This is a random post, but it came about in light of our recent switch to a new hosting company, plus the reorganization of the site. In this drawn-out, mind-numbing, baldness-inducing process, I came to realize that a lot of my better writing has slipped into an internet black hole - or at the very least, the EricCressey.com archives. So, with that in mind, over the next few weeks, I'm going to reincarnate some of my old material.
Waiting to Reach ThresholdBack Squats and Overhead ThrowersThe Best Thing I've Seen All Year
And, if you're looking for sites that I visit nearly every day, I'll be posting some recommendations, too. Today, though, I want to give you a heads-up on a great audio series - Sports Rehab to Sports Performance - that Joe Heiler has pulled together. I'll be interviewed, as will Mike Boyle, Gray Cook, Kyle Kiesel, Stuart McGill, Phil Plisky, Brett Jones, and Charlie Weingroff. The entire interview series is COMPLETELY FREE, and you can get more information HERE.
I'll follow this up with future installments.
I got to talking with an athletic trainer at a recent seminar, and we were discussing how people really don't understand how the rhomboids work.
You see, the rhomboids typically get lumped right in with the trapezius complex as scapular retractors - and that's correct, but not exhaustive enough to illustrate my point. What you want to observe is the line of pull of the rhomboids:
What you'll see if that this line of pull is quite similar to that of the upper trapezius and levator scapulae muscles, both of which "hike" the scapula up. In reality, the goal with any rowing exercise should be to get the lower trapezius firing as much as possible, as its line of pull depresses the scapula as it retracts - and the muscle is involved upward rotation, which is essential for safe overhead movements.
Note how the line of pull of the trapezius changes as you go superior (top) to inferior (bottom).
As such, you want to make sure that you get your shoulder blades back and down as you do your rowing movements. Here's an example of what a bad seated cable row, where the scapulae are retracted, but ride up, leading to upper trap, levator scapulae, and rhomboid recruitment.
Much of this comes because of the backward lean, but it's also possible to have it when in the right torso position.
If you are someone with shoulder issues, you'll be surprised at what some general massage work on the rhomboids will do to alleviate your discomfort. We know that working on pectoralis minor and levator scapulae will quickly yield results, but rhomboids falls into the same category, as (like these two muscles) they're involved in downwardly rotating the scapulae.
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According to Princeton researchers, one in four Americans have daily pain.
Unfortunate? Yes. Surprising? It would depend who you ask.
I'm a firm believer that most people are just waiting to reach threshold. With so many sedentary folks - and those who are actually exercising doing a lot of moronic stuff (machines, excessive aerobic training), it's just a matter of time until a chronic overuse condition comes to fruition - or something traumatic occurs.
Additionally, just because folks aren't symptomatic doesn't mean that they don't have structural defect. It's estimated that approximately 80% of Americans have disc bulges and/or herniations that are asymptomatic, and I'd put the number of spondylolysis (vertebral fractures) right up in that ballpark as well. All baseball players have labral fraying in their shoulders, but not all of them are in pain. A lot of folks have tendinopathy under the microscope, but don't actually present with pain - YET.
So what can you do?
First off, if you're sedentary, move. Something is better than nothing!
If you're already active, when it comes to your health, think "inefficiency" and not "pathology." The conventional medical model tells us to wait until we have pain to get something checked out. To me, a lack of hip internal rotation range-of-motion, fallen arches, and poor scapular stability are all example of issues that you need to address before pathologies present as pain and loss of function.
If you've got shoulder or upper back issues, check out Inside-Out and Secrets of the Shoulder.
If your hips are tight, check out our Magnificent Mobility DVD.
Lower back pain? Try Dr. Stuart McGill's Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance.
If it's knee problems, Mike Robertson's Bulletproof Knees is for you.
Cruddy ankle mobility? I like Mike Boyle's Joint-by-Joint Approach to Training.
A little education and a small financial investment early-on will do wonders for saving you a lot of pain, time, and cash down the road.
With the summer winding down, it's time to get back on track with a regular schedule of weekly newsletters. Fortunately, we've got plenty of content in the works - including quite a few more contributions to our "random thoughts" series from some of the best in the business.
Cressey Performance Updates
Many of our athletes have headed back to college, and our high school athletes are getting back into the swing of the school year. Normally, in this industry, that would mean that we're about to catch a little vacation time. That couldn't be further from the truth in our case, though; the renovations are still taking place. All our equipment is now in, and the walls and flooring are both complete. We're just wrapping up the window work - and will be putting down the turf in a few weeks. Keep your eyes and ears open for an announcement on a grand opening at Cressey Performance.
Five Tips from Mike Boyle
Many people know that Mike Boyle has probably trained more high-level athletes than anyone on the planet right now. What many people might not know about Mike is that he's helped countless coaches in their career paths; you'll find "Boyle Disciples" all over collegiate and professional strength and conditioning and in the private sector. To that end, I thought it would be great if Mike targeted his random thoughts to the up-and-comers in the business (I know, I know; it's not exactly random).
1. There are only two ways to learn: experience and reading. If you think you can get good in this field in a 40-hour week you’re crazy. If a 40-hour week is your goal, find a new field. Read Alwyn Cosgrove and Jason Ferruggia’s article “The Business.”
2. Train clients or athletes at least 20 hours a week. This is the proving ground for your booksmarts. Ideas are just that; see if you can implement them.
3. If you want to succeed in the field, get yourself in shape. I frequently joke about the fact that I don’t look the part. I’m not very muscular and am old and bald – but I’m in reasonable shape for 47. At 27, you will NOT get the benefit of the doubt. No one wants an overweight trainer or a skinny trainer. They expect you to look the part. You don’t have to be huge, and you don’t have to be ripped, but you need to look like you exercise.
4. Never ask a client to do something you can’t demonstrate. You don’t have to be able to do exercises with huge weights, but you must master the exercises. Beside the fact that many people learn visually, how can you ask a client to something you can’t?
5. Read one self-help book for every field-related book. It’s called personal training for a reason. It’s about a person and his/her goals. Your knowledge of people will be as important as your knowledge of the subject matter. Years ago, someone asked me what the key to my success was. I told them that it was my ability to get people to do what I wanted them to do.
You can find an interview I did with Mike at T-Nation a while back HERE.
About Mike Boyle
Mike Boyle is one of the most sought after coaches and speakers in the area of performance training and athletic rehabilitation. In fact, Mike’s client list reads like a "Who’s Who" of athletic success in New England and across the country. Boyle has been involved in training and rehabilitation with a wide range of athletes, from stars in every major professional sport, to the US Women’s Olympic teams in soccer and ice hockey. In addition Mike has served as a consultant to some of the top teams in the NFL, NHL, as well as numerous Division 1 athletic programs.
Mike brings a depth and breadth of knowledge that is unmatched in the industry, with ten years of experience at the professional level and over twenty years at the collegiate level. Mike’s work has been featured in the media on HBO RealSports, ESPN, CNNSI, as well as in Sports Illustrated and USA today. In both 2004 and 2005 Men’s Journal named Boyle one of the top 100 trainers in the United States.
To learn more about Mike’s training techniques, purchase products, or to participate in forum discussions visit Michaelboyle.biz.
That'll do it for today's newsletter. We'll be back soon with more content - and some updated Cressey Performance pictures!
All the Best,
EC
Many people know that Mike Boyle has probably trained more high-level athletes than anyone on the planet right now. What many people might not know about Mike is that he's helped countless coaches in their career paths; you'll find "Boyle Disciples" all over collegiate and professional strength and conditioning and in the private sector. To that end, I thought it would be great if Mike targeted his random thoughts to the up-and-comers in the business (I know, I know; it's not exactly random).
1. There are only two ways to learn: experience and reading. If you think you can get good in this field in a 40-hour week you’re crazy. If a 40-hour week is your goal, find a new field. Read Alwyn Cosgrove and Jason Ferruggia’s article “The Business.”
2. Train clients or athletes at least 20 hours a week. This is the proving ground for your booksmarts. Ideas are just that; see if you can implement them.
3. If you want to succeed in the field, get yourself in shape. I frequently joke about the fact that I don’t look the part. I’m not very muscular and am old and bald – but I’m in reasonable shape for 47. At 27, you will NOT get the benefit of the doubt. No one wants an overweight trainer or a skinny trainer. They expect you to look the part. You don’t have to be huge, and you don’t have to be ripped, but you need to look like you exercise.
4. Never ask a client to do something you can’t demonstrate. You don’t have to be able to do exercises with huge weights, but you must master the exercises. Beside the fact that many people learn visually, how can you ask a client to something you can’t?
5. Read one self-help book for every field-related book. It’s called personal training for a reason. It’s about a person and his/her goals. Your knowledge of people will be as important as your knowledge of the subject matter. Years ago, someone asked me what the key to my success was. I told them that it was my ability to get people to do what I wanted them to do.
You can find an interview I did with Mike at T-Nation a while back HERE.
Eric Cressey
I get a lot of questions about whether single-leg exercises are quad-dominant or hip dominant and where to place them in training programs. After chatting more with Mike Boyle and considering how I’ve approached it in the past, I’ve realized that if you categorize things the way Mike does, you have a lot of “wiggle room” with your programming to fit more of it in. Mike separates his single-leg work into three categories:
1. Static Unsupported – 1-leg squats (Pistols), 1-leg SLDLs
2. Static Supported – Bulgarian Split Squats
3. Dynamic – Lunges, Step-ups
From there, you can also divide single-leg movements into decelerative (forward lunging) and accelerative (slideboard work, reverse lunges). I’ve found that accelerative movements are most effective early progressions after lower extremity injuries (less stress on the knee joint).
I think that it’s ideal for everyone to aim to get at least one of each of the three options in each week. If one needed to be sacrificed, it would be static supported. Because static unsupported aren’t generally loaded as heavily and don’t cause as much delayed onset muscle soreness, they can often be thrown in on upper body days. Here are some sample splits you might want to try:
3-day
M – Include static supported (50/50 upper/lower exercise selection)
W – Include static unsupported (only lower body exercise)
F – Include dynamic (50/50 upper/lower exercise selection)
Notice how the most stressful/DOMS-inducing option is placed prior to the longest recovery period (the weekend of rest).
4-day
M – Include static supported in lower-body training session.
W – Include static unsupported (only lower body exercise in otherwise upper body session)
F – Include dynamic in lower-body training session
Sa – Upper body workout, no single-leg work outside of warm-up and unloaded prehab work
Be sure to switch exercises and rotate decelerative/accelerative every four weeks.
Eric Cressey
See How This Fits Into Your Upcoming Season
I have to give a ton of credit (and thanks) to several mentors who have looked out for me with respect to training/nutrition and – probably most importantly – business. Hard work and learning from your mistakes can take you as far as you want to go, but if you want to get there faster, you’re best off seeking out the advice of those who are where you’d like to be.
I’ve been fortunate to have guys like Alwyn Cosgrove, Dave Tate, John Berardi, Jason Ferruggia, Mike Boyle, Joe DeFranco, and – more recently – you and Ryan Lee. I only wish I had found out about you two sooner; things would have come about even faster! You can’t be an expert on everything, so it’s to your advantage to have a solid network of mentors to which you can turn when an unfamiliar situation arises. Chances are that one or more of them has been there at some point, made a mistake, and learned from it; why bother to make that same mistake on your own?
Case in point: Alwyn and I had a running email dialogue going about two months ago. I have one emailed saved in which he referred me to his production and shipping company (Vervante), recommended a great liability insurance agent to meet my needs (clubinsurance.com), and recommended two books by Thomas Plummer that have been great. That email saved me thousands of dollars and countless hours on trouble.
A conversation I had with Dave Tate about four months ago really solidified this concept in my mind. Dave did a tremendous job with his physique transformation with John Berardi’s nutritional guidance. Truth be told, though, Dave knows nutrition better than you might think; he actually minored in it in college! However, soliciting JB’s advice was in Dave’s best interests; John is really up-to-date on optimal nutrition and supplementation strategies. Why would Dave want to spend hundreds of hours reading up on recent developments in the nutrition world when he can be studying up on public speaking, running a business, developing great equipment, and making people stronger – the four things for which he is best known? A few phone calls and emails to John was the smarter – not longer – way to work.
This is the foundation for everything. I’d like to be able to give you a quick-fix answer, but the truth is that nothing will ever go as far as elbow grease and perseverance. It sucks, but work long hours - longer than you could even imagine. I have regularly worked 80+ hour weeks for as long as I can remember; at times, it has been 40 of athletes/clients (some for free) and 40 of writing/online consulting/forum responses. I did it in the past so that I could get to where I am now, and I do it now to capitalize on the foundation I put down in the past and so that I can spend time with my family when that day comes.
I had a conversation with Mike Boyle on this back in December, and asked him flat-out where I should draw the line on work and play. His response: "At your age, you don't. Sleep in the office if you have to. It'll all pay off." You won't find someone who works harder than I do, and when one of the most sought-out performance enhancement coaches in the history of sports gives an overachiever like me that kind of encouragement, you not only pay attention; you go from really productive to crazy productive.
So, in short, the truth is that I have busted my butt from day one and wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t done so. I didn’t spend a penny on alcohol in my college career; it was better spent on resources such as books, DVDs, seminars, and quality food and supplements to make me the lifter and coach that I am today. I never went on Spring Break; I worked in gyms and with athletes at universities for every single one of them through my six years of college education (undergraduate and graduate).
I didn’t abuse my body with excessive late nights – or any alcohol or drugs – because I knew how such behavior would affect my training, coaching, and writing. I haven't even watched an episode of Survivor, 24, American Idol, Lost, Alias, Will and Grace, The Apprentice, or any of a number of other popular shows I'm forgetting to mention; I'd just rather be doing other things. Don't get me wrong; I've still had fun along the way, but I've gotten better about finding a balance. Life is all about choices, and I chose to be where I am today.
After the seminar had winded down in Chicago, Alwyn Cosgrove, Mike Robertson, and I were chatting it up in the hotel lounge as we waited to leave for the airport. In the middle of the conversation, Alwyn said to me something along the lines of, “Your presentation is getting really good; I caught the second half of it and it’s really polished. I really like the term ‘metabolic debt’ that you used; I’ve always said ‘metabolic disturbance,’ but I like debt better. It describes what I’m trying to say better; I’m going to steal that.”
Needless to say, I was pretty flattered. Here’s a guy who has spoken all over the country about optimal fat loss programming, and he’s constantly looking to get better – not just in the context of the protocols he uses (i.e., seeking out cutting-edge research), but also in the way that he relates it to those who want to understand the “why” instead of just the what.
I starting thinking about it long and hard on the flight home. Since last January, I’ve been to a ton of seminars – both as a speaker and a presenter. I’ve seen both Alwyn Cosgrove and Mike Boyle six times, Stuart McGill four times, and Dave Tate, John Berardi, Dan John, Mike Robertson, Brijesh Patel, John Pallof, and Carl Valle twice each…the list goes on and on. I’ve also seen several of them on DVDs, read their writing, and we even communicate via email or phone a weekly (and even daily) basis, too – so what gives? Wouldn’t I get sick of seeing them and talking to them – especially since we’re often repeating presentations in different locations? Isn’t it just the same information rehashed?
Absolutely not – and for the exact reason Alwyn, Mike, Dr. McGill, and Mike Robertson caught my presentation the other day: we’re always looking for two things:
First, subtle changes that have been integrated in terms of ideas – or the way in which they’re related. And second, a chance to review valuable information we might already know – but with a chance to incorporate it into schemas (essentially frames of reference) that we’ve recently incorporated
When I hear somebody reply to an article – or review a book – with a statement like “There’s nothing new here,” I can’t help but think that there "isn’t anything new here" because that individual is simply too lazy to think. And, it explains rather easily why this individual is the one reading the article instead of writing it, or listening to the presentation instead of delivering it.
Set yourself apart by not only seeking out education – but also by being open-minded enough to utilize it effectively.
Andrew Heffernan gets the “Blog of the Week” award from me for his thorough and entertaining recap of the Chicago seminar at http://blog.dynamicfitness.us/. He had me laughing out loud at his recap of my presentation:
Finally, Eric Cressey is a preposterously accomplished guy who, at age 25, is not only a very successful powerlifter but one of the most highly respected trainers around. Just listening to his lecture and getting a sense of the depth and scope of his knowledge made me wonder what the hell I've been doing frittering away these last 36 years. Part of me wanted to jump up on the stage and strangle him in all his youthful, charming, and articulate glory, but one look at his arms and chest made me realize that even that was a futile fantasy. My only comfort is that someday, many, many years after I've fallen into decrepitude, dementia and death, Eric Cressey, too, will die. Sure, there will be streets in Boston named after him, an Eric Cressey annual parade, and hoards of future gold medallists tearfully crediting him with all their success, but he will be dead, and I must be thankful for that one, tiny blessing
.
Thanks, Andrew… I think! Would it make you feel any better if I told you that I will be turning 26 on Sunday?
The strength and conditioning field is like no other. Coaches have bitter enemies and die-hard devotees — and sometimes a person will qualify as both depending on the day of the week. There are insane egos and there are humble, incredibly bright coaches who go unnoticed. Finally, there are a lot of coaches who people really don't get.
On one hand, you have genuinely bad strength and conditioning professionals who couldn't coach their way out of a wet paper bag. On the other hand, you have extremely knowledgeable coaches who people really don't seem to understand — either because they don't try to understand them or because they're working off of false pretenses. Mike Boyle tends to fall into the latter category. In fact, he might be the world's most misunderstood strength coach.
Until last year, I really didn't "get" Mike Boyle either. However, I've had the chance to meet up with him twice recently, and we've exchanged a few dozen emails about training methodologies. We still don't agree on everything, but I can definitely say this is one smart, experienced coach who has a lot to offer the world of performance enhancement.
You don't have to like him or take everything he says to heart, but you're missing out if you're not at least listening with an open mind. So, without further ado, Mike Boyle.
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