It’s a crazy busy week, so this newsletter is going to be a quick-hitter.

• I did a push/pull last weekend to get a little redemption for my Senior Nationals frustration and wound up benching 402 and deadlifting 628 – both competition personal bests.  It was nice to get back on track and set the tone for the new training cycle.
• I had a new article published at T-Nation last week; in case you missed it, check out The Joint Health Checklist.

I recently did an interview with Nick Grantham, a highly respected strength and conditioning coach in the UK.  Enjoy!

NG: Eric, thank you for the interview. Why don't you start by telling us a little bit about your current coaching commitments?

EC: My pleasure, Nick; thanks for having me.  I just left the facility in Southern Connecticut at which I was taking clients and athletes, and I’ll be moving up to Boston August 1 to help get Excel Sports and Fitness Training  off the ground with Rebecca Manda, John Sullivan, and Brad Cardoza.  Additionally, Carl Valle – one of the best track and field coaches around – will be actively involved at Excel as well.  We are going to do phenomenal things with athletes and weekend warriors of all levels; I’m really excited to be a part of such a fantastic opportunity.  I lived in Boston for two years and was born and raised in Maine, so it’ll be a return home of sorts; I still have lots of family and friends in the area.

Presently, I’m back up at the University of Connecticut 2-3 days per week helping out with the athletes with whom I worked while I was there in the past.  We’ve already had three drafted into the WNBA and anticipate having six more headed to the NBA, so there has been a lot of work going into preparing them for their individual workouts with teams and, for some guys, the NBA combine.  There are still a lot of undergraduate athletes on campus, too, so it’s a full day.

For the most part, though, I’m actually enjoying a little downtime for the first time in long while.  I'm stronger than I've ever been because I've been able to devote more focus to my training at South Side Gym.  Likewise, it’s given me a chance to work on various writing and consulting projects, and travel to attend and speak at seminars.  So, I guess I’m just an unemployed guy who doesn’t like to sit still, now that I think about it!

Rest assured that I don’t have it in me to become one of those guys who just writes books and articles and never trains people; we’ve got too many of them in this industry already.  I love to work with athletes and get under the bar myself; the day that stops being fun and I start considering just writing and consulting full-time is the day that I need to find a new profession.  Performance enhancement coaching is about attitude and passion – not typing.

NG:  Can you tell the reader your educational or previous career background?

EC: I started out at business school (Babson College) thinking that I wanted to be an accountant.  That thought passed pretty quickly, as I realized that training and nutrition was on my mind a lot more than crunching numbers.  I transferred to the University of New England after my sophomore year, taking all my management credits with me into a Sports and Fitness Management degree (with some supplemental classes in health service delivery systems).  I pretty much had that degree done in 2.5 years, so I decided to double major by adding Exercise Science to the mix.  I wound up graduating with 168 credits, and in the process recognized that I was a lot more interested in the science and practice of performance enhancement than I was in management.

As such, I went on to get my Master’s degree in Kinesiology with a concentration in Exercise Science at the University of Connecticut, where I was involved in varsity strength and conditioning and research in the human performance laboratory.  The UCONN Department of Kinesiology was recently voted the #1 Kinesiology Graduate Program in the US; the faculty and graduate students are brilliant, and opportunities abound with research and coaching.  I am really lucky to have had the opportunity – and to still be involved in some capacity and have those resources at my fingertips.

NG: You're a competitive powerlifter - what can you take from your own training that would be of use to our readers?

EC: Competing has completely changed me as a coach and a writer; I never realized how much better I am at what I do when I share a competitive mindset with my athletes.  My decision to compete was one of the wisest choices I ever made.  In fact, this decision had such profound implications that I think I could go on all day.  However, a few things that I have come to appreciate in a whole new light:

1. Planned overreaching is tremendously valuable when used correctly.

2. You need to appropriately schedule back-off/regeneration phases.

3. Success rests with attention to detail.  Imagine putting in an entire 12-week training cycle and then bombing out because your squat technique was off on just one day…this hasn’t happened to me, but it does happen.

4. Train for performance, eat clean, and things will almost always fall into place.  I couldn’t care less about “the pump” anymore.

5. Attitude is the single-most important factor that determines your success or lack thereof.  I’ll take a guy with a great attitude on a garbage program over someone with a lousy attitude and the best program in the world anyday.

6. The value of a good training crew cannot be overstated.  It changes your attitude completely.  They pick you up when you’re dragging, and you do the same for them.  They pick up on the little things that make the big differences and help you get personal bests when you don’t realize you have them in you.

I could go on all day, but you get the point.  If you don’t have a goal, it’s hard to view exercise as anything more than “working out.”  Anybody can “work out;” you need to train.

NG: I spend a lot of time working with athletes that come to me with a good training history, only to find that lifting techniques are, well, pretty crappy to say the least! Sometimes the best people to work with are the ones that have never stepped foot inside a gym because you don't have to spend the whole of the session undoing all of the bad habits! If a newbie walks into your facility, what would you do to make sure that when he came over to the UK in 3 years time to train with me that I wouldn't be faced with a mess?!

EC: We’d do loads of foam rolling, activation, and mobility work to make sure that he’s moving efficiently through a full range of motion.  From there, I’d use a combination of isometric holds and traditional strength training movements with an emphasis on single-leg work and lumbar spine and scapular stabilization.  The basics work great when they’re done properly; it’s our job to ensure that ideal technique precedes loading.  People wouldn’t need to have such elaborate assessment schemes if most athletes were taught to do the right things correctly early-on, you know?

NG: I know you share with me an interest in maintaining a healthy shoulder girdle (that sounds a bit sad!). I try to incorporate my injury prevention work for the shoulders into the main training routine (I like to superset between the main lifts). I like to use a variety of exercises internal/external/PNF pattern rotator cuff work on elastics/pulleys, stability push ups on balance boards, bosu boards, rings, med ball catches, plate throws, Cuban snatches etc). Can you share with our readers some of the key exercises that you use to protect the shoulders from injury?

EC: Ha!  You’re not kidding; I became a shoulder enthusiast out of necessity.  Being a tennis player turned powerlifter isn’t exactly easy on the shoulders, you know?

You’ve got some great stuff there; I use most of them myself.  One thing that I can overstate enough is the fact that the overwhelming majority of shoulder problems originate at the scapula – not the glenohumeral (ball-and-socket) joint.  With that in mind, as the years have gone on, I’ve devoted more of my “prehab” volume to stabilizing the scapulae – most commonly with work emphasizing the lower traps and serratus anterior in particular – along with the traditional external and internal rotation work for the humerus.  The progression is always isolated to compound; my more experienced athletes don’t do as much of the single-joint stuff.  It’s generally integrated in more complex patterns.

Above all, though, fitness professionals need to understand how to assess the shoulder girdle.  Unfortunately, it’s an assessment that isn’t in the repertoire of most coaches today.  Hopefully, some products with which I’m involved will help to elucidate these issues to fitness professionals within the next six months.

NG: Your Master’s thesis looks at training on unstable surface as it relates to improving athletic performance. How has what you've discovered as a result of your research influenced your programming?

EC: Well, unfortunately, I can’t reveal my data until the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research publishes it (hopefully this fall).  I can, however, tell you that I’m already hard at work on putting together a “layman’s” version of the entire thesis to relate my findings to athletes and coaches in a more easily-interpreted context (reading academic writing isn’t much different than perusing stereo instructions, unfortunately).  Without saying too much, I can tell you that a lot of people are going to be very surprised at the results; it’s going to open a lot of eyes and make people re-evaluate how they utilize these implements.  This truly was the first study of its kind; nobody to-date had looked at how chronic training on these implements affects performance in trained, healthy athletes.

NG: I recently gave a talk on core stability to a group of strength coaches and physiotherapists (athletic trainers) - this was my first slide 'Much of what has been said about ‘core training’ has come from physiotherapists – they are experts at getting injured people healthy – they are not experts at training athletes!' - I borrowed that from Mike Boyle! Now I wasn't rubbishing all of the good work that has been done by people like McGill, Hodges, Saunders and Sahrmann. I was trying to do two things - 1. wake the audience up! 2. wake the S&C coaches up to the fact that maybe somewhere along the line a whole load of us forgot what we were supposed to be doing, building strong and a powerful athletes that can withstand the demands of their sport. How do you approach training the 'core' with your clients?

EC: Honestly, the word “core” has become so hackneyed that it makes me kind of ashamed that our profession.  I mean, let’s face it: “Core” can essentially be translated as “The rectus abdominus, lumbar erectors, obliques, and all those other muscles between the knees and shoulders that I’m either too lazy or misinformed to list.”

Everything is related; our bodies are great at compensating.  As such, it’s imperative that the approach one takes to “core” training be based on addressing where the problems exist.  The most common lower back problems we see are related to extension-rotation syndrome.  We most often get hyperextension at the lumbar spine because our gluteus maximus doesn’t fire to complete hip extension and posteriorly tilt the pelvis; we have to find range of motion wherever we can get it.  Having tight hip flexors and lumbar erectors exaggerates anterior pelvic tilt, so this hyperextension is maintained throughout the day to keep the body upright in spite of the faulty pelvic alignment.

The rotation component simply comes along when you throw unilateral dominance into the equation.  It might be a baseball pitcher always throwing in one direction, or an office worker always turning to answer the phone on one side.  Lumbar rotation is not a movement for which you want any extra range of motion, and the related hip hiking isn’t much fun to deal with, either.

The solution is to get the glutes firing and learn to stabilize the lumbar spine while enhancing mobility at the hips, thoracic spine, and scapulae.  You just have to get the range of motion at the right places.

Unfortunately, thinking this stuff out isn’t high on some people’s priority list.  It’s “sexier” to tell a client to do some weighted sit-ups, Russian twists, and enough yoga to make the hip flexors want to explode.  I’m not going to recommend sit-ups to anyone, and if an athlete is going to do something advanced, he’s going to have shown me that he’s prepared for it by successfully completing a progression to that point.  You can get away with faulty movement patterns in the real world, but when you put a faulty movement pattern under load in a resistance training context, everything is magnified.

NG: I like to develop what we call 'bullet proof' athletes - men and women that can take to the field and cope with what the sport and their opponents throws at them. What would be your main tips for making a 'bullet proof' athlete - what areas should we focus our attention on and what exercises could we use?

EC:

1. Adequate hip mobility.

2. Stability of the lumbar spine, scapulae, and glenohumeral joint.

3. Posterior chain strength and normal firing patterns

4. Loads of posterior chain strength.

5. More pulling (deadlifts, rows, and pull-ups) than pushing (squats, benches, and overhead pressing)

6. Greater attention to single-leg movements

7. Prioritization of soft-tissue work in the form of foam rolling, ART, and massage

8. Attitude (being afraid when you’re under a bar is a recipe for injury)

9. Adequate deloading periods

10. Attention to daily posture (you have 1-2 hours per day to train, and 22-23 to screw it up in your daily life)

NG: I know you study the field a lot and - who are your go to guys when it comes to training?

EC: Wow, that’s a very loaded question, as I’m fortunate to be able to communicate with some of the most brilliant minds in the business (training, nutrition, supplementation, and marketing) on a daily basis.  Some names that immediately come to mind as really influencing me personally are: Chris West, Brijesh Patel, Alwyn Cosgrove, John Berardi, Jason Ferruggia, Dave Tate, Mike Boyle, Mike Robertson, Michael Hope, Jim Wendler, Cassandra Forsythe, William Kraemer, David Tiberio, Brian Grasso, Kelly Baggett, Bob Youngs, Joe DeFranco, Buddy Morris, Brad Cardoza, John Sullivan, Carl Valle, Ryan Lee, and too many powerlifters and training partners to even list.  Suffice it to say that my email address book and the phone book on my cell phone are pretty much filled to capacity!  My undergraduate advisor called me a “sponge for information;” others might just call me a pain in the ass who needs to stop cramming so much information into his brain and have some fun instead.  They don’t realize that this IS fun for me!

NG:  What are your goals as a coach?

EC: I want to positively influence the lives of those with whom I work and those who buy my products.  My love of exercise in many ways saved my life, and I’m fortunate to be in a position to give something back to the world of health and human performance.

NG: In a nutshell - What is your training philosophy?

EC: I’ve been asked this so many times that I’ve decided to come out with an “auto-responder!”

“Train your body to work efficiently and take care of your diet and lifestyle, and you’ll be rewarded with a physique that performs at a high level and just so happens to look great.  You can’t build a castle on quicksand, so sometimes you need to take a step back and make sure that the appropriate foundation is in place.  Foundations aren’t built with gimmicks; they’re built with hard work and scientific practices.”

NG: I'm asking all of our contributors for their top three books - the ones every S&C coach should have in their library? We've had some great answers and I'm building a virtual library on the links page of the web-site....what are your top 3?

This is going to come across as a self-fulfilling prophecy, but if you ask the functional anatomy guy what’s important, he’s going to say “functional anatomy.”  If you don’t understand structure, you won’t understand function.  If you don’t understand function, you won’t understand performance or be able to recognize dysfunction – and every athlete has something wrong with them, trust me.

1. Diagnosis and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes by Sahrmann

2. Muscles: Testing and Function with Posture and Pain (5th ed.) by Kendall et al.

3. Kinetic Anatomy by Behnke (good starter text for people just getting their feet wet)

Keep in mind that I read about two books per week; these are just three that are great in light of the subject matter at hand.

NG: Is there anything else you would like to mention (you can talk about your products etc)?

EC: Well, now that I’m officially the “busiest unemployed guy in the world,” I’ve been fortunate to tie up some loose ends on a variety of projects that I’ve had in the works for months.  Mike Robertson and I just launched MagnificentMobility.com to promote our DVD, which has already received tons of great feedback.  I’ll also be releasing my first solo writing project this summer; not to toot my own horn, but sports performance coaches around the world are going to absolutely eat it up.  It draws on a ton of personal experience with a wide variety of athletes as well as conversations I’ve had with some excellent coaches; I really think it’s going to open a lot of people’s eyes about how we train our athletes.

Mike Robertson and I will be releasing our next big project in mid-August as well, so we’re excited about that.  I’ve also got several speaking engagements lined up; readers can check out my schedule.  Other than that, it’s mostly just some e-books and lots of facility planning on the agenda.

Thanks again for having me!

Another week in the books; thanks for stopping by!

All the Best,

EC

EC on the Fitcast

On Sunday night, I had the pleasure of being a guest host on the Fitcast with Kevin Larrabee and Dr. John Williams.  We covered a lot of ground; definitely check it out.  Here are the download instructions directly from Kevin:

To Get the episodes of the FitCast:

Product Review: Jim Labadie’s Ultimate Sales Kit for Fitness Professionals

As you can imagine, as we open up our own facility, everyone in the Excel crew has been reading a lot more business books of late.  I’ve been fortunate to have several mentors point me in the right direction on this front, and a guy whose products kept getting recommended is Jim Labadie.  I’d seen some of the stuff he’d done with Ryan Lee, so I had a good idea of the high-quality he had to offer.

As such, I threw my hat in the ring and picked up some of his stuff; it’s absolutely fantastic.  If you’re a fitness professional looking to be successful and learn how to work smarter instead of just longer, you need to pick up Jim’s Ultimate Sales Kit.  This collection of nine audio CDs offers a wealth of information about the sales process, publicity, establishing systems, and a whole lot more.  I wish I had known about it several years ago; it would have saved me a lot of time, frustration, and money.  I can tell already that it’ll be worth every penny, as stuff like this pays itself off 100-fold.  Check it out for yourself:

An Interview with AJ Roberts

I figured that you were probably getting sick of hearing from me, so this week, we’ve got a new interview for you.  If you haven’t heard of AJ Roberts yet, consider this interview your introduction to one of the future stars of the strength and conditioning world.  I’ve interacted with AJ via email for several months now, and we finally had the chance to meet up and talk some shop at APF Seniors in Las Vegas last weekend.  To say that I was impressed with his knowledge, passion, and enthusiasm for lifting and coaching would be an understatement; this guy is wise beyond his years.  Watch out for him in the years to come.

EC: Thanks for being with us today, AJ.  You’ve really opened some eyes in the powerlifting community over the past two years.  Could you please fill our readers in a bit on your background?

AR: I am 21 years of age and am currently attending the University of Idaho, where I’m seeking a bachelor's degree in Sports Science.  I have always been involved in athletics. From an early age, I played various sports and in high school I was a three-sport athlete with football, basketball, and track and field.  In my senior year, I was ruled ineligible, and this is when I began my powerlifting career.

In February of 2004, I began training with (now University of Washington strength coach) Matt Ludwig and (world squat record holder) Brent Mikesell.  Under their guidance I have set state, national and world records in multiple federations and have accumulated a 950-lb. squat, 661-lb. bench press, and a 700-lb. deadlift, with my best total being 2300.

EC:  You just got back from the APF Senior Nationals, could you tell us how that went?

AR: I competed in the 308-lb. class despite only weighing in at 284 lbs.  I'm not a big fan of cutting weight, so I just lift in whatever weight class into which I fall.  I had high expectations going into the meet and knew that it was going to take a 2400+ total to win.  Unfortunately, I only managed to get my opener in the squat (935) and after seeing so many people bomb out, I lifted conservatively to make sure I finished the meet.  I did manage to get an 11-lb. personal record in the bench (661) and finished with a 2295-lb. total, which was good enough for second place.  Hopefully, I can put it all together at the World Championships in November.

EC: Big numbers – especially at age 21!  You’re also involved in coaching at the collegiate ranks right now; please tell us a bit about that.  What are you doing?  How do you like it?  What are you learning from the experience?

AR: I have been a volunteer/intern in the Vandal Athletic Center at the University of Idaho now for almost two years.  In this time, I have been lucky enough to work alongside several different strength coaches, assisting with football, basketball, swimming, and soccer.  I really enjoy the hands on experience of getting to run drills, coach, and watch the athletes develop over the years.  The biggest thing that I will take away from my experience is that is not what you do, but the way you do it that is important.

EC: You’ve said that you’ve got the world’s best squat coach in Brent Mikesell.  What is it that makes Brent such a tremendous squatter and coach?  What insights can you pass along to our readers that will take their squats – and the rest of their lifts – to all new levels?

AR: There aren't too many people in this sport that love it and are as dedicated to it, or the lifters involved, as Brent is.  He works harder in the gym than anyone else I know, and even when he is hurt or sick, he will be there to help spot and load.  There are so many little things that I have learned from him it would be impossible to summarize it all here.

EC: How has being a competitive powerlifter impacted you as a coach?

AR: The biggest trait that I have carried over into coaching is the emphasis on perfect form.  I'm constantly working with the athletes to make sure they are not sacrificing form for strength, which is common due to the competitive atmosphere that is often created in a varsity weight room.

EC: I have to say that when we were talking at Seniors, you reminded me a lot of, well, me!  You’ve got that way about you; you’re always thinking that there is a better way to do things.  And, more importantly, you’re thinking about what that better way is.  With that said, randomly throw some idea out there that will really make our readers say “Oh, shit, that really makes sense!”

AR:

• You must always seek knowledge from those who are more knowledgeable than you and who know what it takes to be strong!
• Speed is more important than your ego!
• Full range of motion work is the most important part of training; lifting big weights to a high box or a 3-board in the gym is not going to help you hit the numbers you want in a meet!
• Your upper back is just as important as you lower back!
• Being strong and being technical are just as important as one another!
• Simple is still best!
• Nothing beats hard work!

EC: I know I’ve been sending a ton of resource recommendations your way, so fill me in on the ones that have impacted you the most and think that our readers would benefit from.

AR: I would say the following are must buys for anyone who is serious about strength and conditioning

1. Professional Fitness Coach Program Design Bible by Alan Cosgrove

2. Supertraining by Mel Siff

3. Essentials of Weightlifting and Strength Training by Mohamed F. El-Hewie

4. The Sport Training Profits Program by Ryan Lee

5. Magnificent Mobility DVD by Eric Cressey and Mike Robertson

EC: Ha!  You already got the interview, AJ; you didn’t have to butter me up with that last one!  Anyway, fast-forward five years; where is AJ Roberts going to be?

AR: Hopefully, I have established myself as one of the best strength coaches in the nation and will have opened up my own sports training facility.

EC: I’d put money on it.  Hell, just from chatting with you, I’d hire you just to keep you from becoming one of my competitors!  Thanks for taking the time, AJ.

That’ll do it for this week’s newsletter.  Be sure to check back next week for some more exclusive content.

All the Best,

EC

The “Great Eight” Reasons for Basketball Mobility Training

By: Eric Cressey

When it really comes down to it, regardless of the sport in question, the efficient athlete will always have the potential to be the best player on the court, field, ice, or track. Ultimately, knowledge of the game and technical prowess will help to separate the mediocre from the great, but that is not to say that physical abilities do not play a tremendously influential role on one’s success. Show me an athlete who moves efficiently, and I’ll guarantee that he or she has far more physical development “upside” than his or her non-efficient counterparts.

This “upside” can simply be referred to as “trainability;” I can more rapidly increase strength, speed, agility, and muscle mass in an athlete with everything in line than I can with an athlete who has some sort of imbalance. That’s not to say that the latter athlete cannot improve, though; it’s just to say that this athlete would be wise to prioritize eliminating the inefficiencies to prevent injury and make subsequent training more effective. Unfortunately, most athletes fall into the latter group. Fortunately, though, with appropriate corrective training, these inefficiencies can be corrected, and you can take your game to an all-new level. Mobility work is one example of the corrective training you’ll need to get the job done.

What’s the Difference Between Mobility and Flexibility?

This is an important differentiation to make; very few people understand the difference – and it is a big one. Flexibility merely refers to range of motion – and, more specifically, passive range of motion as achieved by static stretching. Don’t get me wrong; static stretching has its place, but it won’t take your athleticism to the next level like mobility training will.

The main problem with pure flexibility is that it does not imply stability nor readiness for dynamic tasks – basketball included. When we move, we need to have something called “mobile-stability.” This basically means that there’s really no use in being able to get to a given range of motion if you can’t stabilize yourself in that position. Believe it or not, excessive passive flexibility without mobility (or dynamic flexibility, as it’s been called) will actually increase the risk of injury! And, even more applicable to the discussion at hand, passive flexibility just doesn’t carry over well to dynamic tasks; just because you do well on the old sit-and-reach test doesn’t mean that you’ll be prepared to dynamically pick up a loose ball and sprint down-court for an easy lay-up. Lastly, extensive research has shown that static stretching before a practice or competition will actually make you slower and weaker; I’m not joking!

So what is mobility training? It’s a class of drills designed to take your joints through full ranges of motion in a controlled, yet dynamic context. It’s different from ballistic stretching (mini-bounces at the end of a range of motion), which is a riskier approach that is associated with muscle damage and shortening. In addition to improving efficiency of movement, mobility (dynamic flexibility) drills are a great way to warm-up for high-intensity exercise like basketball. Light jogging and then static stretching are things of the past!

My colleague Mike Robertson and I created a DVD known as Magnificent Mobility to address this pressing need among a wide variety of athletes – basketball players included. We’ve already received hundreds of emails from athletes and ordinary weekend warriors claiming improved performance, enhanced feeling of well-being, and resolution of chronic injuries after performing the drills outlined in the DVD. I think it’s safe to say that they like what we’re recommending! In case that feedback isn’t enough, here are seven reasons why basketball players need mobility.

Reason #1: Mobility training makes your resistance training sessions more productive by allowing you to train through a full range of motion.

We all know that lifting weights improves athletes’ performance and reduces their risk of injury. However, very few people realize the importance of being able to lift through a full range of motion. Training through a full range of motion will carry over to all partial ranges of motion, but training in a partial range of motion won’t carry over to full ranges of motion.

For example, let’s assume Athlete A does ¼ squats. He’ll only get stronger in the top ¼ of the movement, and his performance will really only be improved in that range of motion when he’s on the court.

Now, Athlete B steps up to the barbell and does squats through a full range of motion; his butt is all the way down by his ankles. Athlete B is going to get stronger through the entire range of motion – including the top portion, like Athlete A, but with a whole lot more. It goes without saying that Athlete B will be stronger than Athlete A when the time comes to “play low.”

Also worthy of note is that lifting weights through a full range of motion will stimulate more muscle fibers than partial repetitions, thus increasing your potential for muscle mass gains. If you’re a post-player who is looking to beef up, you’d be crazy to not do full reps – and mobility training will help you improve the range of motion on each rep.

Reason #2: Mobility training corrects posture and teaches your body to get range of motion in the right places.

If you watch some of the best shooters of all time, you’ll notice that they always seem to be in the perfect position to catch the ball as they come off a screen to get off a jump shot. Great modern examples of this optimal body alignment are Ray Allen and Reggie Miller; their shoulders are back, chest is out, eyes are up, and hands are ready. The catch and shot is one smooth, seemingly effortless movement.

By contrast, if you look at players with rounded shoulders, they lack the mobility to get to this ideal position as they pop off the screen. After they receive the ball, they need to reposition themselves with thoracic extension (“straightening up”) just so that they can get into their shooting position. This momentary lapse is huge at levels where the game is played at a rapid pace; it literally is the difference between getting a shot off and having to pass on the shot or, worse yet, having it swatted away by a defender. These athletes need more mobility in the upper body.

As another example, one problem we often see in our athletes is excessive range-of-motion at the lumbar spine to compensate for a lack of range of motion at the hips. Ideally, we want a stable spine and mobile hips to keep our lower backs healthy and let the more powerful hip-joint muscles do the work. If we can’t get that range of motion at our hips, our backs suffer the consequences. Believe it or not, I’ve actually heard estimates that as much as 60% of the players in the NBA have degenerative disc disease. While there are likely many reasons (unforgiving court surface, awkward lumbar hyperextension patterns when rebounding, etc.) for this exorbitant number, a lack of hip mobility is certainly one of them. Get mobility at your hips, and you’ll protect that lower back!

Reason #3: Mobility training reduces our risk of injury.

It’s not uncommon at all to see athletes get injured when they’re out of position and can’t manage to right themselves. If we get range of motion in the right spots, we’re less likely to be out of position, so we won’t have to hastily compensate with a movement that could lead to an ankle sprain or ACL tear.

As an interesting add-on, one study found that a softball team performing a dynamic flexibility routine before practices and competition had significantly fewer injuries than a team that did static stretching before its games (1).

Reason #4: Mobility training will increase range of motion without reducing your speed, agility, strength in the short-term.

Believe it or not, research has demonstrated that if you static stretch right before you exercise, it’ll actually make you weaker and slower. I know it flies in the face of conventional warm-up wisdom, but it’s the truth!

Fortunately, dynamic flexibility/mobility training has come to the rescue. Research has shown that compared with a static stretching program, these drills can improve your sprinting speed (2), agility (3), vertical jump (3-6), and dynamic range of motion (1) while reducing your risk of injury. Pretty cool stuff, huh?

Reason #5: Mobility training teaches you to “play low.”

All athletes want to know how to become more stable, but few understand how to do so. One needs to understand that our stability is always changing, as it’s subject to several environmental and physical factors. These factors include:

1. Body Mass – A heavier athlete will always be more stable. Sumo wrestling…need I say more?

2. Friction with the contact surface – The more friction we can generate (as with appropriate footwear) with the contact surface, the better our stability. Compare a basketball court (plenty of friction) to the ice in a hockey rink (very little friction), and you’ll see what I mean. This also explains why athletes wear cleats and track spikes.

3. Size of the base of support (BOS): In athletics, the BOS is generally the positioning of the feet. The wider the stance, the more stability we are. Again, think sumo wrestling.

4. The horizontal positioning of the center of gravity (COG) – For maximum stability, the COG should be on the edge of the BOS at which an external force is acting. In other words, if an opponent is about to push you at your right side, you’ll want to lean to the right in anticipation in order to maintain your stability after contact.

5. Vertical positioning of the COG: The lower the COG, the more stable the object. You’ll often hear sportscasters talk about Allen Iverson being unstoppable because of his “low center of gravity” or because he “plays low.”

From a training standpoint, we can’t do much for #1, #2, or #4. However, mobility training alone can dramatically impact how well an athlete handles #3 and #5. The better our mobility, the easier it is for us to get wider and get lower. The wider and lower we can get when we need to do so, the better we can maintain our center of gravity within our base of support. Neuromuscular factors – collecting providing for our balancing proficiency – such as muscular strength and kinesthetic awareness play into this as well, and the ultimate result is our stability (or lack thereof) in a given situation.

Reason #6: Mobility training can actually make you taller…Really!

I’ve worked with a lot of basketball players, and I can honestly say that not a single one of them has ever told me that he wants to be shorter. And, I can assure you that the coaches and scouts would take a guy who is 7-0 over a 6-11 prospect any day.

So what does that have to do with our mobility discussion? Well, imagine an athlete who is very tight in his flexors; his hips will actually be slightly flexed in the standing position, as the pelvis will be anteriorly tilted (top of the hip bone is tipping forward). Likewise, if an athlete has tightness in his lats (among other smaller muscles), he’ll be unable to fully reach overhead. These two limitations can literally make an athlete two inches shorter in a static overhead reach assessment.

Just as importantly, such an athlete is going to “play smaller,” too. He won’t jump as high because he can’t get full hip extension and won’t be able to optimally make use of the powerful gluteal muscles. And, his reach will be limited by his inability to get the arms up fully. Together, these factors could knock two inches off his vertical jump and prevent him from making a game-saving block. It really is a game of inches.

Need further proof? I’ve seen several athletes instantly add as much as two inches on their vertical jump just from stretching out the hip flexors and lats before they test. This is an acute change in muscle length, though; mobility training will enable you to attain these ranges of motion all the time.

Reason #7: Mobility and “activation” training teach certain “dormant” muscles to turn on.

In our daily lives and on the basketball court, it’s inevitable that we get stuck in certain repetitive movement patterns – things we do every day, several times a day. With these constant patterns, certain muscles will just “shut down” because they aren’t being used. Two good examples would be the glutes (your butt muscles) and the scapular retractors (the muscles that pull your shoulder blades together). As a result, these shutdowns lead to faulty hip positioning and rounded shoulders, respectively (and a host of other problems, but we won’t get into that).

To correct these problems, we need what is known as activation work. These drills teach dormant muscles to fire at the right times to complement the mobility drills and get you moving efficiently. Mike and I went to great lengths in Magnificent Mobility to not only outline mobility drills, but also activation movements and movements that incorporate components of both.

Reason #8: Having mobility feels good!

Think about it: what’s the first thing an athlete wants to do after a good stretching session? Go run and jump around! Now, just imagine having that more limber feeling all the time; that’s exactly what mobility training can do for you.

Knowledge of the game and technical prowess will take an athlete far in the game of basketball, but it takes an efficient body to build the physical qualities that will take that same athlete to greatness. Without adequate mobility, an athlete will never even reach the efficient stage – much less the next level.

For more information on mobility training, check out MagnificentMobility.com

References

2. Nelson AG, Kokkonen J, Arnall DA. Acute muscle stretching inhibits muscle strength endurance performance. J Strength Cond Res. 2005 May;19(2):338-43

3. Kurz, T. Science of Sports Training. Stadion, 2001.

4. Young WB, Behm DG. Effects of running, static stretching and practice jumps on explosive force production and jumping performance. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 2003 Mar;43(1):21-7.

5. Thompson, A, Kackley, T, Palumbo, M, Faigenbaum, A. Acute effects of different warm-up protocols on jumping performance in female athletes. 2004 New England ACSM Fall Conference. 10 Nov 2004.

6. Colleran, EG, McCarthy, RD, Milliken, LA. The effects of a dynamic warm-up vs. traditional warm-up on vertical jump and modified t-test performance. 2003 New England ACSM Fall Conference. 11 Nov 2003.

Something New for EricCressey.com

Not a week passes that I don’t receive a handful of emails from people – especially “up and comers” in the fitness industry – who are interested in not only how I got to where I am, but how I did so at such a young age.  I can say without wavering that I’m the last person you’ll ever hear toot his own horn, but I would say that my accomplishments to-date (I just turned 25) speak for themselves:

• I published my first article just prior to my 21st birthday, and since then have gone on to author over 80 more articles in various online and print magazines
• Mike Robertson and I released a very popular DVD, Magnificent Mobility.
• I just completed my first training manual.
• I’ve worked with or consulted for thousands of athletes at all levels, and even more ordinary “weekend warriors” in a variety of contexts.
• I’ve set state, national, and world records in the sport of powerlifting.
• I’ve been an invited guest speaker all over the country.

Again, I list these accomplishments not to boast, but simply to offer a frame of reference for the recommendations I’m about to make.  With that said, when someone emails me and asks how I got to where I am, and what resources I recommend, I make recommendations in several areas: work ethic, professionalism, demeanor, free resources, trial and error, seminars, and paid resources in terms of training, nutrition, and business.

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.

Professionalism

If you don’t love what you’re doing, find something else.  Be enthusiastic; you can't teach passion. If you love this, act like it and have some fun! You’ll be amazed at how your athletes and clients get excited when YOU get excited.  And, if you're just training for you, you'll be amazed at how much better you progress when you find something that excites you.  Going to train should never be an undesirable experience; if it is, you need to shuffle things up.

The Meat and Potatoes

With all that said, here's a link to the newest addition to EricCressey.com: the Recommended Resources Page.

Have a great week!

EC

EricCressey.com Subscriber-only Q&A

To answer your question, if there is too much dorsiflexion at the ankles, it is generally a sign that you're not decelerating properly at the knees and hips, so the ankles are taking on an extra percentage of the load. I would suspect weakness of the knee and/or hip extensors.

Q: I have an imbalance - one leg vs. the other. Do you suggest doing 100% unilateral leg-work for a while to cure the imbalance?

*If you’re interested in learning more along these lines, I would highly recommend Muscles: Testing and Function with Posture and Pain (5th Ed.) by Kendall et al.  This is truly a classic text that every fitness professional should own.

Q:  I am a strongman competitor and am thinking about incorporating squat briefs into my training. I talked to a powerlifter buddy of mine and he said he would recommend briefs for max effort squats and deadlifts to keep the hips healthy. What do you think about this?

However, given the nature of the training you’ll be doing (powerlifting-influenced), I wouldn’t rule the briefs out right away.  It depends on whether you're regularly box squatting and/or squatting with a wide stance.  If you are, I'd say that they're a good investment, and you could use them 1-2 weeks out of the month.

Have a great week!

EC

Product Review: Alwyn Cosgrove's Afterburn

If you aren't familiar with Alwyn Cosgrove's stuff, you're really missing out; here is a guy who has produced results time and time again.  If you're looking to get lean fast, but don't have a clue where to start, let Alwyn show you the way.  One of the best aspects of this product is that there's something for everyone.  Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned veteran, you'll learn some tricks of the trade to get you to where you want to be faster.  I've used a lot of Alwyn's ideas personally and with my athletes and clients; I would encourage you to check them out and experience the results for yourself.

Afterburn

Eric Cressey Interview

Yes, I'm really putting an interview with me in my own newsletter.  It's not what you think, though! Brian Grasso from www.DevelopingAthletics.com interviewed me for his newsletter last week; I hope you enjoy it!

Eric Cressey is one of the youngest and brightest stars in the conditioning world today.  He and I have forged a great relationship as of late and I wanted to bring his expertise to you... you WILL be impressed!

BG - Your newest DVD, Magnificent Mobility cites the importance of delineating the difference between "mobility" and "flexibility" in a training program. What is the difference and when do each apply?

EC – Those are great questions, Brian; very few people understand the difference – and it is a big one. Flexibility merely refers to range of motion – and, more specifically, passive range of motion as achieved by static stretching. Don’t get me wrong; static stretching has its place. I see it as tremendously valuable in situations where you want to:

a) Relax a muscle to facilitate antagonist activation (e.g. stretch the hip flexors to improve glute recruitment)

b) Break down scar tissue following an injury and/or surgery (when the new connective tissue may require “realignment”)

c) Loosen someone up when you can’t be supervising them (very simply, there is less likelihood of technique breakdown with static stretching because it isn’t a dynamic challenge)

However, the principle problem with pure flexibility is that it does not imply stability nor preparedness for dynamic tasks. As one of my mentors, Dr. David Tiberio, taught me, we need to have mobile-stability; there’s really no use in being able to attain a given range of motion if you can’t stabilize yourself in that position. Excessive passive flexibility without mobility (or dynamic flexibility, as it’s been called) will actually increase the risk of injury!

Moreover, it’s not uncommon at all to see individuals with circus-like passive flexibility fail miserably on dynamic tasks. For instance, I recently began working with an accomplished ballet dancer who can tie herself into a human pretzel, but could barely hit parallel on a body weight squat until after a few sessions of corrective training. She was great on the dynamic tasks that were fundamentally specific to her sport, but when faced with a general challenge that required mobility in a non-familiar range of motion, she was grossly unprepared to handle it. She had flexibility, but not mobility; the instability and the lack of preparation for the dynamic motion were the limiting factors. She could achieve joint ranges of motion, but her neuromuscular system wasn’t prepared to do much of anything in those ranges of motion.

We went to great lengths in Magnificent Mobility to not only outline mobility drills, but also what we call “activation” movements. Essentially, they teach often-dormant muscles to fire at the right times to normalize the muscle balance, improve performance, and reduce the risk of injury. Collectively, mobility and activation drills are best performed as part of the warm-up and on off-days as active recovery. We’ve received hundreds of emails already from athletes and ordinary weekend warriors claiming improved performance, enhanced feeling of well-being, and resolution of chronic injuries; this kind of positive feedback really makes our jobs fun!

BG – You certainly are known for you ability to get athletes stronger. What type of training do you use for adolescent athletes… let me narrow that down (i) a 16 year old with no formal strength training experience (ii) a 16 year with a solid foundation and decent knowledge with exercise form

EC - First and foremost, we have fun. It doesn’t matter how educated or passionate I am; I’m not doing my job if they aren’t having a blast coming in to train with me. With respect to the individual athletes, I’ll first roll through a health history and just run them through some basic dynamic flexibility movements to see where they stand. As we all know, there is a lot of variation in terms of physical maturity and training experience at these ages, and I can get a pretty good idea of what they need just by watching them move a bit. In your individual cases, much of my training would revolve around the following:

In the unprepared athlete, I’d go right into several body weight drills – many of them isometric in nature – to teach efficiency. We often see an inability to differentiate between lumbar spine and pelvic motion, so I spend quite a bit of time emphasizing that the lumbar spine should be stable, and range of motion should come from the hips, thoracic spine, scapulae, and arms. Loading is the least of my concerns in the first few sessions; research has demonstrated that beginners can make progress on as little as 40% of 1RM, so why rush things with heavy loading that will compromise form? The lighter weights will allow them to groove technique and improve connective tissue health prior to the introduction of heavier loading.

In the athlete with a solid foundation, I’ll run through those same preliminary drills to verify that they are indeed “solid” and not just good compensators for dysfunction. Believe it or not, most “trained” athletes really aren’t that “trained” if you use efficiency as a marker of preparedness – even at the Division I, professional, and Olympic ranks; you can be a great athlete in spite of what you do and not necessarily because of what or how you do it.

Assuming things are looking good, I’ll look to give them more external loading on all movements, as the fastest inroads to enhanced performance will always be through maximal strength in novice athletes. As they get more advanced, I’ll start to look more closely at whether they’re more static or spring dominant and incorporate more advanced reactive training movements. Single-leg movements are still of paramount importance, and we add in some controlled strongman-type training to keep things interesting and apply the efficiency in a less controlled environment. Likewise, as an athlete’s deceleration mechanics improve, we progress from strictly closed-loop movement training drills to a blend of open- and closed-loop (unpredictable) tasks.

In both cases, variety is key; I feel that my job is to expose them to the richest proprioceptive environment possible in a safe context. With that said, however, I’m careful to avoid introducing too many different things; it’s important for young athletes to see quantifiable progress in some capacity. If you’re always changing what you do, you’ll never really show them where they stand relative to baseline.

BG – Olympic lifts and adolescents… do you use them? Why or why not?

EC – Personally, I generally don’t for several reasons. It’s not because I’m inherently opposed to Olympic lifts from an injury risk standpoint. Sure, I’ve seen cleans ruin some wrists, and there are going to be a ton of people with AC joint and impingement problems who can’t do anything above shoulder level without pain. That’s not to say that the exercises are fundamentally contraindicated for everyone, though; as with most things in life, the answer rests somewhere in the middle. Know your clients, and select your exercises accordingly.

My primary reasons for omitting them tend to be that I don’t always have as much time with athletes as I’d like, and simply because such technical lifts require constant practice – which we all know isn’t always possible with young athletes who don’t train for a living. Equipment limitations may be a factor (bumper plates are a nice luxury). And, to be very honest, I’ve seen athletes make phenomenal progress without using Olympic lifts, so I don’t concern myself too much with the arguing that goes on. If another coach wants to use them and is a good teacher, I’m find with him doing so; it just isn’t for me, with the exception of some high pulls here and there.

BG – Basing off of the last question, do you teach Olympic lift technique to pre-adolescents?

EC – I don’t. It’s not to say that I wouldn’t be comfortable doing so with a broomstick or some PVC pipe, but when I consider the pre-adolescents with whom I’ve worked, I just can’t see them getting excited about all that technique work for one category of exercises. Olympic lifting is a sport in itself, and I think it should be viewed that way.

BG – My subscribers know that I believe as much in deceleration training as I do in any sort of speed enhancing-based work… How do you improve speed and deceleration habits?

EC – We’re definitely on the same page on this one. In a nutshell, I just slow everything down for the short-term – starting with isometric holds. Every change of direction has a deceleration, isometric action, and acceleration; I’ve found that if you teach the athlete how his/her body should be aligned in that mid-point, they’ll be golden. My progressions are as follows (keep in mind that you can span several of these progressions in one session if the athlete is proficient):

Slow-speed, Full Stop, Hold > Slow Speed, Full Stop, Acceleration > Slow Speed, Quick Transition,

Open-loop > Closed-loop (predictable > unpredictable)

With respect to reactive training methods (incorrectly termed plyometrics), we start with bilateral and unilateral jumps to boxes, as they don’t impose as much eccentric force (the athlete goes up, but doesn’t come down). From there, we move to altitude landings, and ultimately to bounce drop jump (depth jumps), repeated broad jumps, bounding, and other higher-impact tasks.

Finally, one lost component of deceleration training is basic maximal strength. All other factors held constant, the stronger kid will learn to decelerate more easily than his weaker counterparts. So, enhancing a generally, foundational quality like maximal strength on a variety of tasks will indirectly lead to substantial improvements in deceleration ability – especially in untrained individuals.

Another week in the books!  Thanks for checking in.

Until next time, train hard and have fun!

EC

Product Review: The Vertical Jump Development Bible by Kelly Baggett

It’s not often that I come across a product that really blows me away to the point of me not only saying “wow,” but also calling the author and complimenting him personally.  There aren’t many Kelly Baggetts in the world, though.

Kelly and I have both worked with a ton of high-level athletes, and I literally found myself nodding in approval with every paragraph I encountered in this book.  Simply put, Kelly is one of the few people in this industry who really “gets it;” he put into words so many things that go through my mind all the time.  This book won’t just teach you about improving an athlete’s vertical jump; it’ll teach you about improving an athlete period.  I’ve used the principles outlined in the book with athletes myself, and they’re tremendously effective and, just as importantly, related in a context that’s understandable for experienced coaches and novice lifters alike.  This book is more than just the “what;” it’s the why, how, when, and who as well.  If you work with athletes or are an athlete yourself, you need to pick up The Vertical Jump Development Bible.

If you need any further proof that Kelly has my highest endorsement, consider that he and I are actually co-authoring an e-book right now as well.  I’m about as picky as they come when it comes to joint ventures; I wouldn’t be pursuing this book if Kelly wasn’t the real deal.  Definitely check his stuff out.

Newsletter Subscriber-only Exclusive Q&A The Q&A I did in last week’s newsletter was very well received, so I’ll be doing this more frequently.  Last week, I received a great question from an accomplished golfer from whom I am an online consultant, and it sparked a good ol’ fashioned Cressey tangent with plenty of rambling.  Hopefully, there will be something for everyone. Q: Having been lucky enough to spend time around some of the world’s best golfers (both pros and amateurs) over the years, the one question that comes up about conditioning for golf is “What gives you the biggest carryover to improving your performance?”  Over the years, I have talked to and asked many strength and performance specialist coaches and have gotten very different answers to what gives maximum results.  One well-known “guru” who has written a book on golf conditioning insists that because golf is a rotational movement, the best way to improve is to bang out lots of rotational movements.  I followed this with a trainer I had until he went and spent time with another world-renowned coach who told him that through his research with hundreds of athletes from multiple sports that rotational movements don’t carry over to rotational events.  I emailed this coach to ask about this and also what part Olympic lifts had for golf and he told me the carryover was not too good and that strong lats and a well integrated shoulder unit is what is required.  But then, to put another slant on this, a prominent Olympic lifting coach told me to snatch and clean, which made me curious to keep finding answers. Now that I’m training with your programming, you have opened my eyes to a very complete way of training making sure to cure imbalances and develop all strength qualities as well as all factors of dynamic flexibility.  I am now convinced that this is the way to get max results when training for any sport and specializing is not the answer.  I hope you don’t mind me asking you about this, but what your opinions on so-called “sport-specific training?” A: Without going any further, the big answer will always be "biomechanically correct efficiency."  You can't have health and performance without it.  Teach the body to move efficiently, and you'll keep it healthy and performing at a high-level indefinitely.  My number one responsibility as a performance enhancement coach is to keep you healthy; you can’t perform if you’re injured.  If you’re inefficient, you’re asking for injury, so that needs to be addressed first and foremost. However, that’s not to say that corrective training has to follow the lines of the foo-foo garbage so many personal trainers are promoting nowadays.  In fact, I’m speaking on “hardcore corrective training” at the Syracuse Strength Spectacular, and Mike Robertson and I will touch on the subject in great detail at our Building the Efficient Athlete seminar on July 22-23 in New York City.  Just because someone is a little out of kilter doesn’t mean that you have to treat him like he’s a geriatric hip replacement patient.  Here’s a quick example: Let’s say that a right-handed golfer comes to me with an extension-rotation syndrome (very common) that’s giving him some left lower back pain.  I check him out and find that he’s got a super-tight right iliotibial band – tensor fascia latae complex, and his right rectus femoris is equally knotted up.  My knowledge of functional anatomy tells me that two of his hip flexors on that side are working crazy overtime, so there is a good chance that the psoas major (the only hip flexor active above 90-degrees of hip flexion – a range of motion that most people don’t encounter enough) might not be doing its job.  I test it, and there’s a deficit.  I know that the psoas major doesn’t just flex the femur; it also has the ability to rotate the lumbar spine.  If the right psoas is not firing, it’s not acting in rotation to counteract the rotational pull of the left psoas major.  Essentially, its stiffness relative to the opposite side is insufficient.  So, there’s my rotation. I also know that the psoas major can pull the lumbar vertebrae anteriorly, so that can contribute to my extension problem.  Likewise, when I factor in the tightness and adhesions in the rectus femoris and TFL, it’s pretty clear that the pelvis is going to be anteriorly tilted (and rotated, most likely) and the gluteus maximus isn’t going to be firing due to reciprocal inhibition.  As such, the individual isn’t going to be able to get full hip extension – so he’ll have to hyperextend his lumbar spine to compensate for a lack of hip extension range of motion.  Likewise, with the overactive TFL, I can guarantee that his gluteus medius on that side isn’t going to be doing its job, so the hip will likely slip into adduction (think of the hip fallout you see in a newbie squatting). This is really just a small piece of the puzzle in terms of what’s going on, as you’re going to have compensations up and down the entire the kinetic chain.  A knee could have gone first, or the individual might actually develop shoulder pain secondary to this lumbo-pelvis misalignment.  How do we treat it?  Well, definitely not with leg extensions, a little stationary cycling, and some unstable surface balancing!  Here’s what I’m going to do: 1. Really get after the TFL, rectus femoris, quadriceps, and adductors with a foam roller, “The Stick” and, if possible, Active Release®. 2. Static stretch the TFL and rectus femoris. 3. Do some activation work for the psoas major, gluteus medius, and gluteus maximus. 4. Progress to tightly supervised bodyweight-only mobility drills that don’t allow faulty compensation patterns. 5. Use a combination of bilateral and unilateral movements done CORRECTLY to teach proper initiation of the posterior chain.  In other words, I might do a rack pull or pull-through where I teach the individual to fire the glutes and pop the hips through at lockout instead of simply leaning back.  Controlled eccentrics and isometrics holds can be fantastic here. 6. We’re going to start with pure stabilization work for the lumbar spine, and over time, we’ll start to progress to rotational movements once I see that he can get the rotation in the right places. 7. I’ll discuss with the individual what can be done to avoid reinforcing this movement pattern in his daily life.  Maybe he’s always reaching to one side to answer the phone.  Or, more likely, he’s getting too much rotation at his spine with his golf swing because his hip rotators are too tight. All this said, without a doubt, the single-most important thing I’m going to do with this golfer is continue to treat him like an athlete.  I’ll give him challenges and test him just as I would a healthy athlete – just in a more controlled environment and with slightly modified exercises.  None of that sissy crap needed; it’s just going to make him so soft that training him once he’s healthy (if he ever does get healthy with that garbage) will be like pulling teeth. Anyway, the take-home message is that you have to understand functional anatomy first and foremost.  Otherwise, you have no place telling people that you’re using “functional training” – especially if you don’t even know the true origins of the term.  I’ll step off my soapbox and get to your questions now… I think the rotational idea has merit, but the fundamental problem with this is that most people get rotation in all the wrong places.  If you're getting lumbar rotation, you're on the fast track to lower back pain.  Get it at your hips, thoracic spine, and scapulae, though, and you'll be in a good position.  In this regard, one needs to learn to stabilize the lumbar spine (think “Super Stiffness,” as per Stuart McGill) and mobilize the hips, thoracic spine, and shoulder girdle.  That's what you've been doing, and it's paying dividends.  If I just send Average Joe out to train rotation all day, he'd be booking an appointment with his orthopedic back specialist in a matter of weeks (it's the same reason that so many golfers have back pain...remember extension-rotation syndrome secondary to tight hip lateral rotators and hip flexors?) Let’s just say that I would love to see the peer-reviewed journal in which that “extensive research” was published; lats are important, no doubt, but still somewhat of a stretch as “most” important.  My experience tells me that they're most valuable in sports where you're actually hitting the ground with your swing (e.g. hockey), but not as important as rotational power in the golfing motion.  The effective shoulder model is definitely important, though, so he’s on track in that regard.  You need a perfect balance of stability and mobility for optimal health and performance. As far as the snatch and clean recommendations are concerned, go to an Olympic lifter, and he's going to tell you to Olympic lift, you know?  Olympic lifting has merits, but two lifts aren't a magic bullet.  The reason this coach’s ideas are valuable is because he made you realize that the value of simplicity is highly overlooked.  However, if you've got imbalances like most golfers do, doing two compound lifts is just going to reinforce those imbalances. I'm a firm believer in what Vladimir Zatsiorsky termed delayed transmutation (of nonspecific motor potential into sport performance results); it's defined as "the time period needed to transform acquired motor potential into athletic performance."  Basically, this holds that you build an athletic up in a general sense, and then he takes those general qualities and adapts them to his specific sport.  You can think of the training as "generally specific.” With your program, I'm not tinkering with your golf swing directly, but I'm tinkering with your neuromuscular system, which governs that golf swing.  If it moves efficiently (via constant ingraining of those activation and mobility patterns), you're going to integrate that efficiency into your golf swing without even knowing it.  It's the same reason I can make someone run faster without actually making him run.  Would you believe that in biomechanics lab analysis, the best golfers swing 50% as hard as their poorly performing counterparts?  As long as they've got efficiency and ROM, they can get the job done without overswinging - which also throws things off because transfer of energy through the core is out of whack. We train mobility where we need that, and stability where we need that. We train power at all points along the speed-strength continuum for obvious reasons. We train maximal strength because it can have a ceiling effect on power, especially in naturally reactive individuals. We do rep work to iron out imbalances and attend to your "aside" goal of being more solid.  As long as you don't put on so much muscle mass that you lose ROM, we're golden. We do low-intensity recovery work to allow you to bounce back and training again sooner and at a higher level of strength and speed.  Plus, it helps to repeat mobility and activation work on a daily basis. What we will NEVER do is have you mimic the golf swing under loaded conditions or while standing on an unstable surface.  Crap like this is what makes so many modern "sport-specific" and "functional" training programs so useless.  From my thesis defense presentation: “Willardson (2004) observed that two problems arise when one attempts to mimic sports skills while on an unstable surface. 1) The individual may actually be mastering two separate motor patterns, as “the underlying neuromuscular recruitment patterns and proprioceptive feedback may be completely different” for the two exercises. 2) The incorporation of unfamiliar entities to a pre-existing neuromuscular recruitment pattern for a given activity may negatively impact performance of that skill.” So, basically, trying too hard to mimic the golf swing will screw up your golf swing, but enhance your performance in this new environment.  If you want to add ten pounds to your clubs or play in the middle of an earthquake, you’ll be more than prepared.  Otherwise, I’d stick to “general specificity.” Hopefully, all this makes sense.  I tend to ramble sometimes… That’s all for this week; stay tuned for some great announcements and new material very shortly.  Have a great week! EC

We’re five newsletters in, and while the feedback on our interviews has been fantastic, I’ve actually received several emails from people wanting to hear more from me.  In my infinite wisdom, I guess I never realized that people would actually sign up for an EricCressey.com newsletter to hear from Eric Cressey.  With that said, I figured that since I receive hundreds of emails on a weekly basis, I might as well pick a few from the pile and respond for everyone.  There will be some information, some sarcasm, and the occasional rant; I guess that’s part of the beauty of having your own newsletter.  As always, if there is something you’d like to see in the newsletter, just say the word; I’m all ears.

“1) They're willing to work out in excess of 5hrs per week (sometimes up to 8 hours/week).

A:

Those are definitely some statements with which I agree wholeheartedly, and I think that the more people that check out JB’s Precision Nutrition products, the less often I’ll have to encounter questions like this!  Once people start to adopt these ideals, I really think that we’ll see a paradigm shift in the world of training-nutrition interaction for body composition improvement.

I, too, get really sick and tired of the “bulk and cut” mentality to which so many people adhere.  And, as a competitive athlete myself who has to maintain reasonably strict control over my body weight – yet has still seen consistent improvements in body composition over time – I feel that I have a solid frame of reference from which to speak.  In fact, as I look to drop a few pounds prior to APF Senior Nationals (June 2), my overall training and nutrition strategies aren’t changing much at all.

With that said, I've got several problems with what has seemingly become the “traditionalist” approach:

Now, put a natural lifter in the same scenario, and you’ll see right away that he’s immediately at a disadvantage.  Drop calories too fast, and your endogenous testosterone and thyroid levels fall.  You get tired and weak, and your body has to find energy wherever it can – even if it means breaking down muscle tissue.

I’m not trying to get on a soapbox here; I’m just trying to make people realize that they’re comparing apples and oranges.  You need to do what’s right for you.

And what does that entail?  Adopt admirable dietary, training, and lifestyle habits, and you’ll build a strong body that moves efficiently and just so happens to look good.  Leave the quick-fix approaches for those with “assistance” and anyone silly enough to watch a fitness infomercial from beginning to end.

*Note to readers: This reference was spurred on by my good friend, Tony Gentilcore, who was responsible for the quote of the week:

“There are two kinds of people that irritate me: people who use the leg press, and Ben Affleck.”

(For your information, Tony has a bit of a crush on Jennifer Garner, and it tends to make him a little biased when the time comes to review Affleck movies)

Q:

I was wondering what your thoughts on “finishers” to workouts are.  You know, tough stuff to test yourself at the end of a lift.

A:

Truthfully, I rarely add "finishers" to the end of sessions. In my opinion, this brings to light an amazing "phenomenon" that exists in the performance enhancement field. Those who make frequent use of finishers are the very same individuals who don't know a thing about volume manipulation for optimal supercompensation. If the finisher was such a valuable inclusion, then why wasn't it written into the program initially?

Some people claim that these are an ideal means of enhancing mental toughness.  I can’t disagree, but I do think that your mental training stimuli should already exist in your programming.  If you need to search around for things to haphazardly incorporate at the end of a session, then you need to take a look at program design abilities.  I’d rather see a “finisher” just be considered an appropriately-planned “last exercise.”  Believe it or not, there should even be times when you leave the gym feeling fresh.

I will say, however, that finishers have their place with younger athletes where you’re just trying to keep the session fun.  If you find something productive that they’re enthusiastic about doing, by all means, deviate from your plan a bit and build on that enthusiasm.  When they start getting more experienced, though, you’re going to have to know when to hold back the reins on them a bit.

Q:

In December of 2001, I was rear-ended going about 30mph; five cars were involved, and I was the first car hit from behind. My knee hit the dashboard when I was hit from behind and my head was jerked backwards when I hit the car in front of me.

My knee started hurting soon after, although I never got it checked out.  It’s now become a sharp pain and a constant, dull ache as well with weakness on stairs and squatting-type positions especially.  In addition, there are tender areas, on the outside and top of the knee, that cause extreme pain when I am bending, squatting, lying down, or sitting down for too long. My hip has also been affected, also aching constantly. My right leg and knee also hurt and knot up easily.   The surrounding muscles are very weak with several knots in them, and I also have a very tight iliotibial band.  Any ideas what might be going on?

A:

I thought "PCL" (posterior cruciate ligament) the second I saw the word "dashboard;" it's the most common injury mechanism with this injury.  I’m really surprised that they didn’t check you out for this right after the accident; you might actually be a candidate for a surgery to clean things up.  Things to consider:

1. They aren't as good at PCL surgeries as they are with ACL surgeries, as they're only 1/10 as common.  As such, they screw up a good 30%, as I recall – so make sure you find a good doctor who is experienced with this injury to assess you and, if necessary, do the procedure.

2. It's believed that isolated PCL injuries never occur; they always take the LCL and a large "chunk" of the posterolateral complex along for the ride.  That would explain some of the lateral pain.

3. The PCL works synergistically with the quads to prevent posterior tibial translation.  As such, quad strengthening is always a crucial part of PCL rehab (or in instances when they opt to not do surgery).  A good buddy of mine was a great hockey player back in the day, but he has no PCL in his right knee; he has to make up for it now with really strong quads.

4. Chances are that a lot of the pain you’re experiencing now is related more to the compensation patterns you’ve developed over the years than it is to the actual knee injury.  For instance, the tightness in your IT band could be related to you doing more work at the hip to avoid loading that knee too much.  Pain in the front of the knee would be more indicative of a patellar tendonosis condition (“Jumper’s Knee”), which would result from over-reliance on your quads because of the lack of the PCL (something has to work overtime to prevent the portion of posterior tibial translation that the PCL normally resisted).

5. From an acute rehabilitation standpoint, I think you’d need to address both soft tissue length (with stretching and mobility work) and quality (with foam rolling).  These interventions would mostly treat the symptoms, so meanwhile, you’re going to need to look at the deficient muscles that aren't doing their job (i.e. the real reasons that ITB/TFL complex is so overactive).  I'll wager my car, entire 2006 salary, and first-born child that it’s one or more of the following:

a) your glute medius and maximus are weak

b) your adductor magnus is overactive

c) your ITB/TFL is overactive (we already know this one)

d) your biceps femoris (lateral hamstring) is overactive

e) your rectus femoris is tighter than a camel's butt in a sandstorm

f) you might have issues with weakness of the posterior fibers of the external oblique, but not the rectus abdominus (most exercisers I know do too many crunches anyway!)

Again, your best bet is to get that PCL checked out and go from there.  If you’ve made it from December 2001 until now without being incapacitated, chances are that you’ll have a lot of wiggle room with testing that knee out so that you can go into the surgery (if there is one) strong.

Good luck!

That’s all for this week; I hope everyone enjoyed it!

All the Best,

EC

An Interview with Bob Youngs

As one of the best powerlifters in the world today, Bob Youngs has forgotten more than most lifters will ever know. Bob has more under-the bar-knowledge than almost anyone you'll meet, and just as importantly, he’s as down-to-Earth as they come. I’ve been working with Bob as he works to rehabilitate a few old powerlifting injuries, and in the process of interacting with him, I’ve come to realize just how much the strength and conditioning community is missing with this guy flying somewhat “under the radar.” Fortunately, he was more than willing to do this interview for us; enjoy!

EC: Hi Bob. Thanks for taking the time to be with us today.

BY: Eric, it’s my pleasure. I have learned a lot from your Magnificent Mobility DVD as well as your articles. You have also been a huge help in trying to get me healthy.

EC: Let’s fill readers in a bit on your background. From our interaction, I’ve come to realize that people would be hard-pressed to find someone with as much experience under the bar as you. Our readers might not realize that, though; can you please fill them in on the Bob Youngs story a bit?

BY: I’ll start in the beginning. I started working out when I was 15 in 1985 and I haven’t stopped since. In high school and college, I trained to try and improve my abilities in sports. I played football, hockey, and baseball in high school. I then played just football in college. I ended up graduating with my degree in exercise science from Central Connecticut State University. I did my first powerlifting meet in February of 1991; so, I have been competing for 15 years now.

In 1996, I moved to Columbus, OH and began to train at the Westside Barbell Club under the tutelage of Louie Simmons. That is where I really started to learn about strength training. At Westside, you not only have Louie to learn from, but guys like Dave Tate, Chuck Vogelpohl, Amy Weisberger, and all of the rest of the guys. You also had people like Kent Johnson, Chris Doyle, and the late Mel Siff stopping in to see what we were doing. In 2000, I moved to Florida and started my own private powerlifting gym that I named the Southside Barbell Club. Southside Barbell has produced eight lifters who have totaled ELITE in the sport of powerlifting. Since 1999, I have been helping out lifters on the Q&A at Elite Fitness Systems.

EC: We have a lot of up-and-coming lifters, trainers, and strength coaches on our subscriber lists, so I’m sure that they’d love to hear where you looked for education and inspiration as you ascended the powerlifting ranks. Who were your biggest influences?

BY: My biggest influence is Lou Simmons. He has more knowledge than anyone I have ever met. Lou is also one of the kindest guys you’ll ever meet; I have an incredible amount of respect for him and he is so willing to help anyone. Dave Tate is another person who has helped me more than I could ever repay him for. I hated Dave when I first met him, but I got to know him better and he is now one of my best friends in life and lifting. The person who helps me the most with my training now is Jim Wendler. I bounce my ideas off Jim and he helps me separate the good ones from the stupid ones. I often tell people that Dave is the big brother I never had and Jim is the little brother I never had.

As far as reading materials go, I have been reading a lot of articles by Alwyn Cosgrove, Mike Robertson, Michael Hope, and you lately. I seem to be really getting hurt a lot recently and I have had to spend a lot of time learning about mobility, flexibility, program design and rehab.

My inspiration comes from many people.  My girlfriend, Michele Stanek, really helps keep me focused. She helps me deal with the highs and lows through which a lifter goes. My son, Chris, is an inspiration to me in a way that can be hard to explain. I guess the easiest way to explain how Chris motivates me is to say I know I need to do everything right because he is watching my example. It may seem like a cliché, but I want him to grow up and be a better man that I am. In order for him to do that, I have to show him how through my actions and not my words. My mother has always been my biggest fan. I think she has been to every meet I have ever done. She was also at every game in which I played while I was growing up. My mother is a breast cancer and leukemia survivor and has been through a bone marrow transplant. My parents moved down to Florida and live a couple of miles away from us now; so, I get to see my Mom a lot. She lives with pain every day, and in the process, has shown me what true determination is. My mother never gave up – no matter how bad things got – and it make me realize that I have the greatest mother in the world. I am who I am in large part because of her. Thanks, Mom!

EC: They say that experience is the only thing that can truly yield perspective; I’d say that you’re a perfect example of that. Speaking of experience, what were some of the mistakes you’ve made along the way, and what would you do differently?

BY: I’m not even sure where to start on this one. The easiest way to explain this would be to quote Alwyn Cosgrove, “A complete training program has to include movement preparation, flexibility work, injury prevention work, core work, cardiovascular work, strength training, and recovery/regeneration. Most programs cover, at best, two of those.”

My program only included strength training and some core work for the longest time, and I am now paying for that with chronic injuries. Now, I have had to learn about the other parts that I was missing; the more I incorporate this stuff, the better I feel. However, 15 years of not doing what I should have been doing has really cost me. I have torn my pec major, triceps tendon, intercostal, and biceps tendon. I also currently have a bulging disk in my lower back.

Could all these have been avoided? Probably not all of them, but I think some of them could have. If I had to name the biggest mistakes, it would be not using a foam roller and not doing any mobility work. In the two months I have been using the foam roller my tissue quality has improved dramatically. I have been doing mobility work, under your guidance, for about a month and I have seen some incredible improvements.

EC: I know you’re an avid student of the iron game, and read loads of books and watch every DVD you can get your hands on. What are the top ten “must-have” selections from the Bob Youngs library of books and DVDs?

BY:

1) Science and Practice of Strength Training by Zatsiorsky

2) Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance by McGill

3) Science of Sports Training by Kurz

4) The Westside Barbell videos by Simmons

5) Magnificent Mobility DVD by Cressey and Robertson

6) Encyclopedia of Kettlebell Lifting DVD by Cotter

7) Sports Restoration and Massage by Yessis and Siff

8 ) Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Covey

9) Under the Bar by Tate

10) Supertraining by Siff

I put “Supertraining” last because it is the hardest and I feel the others will help you understand it better.

EC: In addition to learning outside the gym, right off the top of your head, what are five things that our readers can do right now to become a better lifters, athletes, coaches, and/or trainers.

BY:

1) A good program must include: movement prep, flexibility work, injury prevention work, core work, cardio work, strength training, and recovery/regeneration work. Does that sound familiar? In other words, construct programs that incorporate all aspects.

2) Read one book per week. If you ever come over to my house you will see hundreds of books. I shoot for one new book per week.

3) Network within your given sport or profession. If you are a powerlifter, seek out lifters stronger than you and learn from them. If you are a strength coach, seek out another coach you think has something to offer that you don’t have. You get the idea. Most people are willing to share information if you ask them; this is usually the way you will learn the most.

4) Work smarter. Many people work hard; what makes a person the best at any given task is usually working smarter.

5) Have properly defined and realistic goals, and write them down. I am shocked by the amount of athletes and coaches who have one broad goal and no steps to get there. Set a big goal and then break it down into smaller goals. I will use a powerlifter as an example. I hear all the time, “I want to squat 800 pounds.” That’s great, but how do you get there? If you have a current max of 500, your next small goal might be to squat 550. Then, you break that down further to knowing you need to hit X on a given max effort exercise. Now, you have a goal every time you go into the gym.

EC: Awesome points. Far too many people set themselves up for failure with lofty goals that aren’t built on a foundation of specific objectives. What does a typical training week look like for you?

BY: Every weekday morning, I start the day by doing my foam roller work, mobility work, and a bike ride. I make sure I have been awake an hour to allow for the spinal fluid to properly drain from my back (read McGill!) prior to starting to train.

• Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays are non-weight training days for me. I do some stretching, core work, and walking on these days.
• Tuesday is my bench assistance night; I actually do this workout at home with some stuff I have in the garage. I do various pushups and kettlebell work for the shoulders, traps, and biceps.
• Thursday is a gym day, but it is still pretty low-key. I do some lat work, pull-throughs, kettlebell swings, and a single-leg movement. My single-leg movements are reverse lunges, walking lunges, step-ups, and Bulgarian split squats.
• Saturday is my max effort bench day. I do a max effort movement, a high board press or rack lockouts, some type of row, and end with some type of dumbbell press for reps.
• Sunday is my squat and deadlift day. One week, I do dynamic work for the squat and deadlift and the next week I do max effort work for the squat and deadlift. My assistance work on Sundays is neck, glute-ham raises, and a single-leg movement again.

I know this is quite different from what most people view as the standard “Westside” template, but this is just how my training has evolved. This schedule allows me to get in the recuperation time I need, and it seems to be working well for me.

EC: I know that you’ve recently taken a new outlook on your powerlifting career. Please fill our readers in on what’s next for you on the competition scene and where you see yourself in the next few years with powerlifting.

BY: I have decided to move down to the 242-pound weight class. I have been competing at both the 275s and 308s recently; my heaviest bodyweight was 305. I am currently weighing around 247 or so. I decided to do this for health reasons; my blood pressure and cholesterol weren’t that great when I was 290 pounds. The new diet actually has been pretty fun, as it has added a new dimension to my life. For people who say it easier to be a big fat powerlifter, it has been easier for me to keep my weight down than it was to keep it up.

I’m going to compete in June at 242 for the first time since 1996. I won’t be completely healthy, but I am looking forward to putting up some decent numbers. I’ll then look to do a meet in December at 242; hopefully, I’ll be all healed up by that time. I’m hoping to beat my all time best total in any weight class at that time.

Beyond that, I’m just going to keep doing what I do. I love the sport of powerlifting, and have since day one. I still enjoy going to the gym and working hard. I like to think I have gotten smarter over the years and I’m hoping that helps me be an even better lifter at a lighter bodyweight.

EC: Great information as always, Bob; thanks for joining us! Where can readers go to keep track of you?

BY: Thank you for having me Eric. I had a lot of fun. I can be reached at the EliteFTS Q&A.

Another week in the books; see you next Tuesday, everyone.

Until then, train hard and have fun!

EC

In this update, we’ve got review of Vladimir Zatsiorsky’s Science and Practice of Strength Training as well as an interview with Jay Floyd.

Product Review: Science and Practice of Strength Training

I get a lot of emails from up-and-coming coaches and ordinary weekend warriors who are enthusiastic about learning more about how to design their own programs, but are absolutely awestruck and confused by Supertraining.  It’s a phenomenal book, but it isn’t exactly one with which you want to get your feet wet if you’re new to the strength and conditioning education scene.  As such, these individuals often ask me if I have a suggestion for a comparable book that is more user-friendly.  I immediately recommend Vladimir Zatsiorsky’s Science and Practice of Strength Training.

Admittedly, this book is technical at times, but that’s not to say that you will not be able to think it out.  And, because the ability to think critically is crucial to successful program design, you’ll be better off in the long run when it comes time to write programs for your athletes, clients, and yourself.  Zatsiorsky won’t spoon-feed you cookie-cutter routines, but he will outline which methods do and do not work – and, just as importantly, why they succeeded or failed.

You’ll receive a comprehensible interpretation of decades of carefully logged training journals of elite Soviet athletes; no Western training system has such a substantial and carefully documented pool from which to draw training insights.  The Science and Practice of Strength Training should be on the bookshelf of every coach, sports scientist, and trainer – as well as those of intermediate and advanced lifters looking to get to the next level.

An Interview with Jay Floyd

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Jay Floyd, I would highly recommend searching around for some of his stuff and familiarizing yourself with his name.  In addition to being one of the most accomplished lifters and knowledgeable and passionate coaches around, Jay is a rare breed in the strength and conditioning world: a genuinely good guy.  He understands that he’s developing people as much as he’s developing athletes, and he’ll always take the time to help out up-and-coming lifters.  I know because three years ago, I was one of those lifters.  I was on the fence about whether or not to get into powerlifting, and my discussions with Jay were a huge deciding factor in me making the jump into competitive lifting.  He made me realize that I couldn’t ever be the coach that I wanted to be unless I was doing my best to walk a mile in my athletes’ shoes, and to do so, I needed to get back the competitive mindset I had when I was involved in athletics as I grew up.  Simply stated, I owe him a lot.

EC: Hi Jay; thanks for taking the time to be with us today.  We’ve interacted a lot over the years, but I’m not a lot of our readers are familiar with you and your accomplishments.  By all means, bring them up to speed by taking a few paragraphs to brag about yourself!

JF: Well I played football, baseball, and threw the shot put in track in high school, and I have always loved lifting weights.  I started lifting in my room when I was 12 years old; I would crank up “Too Legit To Quit” and lift like crazy.  My dedication to lifting really paid off early for me, as I was able to start at tight end as a sophomore in the toughest classification in Georgia. I went on to be a three-year starter on the football team, was Team Captain, Best Offensive Lineman, Weight Champ, and all those things. I even got to play in the Georgia Dome my senior year.

After high school, I only had a couple of walk-on opportunities because of my height (6ft.), so I decided to just go to school and not play football.  While in school, I got a degree in Exercise Science and immersed myself in learning as much as I could about strength and conditioning.  During this time I also started powerlifting; now, my current best lifts are an 845 squat, 535 bench, 640 deadlift and 2000 total in the 275lb class.

EC: Great stuff, Jay; what are you up to now?

JF: I am now the Strength and Conditioning and Offensive Line Coach at Alexander High School in Douglasville, GA.

When I got here less than two years ago, we only had three 400-pound squatters, zero 300-pound bench pressers, and two over 250 pounds in the power clean. At our last high school powerlifting meet, we ended up with nine 400-pound squatters, three 500-pound squatters, six 300-pound benchers, one 400-pound bencher, and six over 250 in the power clean.  My best lifter did an APC meet last weekend and squatted 650, benched 451, and deadlifted 551 at age 18 at body weight of 260.  All these lifts were done in old single-ply gear; the squat suit he used was my four-year old Metal IPF squatter, which is actually loose on me at 285!

I have written articles for Bodybuilding.com, Athletes.com, and Elitefts.com.  I am also in the works with Landon Evans on something in football that should be interesting and I have developed some exercises with bands that should change the way I coach my offensive lineman in football.

EC: I can speak from experience that coaching entire teams isn’t an easy thing to do, so I’ve got a ton of respect for what you do with your high school kids.  What are the challenges you face on a daily basis in this setting, and how do you overcome them?

JF: Without a doubt, the biggest challenge is lack of support from the other coaches and administration.  Because the school day is so full, the only time you can work with athletes is during a weight training class.  Unfortunately, our administration is not committed to putting our athletes in those classes; this lack of support is actually one of the reasons that I will not be back at this school next year.

We also face problems with the coaches of other sports. Many are ignorant to conditioning and this makes my job very difficult.  They do not stress the importance of lifting and getting stronger to the kids and that makes it tough for me to sell the program to their kids.  For most football players, it isn’t a problem, but basketball and baseball are different stories, though.  The overspecialization is killing the athletes in this country, but no one wants to see it.  A lot of really bright coaches have beaten this horse to death, so I won’t go into it any further.

Another problem I have is more is my fault entirely.  Because I compete in powerlifting, some coaches believe that this is the way we I train my kids year-round.  Although we do have elements of a traditional Westside Barbell program, their training looks nothing like mine.  However, for people who do not know the difference, it looks the same.

EC: What does a typical day in the life of Jay Floyd look like?

JF: I wake up between 5:30 and 6AM, and eat right away.  I will go to the gym and train fellow coaches, football players, and powerlifters until 8AM.  At about 8:15AM, I will start the movements from your Magnificent Mobility DVD and start to lift around 8:45AM.  I am usually done by 10:00AM, but I may do accessories throughout the day when I find the time.  I am in classes from 10:20AM until 3:30PM. If it is football season, practice starts at 4PM and I am there until about 7-7:30PM.  If it’s not football season, I hang around for a bit and then go home.  I just got married, so now the afternoons are reserved for my wife.

EC: I’m sure that - like all of us – you’ve made some mistakes along the way.  What were a few of those mistakes, and how did you turn them into positive learning experiences that benefited your athletes and you as a lifter?

JF: The biggest mistake I have made is not paying attention to mobility.  I am stuck playing catch-up now and it is much more difficult to backtrack than it is to build it in the first place and then maintain it.  I stress this heavily with my athletes now; we do mobility work of some sort every single day.

In my own training, going overboard with bands really hurt my strength.  I neglected my straight weight and raw work for too long my squat and deadlift really suffered. In fact, I just wrote an article called "Starting Strength" for EliteFTS.com about this very subject.

EC: Along those same lines, who in the industry has helped to make you the lifter and coach that you are today?  To whom have you looked for inspiration?

JF: A guy in this field is a liar if he doesn’t say that Louie Simmons has been the one of his biggest influences; I would not be where I am today if not for Louie Simmons, Dave Tate, Jim Wendler, and the rest of the guys at Westside Barbell and Elite Fitness Systems.  I only know Jim personally, but they have all helped me and been more than generous with their time and money.  Also, guys like you, Landon Evans, Steve Coppola, Jared Bruff, Donnie Thompson, Marc Bartley, and the other guys at the Compound in South Carolina have helped me tremendously with my powerlifting technigue and gear. Your Mobility DVD has been unbelievable for me.  Landon Evans is always there with brilliant ideas, and Steve Coppola and Jesse Burdick are the same way.  Jared Bruff has been a great friend to me over the past four years, as we’ve done many meets together and he has been my handler at most of them; I would not have done as well as I have if not for him.  Joe DeFranco has probably influenced my program design the most; I have done variations of his programs with my kids with great results.  I also have tons of respect for James Smith, and Jason Ferruggia has been great to me as well.  Those are the kind of people that make this business so great.

And I would be a terrible person if I did not mention my training partners for the past two years.  Clay Livingston, Joey Strickland, and Rich Fendley have pulled more bars off of me than I can count.  I especially want to thank Clay; he has been my constant training partner for the last two years. Of course, I have to thank my wife, too; she has pushed me in powerlifting more than anybody.  It is great to have that kind of support and love at home for what you do.  The best hug I ever received was when she came to the back to hug me after I totaled Elite for the first time; I think she was happier than I was!

EC: How about “book smarts?”  We also all our interviewees what their top ten book and DVD choices are; if you had to pick ten, what would they be?

JF: I think reading and constantly learning is extremely important. If you learn one thing that can help you, then it has been worth it.  I read more articles than I do books.  Books tend to be out-of-date very quickly, while articles are more current.  I do think it is somewhat important to be knowledgeable about the human body and its functions; this knowledge enables you to see through many gimmicks right away.  For instance, I had one guy tell me that he heard squats were great because they release acids that are stored in your glutes; I am not kidding.  Now, this is an otherwise very smart guy, but this makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.  Anybody with any fundamental appreciation of how the human body works knows that this is completely insane.  This basic knowledge also allows you to see through most supplements and save money.

My favorite books and videos?  That’s a tough one.  I read a ton of books that have nothing to do with strength and conditioning, so I might put a couple of those in there as well.

EC: No problem; we’re all about variety around here.  If it helped you, it’s sure to help someone else.  Shoot.

JF: In no particular order:

1. The Case for a Creator by Lee Strobel
2. The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel
3. The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel
4. High/Low Sequences of Programming and Organizing of Training by James Smith
5. The Westside Seminar DVDs
6. Magnificent Mobility by Eric Cressey and Mike Robertson
7. The Parisi DVDs
8. The Elite Fitness Exercise Index DVDs
9. The Fair Tax Book by Neil Boortz
10. The Terrible Truth About Liberals by Neil Boortz

EC: Some interesting stuff in there, Jay.  Not many guys can please Billy Graham, Bob Doyle, and Dave Tate in the same breath, but I’d say that you passed the test with flying colors!  Thanks again for taking the time; where can our readers find out more about you?

JF: I’m not up-to-date enough to have a website or anything, but I will hopefully have more articles up on Elitefts.com, and Landon Evans has something in the works as well.  I can be reached at Goldberg_rjf@hotmail.com. Thanks for giving me this opportunity, Eric.

That does it for Newsletter #3; thanks for stopping by for another week.  If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to drop me an email at ec@ericcressey.com.   As always, if you have a friend who you think would like our free newsletter, please feel free to pass this on and encourage them to Sign Up.