The baseball off-season is a lot of fun for me, but it also means crazy long hours, loads of competing demands, and quite a bit of stress. To take it a step further, though, most of my long hours are spent on my feet on the floor at Cressey Performance, which isn’t exactly conducive to making progress in a training program. Topping it off, we've gotten about 470 feet of snow in the Northeast this winter, which makes us all want to simply go into hibernation!
While I’ve gotten all my gym sessions in during this time, the reality is that in many cases, they were a lot more like “working out” than they were “training.” And, although I haven’t wasted away, it’s never a good sign when someone you haven’t seen for a few months asks you if you’ve lost weight when you haven’t been trying to do so – and that happened a few weeks ago.
The end result? I’m under 190 for the first time in over two years – and sadly, I’m not really any leaner (or stronger, for that matter).
Something clicked two weekends ago, though. Since the gym is closed on Sundays, I find it’s the best day for me to go in refreshed and get in a good lift. Thanks to a little rest, loud music, and a good training partner, I sumo deadlifted 500 for a set of five. And, it felt damn good!
It also made me realize how much of a pansy I’d been in the gym for the two months prior. With that realization, I headed home to put a program for myself on my to-do list.
The next morning, I woke up anticipating writing that strength and conditioning program (along with about a dozen others!), but before I could get to it, I found an email from Mike Westerdal waiting for me. And that email included an advanced copy of the new product he created with Elliott Hulse: Lean Hybrid Muscle.
For those who don’t know of Mike, he’s a strong dude, with competition bests of 640 squat, 630 bench, and 600 deadlift at a body weight of 242. And, through his website, criticalbench.com, he’s helped thousands of guys bust through their bench press plateaus, not to mention interacted with and programmed for a lot of experienced lifters. Elliott is no quack, either; he is a professional strongman and runs a hardcore gym in Tampa, FL.
I’ve often reminded my readers that that if you need a contract written, you’d go to a lawyer. If you needed your taxes done, you’d go to an accountant. Well, I’m also here to say that if you need a program to kick you in the arse when you’ve been training like a sissy, you go to qualified lifters and coaches who have consistently helped people get strong, burn fat fast, and put on muscle. And that’s what I did.
And, I’ve definitely received that kick in the arse. The past 10 days of training have been some of the more challenging I’ve encountered in over a decade of lifting. And, just as Westerdal assured me, it has been a nice change of pace from the powerlifting-oriented work I’ve done in the past. Here’s what I like about the program:
1. Concurrent Periodization – it might be high volume, but that doesn’t mean that you won't be able to increase strength. If your goal is changing body composition – and not just dropping fat or building muscle exclusively – it’s a great resource. Anybody can get you to lose weight with a high volume program, but not everyone can help you maintain or even increase strength and build muscle mass in the process.
2. Video Demonstrations – Mike and Elliott have links to every exercise featured in this strength and conditioning program, so if you don’t recognize one, you can quickly and easily check it out. I know my stuff in this regard, but it was helpful when I came across a few new ones that these guys must have invented themselves.
3. Versatility – I’m fortunate to have quite a few extra goodies – sledgehammers, farmer's walks handles, tires, turf, kettlebells, sleds, slideboards, kegs – at my fingertips, and Mike and Elliott are all about incorporating what you’ve got into the strength training program. I’ve used it to modify the interval work included in the program. They also give you a wide variety of strength exercises from which to choose so that you can work around injuries or specialize on your weak areas.
The benefits certainly go well beyond these three points (the nutrition component/meal plans are excellent, for instance), but in the interest of brevity, I’d highly encourage you to check out Lean Hybrid Muscle. It actually makes for a great follow-up to Show and Go, for those of you who are just wrapping up that program.
For more information, head over to the Lean Hybrid Muscle Website.
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I just got back from a fun weekend in Orlando, but am a bit behind as I return to the office, so today's post will be a quick list of recommended reading for the day. Check these out:
The Importance of Ankle Mobility - We hear this mentioned all the time, but I go in to a bit more detail in this post and relate it in the context of my realm of expertise: training baseball players.
The Fragility of Whey Protein - Great blog post from Brian St. Pierre, for those of you who are looking for a bit of nutrition to kick off your week.
What I Learned in 2009 - I'm in the process of wrapping up this year's "What I Learned in 2010" article, so I thought it'd be a good time to rekindle last year's version.
More to come tonight....
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The other day, I received an email from a Show and Go customer who noticed that the scapular wall slide and the doorway slide were two similar, but not identical shoulder mobility drills included in the program. He asked if I could talk a bit more about the differences between the two - and when to use both.
First, let's have a look at the two exercises. Here's the scapular wall slide:
And, here's the doorway slide:
As the voice-over on the video above notes, the scapular wall slide is an acceptable fit for just about any workout routine. The only exceptions would be those who have upper extremity pain with overhead motions (rotator cuff tears, etc.).
However, we can utilize the doorway slide in certain folks to get to where we want to be a bit faster. More specifically, these folks are the ones who are REALLY immobile in their upper extremity and wouldn't even be able to get their arms back even close to the wall on the wall slides. So, in addition to not making them feel bad about their "tight shoulders", the doorway slide actually allows us to use the doorway as a stretching implement to get a gentle stretch across the anterior shoulder girdle (predominantly pec major and minor). There are three very important coaching points:
1. Don't let the head poke forward, as a forward head posture is simply a substitution for not retracting/depressing the scapulae or horizontally adducting the humerus.
2. Don't crank too aggressively on the shoulders; it should be a subtle stretch. And, it shouldn't be used with those (particularly overhead throwing athletes) who already have increased external rotation and, in turn, more anterior laxity.
3. Make sure to focus on pulling the shoulder blades down and back as the elbows are lowered. You shouldn't have movement of the humerus without movement of the scapula.
Can I just add some sets and reps of direct arm work?
How about cardio? Would a few 30 minutes interval training sessions work?
What if I did extra rotator cuff stuff every day? Just a little tubing, you know?
I’m going to add two extra days of calves, abs, and forearms. It shouldn’t be a problem, right?
These are just a few of the common questions I receive from people for whom I write strength training programs (plus all the other components of a comprehensive program). And, it's these kind of questions that make me appreciate just how challenging it is to teach someone how to effectively write strength and conditioning programs - and why everyone gets all flustered when they first start writing training plans.
Very simply, most people don't understand the concept of competing demands. Everybody wants to add something to their weight training program - but not everyone is willing to take something away in order to do so.
How many elite powerlifters or Olympic lifters do you know who regularly do interval training as part of their quest to get strong?
How many elite triathletes do you know who just want to add a few sets of biceps curls along the road to improving endurance performance?
The answer is, of course, none. And, it's because - whether they appreciated it or not - these high-level athletes were effectively managing competing demands.
In some cases, different fitness qualities compete with one another; an example would be extensive aerobic training while trying to increase strength. You can't get strong quickly if you're doing hours of cardio each week. Somewhat similarly, in an overhead throwing population, it's challenging to regain shoulder internal rotation and flexion range of motion (ROM) and pec minor length when an athlete is throwing - so you have to do your best to get the ROM during down-time in their training year.
In other cases, you may have multiple qualities that contribute to an overall training effect, but you can't prioritize all of them at once. For example, my professional baseball clients need a host of different qualities to be successful, but the body has limited recovery capacity, so their training programs have to target their most readily apparent weaknesses - and do so at the right time of year. We cut back on the medicine ball and upper body strength exercises and volume when their throwing volume increases.
And, we can't do as much lower body strength exercises when guys are doing more sprinting and change-of-direction work. Stress is stress, so you have to apply it judiciously.
Taking this into consideration, I think that one of the best drills for someone looking to get better at writing programs is to take a full-on comprehensive weight training program with supplemental conditioning/movement training where someone is training 6x/week - and then cut it back to 3x/week. Assume that there is a whole lot of of "other" stress in this athlete/client's life - whether it's work, illness, family issues, or just being an in-season athlete - and figure out how to scale a program back in order to make it productive and safe for that individual.
Lots of factors have to be taken into account: the volume and intensity that individual can handle, how long each session can last, and what specific factors one needs to address most. A good example to check out would be the differences between the 4x/week, 3x/week, and 2x/week weight training programs (and accompanying optional supplemental sessions) in The High Performance Handbook.
There are loads of factors you have to take into account when you write a comprehensive training plan - from the weight training program, to soft tissue work, to mobility work, to movement training, to energy systems training. The most important consideration, though, is how they all fit together synergistically to make the program as a whole effective.
So, try the challenge I listed above and see how you do; I think you'll find that it's a lot harder to subtract than it is to add to your weight training programs.
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Testing, Treating, and Training the Shoulder - This recap of my seminar with Mike Reinold features ten important takeaways from the day.
You Are What You Absorb - I thought this was an excellent article from John Meadows - both in terms of the background information he provides and the corrective strategies he advocates.
Rollouts: Friend or Foe and Two Anterior Core Progressions - These two video blogs were quite popular when they ran back in 2009.
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Following my recent article on T-Nation about various weight training program loading protocols (you can read it HERE), I received an email from someone asking me how I'd approach deloading for someone doing a 5x5 workout program. I've broken the paragraph up so that I can answer each of the inquiries individually:
Q: Let’s say on a horizontal push pull day your doing Bench press supersetted with 1-arm dumbbell rows at 5x5, do both lifts follow the same deloading strategies?
A: Yes, although I'll often leave an extra set or two of the pulling exercise in there because people really need it from a postural/muscle imbalance standpoint. So, in other words, we might just flip-flop things to be:
A1) 1-Arm DB Rows: 4x5/side
A2) Bench Press: 3x5
This, of course, would assume that we're deloading on volume and not intensity. It'd be a more appropriate strategy for intermediates.
Q: How do you adjust your assistance work, if at all?
A: Usually, I just drop a set, or sometimes cut the reps down by 2-4 per set. Here's how that would work, assuming that the normal set/rep prescription is three sets of eight on both exercises:
Example 1
B1) Chain Pushups: 3x6
B2) Close-Grip Chinups: 3x6
Example 2
B1) Chain Pushups: 2x8
B2) Close-Grip Chinups: 2x8
Again, this is an intermediate approach. More advanced lifters might keep the sets/reps up and simply reduce intensity.
Q: Also, a lot of times there will be the first two push pull lifts (4 lifts total) done at 5x5 (e.g., flat bench 5x5 and incline 5x5) do you deload both lifts or do you think two chest/back exercises at 5x5 is too much and just the primary lift should have that scheme and the incline would be an assistance lift?
A: Personally, I think that doing all your lifts at 5x5 in a single workout is overkill. I would rather see other rep ranges attacked after the first pairing. However, if you are going to do it, I'd go with the deloading approach outlined in the first response I gave (above).
For even more detailed information on how to approach backoff weeks appropriately, check out my e-book, The Art of the Deload.
Yes, although I'll often leave an extra set or two of the pulling exercise in there because people really need it from a postural/muscle imbalance standpoint.
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This past summer, Anthony Renna came up to visit Cressey Performance and film a tour of the facility. I know we have a lot of current and potential future training facility owners who read EricCressey.com, so I thought I'd post it, as the interview not only talks about why we set things up the way we did, but also addresses some of the mistakes we made along the way. I should note that - as Anthony mentions - we have already expanded on what you see by adding another 1,000 square-feet of office space.
For more information, check out www.strengthcoachtv.com.
A lot of people know me as the guy whose products and articles have helped strength training enthusiasts prevent and correct movement inefficiencies that ultimately lead to injuries.
Others know me because we train about four dozen professional baseball players each winter.
The truth, though, is that the majority of our clientele at Cressey Performance is high school athletes. In the class of 2011 alone, we’ve had 17 athletes sign letters of intent to play Division 1 baseball. Still, that doesn’t tell the most important story.
For every kid who gets drafted into professional baseball or commits to play a college sport, we have 3-4 young athletes who train with us simply to build confidence, stay healthy while they play their sports, and foster fitness habits that will hopefully carry over to the rest of their lives. I take that job extremely seriously not only because I genuinely care about each teenage and enjoy my job, but because it is a huge deal for parents to trust me with part of their kids’ physical and mental well-being during a crucial developmental time in an adolescent’s life.
And, it’s also why I’m psyched about tonight’s announcement: the IYCA High School Strength Coach Certification is now available.
Along with Brian Grasso, Mike Robertson, Pat Rigsby, Wil Fleming, and Dr. Toby Brooks, I contributed to this new certification, which features both a textbook and accompanying DVD set. Among the topics covered are:
Strength Training Technique, Functionality and Programming
Speed and Agility Mechanics or Sport Specificity
Mobility: Isolate and Integrate
Coaching the High School Athlete
Administration for the High School Strength Coach
Sample Programming for football, baseball, and basketball
The certification alone is something that, in our eyes, can not only dramatically help a high school strength coach’s career, but also help all the young athletes he/she encounters. I’m going to sweeten the deal, though.
The early bird price runs now through Friday (1/28) at midnight. If you purchase the product (HERE) before midnight on Friday and forward me your receipt, I’m going to send you an upper extremity assessment tutorial video that I am filming this week as an in-service for my staff and interns. This feature will teach you how to assess and manage the upper body in athletes – with a particular focus on overhead athletes.
All you need to do is sign up for the certification and then forward your receipt to ec@ericcressey.com. Then, next weekend, I’ll send out the video to everyone who contacts me.
There are a whole lot of high school kids out there learning some really bad habits in the weight room, and you’re in a position to change that – and the IYCA High School Strength Coach Certification can help you do it. Whether you’re in a high school or the private sector, there is a tremendous amount to be gained by checking this out.
It's been a while since I gave you a list of recommended reading, but that changes today!
Rotten Resolutions - I usually bring this article to light right at the beginning of January each year, but forgot in light of the busy last few weeks. Check it out. It might make you see your strength and conditioning program goals in a new light.
Ankle Dorsiflexion Immobility Impairs Lateral Step Down Test - This is a good post from Mike Reinold about how ankle restrictions can alter testing further up the kinetic chain and make you see "the big picture."
The Proactive Patient - I still think that this is one of the better articles I've ever written at T-Nation. What do you think?
