reduce muscle soreness in the days following your workout (Gregory, 2015).
Leaving your body more prepared for the next workout. It is a great way to improve muscle extensibility and eliminate trigger points that aren’t allowing your muscles to perform effectively (Lucas, 2004).
Adequate rest is also important for recovery.
Going hard every day and not getting adequate sleep does not allow your body to grow and repair itself. Neglecting proper recovery leads to a less than optimal immune system and central nervous system.
Sleep deficits can also lead to an increase in the intensity of pain and alterations in mood. This is some serious shiznit. Can’t express enough how important this category is. I am a huge fan of the “grind.” It just sounds cool. You aren’t meant to grind everyday though, so please take some time to recover.
Breathing and Posture
Proper breathing is something that is often overlooked, but may be contributing to neck pain.
Gritting it out is cool, I highly recommend it. It builds character.
However, regularly holding your breath or clinching of your teeth when exercising can lead to increased tension around the neck. This could end up resulting in tension headaches as well.
Many of us without realizing it spend most of our day performing shallow breaths. We often over utilize the neck musculature. Shallow breathing into the chest can increase tension in these muscles and even increase feelings of anxiety.
It is recommended that people learn how to perform relaxed diaphragmatic breathing to reduce tension in the neck muscles. Staying in sustained postures throughout the day can also be contributing to your neck pain.
Many studies continue to show that sustained postures throughout the day (typically with office workers), especially with a forward head position, can increase neck pain and headaches (Ariëns, 2001).
Symptoms are also more common in people that hate their job.
Really off topic, but it is true …
Consider how stress in your life (emotional or physical) is amplifying your feelings of pain. Emotional pain and physical pain are HEAVILY connected. Check out this video by Tony to learn a little more about proper breathing strategies.
The Advil Fix
This may not seem to fit with the other categories.
Nonetheless, it is super important.
Side effects related to over the counter anti-inflammatory use are becoming common knowledge. Every now and then I run into someone that isn’t aware of the potential risks of regular use.
Popping over the counter anti-inflammatories (i.e. advil) before or after your workouts IS NOT recommended.
It’s like sweeping the dirt under the rug.
“The most common side effect from all NSAIDs is damage to the gastrointestinal tract, which includes your esophagus, stomach, and small intestine. More than half of all bleeding ulcers are caused by NSAIDs, says gastroenterologist Byron Cryer, MD, a spokesperson for the American Gastroenterological Association.”
Fear
One of the reasons that I started RehabRenegade.com was to help share information like this with as many people as possible. Many of the complaints I get in clinic can be fixed SUPER QUICK. Having a basic understanding of how to care for yourself and knowledge of the body can remove the “threat” of pain.
Red flags (serious pathology) represent less than 2% of the cases that are seen in a clinical setting (Medbridge, Chad Cook: Cervical Examination).
The Internet can be a blessing and a curse.
It can either lead you down the right road or scare the living crap out of you. We all know that any injury or illness is usually presumed to be cancer after a late night search on WebMD. Here are some discussions and advice I found on the inter-web related to neck pain in the gym.
Great intentions, but poor advice.
We tend to blame everything on a “pulled muscle,” whatever that means.
Rest?
What year is it?
We stopped recommending straight rest in like 1902.
By all means, take time off from the gym.
This doesn’t give you free rain to lie in bed all day watching re-runs of Game of Thrones.
It’s true… you may have over done it. Your muscles were overworked. Likely leading to a nice amount of local inflammation and some trigger points. The more constructive advice would be to perform some soft tissue work, light stretching and low intensity non-painful exercise to keep that area mobile.
Resorting to pain medication is not a healthy option. Last but not least, mentioning damaged discs and compressed nerves never makes someone feel at ease. Trauma to the neck may be a reason for disc injury. Overdoing your push ups and pull ups is NOT.
Fun Fact: The prevalence of disk degeneration in asymptomatic (without symptoms) individuals increased from “37% of 20-year-old individuals to 96% of 80-year-old individuals. Disk bulge prevalence increased from 30% of those 20 years of age to 84% of those 80 years of age” (Brinjikji, 2015).
Positive findings on MRI are common in people without pain. Don’t get too caught up in images and diagnoses. Do the things we know are healthy. If you hit the gym hard this morning and then followed that up with a CROISSAN’WICH from Burger King, and a cigarette at lunch we have bigger fish to fry.
First and foremost, muscle and joint strain at the neck commonly refers pain to the head. We call this a cervicogenic headache. Rest assured that it is very rare that you have a more serious pathology requiring immediate medical attention. Give the tips in this post a shot, if it doesn’t help by all means see a medical professional. The worst thing you can do is show up to your medical provider without attempting to improve your flexibility, tweak your form or get adequate rest.
If I had a dollar for every time a therapist told someone they had the tightest (fill in the blank) they have ever seen I would be a little better off.
If this poor girl wasn’t worried enough… Now she has the tightest back he has ever seen… really?
As providers we need to be very careful with our words. It is really easy for us to turn neck pain into chronic neck pain.
It is called an iatrogenic vortex.
When people get tied up in the medical system too long they often see symptoms worsen or develop other unexplained diagnoses.
Overview
In most cases, pain attributed to the gym can be tied to the following:
Limitations in the necessary mobility to perform a movement
Limitations in the Skill needed to perform a movement
Limitations in the Capacity to perform a movement (Strength and Endurance)
Human Error [Electrolyte and fluid balance, Self-Care, Rest, Sleep, Breathing, Posture, Medication and Fear]
You could be one small modification away from eliminating your neck pain.
The big takeaway here is to make sure you have the ability to perform various exercises with good skill.
From there, you need the knowledge and self-awareness to know when you have exceeded you capacity.
You also need to look at the big picture to ensure that you are checking the boxes when it comes to living a healthy life. If you are someone that often finds yourself worried or anxious when injury sets in please take a step back and look at the big picture. Use this article to see where your gaps are. If you still can’t get relief please see a medical provider. Nothing makes medical providers happier than working with patients who demonstrate a willingness to learn and grow.
About the Author
Dr. Michael Infantino is a physical therapist. He works with active military members in the DMV region. You can find more articles by Michael at RehabRenegade.com.
References
Ariëns GAM, Bongers PM, Douwes M, et al
Are neck flexion, neck rotation, and sitting at work risk factors for neck pain? Results of a prospective cohort study. Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2001;58:200-207.
Brinjikji, W., Luetmer, P. H., Comstock, B., Bresnahan, B. W., Chen, L. E., Deyo, R. A.,Jarvik, J. G. (2015). Systematic Literature Review of Imaging Features of Spinal Degeneration in Asymptomatic Populations. AJNR. American Journal of Neuroradiology, 36(4), 811–816. http://doi.org/10.3174/ajnr.A4173
Gregory E. P. Pearcey, David J. Bradbury-Squires, Jon-Erik Kawamoto, Eric J. Drinkwater, David G. Behm, and Duane C. Button (2015) Foam Rolling for Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness and Recovery of Dynamic Performance Measures. Journal of Athletic Training: January 2015, Vol. 50, No. 1, pp. 5-13.
Lucas KR, Polus BI, Rich PS. Latent myofascial trigger points: their effects on muscle activation and movement efficiency. J Bodyw Mov Ther. 2004;8:160-166
Sawka MN, Burke LM, Eichner ER, Maughan RJ, Montain SJ, Stachenfeld NS. American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Exercise and fluid replacement. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007;39:377-90.
Sorry I was absent from writing some content this week. It’s a busy two-week window on my end with travel to Chicago this weekend (for the Elite Training & Performance Summit) and next weekend to Toronto to visit friends.
I’ve got a few blog ideas percolating in my brain at the moment, so I should have some fresh content to melt your faces next week. I hope.
The Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint is finally coming to Boston. Not “fake” Boston, either, on the outskirts of the North or South shore, and we end up calling it a Boston workshop.
No, this sumbitch is going to be IN Boston, at AMP Fitness located near Government Center in the heart of the city.
This shindig goes down the weekend of November 11th and the early bird rate is currently in effect. Hope to see you there. And by “there” I mean HERE.
All I have to say is that it was a breath of fresh air to read an article on the hip thrust that didn’t devolve into a shit-show of platitudes, N=1 summaries, and ad hominem attacks.
Understanding The Shoulder Pain Epidemic in CrossFit Athletes Parts I & II – Dave Tilley
Now if it were me writing this article series all I’d say is:
This weekend is your last chance to get in on the initial launch of Peak Perform University.
It’s a continuing education resource geared towards fitness professionals curated personally by Joe Dowdell, who owned and operated one of the most successful gyms in NYC history, PEAK Performance.
In it you’ll have access to material produced by some of the biggest names in the industry: Pat Davidson, Bill Hartman, Dean Somerset, Perry Nickelston, Joel Jamieson, and yours truly.
You can think of it as an abyss of content: there’s already a hefty database to choose from, and there will be additional, CEU accredited material added month by month.
If you’re a fitness professional looking for an easy and convenient – no travel! – way to expose yourself to some of the top coaches in the industry this is a splendid way to do so.
The best part: you can choose however many courses you’d like to view, there’s no requirement to the number you have to purchase, and you can take however much time you want to view them.
Social Media Shenanigans
Twitter
Lets be real: you’re not “overtrained” and you haven’t reached your “genetic peak.” It’s likely just don’t work hard enough.
I remember one of my first trips into NYC was back in 2006. I tagged along with Eric (Cressey) – we were roommates at the time – and Mike Robertson as they were putting on and filming their Building the Efficient Athlete workshop.
The event took place at PEAK Performance which was right smack dab in the middle of Manhattan.
Trying not to destroy the back of my pants riding a taxi.
NYC truly is an amazing place.
However, the thing I remembered most about that trip was the venue itself…PEAK Performance.
Then, located on an unassuming street in an unassuming building, you’d take the elevator up a few floors, the door would open, and….sha-ZAM:
A training and performance mecca.
It was beautiful.
Anything and everything you’d ever want in a training facility was there. And it was all the creation of the owner, Joe Dowdell.
I got to know Joe that weekend, and he struck me as one of the most handsomest men I have ever met knowledgable people I have ever met and someone who had an insatiable appetite for learning.
From then on out every time I visited NYC I’d always make it a point to visit PEAK. In the years afterwards Joe became a good friend and someone I looked towards for both training and career advice.
I mean, he did build one of the most successful gyms in the country from scratch and was a regular contributor to all of the top fitness publications out there; not to mention he authored or co-authored several books and DVD sets.
He even invited me down to speak to his staff and to attend some workshops he was putting on. In fact, here’s a pic of me at PEAK taking part in a round-table amongst some other heavy hitters in the industry: John Romaniello, Kevin Neeld, Jim Smith, Perry Nickelston, and Joe himself:
Me and Kevin were battling for most upright posture in the world apparently.
Long story short: Joe’s one of the most respected guys in the industry and you can rest assured that if his name is attached to anything, it’s of the highest quality.
It’s a continuing education resource geared towards fitness professionals curated personally by Joe himself. In it you’ll have access to material produced by some of the biggest names in the industry: Pat Davidson, Bill Hartman, Dean Somerset, Perry Nickelston, Joel Jamieson, and yours truly.
You can think of it as an abyss of content: there’s already a hefty database to choose from, and there will be additional, CEU accredited material added month by month.
If you’re a fitness professional looking for an easy and convenient – no travel! – way to expose yourself to some of the top coaches in the industry this is a splendid way to do so.9.
The best part: you can choose however many courses you’d like to view, there’s no requirement to the number you have to purchase, and you can take however much time you want to view them.
The initial launch of Peak Perform University starts today and ends Sunday, September 17th at midnight.
Dr. Michael Infantino is a physical therapist. He works with active military members in the DMV region. You can find more articles by Michael at 
