Julian has officially been home for a week, and Lisa and I have officially turned into zombies. I’m not complaining, though. I recognize lack of sleep is what every (new) parent must endure and understand it’s a right of passage.
Doesn’t make it any less sucky mind you. I feel like I got hit over the head with a bag of dicks.
Enough about dicks, lets get to this week’s list shall we?
Half the reason most peoples skip their warm-up prior to training is because most take way too long Here’s the “perfect” warm-up done in just five moves….HERE.
2. Early bird registration for the Online Trainer Academy is now open.
I started doing online training back in 2005 before it was a thing. I had no idea what the hell I was doing back then. All I had was an Excel spreadsheet template to write programs on and a flip phone. One of my most vivid memories is when my then ex-girlfriend thought it was weird that I had all these pictures of half-naked people on my computer.
Pffffft, whatever.
Nevertheless, today, online training is a big deal. If you’re someone who’s thinking about it, but having a hard time developing the systems to make it a viable way to make money this is definitely something you should considering investing in.
You can take advantage of the early-bird registration and receive $200 off the regular price. Check it out HERE.
3. 2 Workshops Coming Up
Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint – Vancouver, April 1-2nd.
Dean Somerset and I will be in Vancouver that weekend to talk shoulders and hips and to start a tickle fight.
For more information and to sign up you can go HERE.
SUNY Cortland Health & Wellness Conference – Cortland, NY, April 8th
I’ll be at my alma mater the weekend of April 8th speaking at what I believe is the 4th or 5th annual SUNY Cortland Conference. Other guest speakers include my wife, Dr. Lisa Lewis, Mark Fisher, Brian St. Pierre, and Dr. David Just.
Unstable surface training, more often that not, comes across as gimmicky. Sure, there’s a time and place for it, especially for those coming off injury, but most people use it as a way to garner Instagram views.
However, this was an awesome article. And, Meghan is a beast.
Mike’s 11 DVD set on anything and everything covering his approach to assessment, program design, and helping people increase their general levels of badassery is currently on sale at $100 off the regular price.
This is easily one of the best resources out there, bar none.
Social Media Shenanigans
Twitter
Deadlift Tip: it’s called a DEADlift (not a bounce lift). Come to a complete stop on the floor…;o)
Teaching a beginner how to squat well can be challenging. There’s no denying there are a lot of moving parts that can derail our best efforts to do so.
My intention of this quick-n-dirty post isn’t to break down the squat in its entirety. For that I’d encourage you to check out Greg Nuckols’ How to Squat: The Definitive Guide.
It’s basically the War and Peace of squat biomechanics and technique. Except, you know, not written by a Russian.
Instead, my goal today is to hammer home a few candid points when working with beginners on their squatting technique.
1. “Beginners” in this sense could mean a 13 year old who’s never touched a weight or a 57 year old who’s had a few decade hiatus. And everything in between. Male, female, athletes, non-athletes, centaurs, you name it.
2. The squat is a basic human movement pattern. Unfortunately, in today’s world, we don’t move as much as we used to, and subsequently many struggle with the movement. Oftentimes one’s only source of physical activity is if or when they get their butts to the gym.
And even if they do that, there’s no guarantee they exercise in a range of motion below a certain degree of hip flexion.
There’s truth to the common phrase “if you don’t use it, you lose it.”
This isn’t to insinuate that everyone has to squat to a certain level or that you’ll lose some street cred if you happen to not squat ass-to-grass. As I’ve repeatedly stated on this blog everyone is different (leverages, anthropometry) and it’s silly, nay, fucking moronic to think everyone has to squat deep.
So whenever I work with a beginner or someone coming off a significant injury it’s on me – the coach – to take the time to groove a solid squat pattern.
This rarely (if ever) involves placing a barbell on someone’s back on Day #1.
Why?
Because I said so….;o)
Many people lack the requisite t-spine (extension) and shoulder mobility (abduction/external rotation) to hold a barbell in that position without it feeling weird of wonky.
Many lack the kinesthetic awareness to sit back (and down) in a fashion that emulates a squat.
There’s no Golden Rule that we have to load people right away.
I’m more concerned with teaching proper position.
It’s that last point – teaching proper position – that’s a game changer in my eyes. You see, many people tend to “sit” in a state of perpetual (excessive) extension where their pelvis tilts forward, otherwise known as anterior pelvic tilt (APT)
To be clear: APT is not bad or wrong or needs to be fixed. It’s normal. However, when it’s excessive it not only places more strain on the spine (particularly the facet joints), but it also leads to poor alignment where the diaphragm and pelvic floor point in different directions.
Within PRI (Postural Restoration Institute) circles (<— total nerd fest) this is called the “Scissor Position.” What we’d like to strive for is what’s known as the “Canister Position,” where the diaphragm and pelvic floor are aligned or stacked on top of another.
Another way to think of it, is something I stole from Dr. Evan Osar.
“Think of your pelvis as one ring and your rib cage as a bunch of more rings. What you want is to stack those rings on top of one another.”
Mike Robertson is also a fan of this approach and even goes a step further and notes the importance of reaching, and how that can have a positive effect on one’s overall positioning. When we “reach” we nudge ourselves into a little more posterior pelvic tilt (back to “neutral”) and we then achieve proper diaphragm/pelvic floor alignment. Bada bing, bada boom.
If all of that comes across as me speaking Elvish, watch this video.
Plate Loaded Front Squat
The plate loaded front squat is now my “go to” squat progression when working with beginners. It’s something I’ve used for years for a few reasons:
1. The plate serves a counterbalance as one squats down towards the floor helping them to learn proper torso positioning and balance. It’s makes things infinitely easier with regards to sitting back & down into a squat.
2. Pressing the plate out front also helps to better engage the anterior core musculature. This is so crucial. I can’t tell you how many times people have come in for an assessment telling me stories of trainer upon trainer telling them how “tight” they are because they couldn’t squat past parallel. Prior to coming to me they had spent years, years stretching and working on any number of hip mobility drills.
Thing is: they weren’t tight. People rarely are. Or, at least it’s rarely ever that cut and dry (tight vs. not tight). In reality most are weak and unstable. For many, their nervous system is putting on the brakes because it perceives a lack stability. By having trainees press the plate out front it automatically forces the core to fire – thus providing more stability. And miraculously they’re able to squat deeper.
And I come across as the next Professor Dumbledore.
Moreover, it was Mike Robertson who pointed out to me the added benefit of the plate loaded front squat. The “reach” results in better diaphragm and pelvic floor alignment.
It teaches people context, and to own the “canister” position (preventing the ribs from flaring out). That way, when they progress to barbell variations, they’ll have a better understanding of what we’re after and what will (in all likelihood) allow them to perform at a higher level for longer periods of time reducing the risk of injury.
Want More Mike Robertson Nuggets of Programming Badassery?
I owe much of my programming savvy to Mike Robertson. It’s little nuggets of wisdom (as demonstrated above) that helps to separate him from the masses. I’ve always enjoyed his approach and way of explaining things. There aren’t many coaches who have the innate ability to take complex topics and “dumb them down” for the masses (like myself).
His excellent resource, Physical Preparation 101 is currently on sale at $100 off the regular price from now through this Friday (2/10).
It’s basically his entire philosophy on program design. 12 DVDs of Mike Robertson knowledge bombs. I have zero doubts the money you invest in this will pay for itself tenfold in client retention.
People should be proud of their credentials. I am of mine: Tony Gentilcore, CSCS, FMS, OPP (down with it). You earn what you earn. No one can take them from you. However, what do they really mean? Do they mean you know more than someone else or carry more expertise? Do they allow you to jump the line at Disney World?
In today’s guest post by NJ based physical therapist, Dr. Nick Licameli, he breaks things down and explains his interpretation of what having credentials next to your name means.
Credentials are important. There is no denying the fact that having professional credentials increases the likelihood of expertise and professionalism, however it is a mistake to put too much emphasis on the letters surrounding a name rather than the heart and mind of the one possessing the name.
I am a doctor of physical therapy and a professional natural bodybuilder. What does this mean?
This simply means that I have completed the necessary undergraduate, graduate, and clinical course work from an accredited physical therapy program and passed my licensing exam. This says nothing about how well I did in school or if I ever failed a class or had to retake something.
Remember, there are doctors out there that got B’s and C’s in school.
As the saying goes, “C’s get degrees!” That being said, I feel compelled to mention that I graduated Summa Cum Laude with a bachelor’s degree in biology and graduated in the top ten of my class in physical therapy school.
Does having the title of “Doctor” make me better than anyone else? OF COURSE NOT! There are many older and more seasoned physical therapists out there without doctorates that are light years ahead of me in terms of knowledge and skill set. It’s not about what you graduate with or a title before or after your name. It’s about what you do with that title.
Formal education does not make an expert, it teaches how to become one. Real learning does not happen during school or during a credentialing course. It happens after school hours. It happens when no one is watching. It happens when you sacrifice your own free time to pursue a burning passion within yourself.
Much like bodybuilding, no one sees the daily grind of work that it takes to create the finished product.
The majority of my knowledge of exercise, nutrition, and bodybuilding has been obtained through hours spent furthering my education outside of the classroom, learning from experts and relating the information back to the content I was learning in physical therapy school.
This blending of the two worlds made my job and my passions one in the same. It is important to learn from experts, but it is more important to take that information and apply it to your own deep burning passions.
As the eastern philosophy says:
“We seek not to imitate the masters, rather we seek what they sought (Covey, 1989, p.281).”
I’ve made my degree my own.
There are many doctors of physical therapy that don’t know the things that I know because I pursued my passions on my own.
Here’s a good example of what I mean.
Maybe a physical therapist is passionate about animals. In his free time, he obtains knowledge about therapy dogs.
He dives into the research on therapy dogs until he’s blue in the face. He seeks out experts in the use of therapy dogs and learns from them. This person would be a physical therapist with expert knowledge on the use of therapy dogs. Because he didn’t learn that information from school, he has something unique that other physical therapists do not.
Certainly not all doctors of physical therapy are experts on the use of therapy dogs, but it’s where his passion lies so he has molded the two worlds together. He has made his degree his own.
Being a Professional Natural Bodybuilder:
This simply means that I was the best, according to the judges, at a particular competition. While turning pro has been a goal of mine for years, it’s important to remember what it means and what it doesn’t mean.
It does not mean that I am in some way better than competitors without a pro card. There are many, many competitors out there who would blow me away, but have not been able to turn pro yet. I could have brought the same physique to five different shows and received five different placements.
The placing in a competition has to do with who shows up to the competition on that particular day. If aces show up, you may get 5th place with a killer physique. If beginners show up, you may take first with an average or below average physique. Just like how having a doctoral degree or extensive credentials doesn’t always equal a quality practitioner, having a pro card doesn’t always equal a quality physique.
To my fellow competitors from that night, I say keep working hard. Keep at it and don’t get discouraged. I know the feeling. Don’t let your placing in a competition define your self worth. I am honored to have shared the stage with such a great group of guys.
Conclusion
Judging someone’s worth based on credentials is like judging a quarterback based on number of Super Bowls won.
It’s an inaccurate measure of talent, ability, experience, and expertise. The point here is that the doctorate, the pro card, or any other credentials are not what make me special.
Don’t get me wrong, I am proud of my accomplishments in both academia and bodybuilding, but I understand that they do not make me better than anyone else. Where I excel is having a strong passion for science, education, training, nutrition, and helping others.
No title or degree can create that. Yes, I use my titles in my signature, but it is not meant to gain undeserved trust, respect, or prestige from others. They’re simply my titles.
Again, there are physical therapists, trainers, coaches, and bodybuilders out there with barely any credentials or letters surrounding their names who know much more than I do. I can only hope to seek out those individuals and soak up as much knowledge as possible from them to better myself.
Always seek first to understand, then to be understood. Be humble, be open, and never stop learning. My goal is to earn respect because of my actions, heart, and knowledge, not my titles or degree.
About the Author
Nick Licameli is a doctor of physical therapy and professional natural bodybuilder. He graduated summa cum laude from Ramapo College of New Jersey with his bachelor’s degree in biology, then furthered his education by completing his doctoral degree in physical therapy from Rutgers School of Biomedical and Health Sciences (previously the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey) at the age of 24.
His knowledge of sport and exercise biomechanics, movement quality, and the practical application of research combined with personal experience in bodybuilding and nutrition allows him to help people in truly unique ways. He views bodybuilding through the eyes of a physical therapist and physical therapy through the eyes of a bodybuilder. His passion lies between his love for the journey of bodybuilding, education, and helping other.
Meet Han Gandalf Gentilcore Julian Lewis Gentilcore. Born 1/31/17 at 12:22 PM.
Lisa and I are so happy, excited, and tired….;o) Lisa, by the way, was a CHAMPION. Thanks to everyone who sent well-wishes via email, social media, and texts.
And so it begins…..
2. Appearance on Ben Coomber Radio
I had the pleasure of being invited onto the Ben Coomber Radio Show recently.
In typical fashion I was witty, intelligent, and cunning. But that’s just my own assessment. Ben’s a pro and has one of the most successful health/fitness podcasts over in the UK. We dive right into things and start talking about “effective” gym training. At about 30 minutes, it’s the perfect thing to listen to on your commute. Or to pass time as your significant other watches The Bachelor/Walking Dead (depending on gender).
3. Latest article on MensHealth.com: 4 Push-Up Mistakes You’re Making
Despite it’s popularity and recognition as an exercise staple, nothing gets more eye-rolls when I plan them into a program (especially from guys) than push-ups.
Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint – Vancouver, April 1-2nd.
Dean Somerset and I will be in Vancouver that weekend to talk shoulders and hips and to start a tickle fight.
For more information and to sign up you can go HERE.
SUNY Cortland Health & Wellness Conference – Cortland, NY, April 8th
I’ll be at my alma mater the weekend of April 8th speaking at what I believe is the 4th or 5th annual SUNY Cortland Conference. Other guest speakers include my wife, Dr. Lisa Lewis, Mark Fisher, Brian St. Pierre, and Dr. David Just.
The combined years of experience of the coaches who contributed to this article is 5,798. Give or take. With that much experience giving their insights, you should listen.
Soooo, I’m a dad now. Lisa was a CHAMP all throughout, and I’m confident we’ll be heading home today from the hospital. As a heads up, you can expect just as many pics of my kid as my cat…;o)
I’m still a little busy, so please enjoy today’s guest post from strength coach Erica Suter.
Every time I write an article, I may sound like I want to chop everyone’s balls off. Truthfully, I get fired up with certain themes in the strength and conditioning world, making my prose honest, raw, and at times, harsh. My article on fitness celebrities, for example, was one of those topics I approached with fervor and sass.
Today’s topic is no different. So let’s dive in:
Sport Specific Training
For the past 5 years, I’ve been lucky to work in both the strength and conditioning, and skills-based realms of performance enhancement. I’m a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist who helps athletes get strong, but I’m also a licensed USSF soccer coach who teaches technical soccer skills. I keep my CSCS side separate from my technical side. I’m either in the weight room blasting Skrillex, or out on the soccer field working on my tan:
Knowing both worlds certainly makes me aware of the distinction between strength and skill work.
But alas, confusion still arises. Especially amongst parents, I get questions like:
“So do you do sport specific training for soccer players?” “Can you get Little Johnny to have a stronger throw-in with medicine ball work?” “Can you do female soccer specific ACL injury prevention?”
Full disclosure: Getting kidnapped by orcs from the Lord of the Rings sounds way cooler than explaining sport specific training to parents.
Note From TG: Hahahahahahahahaha. That was good. I’m stealing it.
I do, however, want to play the part of the understanding strength-skills coach and share some knowledge on this topic. Here goes nothing.
What Is Sport Specific?
Sport specific has been sensationalized in the strength and conditioning industry as a method of training that mimics a specific skill of one’s sport in the weight room. Often, strength coaches are pressured to train sport specific, especially because they have access to a plethora of fancy gadgets and gizmos.
However. Advanced equipment can be more problematic than effective.
We do not have to kick a heavy medicine ball to build a stronger soccer shot. Nor do we need to tie a golf club to resistance bands to generate a more powerful swing. We do not need a baseball attached to a sling shot to improve pitching speed. And we do not need to strap a spontaneously combusting jetpack to a track athlete to get them to sprint faster. Sorry if that was extreme.
Put simply, the more flashy tools we add, the quicker faulty motor patterns arise and skills-based mechanics go down the drain. Not to mention, an athlete will not be able to perform a skill based movement through it’s full range of motion. This can lead to decreased skills performance, weakened neuromuscular firing, less power output, and increased chance of injury. I get it: cool equipment makes parents “oooh” and “ahhh” and makes strength coaches look like magical fairies that shit sparkles. Alas, I digress. Some things to consider: – Practicing a sport with a weighted vest doesn’t allow for pristine sprinting mechanics. – Performing soccer 1 v. 1 moves with a resisted harness does not allow players to explode with the ball at maximal speed to beat a defender. – And running sprints with a Bane Mask while holding a football and wearing your helmet and pads is well… stupid.
Two Different Jobs
The strength coach’s role is to get athletes stronger and less prone to injury through proper strength, power, and energy systems training.
In the other corner, the skills and team coaches help with improving the soccer kick, the bat swing, the golf swing, the hockey shot, and the tennis serve. It is not the strength coach’s job to bring the court, field, or ice rink into the weight room and duplicate these actions with loaded contraptions. That is why we have distinguished differences between Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialists and licensed sports coaches.
Strength coaches don’t mimic skills in the weight room. Rather, they mimic movement patterns that will enhance a skill.
As an example:
Skill: Shooting a soccer ball
Movement patterns: hip extension, hip flexion, core stability, hip stability, ankle stability, plantarflexion, transfer of force through the trunk. Planes of motions: frontal (plant foot and hip stability), saggital (kicking leg), transverse (transfer of force through core and hips for shot accuracy). Weight Room “Sport specific” exercises: Dead lifts, hip thrusts, single leg hip bridges, plank progressions, psoas activation, lateral step ups, medicine ball rotational slam, single leg bridge variations, to name a few. Single Leg Bridge Progression:
Lateral Step Up:
Psoas/Core Activation:
What we do in the weight room is already “sport specific” to some degree, as strength coaches provide athletes the fuel that is needed to powerfully and deliberately execute skill-based movements.
But if we reallyyyyyyyy want to be sport specific, then the athlete must PLAY MORE OF THEIR SPORT. Going to drop the mic right there. Thanks.
About the Author
Erica Suter is a certified strength and conditioning coach, soccer trainer, and fitness blogger who has worked with athletes and non-athletes for over 5 years. She is currently a strength coach at JDyer Strength and Conditioning, and also runs her own technical soccer training business in Baltimore, MD. Her interests include writing, snowboarding, and reciting Lord of the Rings quotes to her athletes and clients.
We’re stuck in an emotionally devoid rut. And Planet Fitness isn’t helping.
I am all for showering my fellow humans with compassion and empathy. Treat others as you’d like to be treated isn’t a bad way to go about doing things.
However, taking politics out of the conversation2, it’s a safe observation to note we live in an era where we have a proclivity to shield people from “bad” feelings or from experiencing failure or hardship.
Social media plays into it. I mean, everyone on Facebook and Instagram lives in a world of butterfly kisses and rainbows (and delicious looking entrees), and it’s hard not to compare and feel up to snuff amongst everyone else’s hunky-doriness.
Society, in general, plays a massive role too. All we need to do is look towards the idea of participation trophies and “safe spaces” to note how we’re seemingly desensitizing people from a wider spectrum of feelings and uncomfortableness.
NOTE: I’d highly recommend checking out the Pixar movie Inside Out. The whole vibe of the movie is to demonstrate that feeling sad or angry or scared is okay…and that it’s a normal, nay, a necessary component of growth.
In today’s guest post by Texas-based personal trainer, Shane McLean, he does a brief “deep dive” into the phenomenon of Planet Fitness and how it mirrors much of the sentiment above.
I.e., shielding people from failure and uncomfortable situations. Is it really helping?
Don’t worry, it’s not an anti-Planet Fitness diatribe. There’s no need to preach to the choir here. However, bringing the (albeit slight) nefarious side of why Planet Fitness even exists is something I find very interesting and something worth discussing.
Enjoy.
The Planet Fitness Myth
The first time I entered a weight room, I had absolutely had no idea what to do or how to get started. However, isn’t that the case with almost everything we do for the first time?
The start of the New Year brings a stampede of newbie gym-goers who enter a gym for the first time disappointed by their ever-growing waistlines. They usually head straight to the cardio machines to watch TV or to the dumbbell rack to do endless variations of biceps curls hoping their belly will magically disappear.
The regular gym folk may get annoyed when ‘their’ gym is full or the machines have all been taken or the biggest granddaddy of them all, the squat rack is being used for biceps curls. This one makes me mad. How mad? This mad.
These newbies are looking to lose a few pounds and think doing endless sets of curls is no big deal. They just want to look better naked and are (usually) not interested in strength or performance goals.
The newbies may feel judged or intimidated because of the looks they receive from the regulars or from the lack of help they receive from the gym staff. Whether these feelings are real or imagined, they have led to a rise of gyms, like Planet Fitness, who market themselves as the “non-gym.”
Planet Fitness, which started in 1992 in Newington, New Hampshire now has over 1000 locations and 7 million members making it one of the largest health clubs in the U.S.
With their cheap per-month membership and their slick advertising slogans such as Judgement Free Zone®, Gymtimidation® and their world famous Lunk™ alarm, Planet Fitness is doing a great job of attracting these disenfranchised exercisers.
Planet Fitness has built its reputation on maintaining a non-competitive work environment which has led to banning of certain exercises (which happens to be my favorites) and certain types of lifters.
They keep their costs down by omitting fancy stuff like juice bars and personal trainers and by not following every exercise fad. They stock their facility with good old fashioned cardio, weight machines dumbbells and barbells and not much else.
I think Barney the dinosaur and LSU would approve of their color scheme. However, I’m not a fan of purple
They also offer free pizza, bagels and even tootsie rolls to their members on the gym floor. What an ingenious idea. Can you imagine holding a slice of pizza in one hand and doing curls with the other? It boggles the mind with other possibilities.
It’s not my intention to rag on Planet Fitness because the facts speak for themselves. They are doing quite well and have cornered their share of the market, and they keep on growing.
However, I take exception to the way they portray non- purple commercial gyms.
Our first commercial gym experiences were probably similar. We were surrounded by people who were in much better shape than we were. They were bigger, faster and stronger and most of them knew what to do.
We’d scan the room and realize, “Shit, I’ve got some work to do.”
Sure, we may’ve felt slightly intimated or maybe even judged by the other regulars at the beginning but those feelings will fade with time and sweat equity.
Being out of ones “comfort zone” is necessary for growth, don’t you think?
Instead of cowering in the corner and waiting for free pizza, I used this as motivation to get better. People who have taken the time, effort and sacrifice to get in shape should be role models to others and not kicked out of the gym because they’re ‘too muscly’ or for making too much noise.
The gym floor isn’t a church after all.
Furthermore, in my experience these type of people are more than willing to help and share their tips, tricks and techniques. Sure, they might be intimating, but once you get to know them, they could be as gentle as a pussy cat.
Planet Fitness fits right into the era where we give out trophies for participation and ribbons for finishing last. Nobody likes to lose and nobody wants to get his or her feelings hurt.
However, this doesn’t fit with real life. We lose. We get our feelings hurt. We get judged. We get intimated by a situation or a person. Either we pack our bags and go home or use this as a learning situation and move onward and upward.
I’m assuming I’m preaching to the converted here. You take your health and fitness seriously and invest time, money, effort and sweat equity into it. However, if you have a friend, family member or co -worker interested in joining Planet Fitness, tell them this
The deadlift is an awesome exercise that strengthens the whole body. Have them read THIS.
Having temptation around when trying to make a change is a sure way to fail.
Excluding certain people from the gym doesn’t mean judgment and intimdation stop.
Those feelings described don’t last. Whether they’re real or imagined, use them for positive change.
How can you tell if people are judging you anyway? They might just be checking you out.
Wrapping Up
There will always be gyms who compete only on price and price alone. However, most people’s health and fitness is worth way more than $10 per month and free tootsie rolls.
No matter how delicious they are.
About the Author
Shane “The Balance Guy” McLean, is an A.C.E Certified Personal Trainer working deep in the heart of Texas. Shane believes in balancing exercise with life while putting the fun back into both.
Women tend to be inundated with these sort of words all….the….time. Actually, more like punched in the mouth 24/7, seven days a week.
Being smaller, or less of what they currently are is the reverberating theme. And I don’t like it. I don’t like it one iota.
NOTE: Please don’t interpret this as me saying any one woman has to look or strive to look any one way. It’s your prerogative to look how you want to look – small, big, twight (<– said with Goldfinger’s accent from Austin Powers), rotund, I don’t care. Be you. However, I think it’s a fair assessment that the majority of the mainstream media nudges women into thinking that adding, or being more, is less than desirable.
And with that, here are some reasons why women getting their diesel on is a GOOD thing.
1. Purpose
This bodes well for anything – whether it’s to add size, lose fat, train for a competition, or squat King Kong. Having a goal in mind, any goal, gives your training a little oomph, or purpose.
It’s amazing what happens to one’s mindset and approach in heading to the gym when there’s a plan in place. Rather than haphazardly “showing up” and doing a little of this and little of that, training under the guise of adding muscle provides a kick in the pants like nothing other.
“You see, a hypertrophy program helps you build the size of your muscles, the cross-sectional size…the girth. I really like how Nick Tumminello puts it “unlike strength training, the goal of training for size is more physiological than it is neurological. It’s about upgrading your body’s hardware, like bones, connective tissues, and muscles. You literally build your body, forcing the tissues to develop and grow stronger.”
And, while it leaves me feeling fatigued, it does so at the muscular level versus in the Central Nervous System (CNS).”
Which is a nice segue to…
2. It’s a Nice Break
I like getting people strong. That’s what I do best. Many of the women who train with me operate underneath the same umbrella. It’s like they’re my own personal army of deadlifting fembots.
Ohhhhh, snap. Austin Powers reference #2!
I can’t deny, though, that training for strength – at least long-term – can be a bit of a drain. Both physically and mentally. Taking a bit of a break and dedicating a macrocycle (or two4) towards aesthetics (namely, muscle growth), and using sub-maximal weight, is a fantastic way to approach things when you’re feeling drained and need an opportunity to reenergize.
Speaking of aesthetics…
3. Aesthetics
Far be it from me to attempt to explain or pontificate on what looks good and what doesn’t. I’m not here to sway anyone’s beliefs or preferences on the topic.
That said, I’d be remiss not to mention the aesthetic benefits of adding muscle to one’s frame. Muscle is what adds shape and contour to the body. What’s more, assuming one’s diet is in check, and there’s less fat covering the muscle, the more those shapes and contours can be shown off or accentuated.
You can’t do this trudging away on the elliptical machine for hours on end and performing endless repetitions of whateverthefuck with pink dumbbells.
There’s a saying out there a lot of misinformed people like to spout out in defiance of women strength training and training for size.
“Muscle weighs more than fat.”
This is often used as a scare-tactic – mostly by people trying to sell their shady products – to deter women from lifting (appreciable) weights.
Um, no. 1 lb of muscle is the same as 1 lb of fat. A pound is a pound.
You see, muscle actually takes up less space than fat. Which is why, often, when many women begin to lift weights they may only set a net difference of a few lbs. of total bodyweight lost, however look as if they lost much more.
Obligatory “lifting weights won’t make you big-n-bulky” diatribe.
“It’s hard to put on muscle. Real effing hard. 100% of guys wish they could add muscle as fast as many women “think” is possible.”
You won’t turn into He-Man in a week. Or a month, or a year for that matter.
This is still my favorite video ever on the topic:
4. Confidence
I think this one is self-explanatory. I LOVE when I witness the switch flip with many of the women I train, from delicate flower to Xena beast mode deadlift warrior.
The key to programs like The Bigness Project is to always, at all times, demonstrate success. The idea should be to showcase to women that they can do stuff, and not revert to lame semantics where the message is “oh, you’re a girl, you should do this instead.”
The easiest examples would be the idea behind “girl push-ups” and/or the idea that women can’t perform pull-ups/chin-ups.
Good programs, programs that work, are ones that build people up and help to make their participants autonomous.
And they also, not coincidentally enough, make people work.
Both hard and intelligently. And that begets confidence. And that’s priceless.
5. Because, Why the Heck Not?
*Also, because my wife is obsessed with Jen Sinkler.5
In my wife’s eyes Jen can do no wrong. Everything from her funny daily anecdotes to her choice of eye liner, my wife is on board with. And when Jen made her big reveal the other week after completing The Bigness Project….
…….all I heard over my shoulder was “daaaaaaaaaaaaayum.”
I think she was referring to both the biceps and leg warmers.
Suffice it to say, Lisa was impressed and is already chomping at the bit to give this program a go once she has the “all clear” from her doctor. She’s 40 weeks pregnant (our little guy is due any minute now), and she’s amped to get started. How cool is that?
I mean, it’s no secret many women struggle with feeling “too big” during and post-pregnancy. The fact my wife is salivating over a program squarely focused on “Bigness” is very cool and a radical notion.
Is on sale NOW. However TODAY will be your last chance to get in on the action before it’s taken away.
That’s right, if someone wants to get a copy of The Bigness Project they’ll need to do it between now and end of day today (1/27), or wait until the project is offered again at a future date to get in. If you’re interested, even remotely, THIS is your last chance to get in.
Soon I’ll be a dad. And soon my kid will be yelling at me “you’re ruining my life!”
*slams door*
I’m going to laugh so hard.
Stuff to Check Out Before You Read Stuff
1. 2 Workshops Coming Up
Complete Shoulder & Hip Blueprint – Vancouver, April 1-2nd.
Dean Somerset and I will be in Vancouver that weekend to talk shoulders and hips and to start a tickle fight.
For more information and to sign up you can go HERE.
SUNY Cortland Health & Wellness Conference – Cortland, NY, April 8th
I’ll be at my alma mater the weekend of April 8th speaking at what I believe is the 4th or 5th annual SUNY Cortland Conference. Other guest speakers include my wife, Dr. Lisa Lewis, Mark Fisher, Brian St. Pierre, and Dr. David Just.
Check out THIS article I helped contribute to on MensHealth.com titled 6 Reasons You’ve Stopped Losing Weight.
HINT: it has nothing to do with starting a detox diet of Unicorn tears with a squeeze of lemon.
3. Oh, and this happened
In case you missed the title of the next Star Wars film was revealed the other day along with the poster.
Commence 11-month long nerd boner………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….now.
I received an advance copy of this program last week, and I love it. I love everything about it. Who says women can’t (or shouldn’t) train for size? Kourtney and Jen (pictured above) have done a really nice job coming up with a program targeted towards women (but men can do it to!) that’s well designed and complete with everything you’d need to be successful.
All I know is that my wife is sooooo excited to give this program a go once she gets the clear from her doctor. It’s on sale through this Friday night (1/27) so you don’t have much time left to save.
I think the pic says it all, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give this article a read.
“When you’re at the gym, or maybe the beach or even people watching at a fancy dinner event, what’s one of the first things you notice on a fit, in-shape woman?
Her legs? Maybe.
Her butt? Probably.
More often than not, her shoulders. Why? They grab your attention. They are eye level and a fit woman’s shoulders pop.”
I was pumped to be asked to contribute to this article, featuring knowledge bombs from other stellar coaches like John himself, Joel Seedman, Eric Bach, Dr. Ryan DeBell, Tim DiFrancesco, and Luka Hocevar.
The only movement not listed? Sparta kicking global warming in the face.
Social Media Highlights
Twitter
Here’s the thing: box jumps are more about proper landing mechanics and ability to absorb force than posting shitty max height attempts
In case you missed it last week, you can check out Part I of my appearance on the Push Pull Legs PodcastHERE.
Part II was released yesterday. Here the guys (Tom Hall and Daniel Meek) and I discuss the business of personal training, whether or not to offer freebies or discounts, and Star Wars. Because, Star Wars.
All in all, that’s about 90 minutes of my smooth, silky voice. Or the equivalent of two Game of Thrones episodes. Totally worth it.
Peruse pretty much any fitness magazine targeted to women and you’ll inevitably see words like, “lose, fat-loss, tight, drop a size, tiny, hot, and lean” plastered all over its pages. This is unfortunate.
Women are programmed, often at an early age, to be less, that in order to be attractive and have self-worth, the smaller you are the better.
I say: Bull to the shit.
It’s no secret I’m a firm advocate for women to strength train. Time and time and time again I witness women transform their bodies (and mindsets) when they choose to nix the endless elliptical sessions in lieu of picking up some barbells.6
There is nothing wrong with choosing to be more.
I am pumped to help promote The Bigness Project from Kourtney Thomas and Jen Sinkler. It’s everything I’m a fan of when it comes to directing women to the right kind of information.
Please enjoy the guest post Kourtney was kind enough to write below.
Maybe Less Isn’t More
I used to be one of those women who made a point to talk about how little space I took up. I’d brag about taking the first middle seat I came to on a Southwest flight because, “I’m just a little girl!” On top of that, I made a point of keeping everything about my already small body as tiny as possible. Because, after all, being less is more when it comes to women’s bodies, right?
More like “Yeah right!”
Over the years, I eventually began to see that there was another way to go. And while, yes, I do walk around in a petite frame, I’ve come to see that what I do with it and how I carry myself can convey a whole different message.
When I first got into fitness, though, it was pretty much cardio only for me. I loved group cycling and endurance running. I enjoyed sweating all over the floor teaching a high-energy cycling class, and I loved running out to the middle of nowhere and melting into nature and myself.
At the time, I didn’t yet grasp that my participation in each of these sports tended to reinforce that same, constant message for me: that less is more. Endurance runners have to be rail-thin so they can be fast. Group cycling classes will claim to burn a gazillion or so calories. The rest, if not explicitly stated, is often implied in skewed marketing messages: stay little.
In time, I experimented and found my way to some weight training. But I started with methods I thought wouldn’t make me too big or bulky. And obviously, to burn more calories, because I still believed that less was more. Along the way, I began to see glimpses of a different way though. Who is this Jen Sinkler person, and what is this Lift Weights Faster stuff I see? Oh my goodness, Girls Gone Strong?
Strong? What a novel concept!
And women were using…what was that called again? A barbell? I was clueless and petrified to touch the thing for the first time, but I eventually gave myself a dose of my own tough love, sucked it up, and walked into the weight room one day. As it turned out, it wasn’t so bad, and I felt capable of being there! (I also realized not everyone knew what they were doing in there.)
And, so, I started with strong, and I believe in that wholeheartedly. I completely agree with Tony when he says that training for performance in lifting is a great place to start. I not only saw my strength come up substantially, but as Tony has also mentioned many times before, I began to see significant physical changes in my body shape and composition.
I was getting bigger. Bigger! Everywhere. And I liked it.
I liked it so much, in fact, that it became my primary goal. I’ll never forget writing my initial email to my first coach and my No. 1 goal as “Gain some size. As much hypertrophy as possible.” Oh, how different that was from the last 30 or so years of my life — that a woman should actively say to herself, I don’t want to shrink. I want to grow! I don’t want to lose weight. I want to gain! And then deliberately work toward getting bigger?
It took a little time to get behind fully, I’ll admit. Just like so many other women, I’ve been conditioned by the mainstream messaging to know nothing other than slender, slim, and thin-is-in. Not to mention, quiet, polite, and ladylike. Flipping the script on all of that doesn’t happen overnight. But changing my training focus to hypertrophy not only helped me to discover the most fun kind of training ever (seriously!), but it helped me to embrace my own body, more than I ever thought possible.
I used to hate my “linebacker shoulders” and big arms. Now? Are you kidding me? Let’s beef ’em up so I can bust out of my sleeves! I used to cringe at my outer thighs and cover them up with my hands so they’d look like the ones I saw in the magazines. Now? I cannot stop leg pressing because I want to see my muscles through my pants.
Letting go of less is more was freeing. It was empowering. It was a gift, an open door to start exploring what other mainstream misconceptions might be out there. I’ve always been one to go a bit against the grain and question the norm, and while it took me a little while longer to do it when it came to what I wanted for my body, when I got there? Everything changed.
Loving my big arms (and doing 10,000 biceps curls) enriched my life exponentially and boosted my confidence about everything through the stratosphere. Who would have thought that working deliberately to bulk up would have that effect? Oh, and it also happened to have the effect of creating a physique that I, personally, consider totally rockin’.
More muscles has meant more everything for me. More quality relationships, more fun, more business, more love. All of it — seriously — because I made a choice to defy that less is more rhetoric and train specifically to be bigger.
Because, sometimes? More is more.
Are You Ready for the Bigtime?
The Bigness Project is a brand-new hypertrophy-training program built to get you built. Written by Kourtney Thomas, a strength and conditioning coach who has spent the last few years focused on the small details that will get you big, this program—or “brogram,” as she refers to it in the most gender-neutral of ways—delivers on the promise of bigger arms and a bigger life.
Consisting of tried-and-true muscle-building techniques, The Bigness Project will guide you through 14 weeks of training that will support your overall strength, develop a stronger mind-muscle connection, and give you a look that leaves no doubt that you lift weights.
A comprehensive User Manual that explains the philosophy behind the program and walks you step-by-step through every aspect of Bigness training and lifestyle.
14-week hypertrophy training program.
A complete exercise glossary including 95 written and photo demonstrations of every movement in the program.
A video library containing 20 in-depth explanations of the most detailed movements and components of the program.
Now available—all aboard the gainz train! To celebrate the kickoff of the Bigness Project, the program is on sale now. Get your copy HERE and join us in the gym this week!
About Kourtney Thomas
Kourtney Thomas is a personal trainer and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with a passion for empowerment and hypertrophy training for women, which she coaches virtually with Kourtney Thomas Fitness. When she’s not at the gym doing some variation of biceps curls, Kourtney loves to ride her Harley-Davidson Softail Deluxe anytime the weather is above 50 degrees, travel to national parks, stay up too late reading copious amounts of science fiction and fantasy, and bake elaborate cakes and cookies—because something has to fuel those gains. Drawing on the above, her personal motto is “Big Arms, Big Life,” and she lives by that daily.
.jpg?format=1500w)
