Last year Lisa and I had the privilege of presenting together in Austin, TX and London, UK, and we’re elated to be heading to Toronto next month to pick up where we left off.
It’s an event Lisa and I feel is needed and pinpoints a drastically underserved component in the fitness industry.
In a nutshell I spend part of the day breaking down assessment, program design, and technique on a few common lifts such as the squat, deadlift, get-up, and BOSU ball lunges (<— kidding).
Lisa speaks to more of the mindset and psychological side of the equation. She discusses strategies on how to better build rapport and “buy in,” in addition to encouraging more competency and autonomy with our clients/athletes.
All of which is a wonderful way to organically build your business and brand. And, you know, make more money….;o)
This, I feel, is what separates this workshop from others.
Lisa’s not some warm & fuzzy personal trainer who likes to talk about feelings and pretends to know what (s)he’s talking about.
She’s a real-live doctor and went to school for this shit. Plus, she lifts heavy things.
For more information and to sign up, please go HERE.
UPDATE: I believe CEUs have been added to the event. Woo-hoo!
2) Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint – Orlando
Our Vancouver shindig in April sold out, but Dean and I have recently announced a stop in Orlando, FL later this year, October 21-22nd at Spark Fitness.
I’ve never been to Orlando. There’s no way in hell I’m visiting Disney World.
The Huffington Post (UK) interviewed my good friend, Luke Worthington, who’s not only the best looking man I know (I hate him), but also Head of Trainer Education for Third Space and a coach I respect a ton.
I felt like an asshole yesterday. And when I say “I felt like an asshole,” I don’t mean in the rhetorical “haha, I did something goofy and feel like an asshole” sense. I straight-up felt like a heaping pile of asshole.
HINT: I was an asshole.
To get right to the point: I let a client down. And it was 100% on me.
I hope this will be a lesson to every fitness professional reading that you’re always being watched and that you’re always making decisions – whether directly or indirectly – that will affect your business and people’s perception of you.
However, before I dive into my assholiness from yesterday, I hope you won’t mind if I take a second to butter myself up and break down a scenario where I was less of an asshole.
I think it goes without saying most personal trainers and coaches – at one point or another, have experience working in a commercial gym.
Admittedly, it can (not always) suck. One of the biggest drags is many trainers are left fending for themselves in terms of harvesting their own clients.
This can be a daunting task for those new in the field, are a little more introverted, and otherwise inexperienced.
Whenever I’m contacted by someone asking me advice on this topic, my immediate response is:
“Act as if you’re always being observed or judged.”
A great example would be how you approach floor hours.
Most (new) trainers at most clubs are required/obligated to accumulate “x” number of floor hours per week. It’s more or less the fitness industry’s version of hazing or probation/purgatory, where you walk around the club feeling like a tool picking up after everyone else’s mess.
If I had to liken it to anything, it would fall somewhere between preparing your taxes and jumping into a shark’s mouth as far as things I’d rather be doing.
Anyways, when I had to do it I used it as an opportunity to get in front of as many people’s eyes as possible. I’d say hello, make eye contact, and occasionally offer some advice on technique, unique core exercises, or maybe strike up conversation on favorite GI Joe characters.
You know, cause I was cool.
All told I used my floor hours as an opportunity to provide a service and to reel people in as clients.
And speaking of clients, when I was with one, I’d always, ALWAYS make sure to give them my undivided attention. I’d be on-time, had my programs ready to go, and always prided myself on being more proactive, giving cues and feedback at all times. You know, coaching.
As a result, on many occasions, I’d be approached by other people asking if I had openings because they had been watching and observing me throughout the weeks or months prior.
Little did I know – at the time – that I was constantly be observed and judged.
It resonated with me then and it’s something, still, that’s important to me now. It never gets old when, after working with me for a handful of sessions, a new client mentions how much they appreciate my approach compared to past experiences they’ve had with other trainers and coaches.
They’re being coached rather than babysat for.
I don’t say this to be vainglorious, but interpret it as you will.
But Back to That Me Being an Asshole Part
All of this to say: we all fuck up from time to time. Or, maybe more germane: have a slight lapse in judgement.
Most days I show up 10-15 minutes prior to clients showing up at CORE.
I had two clients scheduled to show up yesterday at 4 PM. 3:30 hit and I was still home prepping the day’s blog post and catching up on emails.
3:40 hit and, while I knew I was pushing my luck (my gym is only a mile from my apartment, but still a 10-15 minute commute that time of day), I had to post the article up on Facebook.
Priorities, right?
“Okay,” I thought to myself, “I’m probably going to be a teeny-tiny bit late. I’ll shoot my clients a quick email to let them know I’m on my way and that I’ll be a few minutes off.”
No biggie.
Feeling justified, I rushed out the door and headed to CORE.
I arrived at 4:03. Both clients waiting outside the side of the building trying to avoid the first oppressively hot day.
Joe, an accomplished businessman here in Boston (12,000 employees answer to him) who just started with me three weeks ago and has been an exemplary client – shows up on time every session ready to work his ass off – was the first to greet me.
“Hey man, it’s past 4 o’clock.”
“Yeah,” I said, “sorry I’m a little late.”
“Stop posting on Facebook and lets get to work.”
He saw my post. He called my BS.
What an asshole I was.
Joe wasn’t malicious or anything, or even that mad. I think. He didn’t even make me being late a thing. He said what he said, and we did, we got right to work. However, his matter of fact way of calling me out on my momentary hiccup really punched me in the gut.
And, honestly, it served as a nice wake-up call.
I’m better than that.
You’re better than that too.
Let this be a lesson: You’re always being watched.
I remember the first time I saw Eminem perform. I was at my apartment in between classes watching a little TRL on MTV. It was spring break, 1999. I was in my living room. Many of my friends were somewhere else, not in my living room, galavanting around on some beach in Cancun soaking up some rays and debauchery.
Customary during Spring Break week MTV was also in Cancun, and hoping to catch a glimpse of my friends – and Britney – I tuned in.
“Hi, my name is, what? My name is, who? My name is, chka-chka Slim Shady.“
Mouth agape with a spoon full of Fruity Pebbles I was like, “what in the what is this?”
Eminem something er other now? Trying to impregnate Spice Girls?
“Pfffft, whatever,” I thought. “He won’t last.”
Ten #1 albums, 45+ million records sold, and one not so sucky movie – 8 Mile – to his credit, I guess you could say I was an idiot.
Eminem didn’t do so shabby for himself.
And while I could sit here and reminisce over you2other past pop-culture snafus I made….
Chicks will always dig stone washed jeans.
Robert Downey Jr will never make it as Iron Man.
ABC’s What About Brian? (2006) will become the next Grey’s Anatomy or Lost. It’ll be a sure fire hit.3
…lets not bask too much in my ineptitude.
I mean, Adele?
She’s okay. I guess.
Speaking candidly, my “misses” can extend to the coaching side of the spectrum as well. I can think of a few things I used to think or say back in the day that, upon reflection, were pretty idiotic.
What are some examples you ask?
Good question.
1. Telling People to Arch…HARD.
Like many people interested in lifting heavy things I used to read – and still do – anything and everything by the likes of Dave Tate, Jim Wendler, and Louie Simmons.
All three are strong mofos and have, arguably, put out some of the best training advice on getting strong within the past few decades.
I mean, are you going to argue with this guy?
Or this guy?
Or him?
Uhhhh, no.
They’ve all contributed to the greater good of the industry and many of us owe our PRs to any number of articles or resources they’ve produced throughout the years.
That being said, 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).
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, a squat). As a result, often, the chest will fall forward, and the cue we default to is “arch, arch, arch, chest up, chest up, chest up.”
This only feeds instability.
A better, I believe, approach (again, for non-geared lifters) is to tone down the arch and adopt what’s been referred to as the “canister” position.
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.
2. Knees Forward Instead of Knees Out
The “push your knees out” cue is something I’ve slide-stepped away from within the past year.
To defend my position I’ll need to piggy back off my comment above – the squat, for most trainees, is more about “sitting down” than it is “sitting back.”
I want the squat to look like a squat.
This means there will be forward translation of the tibia over the toes (but not so far that the heels come off the ground) and that there is equal parts knees coming forward and hips going back.
The net result = down.
My good friend, smart-as-balls physical therapist, and owner of Resilient Performance Physical Therapy (in NYC), Dr. Doug Kechijian, stated it best in a Tweet recently:
Cueing knees forward first then sit down in a loaded squat minimizes the need for the knees out “correction”. Vertical tibia days are #’d.
That’s right: it’s okay, nay, better?, for the knees to travel forward.
Cueing someone to break with their knees almost always negates the need to remind them to push their knees out.
They’ll do it automatically:
I’m all for using less coaching to clean up someone’s technique. The last thing most of your clients need is you barking a plethora of cues at them: “chest up, knees out, eyes forward, chin tucked, what’s the square root of 47?”
Play around with knees breaking first and then sitting down. My suspicions are that things will feel cleaner, more powerful, and the squat will feel like a squat.
Huh, weird.
ADDENDUM: NONE of this is to say I’m right. These are nothing more than cues and approaches that have worked for me in recents months/years with my clients and athletes. You may think I’m batshit crazy, and that’s cool.
I mean, to reiterate, I’ve been wrong on many things prior.
Amazon.com? Such a stupid idea.
I hope you’ll consider these suggestions however, and play around with them yourself. I think you’ll be surprised.
My wife gave birth to our son on January 31st, which was a Tuesday. She was back in the gym that Friday. Although, admittedly, all she did was a few easy bodyweight exercises and listened to my advice on hammering drills like deadbugs, birddogs, and anything else that would help to build back her core strength and integrity.
Postpartum training is a very tricky topic, and a serious one. Many women make the mistake of jumping back into (aggressive) exercise before their body is ready and sometimes suffer the consequences.
In today’s guest post, Dr. Sarah Ellis Duvall, helps shed some light on a delicate topic.
Recently, I saw an awesome Instagram post by Tony of his wife, Lisa. She was maxing out on bench press when she was only a few weeks postpartum. Go Lisa!
She is kicking butt and taking names and I was totally impressed.
Note From TG:THIS is the post Sarah is referring to. It was an awesome lift. What was not so awesome was how another trainer came in to highjack the thread and grandstand about how “dangerous” it was that Lisa was lifting so heavy so soon after giving birth, despite, you know, Lisa having been training all through her pregnancy, taking her time after giving birth to get back up to that point, AND being cleared by her doctor.
Since she has an awesome coach, her programming is perfect, but what if you are postpartum, headed back to the gym and not being trained by Tony?
Well, your life is probably a little less fun and devoid of Star Wars humor but here are 5 things to keep in mind before maxing out on your lifts postpartum.
#1. Do You Have Full Core Strength Back?
Start by checking for a diastasis. This is a thinning of the fascia (think shiny layer when you pull the skin off a chicken) that connects the front of your abs. It should feel like a trampoline when you lift your head and poke it. If your finger sinks in, that’s telling us your core is not connecting yet.
Lie on your back, knees bent
Place your fingers in the middle of your stomach
Lift your head just a little and push
Do they sink or do they spring?
Check halfway between your ribcage and your belly button, right above your belly button and halfway between your pubic bone and your belly button.
Anything that sinks in or is more than two-fingers wide is considered a diastasis. I consider the sinking part more important than the width.
Think about this as how well your core is transferring a load or pressure. It will not transfer well if there is a gap or hole in the system.
#2. Check for Doming.
When you do a crunch, sit up or plank your abs should flatten, they shouldn’t dome out in the front.
Doming tells us that your abs aren’t firing together correctly.
Along with not supporting the spine and pelvis enough, doming can also lead to hernias. Prevention is definitely the best medicine when it comes to hernias!
#3. Is Your Deep Breathing System in Place?
Does your inhale reach your pelvic floor or is it all upper shoulders or belly?
This is also part of building correct core strength.
Your diaphragm is the top of your core. Think about it as the top of a pressure cooker. We use pressure to help support our spine. If your diaphragm and core muscles are not firing correctly, it can either create too much or too little pressure. The pelvic floor really hates both those scenarios because that can lead to leaks and prolapse (months and months down the road).
I love the umbrella analogy. If you breathe up into your neck and shoulders, you will never open the umbrella. If you only belly breathe, that’s like opening a broken umbrella where only one side works. Aim for your back, sides and front around your ribcage to expand with every breath.
#4. Make Sure Your Pelvic Floor is Timed With Your Diaphragm
A long pushing phase or holding too much tension in the pelvic floor can disrupt the natural movement of the pelvic floor. Make sure you can feel your inhale pushing down on your pelvic floor – pelvic floor responds by relaxing down, then naturally recoils up on your exhale.
#5. Be Aware of What Happens Under Exertion
The more demand, the harder the exhale, the more your pelvic floor should contract. Sometimes this gets mixed up and instead of your pelvic floor contracting it bears down in response to pressure.
Bearing down is a great way to cause leaking and pelvic organ prolapse.
I’ve seen many women in person and received many, many more emails from women that have gotten pelvic organ prolapse 3, 8, and even 10 months after having a baby.
They thought things were going well.
They thought they were in the “clear.”
Then they tried some new crazy bootcamp class with lots of jumping or they maxed out on a lift or they simply lifted something heavy over their heads. Getting prolapse at anytime can be very heart wrenching and frustrating, but getting it months after you thought you were fine is the worst.
I’m not saying, don’t exercise hard.
I’m simply saying be aware of what’s going on and make sure you have the groundwork laid before pushing your body. If you don’t know what your pelvic floor does under pressure, that’s the same thing as not knowing your knee caves in during a squat. If any professional saw you, they would immediately fix the knee caving in issue and tell you how they just saved your knee from years of pain.
Pelvic floor prolapse is a real issue with real consequences, and it’s crucial to take the requisite steps a head of time to (hopefully) prevent it from happening.
About the Author
A wife, mom and adventure sports athlete, Dr. Sarah is a women’s health specialist that believes in teaching. Helping women understand how the body works is the basis for her results-driven online program. She focuses on issues from the pelvic floor and diastasis to building strength injury free. When she is not hanging off the side of a mountain, Sarah enjoys writing and presenting at Core Exercise Solutions and figuring out how her patients can continue to pursue their dreams and lead a strong, adventurous life.
Last year Lisa and I had the privilege of presenting together in Austin, TX and London, UK, and we’re elated to be heading to Toronto in about a month to pick up where we left off.
In a nutshell I speak to a little assessment talk, program design, and breaking down technique on a few common lifts such as the squat, deadlift, get-up, and BOSU ball lunges (<— kidding), and Lisa speaks to more of the mindset side of the equation and how we can help build better rapport and “buy in” with our clients/athletes. Not only that: but also how to encourage more competency and autonomy with your clients as well (both of which help you make more money).
For more information and to sign up, please go HERE.
2) Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint – Orlando
Our Vancouver shindig in April sold out, but Dean and I have recently announced a stop in Orlando, FL later this year, October 21-22nd at Spark Fitness.
I’ve never been to Orlando. There’s no way in hell I’m visiting Disney World.
I have such a hard time absorbing information and retaining it. Mostly because there’s so much of it out there! I thoroughly enjoyed this post from Mike and took a lot from it.
“Out of all the things you could do to improve your health, performance, and body composition, worrying about too much protein is WAY down on the list. In fact, if you’re going to worry about protein at all, it might make more sense to worry about not getting enough.”
Social Media Shenanigans
Twitter
Hate to break it to you: but you can’t have a lack of mobility issue without a poor stability issue somewhere else.
Being a “good” coach and writing effective training programs isn’t about inserting the most demanding or most obnoxious looking exercises for your athletes & clients.
Peruse social media and you’ll inevitably come across any number of fit pros vying for everyone’s attention with elaborate looking exercises ranging from Quasi-isometric deadlifts vs. chains (from a deficit on one leg) to flag-holds with band abduction (think about it).4
I’m being facetious. But I’m not far off from being dead serious.
I’m lame, and could really care less about garnering “likes” by wooing people with circus acts.
When I watch some of the things coaches put up on their IG feed or YouTube channel I have to wonder if they think about the following:
1. What’s the likelihood that 3% of their audience can reproduce a modicum of what they’re viewing?
“Look at me, Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.”
2. How is said exercise going to help them?
I’m not trying to be a Johnny Raincloud here. I understand that, sometimes, people just want to do shit to do shit.
Great.
Do it.
There doesn’t always have to be a reason or rationale backed up by a Mel Siff quote.
However, too, I feel those who do have an audience and do pride themselves on sharing actionable content (and not just selfies) with the masses, share a responsibility to be practical – more often than not – with the content and information they’re relaying.
Just my two-cents.
Excuse me while I step off my soap-box.
On that note, lets talk about one of my favs.
2-KB Front Squat
I’m not the only coach who’s a fan of this squat variation. Others like Mike Robertson, Artemis Scantalides, Molly Galbraith, and pretty much every coach in the history of ever who’s been affiliated with StrongFirst or RKC certification are fans.
It’s one of my “go-to” squat variations that I use with athletes and general population clients alike for a variety of reasons:
1. It’s un-paralleled with how it helps people learn to appreciate FULL-body tension. The anterior placement of the load forces the core to fire like crazy and helps to promote ideal positioning of the torso:
Less rib flair and more of a “canister” position where the pelvis and rib-cage are stacked on top of one another, in addition to the pelvic floor and diaphragm. The abdominals are called into action to resist an excessive arch.
As a result…
A more upright torso comes to fruition which helps to offset excessive shearing of the spine. NOTE: this is NOT to insinuate a forward lean is wrong or “bad” when squatting, it’s not. In fact, it’s warranted and needs to happen. However, for a large chunk of people, especially in the beginning stages, it’s more “joint-friendly” to adopt an upright torso, accumulate reps there, and then progress to advanced variations where more forward lean enters the picture.
2. It’s a great way to load someone without crushing them.
To steal a train of thought from Artemis Scantalides:
“The double kettlebell front squat allows you to train a decreased load for the same physiological effect. So even though you are not squatting as much weight, because of the asymmetrical shape of the kettlebell, and the placement of the kettlebells in the rack position, you are able to maintain squat strength by training the double kettlebell front squat regularly.“
3. It humbles people. Even large humans who can seemingly squat Ohio will find this variation challenging. It doesn’t take much. Two, 24 kg bells will make many huddle in the corner sucking their thumb.
Below is a quick video I shot this AM which goes into slight detail on some of the components of the exercise, namely the set-up, how to transition the bells to the starting position, and basic cuing.
Mid-back (or T-spine) mobility drills are one of those things that, much like bacon, Jason Bourne movies, or LOLCat memes, most people just can’t get enough of.
At this point I don’t think I need to belabor why t-spine mobility is a kind of important. But if I had to give a quick 10-second elevator pitch I’d say something to the effect of:
“It helps improve performance in sport(s) and in the gym, helps with posture, and also helps offset the likelihood of your shoulder, neck, or lower back from flipping you the middle finger.”
You’re not going to find that explanation on Wikipedia or anything, but it gets the point across. Having the requisite mid-back mobility – 0r, more to the point: having the ability to “access” mid-back or T-spine mobility (via rotation and eliciting an extension moment) as well as nudging more dynamic stabilization – keeps people healthy (namely shoulders and lower back) and not feeling like a bag of dicks.
Note to Self: I totally need to start submitting more often to Wikipedia.
There are a million and one different T-spine mobility drills and rarely is there ever a “bad” one. However, the three shown below tend to be the ones I gravitate towards the most when working with athletes and general fitness population clients alike.
1. Mid-Back Release
A common drill many people perform to improve T-spine mobility (more specifically, extension), especially when they’re more kyphotic and exhibit overly rounded shoulders, is to extend their mid-back over a foam roller.
First: Most people perform it poorly (see below).
Second: We’ve fallen into this trap of oneupmanship where the “harder” the surface the better the drill is.
Is it better?
Ten years ago it was a plain ol’ foam roller. Now people are rolling on lead pipes. Before you know it, the next iteration will be rolling on live grenades.
Regardless, Here’s How Not to Do It.
The mid-back area isn’t necessarily designed to have that much range of motion – to the point where someone can extend their shoulders all the way to the ground – and what most people end up doing is exhibiting excessive rib flair and plowing through their lumbar spine (where we don’t want a ton of movement).
The end result is nothing more than “feeding” what’s causing the issue(s) in first place: an un-stable core (lumbo-pelvic area) which forces the mid-back to lock-up for lack of stability where you want it.
Do This Instead (Seriously, I’m Not Kidding)
This mid-back release from the people over at AcuMobility.com is a game-changer.
The idea is to train STABILITY (by paying diligent attention to engaging and maintaining core activation) while also working on the areas we actually want to mobilize.
This drill is a catch-all for pretty much everyone: male, female, young, old, likes to deadlifts, hates it, office worker, Klingon….seriously, everyone.
It works – albeit for different reasons – whether you’re a computer guy with Quasimodo posture or someone who’s more athletic and exhibits more of a “flat” t-spine.
Computer Guy = the added extension is postural gold.
Opposite of Computer Guy = these people tend to be “stuck” in extension due to over-active erectors, rhomboids, etc from lifting heavy things repeatedly. Also, much like “computer guy” most people here will exhibit a weak or unstable core, which, for many, may be the culprit for why their mobility is poor to begin with.
The lack of base of support in the lumbo-pelvic region will have negative ramifications in terms of ideal positioning up and down the kinetic chain, and one’s ability to produce and transfer force.
When we dial down tonicity in the mid-back, we’re able to exhibit better positions (rectus abdominus less lengthened and rib flair less prevalent) and we’re then able to express our actual badassery.
I really love the content and material AcuMobility has been putting out over the past year. You can watch ALL their videos for free on their site HERE.
It’s awesome stuff.
Also, because I’m cool, you can get 10% off any AcuMobility orders by using the code “gentilcore” (no quotations needed) at checkout HERE.
2. Side Lying Windmill
It…..just…..feels…..so…..good.
Lots of cool things happening here: T-spine extension & rotation, in addition to a nice pec stretch (which is often overactive in many people).
A key point, however, is to make sure you’re not just flailing your arm and making it a shoulder circle thingamabobber exercise.
The motion should come for the scapulae (shoulder blade) itself, so don’t force ROM you don’t have. It’s okay if you’re unable to get close to the floor.5
The more you perform this exercise the better you’ll get
Also:
1. Place a foam roller underneath the top knee (at 90 degrees) so you lock the lumbar spine in place and don’t default into lumbar rotation.
2. Squeeze the glute of the leg that’s straight.
An exercise sibling – if you will – of the side-lying windmill is a variation I learned from Dr. John Rusin:
Side Lying Open Book
3. Quadruped Reach Through and Extension
I like this drill for a lot of people, but I really like it for rotational athletes (especially pitchers as it’s important for them to be able to follow-through and “access” flexion on their throwing side).
A key aspect of this drill is to sit back onto the calves/ankles (if your mobility allows and it doesn’t bother your knees) and to lock the lumbar spine in place and take it out of the equation.
From there it’s pretty self-explanatory:
1. Slide hand underneath and reach through as you exhale your air.
2. Reverse the action and extend back.
3. I tend to default to more of a “rib-roll” action as I feel it’s allows for less cheating and compensation.
Give these bad-boys a try and let me know what you think. Or, if not, I guess I’ll GFM….;o)
Today’s guest post comes from regular contributor, Justin Kompf. It’s a personal story, but a story many of you reading will either appreciate or commiserate with.
If You Want to Improve, You’re Going to Have to Deal With Some Shit
There was once a young man who was enrolled at West Point; he found himself absolutely miserable at the academy. Luckily, at the time his mother was friends with a smart dude. This smart dude happened to be the 16th president of the United States. He wrote the cadet and said:
“Allow me to assure you it is a perfect certainty that you will, very soon, feel better-quite happy- if you only stick to the resolution you have taken to procure a military education. I am older than you, have felt badly myself, and know, what I tell you is true. Adhere to your purpose and you will soon feel as well as you ever did.
On the contrary, if you falter, and give up, you will lose the power of keeping any resolution, and will regret it all your life”
I highly doubt Abraham Lincoln would have thought those particular words he wrote to the West Point cadet would have an impact on a young man trying to figure his life out over 100 years later. How could he know that those words were exactly what I needed to hear at the time?
In the Summer of 2016, I was in a predicament; for a while, I had intended to apply to doctoral programs to study health behavior after completing my Master’s degree. But when push came to shove, I got scared. Irrational thoughts flooded my mind.
“My life won’t start until I’m done, and I’ll be 31”
“I’ll be so far behind everyone else”
“What if I find out I don’t want to teach and do research when I’m done?”
A PhD program would involve me devoting four more years of my life to school when all I really wanted to do was get my life going.
So, I panicked.
I found myself exploring different career paths.
I would drive down to a health and fitness center in Ithaca to talk about becoming a dietician. I drove to Syracuse to talk to my Aunt about nursing. I called my cousin in California to talk about her job as a physician’s assistant. I had meetings with Cortland faculty members to get information on how to get into PA school. Then I was calling friends who were physical therapist to talk about their jobs. PT sounded right for me; I started observing a physical therapist in town and began the application process to physical therapy school. These all seemed like safe, high paying jobs, with clear career trajectories.
Every time I thought of a new career path I diverted myself from the fear of four more years of school and an uncertain career future. There was always an instant sensation of relief from that fear.
But then a few things gave me a sense of insight.
Aside from reading sage advice from historical figures I was also exercising my ass off.
One night I was trail running to clear my head. It got dark really quick and rain started to come down, an appropriate metaphor for how I felt at the time. It was hard to see any more than a few feet in front of me. But somewhere towards the end of my run I was hit with some clarity.
None of those career paths I was looking into would give me the voice I wanted to make a positive impact on the world. If I didn’t have my voice and pursued a career I wasn’t passionate about just to be safe, I would be miserable.
And rather than the temporary misery I was feeling now, I knew the misery of not pursuing my passion would be permanent.
Fear is just an emotional construct, something that can’t really hurt you. I knew I couldn’t control that I felt it, but it was my responsibility as to whether or not it controlled my actions.
I knew that if I didn’t adhere to my purpose I would regret it the rest of my life. All those other careers wouldn’t fulfill the passion I had.
Winston Churchill once said “to change is to improve, to perfect is to change often”
What he didn’t say is that change is a scary and uncomfortable process. My modern interpretation of that quote would be:
“If you want to improve, you’re going to have to deal with some shit”
When faced with the decision of what shit sandwich I wanted to eat, I knew I could either (A) take the leap and accept fear and discomfort, or (B) live with regret but have comfort, I chose to accept the fear.
I applied to PhD programs, was accepted, and am heading to the University of Massachusetts Boston in the Summer to their Exercise and Health Sciences Program.
Whether on social media, or in real life, when people announce an accomplishment, others might look on in awe and wonder how they got to where they are now.
Well, more than likely, the answer is that they dealt with some shit.
They worked hard, stepped out of their comfort zone and got comfortable feeling uncomfortable. For me it was an eight-month process of dealing with uncertainty and fear. It was also putting in years of extra work to be a good candidate for a program like this.
In the end I wrote this because, a simple, “hey I’m going back to school” Facebook update didn’t seem justifiable and I think my experience can help people. Taking a leap is scary but I am looking forward to the next chapter in my life.
Every dude who lifts weights wants an impressive, well-defined chest.7
For men I think it’s pretty much engrained in our genetic code to A) miss the toilet seat when peeing and B) to want to train our chest whenever possible. In the most primal sense possible, we could make the case that a muscular looking chest is our version of a peacock spreading his feathers.
It’s a sign of masculinity, bravado, (perceived) sexual prowess, and encourages the ability to do this in public whenever the occasion arises…which, is all the time:
Throughout my lifting career I’ve always placed a premium on training my chest and it should also come as no surprise that 97% of the guys I’ve coached throughout the years have prioritized the same.
We’ve been programmed to think that barbell variations are the best way to build an impressive chest. And although I’d be remiss not to note that many guys with big bench press numbers do, in fact, have enviable pecs, I’d note there are far more guys with average (if not laughable, by powerlifting standards) bench press numbers who would make He-Man swoon with their chest development.
Having a 300 lb bench press – while baller and worthy of a fist-bump – isn’t a requirement for building respectable pecs.
Again, to reiterate, this is not to downplay the bench press.
Hoisting some heavy-ass weight off your chest, repeatedly, is never a bad approach. But if we take a look at the actual anatomy of the Pectoralis major muscle and it’s function(s) we can note why, from a developmental standpoint, dumbbells are almost always a better option.
Pectoralis major
Actions:
1. Flexion of humerus.
2. Adduction of humerus.
3. Medial rotation of humerus.
4. Cutting of diamonds (when maximal pecification is achieved).
NOTE: We could, also, divide the Pectoralis major into two separate “areas.” The sternal head, mostly responsible for humeral extension, as well as adduction, and the clavicular head which is mostly responsible for humeral flexion.
Barbell variations limit things because they don’t allow for any humeral adduction. This is why, if pec development is the goal, dumbbell variations are a better play because THEY ALLOW MORE ADDUCTION, GOSH! How many times do I have to tell you.
Regular, plain ol’ DB Bench Presses are fine and will get the job done. However, what kind of post would this be if all I did was say “go do some DB Bench Presses.”
Lame. That’s what.
So, here are some of my (other) favorite dumbbell variations that are (hopefully) new to most of you reading.
1. DB Press – Accentuated Eccentric
Nothing too revolutionary here. All I’m doing in this video is accentuating the lowering (eccentric) portion to help attenuate more muscle fiber damage and subsequent muscle growth.8
I like to keep people in the 3-5s range as far as the lowering portion is concerned and aim for 8-12 repetitions. A sneaky trick I’ll often implement is a MAX set on the last set. So it may look something like this:
Set #1 = 10 reps
Set #2 = 8 reps
Set #3 = MAX reps
But you can always use straight weight or a pyramid scheme or whatever. It’s all good.
2. DB 1-Arm (Offset) Press
This is a nice way to address any strength imbalances between one side and the other. Too, it adds an intense core-stability (rotary stability) component as well, as you have to fire all you have as to not fall off the bench.
3. DB Alternating Press
This is a classic variation I always revert back to. I like this one as it kinda-sorta emulates a 1-arm press. Plus, it requires a fair amount of scapular stability on the straight-arm side as you perform the set.
4. DB Elevator Press
This is a play on something Ben Bruno discussed with Goblet Squats not too long ago. Here, the idea is to lower the DB 1/4 of the way, then back up, then lower 1/2 down, then back up, then lower all the way down, then back up again.
That’s one rep.
It sucks, but in a “holy shit, my pecs are so juicy right now kind of way.”
I’ll often shoot for 6-10 repetitions.
5. DB “Reverse Batwing” Press
This variation is the counterpoint to Dan John’s Batwing Row exercise. Here, you’ll hold one DB a few inches above the chest as you perform all your repetitions on the other side.
Switch, and repeat on the opposite side.
Ouch.
6. DB Squeeze Press
This is probably my favorite DB exercise to hammer the pecs. Here you promote both actions of the pecs into one hybrid exercise.
The idea here is to squeeze the DBs together as you press up and down.
The idea here is to, again, increase time under tension (TUT) in an effort to increase metabolic demand and muscular damage.
Start with a 10s isometric hold at top. Another 5s hold half-way down. And then another 5s hold a few inches above the chest. Then perform 8-10 repetitions.
If you really want to hate life, after you perform your reps, repeat the three separate iso-holds again on your last set.
8. DB Floor Flye – Hollow Position
This isn’t a press, but it’s still a very effective exercise to build the pectorals since it’s 100% adduction. I got this idea from strength coach Joel Seedman as it’s also a nice variation that hammers the core too.
Moreover, since it’s performed on the floor it can be considered a more “shoulder friendly” flye variation since it limits the ROM and keeps trainees out of the “danger zone.”
For the past, well, I don’t know how long I’ve posted my “Stuff to Read While You’re Pretending to Work” post every Friday.
This past Friday I did not post it. As a result the internet shut down.9
Okay, it didn’t…but it did feel weird not to post it. And while I’d like to sit here and say it was because of something cool like, say, I had a man-date with The Rock or I was fighting crime, the truth of the matter is, with my schedule being switched around with an infant in tow, it makes it easier to post at the start of the week rather than the end.
You didn’t really care? Oh, okay then….lets get right to it.
Lisa and I are happy to announce we’re bringing back our Strong Body-Strong Mind workshop.
Last year we had the privilege of presenting together in Austin, TX and London, UK, and we’re elated to be heading to Toronto, Ontario to pick up where we left off.
In a nutshell I speak to a little assessment talk, program design, and breaking down technique on a few common lifts such as the squat, deadlift, get-up, and blindfolded chainsaw juggling, and Lisa speaks to more of the mindset side of the equation and how we can help build better rapport and “buy in” with our clients/athletes.
For more information and to sign up, please go HERE.
2) Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint – Orlando
Our Vancouver shindig in April sold out, but Dean and I have recently announced a stop in Orlando, FL later this year, October 21-22nd at Spark Fitness.
I’ve never been to Orlando. There’s no way in hell I’m visiting Disney World.
A make zero effort to hide my fandom of Jen Sinkler. I think she’s one of the kindest and most authentic human beings I know.
I also think she one helluva a coach and someone who’s a Jedi master at producing and curating quality fitness content. A few months she and Kourtney Thomas (another fantastic coach) released The Bigness Project.
If the title doesn’t give it away it’s alllllll about getting big or diesel or jacked (or whatever your adjective of choice is), and it’s directed towards women. Namely, it’s to prove a point: that women can and should train to add muscle (and not be afraid or timid to do so).
It’s an amazing 14-week program designed for women, by women and also includes a mindset component and thorough exercise glossary.
You need to act quick, though, because it’s being pulled from the virtual shelves by the end of this week. If you want to participate and get the Bigness, you have to go HERE by Friday.
If you’re a strength athlete, physique competitor, or just someone who likes to look like a brick shit house (or help people look that way) this will be right up your alley.
Every month, they sift through 50+ journals and 1,000+ studies to handpick the cutting-edge research that’s most relevant for building muscle, gaining strength, and getting leaner.
Pretty much everyone who reads this site – except my mom – should be down with that.
If you want to stay on top of the research but, like me, hate reading research (nor have 40+ hours per month to dedicate to it) then this is a no-brainer.
Subscriptions can be monthly, yearly, or, for the all-out ballers out there, lifetime. This week only MASS is being offered at 20% OFF the regular price.
Having the ability to regress or progress an exercise based on the needs and ability level of an athlete/client is a skill that any fitness professional should strive to have.
This is never more apparent than when coaching the squat.
The phrase “it’s not so much about contraindicated exercises as it is about contraindicated lifters” never sings to high than in this article.
This is a newly minted website by two (more) coaches I respect a ton…Lori Lindsey and Amanda Wheeler.
It’s a site dedicated to former athletes and women and strives to articulate a message that goes against the status quo directed towards much of female fitness.
I encourage you to check it out.
Social Media Shenanigans
Twitter
“I don’t want to get too bulky,” says the person who will never work hard enough for that to happen in the first place. Relax.
