Home Posts tagged "Maximum Strength"

Down on Lumbar Flexion in Strength Training Programs? Enter the Reverse Crunch.

The other day, I got an email from another fitness professional saying that he really liked my Maximum Strength training program, but that he'd have left out the reverse crunches if it was his strength training program because he "doesn't use any lumbar flexion work" in his programming anymore.

Given that the book was published in 2008, I'd gather that he is under the assumption that I've jumped on board the anti-flexion bandwagon that's been piling up members in droves over the past 3-4 years.  That perception certainly has backing.  Afterall, if you want to herniate a disc, go through repeated flexion and extension at end range.  If you want to see a population of folks with disc herniations, just look at people who sit in flexion all day; it's a slam dunk.

And, you certainly don't want to go into lumbar flexion with compressive loading.  As far back as 1985, Cappozzo et al. demonstrated that compressive loading on the spine during squatting increased with lumbar flexion.

These points in mind, I'm a firm believer that you should avoid:

a) end-range lumbar flexion

b) lumbar flexion exercises in those who already spend their entire lives in flexion

c) lumbar flexion under load

It seems pretty cut and dry, right?  Don't move your lumbar spine and you'll be fine, right? Tell that to someone who lives in lumbar hyperextension and anterior pelvic tilt.  Let me make that clearer:

Flexion from an extended position to "neutral" is different than flexion from "neutral" to end-range lumbar flexion.

In the former example, we're just taking someone from 20 yards behind the starting line up to the actual starting line.  In the latter example, we're taking someone from the starting line, through the finish line, and then violently through the line of people at the snack shack 50 yards past the finish line as nachos and Italian ice fly everywhere and the spectators scurry for cover.  You get a gold star if you take out the band, too.

If you're someone who trains predominantly middle-aged to older adult clients, by all means, nix flexion exercises.  However, I deal with loads of athletes - most of whom live in lumbar extension and anterior pelvic tilt.

Now, I'll never be a guy who has guys doing sit-ups or crunches, as they can shorten the rectus abdominus, thereby pulling the rib cage down when we're working hard to improve thoracic extension and rotation.  Additionally, most athletes absolutely crank on the neck with these - and that leads to a host of other problems.

For reasons I outlined in a recent post, Hip Pain in Athletes: The Origin of Femoroacetabular Impingement, we need to work to address anterior pelvic tilt and excessive lumbar extension - which can lead to a "pot belly" look even in athletes who are quite lean.

Enter the reverse crunch, which selectively targets the external obliques over the rectus abdominus.  As Shirley Sahrmann wrote in Diagnosis and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes, "The origin of this muscle from the rib cage and its insertion into the pelvis are consistent with the most effective action of this muscle, that is, the posterior tilt of the pelvis."

We utilize the reverse crunch as part of a comprehensive anterior core strengthening program that also includes progresses from prone bridging variations to rollout variations and TRX anterior core work (and, of course, anti-rotation exercises to improve rotary stability).  And, I can say without hesitate that this addition was of tremendous value to an approach that got cranky baseball hips and spine healthier faster than ever before at Cressey Performance.

In summary, remember that flexion isn't the devil in a population that lives in extension. Contraindicate the person, not the exercise.

To learn more about our comprehensive approach to core stabilization, be sure to check out Functional Stability Training of the Core.

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Review of 8 Months of Show and Go and Maximum Strength

I just received this feedback from a very happy customer and thought I'd share it with you: Hi Eric, I just completed Show and Go last week and tested my lifts yesterday.  I thought you'd like to see the results. Broad jump:  80" to 84" Front box squat:   240 to 265 Bench press:  190 to 210 Trap bar deadlift:  310 to 340 Chin-up 3RM:  220.2 to 234.7 My body composition stayed pretty constant.

Show and Go followed Maximum Strength.  Putting the two together, here are the results from the last 8 months (i.e., pre-Maximum Strength vs. post-Show & Go): Broad jump: 77" to 84" Front box squat: 155 to 265 Bench press: 150 to 210 Trap bar deadlift: 240 to 340 Chin-up 3RM: 197.8 to 234.7. Not a bad way to spend eight months, especially at almost 43 years old and only 170 lbs.  Thanks to you, I can, for the first time in my life, bench press more than my weight, front squat more than 1.5 times my weight, and deadlift almost twice my weight. Thanks for producing these workout plans.  I look forward to following the next program you release. Best, Scott Garland As you can see, Show and Go makes for a great follow-up strength and conditioning program to Maximum Strength.  If you haven't checked out both, I (like Scott) would encourage you to do so! Maximum Strength: Get Your Strongest Body in 16 Weeks with the Ultimate Weight-Training Program Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look, Feel, and Move Better Sign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter and receive a deadlift technique tutorial!
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What Key Assets is Your Strength Training Program Missing?

My fiancée Anna and I just got back last night from a wedding weekend (not ours) in Halifax.  We had a great time drinking Molson celebrating our friends' big day. Anna was a bridesmaid, so I was largely left to be an American tourist flying solo, which left a bit of time for people watching.  There weren't any Canadian celebrities - Nelly Furtado, Gordy Howe, Michael J. Fox, or even Keanu Reeves (who was stripped of his "celebrity" status thanks to years of anti-Reeve propaganda at tonygentilcore.com) - on hand, so my attention focused on a remarkably obese woman in the hotel lobby who had a couple of yappy little dogs with her.

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While I'm a big-time dog lover, frankly, at that moment, I wanted to punt these little balls of worthlessness into the nearby harbor just to quiet them down.  However, rather than doing so and getting myself deported back to the U.S., I turned my attention to these pups' "Big Mama." This woman had two dogs that were obviously frantic to go outside, enjoy the sunshine, and essentially give her the perfect reason to exercise (take them for a walk).  It wasn't happening, though. It was like giving a young hockey player a stick and some skates - but having him refuse to use them while playing.  Or, like offering employees a corporate fitness deal, only to have them ignore it. Undiagnosed ADD guy that I am, this really got me to thinking about how so many people out there don't even realize that they have key resources right at-hand who could really help out on their fitness journeys. Maybe it's a spouse who would love to exercise with you or help you to clean up your diet? Perhaps your gym has new equipment that you haven't touched yet when what you really need is some variety? Could there be a training partner at your gym right now on the same schedule at you who would be willing to give you hands-off/spots so that you can push yourself that little bit more in your weight training program to get strong? Or, do you think it could be that you just need a new strength training program to get you out of a funk so that you're accountable to something?

You never know unless you stop to consider this, and evaluate what's going on around you.  Chances are that there are people, places, and things out there that'll help get you closer to where you want to be. Now, shouldn't you be finding a dog to walk? Enter your email below to sign up for our FREE newsletter and you'll receive a free deadlift technique video!
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A More Than Satisfied Female Customer

I have to admit: when I first saw this subject line for an email, my mind was a bit in the gutter! However, as it turns out, it was an awesome review of the Maximum Strength program from a female exercise enthusiast who had undertaken the program from start to finish.  Check out what she had to say: "My name is Alison Minton, I'm a 25 year old 'recreational' lifter.  I was given your book, Maximum Strength, about 5 months ago by a friend at my gym (who happens to be one of your guniea pigs for your next project).  I just finished the program today and I wanted to share my thoughts with you.  A little background: former avid runner, sidelined by unsuccessful bilateral fasciotomies for compartment syndrome in my lower legs 3 years ago, which lead me to really hit the weights.  My workout routines were getting pretty stale in the last year or so and I was getting frustrated and bored from circuit after circuit of moderately heaving lifting.  I had exhausted everything I knew from years of reading about fitness/running/lifting and realized every female fitness magazine I received was going straight to the trash.   I begged my friend at the gym for help and he gave me your book for guidance.  I've since read your and Tony Gentilcore's blogs religiously! "I know you have gotten tons of very well deserved feedback by satisfied guys who have read the book/complete the program.  I wanted to write to you because when I was thinking about starting it, I searched high and low for any information about women doing the program, and I found very minimal material in the way of feedback, tips or special considerations (if there even are any).  Even after that, I figured, what the heck, if some random guy at the gym can do this, then so can I!  So, I had my friend help me with packing day and the rest is history!  I absolutely loved the program, stuck to it like glue and got some decent results: Broad Jump: 72 inches --> 78 inches Bench Press: 100 lbs --> 115 lbs 3 RM Chin Up: BW + 7.5 lbs --> BW+17.5 lbs Deadlift: 175 lbs--> 190 lbs Box Squat: 130 lbs --> 135 lbs "I would loved to see the DL and squat go up a little more, but I did do a bit more cardio than prescribed (in the form of sprints and technique workouts, mostly) and wonder if that hindered me a bit.  My body composition also changed significantly for the better and my before and after pics totally rocked. "Just wanted to tell you that as a female 'lifter' I loved your program and the ideas/concepts that come out of the CP team blogs.  I would LOVE to see a little more encouragement to all the ladies out there!  It didn't intimidate me to find minimal feedback regarding women attempting Maximum Strength, but some women need a little more persuasion to get over the apprehension of starting a program in a book geared towards men. "Definitely looking forwards to your next book/program!  Thanks again!" -Alison Minton

Click here to purchase your copy of Maximum Strength for just $18.95.

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Three Years of Cressey Performance: The Right Reasons and the Right Way

Though a somewhat "normal" day at the gym, yesterday marked Cressey Performance's three-year anniversary. While my business partner's blog post yesterday did an excellent job of doling out "thank yous" to a lot of the important people who have been so involved in our success - from clients to parents, coaches, interns, and significant others - I wanted to add my own two cents on the matter today.  More than anything, I really wanted to highlight a sentence that illustrates what makes me the most proud about where CP has been, where it is, and where it's going.

We've done this for the right reasons, and we've done it the right way.

newcp21 I read a business development blog post by Chris McCombs the other day where he wrote something that really hit home for me.  When he was talking about how he decides to accept or reject a new project/opportunity, here is one of his guidelines: "Only Take on Projects That Are In Line With My Current Values and Fulfill Me Beyond Just The Money - A project must fulfill me in some way BESIDE just money...too many people spend their life JUST chasing a buck; to me, that's no way to live.  For me, the money must be there, but it should fulfill me personally, be fun, help a lot of people, and build and be in line with my current brand and brand equity." Back in 2007, I had a tough decision to make.  My online consulting business had really taken off, and the Maximum Strength book deal was in the works.  My other products - Magnificent Mobility, The Ultimate Off-Season Training Manual, and Building the Efficient Athlete - were selling well and getting great reviews, and I'd just had a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.  This website was growing exponentially in popularity, and I had just wrapped up my first year on the Perform Better tour - so lots of doors were opening for me on the seminar front to present all over the world - and I could have stayed home and just written all day, every day. I was getting really crunched for time, as I was already training clients 8-13 hours per day, seven days per week, as my in-person clientele had rapidly grown. My phone rang off the hook for about three weeks after Lincoln-Sudbury won a baseball state championship after I'd trained several of their guys, and one of my athletes was named state player of the year.  And, after being featured on the front page of the Boston Globe with a nipple so hard I could cut diamonds, I was in demand as a t-shirt model (okay, not really - but it made for an awesome blog post, The School of Hard Nipples).

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I was exhausted and stressed - but absolutely, positively, "living the dream" that I'd always wanted. To make matters a bit more interesting, I had just started dating a great girl (now my fiancee) who I really had a good feeling was "the one" after about three months.  The work days, however, were insanely long and I was worried that I'd screw up a good thing by not spending enough time with her. Every business development coach out there would have seen a "simple" answer to all my problems: stop training people in person.  Just write, consult, make DVDs, and give seminars.  It would have cut my hours by 80% and still allowed me to earn a pretty good living - and enjoy plenty of free time.  There was a huge problem with that, though; as Chris wrote, it wouldn't "fulfill me personally, be fun, help a lot of people, and build and be in line with my current brand and brand equity."  I like doing evaluations, writing programs, coaching, sweating, training with my guys, cranking up the music, helping people get to where they want to be, collaborating with and learning from other professionals, and watching my athletes compete - whether it's at some high school field or at Fenway Park.  Giving that up wasn't an option; I guess I'd have just been a crappy business coaching client, as I would have been stubborn as an ass on giving that up.

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Fortunately for me, Pete Dupuis, my roommate from my freshman year of college, had just finished his MBA and was in the midst of a job search.  And, during that MBA, he'd started to train with me and packed on a ton of strength and muscle mass - making him realize and truly appreciate the value in what I was doing (especially since he was and is a goalie in a very competitive soccer league).  Pete had also met and become friends with a ton of my clients - and taken a genuine interest in my baseball focus, as a lifelong Red Sox fan.  Almost daily, Pete would encourage me to do my own thing and let him handle all the business stuff for me. Simultaneously, Tony Gentilcore was ready for a change of scenery on the work front.  Having been Tony's roommate and training partner for almost two years at that point, I knew he was a genuinely great guy, that he'd read everything on my bookshelf, and that he could coach his butt off and "walk the walk."  He, too, had met a lot of my clients - so there was continuity from the get-go. So, on July 13, 2007, Cressey Performance was born.  Here is what we started with.

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Boatloads of renovations and equipment additions later, it wound up looking like this.

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Of course, we outgrew and demolished this space after about nine months and moved three miles east to a facility twice the size.  And, we've continued to grow right up to this day; June was our busiest month ever, and July should be busier.  We've got regular weekly clients who come from four states (MA, NH, CT, RI), and in the baseball off-season, I have college and pro guys who come from the likes of OH, AZ, CA, SC, NC, GA, FL, and VA.  And, we had 33 applicants for this summer's internships.

To be very candid, though, I don't consider myself a very good "businessman."  No offense to Pete or Tony, either, but I don't think they even come close to the textbook definition of the word, either.  We just try to be good dudes. "We've done this for the right reasons, and we've done it the right way."

We don't allocate a certain percentage of our monthly revenues to advertising.  In fact, we haven't spent a single penny on advertising - unless you count charitable donations to causes that are of significance to us.

We don't search high and low for new revenue streams to push on our clients.  In fact, if I get one more MonaVie sales pitch, I'm going to suplex whoever delivered it right off our loading dock.  Rather, we bust our butts to set clients up for success in any way possible - and trust that those efforts will lead to referrals and "allegiance" to Cressey Performance.  We ask what they want from us and modify our plans accordingly.  It's what led to us bringing in manual therapy, a pitching cage, and, of course, pitching coach/court jester Matt Blake's timeless antics.

Along those same lines, we don't measure our success based on revenue numbers; we measure it based on client results.  In three years of seeing LOADS of baseball players non-stop, we've only had three arm surgeries: one shoulder and two elbow.  All three were athletes who came to us with existing injuries, and in each case, we kept them afloat as long as we could and trained them through their entire rehabilitation.  I don't want to toot our own horn, but this is a remarkable statistic in a population where over 57% of pitchers suffer some form of shoulder injury during each competitive season - and that doesn't even include  elbows!  And, our statistics don't even count literally dozens of players who have come to us after a doctor has told them they needed surgery, but we've helped them avoid these procedures.  The college scholarships, draft picks, state titles, individual honors, and personal bests in the gym are all fantastic, but I'm most proud of saying that we've dedicated ourselves to keeping athletes healthy so that they can enjoy the sports they love.

The same goes for our non-competitive athlete clients.  The fat loss and strength gains they experience are awesome and quantifiable, but beyond that (and more qualitatively), I love knowing that they're training pain-free and are going to be able to enjoy exercise and reap the benefits of training for a long time.

We don't penny-pinch during our slowest times of the month (late March through mid-May - the high school baseball season).  We see it as an opportunity to do more staff continuing education, renovate the facilities, and get out to watch a lot of baseball and support our athletes.  And, we adjust our hours to open up on Sundays and stay later on weeknights during the baseball season to make it easier for athletes to get in-season training in whenever they can.  If a pitcher wants to come in and get his arm stretched out before or after an outing, he stops by and we do it for him - but don't charge him a penny for it.  It's about setting people up for success.

We don't try to just "factory line" as many clients through our facility as possible with everyone on the same program.  You might walk into CP and see 20 different clients on 20 different programs - because a 16-year old pitcher with crazy congenital laxity is going to have a markedly different set of needs than a 16-year-old linebacker with shoulder mobility so bad that he needs help putting a jacket on.  One program on one dry erase board for hundreds of athletes isn't training; it's babysitting.

Taking this a step further, we don't boot clients out after a certain amount of time.  Clients take as long as needed to complete the day's program. And, when they're done (or before they even begin), loads of our clients spend time hanging out in the office just shooting the breeze and enjoying the environment.  As an example, Toronto Blue Jays Organizational Pitcher of the Year Tim Collins spends a minimum of five hours a day at CP all off-season.

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Tim has sold girl scout cookies for the daughter of one of our clients, and he's been our back-up front desk guy when Pete is out of town.  Yesterday, he was back to visit on his all-star break - and he said hello to every client he saw - and remembered them by name.  If you're a 15-year-old up-and-coming baseball pitcher, how cool is it to get that kind of greeting when you walk into the office?  Well, at CP, kids get that greeting from 10-15 pro guys all the time.  And, if they're lucky, they might even get to throw on a bobsled helmet and join these pro guys in a rave to Miley Cyrus, apparently.

At least once a week, I get an email from an up-and-coming coach asking for advice about starting a facility.  When I get these emails, I now think about how Rachel Cosgrove recently mentioned that more than 80% of fitness coaches leave the industry within the first year. In most cases, this happens because these people never should have entered the fitness industry in the first place - because their intentions (money) were all wrong.  They usually leave under the assumption that they could never make a living training people, but in reality, these folks are going to have a hard time making a living in any occupation that requires genuinely caring about what you do and the people with whom you work, and being willing to hang your hat on the results you produce.

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As such, the first advice, in a general sense, is obvious: do it for the right reasons, and do it the right way.  Sure, making a living is essential, but only open a facility because it would fulfill you "personally, be fun, help a lot of people, and build and be in line" with who you are and what your values are - which together constitute your "brand." Making the move to start up this business was one of the most daunting decisions I have ever had to make, and all the efforts toward actually getting the business started were equally challenging.  However, in the end, it has been more rewarding both personally and professionally than I could have ever possibly imagined.

Thank you very much to all of you - clients/customers, parents, EricCressey.com readers, seminar attendees, and professional colleagues - for all your support over the past three years.  We couldn't have done it without you - and look forward to many more years of doing things for the right reasons and in the right way.

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29 Reasons to Smile

I turn 29 today. And, while a lot of people look at birthdays as a reason to feel badly about getting old, I like to think of them as a reason to reflect on the cool stuff that's happened in the past year.  Or, at the very least, I look at a birthday as good blog content!  So, without further ado, here are 29 reasons I'm smiling on my 29th birthday. 1. I'm still not as old as Tony! (okay, that was wrong). 2.  Several of our high school athletes have gone off to college and been among the strongest (if not the strongest) in the weight room.  The really rewarding aspect of it, though, is that they have an appreciation for the fact that it isn't just about strength; it's about combining that strength with a host of other factors - flexibility, soft tissue quality, etc. - to stay healthy.  I just love that they are informed consumers and advocates for themselves. 3. Lincoln-Sudbury Baseball has been #1 in the state, according to the Boston Globe Rankings. We train over 30 players who are currently in the LS program, plus quite a few younger guys and LS alumni. 4. Along those lines, LS junior Carl Anderson was batting .500 with 6HR and 21 RBIs through the first 11 games.  He was also 4-0 with a 0.78 ERA and 25K in 18 innings pitched. 5.

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Enough said.

6. A reader sent me a great article in response to my Is Pitching Velocity Really that Important? Blog: Change-up has become Great Equalizer.  Awesome article! 7. CP athlete and Toronto Blue Jays prospect Tim Collins has 32 strikeouts in 18 innings pitched.  Opponents are hitting just .206 against him.  He also made a surprise cameo in the office at CP the other day on his only off-day of the month and hung out for the whole afternoon.  Tim, one of our college prospects, and I all went over to watch a high school game in which a lot of our guys were playing.  It's pretty cool to see pro and college ballplayers coming back to watch high school kids' games when it's usually the other way around!  It makes me really proud of the camaraderie we've built among all our clients at Cressey Performance. 8. A buddy of mine is involved with Humblecock clothing (www.humblecock.com), so he sent me some free goodies.  I like this stuff!  I passed out a few samples to my pro guys and they loved it. 9. Brian St. Pierre, our first employee at Cressey Performance, is unfortunately leaving us at the end of this week as he returns to school to do his master's degree.  While we're really bummed to be losing him, I can say that I'm really proud of how tremendous a job he's done for us since early 2008, when we first hired him.  He's improved tremendously as a coach and really turned himself into an industry leader (actually just had his first article published at T-Muscle HERE).  It's funny how good things happen for great people who work hard.  Check him out at BrianStPierreTraining.com. 10. Recently, a local scout informed me that the Massachusetts baseball class of 2011 was ranked as the 5th best in the country.  In other words, our juniors here in little ol' Massachusetts are competing with the likes of Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Texas, and North Carolina - where the populations are not only bigger, but they can also play baseball year-round.  Whoever said that early sports specialization was necessary to compete with these big dogs doesn't understand development at all.  While the Southern boys are having Tommy Johns and labral repairs in the winter, our guys are training their butts off and attacking things with a specific plan. The results?  At Cressey Performance alone, we have eight juniors verbally committed to play for Division 1 baseball programs - including Virginia, Vanderbilt, Boston College, and UCONN.  And, there should be at least a half-dozen more on that list by the time everyone signs national letters of intent this fall. 11. Head over to Amazon.com and check out the reviews on Maximum Strength HERE.  This sucker is getting more stars than an astronomy textbook!

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12. It gets even better than that.  In the next few months, I'll release a new product that'll blow the doors off of what I did with Maximum Strength.  If you liked Maximum Strength, you'll LOVE this one.  Subscribe to my newsletter at the right of this screen to be among the first notified. 13. Awesome!

By the way, when I was watching this video on YouTube, one of the recommended videos was Will Ferrell's 2003 Harvard Commencement speech.  It is absolutely hilarious; talk about a way to make a graduation actually interesting!

14. In the past few months, I've gotten invitations to present in both St. Thomas and South Africa.  For those of you who prefer visual representations of how sweet this is, please take note (respectively):

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We still have to plan our honeymoon soon as well, so it's going to be a very sunny year for a couple of Bostonians!

15. It's getting to be that time of year when pitchers come in and act all surprised that they are hitting homeruns now.  It just goes to show you that when you get more athletic, a lot of things fall into place - and not just in terms of pitching!  Rotational power is rotational power; the hitting just requires more hand-eye coordination. 16. I've got my own office now!  Unfortunately, it's still buried under boxes and clutter from the move, but it is nice to know that I have a little bit more organization coming to my life soon!

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17. I am pretty darn proud of the Cressey Performance website.  It's a huge improvement from our old one, and I'm psyched to have an online presence that reflects how much hard work we put into making CP a special place to train. 18. CP athlete and San Diego Padres prospect Will Inman has a 3.03 ERA through 38.2 innings pitched in AAA.  Opponents are hitting just .221 against him.  For those who aren't familiar with the Pacific Coast League, this is the single-hardest league in which one can pitch at any level of professional baseball.  There are small ballparks and insane winds that turn pop-ups into 450-foot HRs.  Will is doing awesome and we're all really happy for him; it's a lot of hard work rewarded. 19. This one really cracks me up.  We uploaded this video of CP athlete Sahil Bloom back in October of 2007, and it's become the second most popular of all-time.  The funniest part is all the 13-year-olds arguing in the comments section about how this is "just good for football players" and how they all throw 97mph at age 13.

The funniest part is that Sahil is now pitching consistently over 90mph - and doing so at Stanford.  He's 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA through six outings in his freshman year. It's amazing that he's had this success just "training for football!"

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20. The past year has brought some collaborative efforts for me that have been absolutely tremendous in not only enhancing my productivity, but also educating me (and my readers/customers).  Matt Blake has brought a great new dimension to Cressey Performance with his pitching instruction and video analysis, and to EricCressey.com with his blog contributions.  Nate Tiplady has been a huge addition to our programs with the Graston and ART services he provides to our clients.  It was also great to collaborate with both Mike Reinold and Bill Hartman on projects for the first time, with Optimal Shoulder Performance and Assess & Correct, respectively. At the end of the day, you are only as strong as your network, so I'd encourage you all to seek out collaborative efforts with other professionals who complement your skill set as well. 21. Slacker.com.  This thing is an awesome source for music; I listen to it all the time when I'm at the computer writing programs. 22. Just got this feedback from a very happy Optimal Shoulder Performance customer: "Awesome job on the Optimal Shoulder Performance DVDs with Reinold. I just finished watching them this past weekend (I need to get a life) and I found them extremely educational and helpful. I really thought the information you both provided complimented each other well. There were some variations to some movements that I will definitely be implementing into some of my programs." While the financial side of things with product sales is nice, the thing that I actually enjoy the most is knowing that the information we're putting out is helping people to improve their bodies and stay out of pain.  It's even better when I know it is helping a fellow fitness professional or some rehabilitation specialist, as it means that they're taking that knowledge to help more people beyond just themselves.  At the end of my career, I really want to be known most for the always putting my athletes first and always doing my best to contribute to the body of knowledge.

Click here for more information on Optimal Shoulder Performance.

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23. On Tuesday morning, I had an absolutely terrible training session.  I felt weak the entire time, and couldn't even stomach a shake post-training.  About an hour later, every joint in my body hurt and I had a raging headache.  That night, I was in bed early and was pouring sweat in my sleep. I almost never get sick.  We are taking once every 3-4 years.  My attendance is so good at work that my business partner, Pete, has to force me to take days off.  Surely, there is something to the idea that regular exercise and proper diet reduces one's likelihood of getting sick - and this is certainly demonstrated in the reduced absenteeism Wednesday morning, I woke up feeling a ton better.  It turned out to be a really productive day.  This little experience reminds me that taking care of your body doesn't just prevent you from getting sick; it also helps you to bounce back quickly when the unavoidable illness happens. 24. CP athlete Danny O'Connor looks to run his professional boxing record to 12-0 this weekend at Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut.  A huge CP contingent will be out to support him.  Danny works his butt off five days a week at CP in addition to all his boxing training, and deserves all the success that comes to him.

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25. Chris Howard is the newest addition to the Cressey Performance staff, and we're excited to have him on board.  A former CP intern, Chris went on to massage therapy school and is now a LMT - on top of his CSCS and master's degree in nutrition.  Needless to say, we're lucky to have a guy who brings so much versatility to our facility. I especially like Chris right now because he's motivated me to brush up on my anatomy knowledge since he just retook it all in school! 26. Bill Hartman is in town for a seminar at Northeastern this weekend, so it'll be a nice birthday present to catch up with him.  He's joining us at CP today for the day.  His blog is always full of good stuff, but chatting with him in person is even better! 27. Tony Gentilcore wrote a great two-part series called "It All Starts in the Kitchen."  There are some great tips in there for those of you who might struggle on the diet side of things.   Check out Part 1 and Part 2. 28. One of our pro baseball guys told me to check out the "Baseball Made Easy" series on YouTube, and it's absolutely hilarious.  Check a few of them out:

29. I already knew I had the greatest girl in the world, but when she took me to a Sox game last night for my birthday for the third year in a row, I was reminded once again!  Here we were last year - when I had more hair.

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When is Rapid Fat Loss Ideal?

Programs aimed at rapid fat loss are quite the rave nowadays.  There are some excellent programs out there (most notably Warpspeed Fat Loss, which we've discussed here quite a bit) that deliver some quick reductions in body fat over the course of a few weeks of absolutely hellish training and strict nutritional modifications.  There's no doubt that it's a effective way to drop body fat quickly.

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That said, the question is whether that degree of specialization - incinerating body fat at all costs - is what's right for an individual.  For some people - particularly woman (who aren't generally as concerned with carrying appreciable levels of muscle mass and strength), these programs are just fine; any accompanying losses in strength and muscle mass won't be as disconcerting because they aren't perceived as being as important.  Obviously, it's also true for those who are morbidly obese, but they generally aren't candidates for complete overhauls right away, as they have to get their feet wet first with the basics of regular training and better nutrition. Most specific to this piece, though, rapid fat loss programs are most enticing to the more experienced trainee who carries a lot of muscle mass, but needs to shed some blubber quickly to get ready for a vacation, photo shoot, or scandalous make-out scene on live TV.

However, for every one of these folks (the experienced trainees - not the horny, drunk, bearded dudes with Confederate flag hats), there is another individual who is male, with limited training experience, subpar strength, and not enough muscle mass on him to really even demonstrate that he regularly trains.  He might be 6-1, 180 pounds at 20% body fat.  For those of you keeping track at home, that's 144 pounds of fat free mass, and 36 pounds of fat mass. Well, here's a question: if this hypothetical guy dropped 10 pounds of body fat right now and somehow managed to maintain all his muscle mass (and recovered any water weight reductions he got from lower carb dieting), would he be happy with how he'd look?  That'd still put him at 144 pounds of fat free mass, but lower his body weight to 170 with 26 pounds of fat mass (15.3% body fat).  Sorry, but while respectable, 15.3% body fat isn't super lean.  And, 170 pounds at 6-1 will only earn him points with insurance companies who calculate premiums based on body mass index. Imagine taking about the ideal NFL cornerback, and then stripping 25 pounds of muscle off him and adding back 15 pounds of body fat.  Be sure to kill off all the athleticism in the process, too.  Not a very impressive picture. In other words, a program that might have been perfect for a guy who was 30 pounds heavier with the same body fat percentage - but two more years of training experience - just isn't a good fit for a guy who can become "skinny-fat" really quickly.

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I have just seen a lot of guys go on crazy fat loss programs only to get to a lower weight and realize that they look skinny because they aren't carrying enough muscle mass in the first place.  And, along the way, they lose a lot of strength - so it's harder to build up muscle mass quickly thereafter to right the ship. For this reason, it's been a long time since I resorted to a rapid fat loss program in my own training; I just am not willing to sacrifice the strength gains I've made just to see the scale weight go down quickly.  Rather, I'd prefer to do it gradually and retain the gains.

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This has also been a strategy we've employed with excellent success with athletes who come our way who need to lean out.  Often, body weight - and not body composition - are what predicts their success.  Pitchers are a perfect example; I've seen many who have just indiscriminately lost body weight, only to see their velocity drop considerably.  This may come from the actual loss of body mass, the increased training volume that caused it, the type of training (extra aerobic activity?), or - most likely - a combination of all these factors.  One thing is for sure, though; I would be my 2010 salary on the fact that if CC Sabathia "trimmed down" to 210, he wouldn't be nearly as dominant as he is.

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Would some gradual weight loss and an emphasis on improving body composition help him?  Absolutely.  Would taking 80 pounds off him be a smart or specific off-season goal?  In my opinion, no.  The research has demonstrated that body mass is one factor that predicts velocity.

Baseball relevance aside, this is why I rarely go "exclusively fat loss" or "exclusively bulking" with a lot of general fitness clients who don't have more than two years of strength training under their belt.  They absolutely, positively can add muscle mass and drop body fat simultaneously if they accumulate enough of the right kind of activity and eat the right stuff.  It just takes some individualization, adherence, consistency, and effort.  We've seen it hundreds of times already with the Show and Go program alone, and that doesn't even take things to the level of individualized programming.

To reiterate, I'm not saying that rapid fat loss programs don't have merit; I've seen a lot of people get tremendous results when the program was the right fit for them.  However, I also know that handing a NFL running back's training program to a 12-year-old Pop Warner running back isn't appropriate in light of his experience.  The same can be said for novice trainees who try to drop body fat too quickly; they are skipping steps and missing out on crucial adaptations - including strength and muscle mass gains - that could bode more favorably for long-term progress. As always, you have to fit the program to the individual, and not the individual to the program. Sign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter and receive a deadlift technique tutorial!
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The Best of 2009: Product Reviews

In my last post, we covered the most popular articles here at EricCressey.com in 2009.  Today, we'll cover my top product reviews of 2009.  Several of these were interviews with authors that came in light of their launch of new products.  In addition to discussion of the products, most of these have a ton of good information you won't want to miss. Warpspeed Fat Loss Results Part 1 and Part 2 - Technically, this was the end of 2008, but had we done a November-to-November year, it would have blown the rest of these product reviews out of the water.  The reason?  Results!  Check out the before and after pictures of one CP client who kicked some serious butt with this program.  For a lot of you who are looking to get on track with your fat loss efforts in the new year, this would be a good product to check out. Strength and Conditioning Webinars - I think this product might be the most useful one of the year for fitness professionals, as Anthony Renna has made sure that there is awesome content coming out month after month.  It's cheaper than traveling to seminars, and you can get educated on YOUR schedule.  I highly recommend checking it out.

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The Best Baseball Resource Out There - This write-up discusses the DVDs of the 2008 Ultimate Pitching Coaches Boot Camp; I was one of eight presenters on the DVD. Accelerated Muscular Development - This product from Jim Smith was popular among folks who'd completed the Maximum Strength program and were looking for "The Next Step."

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The Evolution of Personal Training (with Alwyn Cosgrove) - In this interview, Alwyn covers some key concepts that every fitness professional should understand.

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Off-Ice Performance Training for Hockey (with Kevin Neeld) - This is an interview with Kevin that covers hockey training tips for both coaches and players. Tomorrow, we'll cover the most popular EricCressey.com exclusive videos on the year.
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What Would You Like to See in 2010?

The year 2009 was a tremendous one for this website, and I owe all of you readers a huge thanks for your contribution. Right now, this site is ranked in the top 135,000 on the web, according to Alexa.com, one measure of a website's popularity.  Each month, unique visitors (~25,000/month right now) and total hits (~100,000/month right now) exceed the previous month. The one product I released this year - Assess and Correct - has already sold in dozens of countries since October.  Meanwhile, some older products are still very popular.  Maximum Strength, for instance, has a 5-star rating at Amazon.com and is holding steady just outside the top 5,000 books on the site.

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This site has become a channel through which Cressey Performance has grown as well.  Not a week passes that a new client doesn't come through our doors thanks to something they've read from me on the internet.

I say this not to blow sunshine up my own rear end, but rather to frame my sincere thank you to all of you for your continued support in making EricCressey.com the success it is today.  Writing has never been (and hopefully never will be) a "job" for me because I genuinely enjoy getting to look at things in detail, interact with some bright, enthusiastic readers, and (hopefully) add to the body of knowledge in the process.  So, thanks for making my "job" (if you can call it that) fun.

That said, since you, the readers, are the ones that are ultimately responsible for making this site bigger and better, I want to put the ball in your court today.  What do YOU want to read in 2010?

Would you like to see me address certain issues?  Would you rather have more guest interviews (like this)?  Product reviews (like this)?  Debunking of fitness myths (like this)?  Geeky science stuff (like this)?

How about content formatting?  Do you like the video (like this) or written features - or a combination of the two?

I respect and value your opinions and suggestions, so feel free to voice them in the comments section below.  Again, thanks for a great 2009!

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Random Friday Thoughts: 12/11/09

1. Sorry for the slower week here on the blog.  In addition to trying to catch up from my three days in Houston, I had a few projects that needed to get sorted out this week.  For starters, we had to finalize the agenda for my seminar in Vancouver in March. And, the bigger task of late has been finishing up a chapter (on baseball testing and training) that I'm contributing to Dr. Craig Liebenson's newest book.  Others contributing include Dr. Stuart McGill, Sue Falsone (Athletes Performance), Dr. Ben Kibler, Dr. Pavel Kolar, Ken Crenshaw (Arizona Diamondbacks), and Mike Boyle (among others).  Needless to say, I'm lucky to be in such awesome company, and you'll definitely want to check it out once it's available.  In the meantime, you might be interested in Liebenson's most popular work, Rehabilitation of the Spine: A Practitioner's Manual.

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2. Mike Reinold and I are also working on getting our seminar, Testing, Treating, and Training the Shoulder: From Rehabilitation to High Performance, ready for production and sale.  We're hoping it'll be ready by the first of the year, but only time will tell; editing takes time, and it's out of our hands now!  Speaking of Mike, he just posted a blog outlining the recently revised pitch count rules.  If you coach young players or one of your kids plays ball, definitely check it out HERE.

3. On the topic of little league, the clinic with Matt Blake and I at Cressey Performance on Tuesday night was pretty popular with local coaches.  One of the things that Matt and I tried to stress is that kids almost never get hurt for JUST one reason.  Usually, injuries are multifactorial, so you have to look at a host of different causes - from overuse, to physical limitations (weakness or immobility), to mechanical flaws in the pitching delivery.

The questions we received gave me some ideas for future posts, so keep an eye out for those in the not-so-distant future.  Along those same lines, if there are specific baseball development questions you'd like covered, feel free to post some suggestions here as a reply to this blog.

4. I got the following question the other day, and thought it might make for a quick Q&A here:

Q: I am planning on training Westside style but I do not have access to bands and chains (or any other special equipment for that matter). What should I do to change up my dynamic effort days? Should I just use variations of the lifts (i.e. close grip vs regular grip bench, sumo vs conventional deadlifts)?

A: The whole idea that you absolutely have to have bands, chains, and specialized bars to learn from the Westside school of thought (which is constantly evolving anyway) couldn't be further from the truth.  There are bits and pieces borrowed from Westside teachings in Maximum Strength, and you'll see that there is plenty of rotation among movements in the four-month program - and the assumption is that you don't have any of these goodies.  Rotating among back squats and front squats (without a box, with a box, or from pins) and deadlifts will give you a great rotation of movements.

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Regarding dynamic effort days, I don't think it's as important to rotate exercises on a regular basis, as this speed work is there to improve bar speed on that specific movement and help you groove the movement pattern itself.  However, if you want to change it up, it's not too difficult.

In the lower body, simply go to a different deadlift or squat variation, or change the percentage at which you're working.  In the upper body, you can change the grip width on the bench press, do some plyo push-ups, or even just throw the medicine ball around.

5. I'm going to see The Nutcracker tonight with my fiancee.  In the words of Forrest Gump, "That's all I have to say about that."

6. I will, however, say that I'm a little bummed that Jim Breuer is in town tonight about ten minutes from where I live, and I'm not going to get to see him.  Doh!

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