Home Posts tagged "Chris Howard"

Register Now for the 7th Annual Cressey Sports Performance Fall Seminar!

We're very excited to announce that on Sunday, October 14, we’ll be hosting our seventh annual fall seminar at Cressey Sports Performance. As was the case with our extremely popular fall event over the past six years, this event will showcase the great staff we're fortunate to have as part of our team. Also like last year, we want to make this an affordable event for everyone and create a great forum for industry professionals and fitness enthusiasts alike to interact, exchange ideas, and learn. We're happy to have Perform Better as our official sponsor again this year as well.

Here are the presentation topics:

Guest Keynote Speaker: Pat Rigsby -- The Future of Fitness Business: The Blueprint for Success in a Changing Market

In this presentation, you'll discover how you can position yourself to succeed now and in the future within the fast-evolving fitness industry. You'll learn what you must do to stand out from the competition, earn more and take advantage of your strengths to design a business that will thrive for the long-term. If you want to command higher rates, enjoy better retention and grow a business you enjoy, don't miss this session.

Eric Cressey -- The Overhead Athlete Evolution

Cressey Sports Performance opened in 2007 and quickly became known as a destination for baseball players from around the country looking to improve. This niche gave rise to specific expertise with this demographic. Interestingly, development of the overhead athlete has changed drastically during the past 11 years, and Eric will outline the new challenges we face and strategies that must be employed to keep arms healthy. While the presentation will focus on overhead athletes, the overwhelming majority of lessons will also be applicable to everyday fitness clients as well.

Pete Dupuis -- The Secrets of Our Industry's Top Performing Fitness Businesses

In this presentation, Pete will bring you inside the strategic mindset of some of our industry's most successful fitness business owners. He's interviewed a series of industry influencers and will share the most under appreciated components of their established and immensely profitable operations. Takeaways will include tips for upgrading branding strategy, fine-tuning employee development, maximizing the effectiveness of social media efforts, and more.

Kyle Driscoll -- Simplifying Coaching Cues for High Speed Movements

Kyle will discuss why training rotational power, especially via medicine ball work, is important for everybody. Coaching high speed movements can, however, be difficult to see - and even more difficult to coach. The higher speed the movement is, the more simple the cues needs to be.

Chris Howard -- Shoulder Pain: What Causes It and What Can We Do About It?

Nearly every fitness professional has encountered an athlete or client dealing with shoulder pain or discomfort. In this presentation, Chris will blend his experience of anatomy and muscular referred pain patterns with strength and conditioning and soft-tissue strategies to illustrate how he addresses clients experiencing shoulder pain. Whether you are new to strength and conditioning, or a seasoned veteran, you will see shoulder pain from a new perspective following this presentation.

John O'Neil -- Stress Application and The Principles of Load Management: What Every Coach Needs to Know

In this discussion, John will cover how he as a strength coach for training clients who have multiple variables that affect their ability to handle applied stress within a gym setting, including how to manage these principles in conjunction with a sport coach. This information will include both theoretical aspects of load management in addition to very specific examples used at Cressey Sports Performance.

Cole Russo -- Creating a System for Movement Progressions

Many strength and conditioning coaches have a collection of sprint and agility drills they like to utilize, but no organized framework of how to apply them. In this presentation, Cole will define a system for teaching your athletes movement. This presentation will include both a lecture on movement progressions, coaching tips, and crucial movement competencies; as well as a following practical/movement session.

**Bonus 3:00PM Saturday Hands-on Session**

Frank Duffy -- Neanderthal No More 2.0: Reviving a Classic

Whether you’re a high-level professional athlete or a desk jockey, at the end of the day, you’re a human being. In this hands-on presentation, Frank will outline the “big rocks” you should consider integrating on a daily basis and how to modify them to align with your own capabilities and goals.

Location:

Cressey Sports Performance
577 Main St.
Suite 310
Hudson, MA 01749

Cost:

Regular Rate - $159.99

Student Rate - $129.99

Date/Time:

Sunday, October 14, 2018
Registration 8:30AM
Seminar 9AM-5PM

**Bonus session Saturday, October 13 at 3:00pm.

Continuing Education

This event has been approved for 0.8 National Strength and Conditioning Association CEUs.

Click Here to Sign-up (Regular)

or

Click Here to Sign-up (Students)

We’re really excited about this event, and would love to have you join us! However, space is limited and most seminars we’ve hosted in the past have sold out quickly, so don’t delay on signing up!

If you have additional questions, please direct them to cspmass@gmail.com. Looking forward to seeing you there!

PS - If you're looking for hotel information, The Extended Stay America in Marlborough, MA offers our clients a heavily discounted nightly rate of just under $65.00. Just mention "Cressey" during the booking process in order to secure the discount. Their booking phone number is 508-490-9911.

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Register Now for the 5th Annual Cressey Sports Performance Fall Seminar!

We're very excited to announce that on Sunday, September 25, we’ll be hosting our fifth annual fall seminar at Cressey Sports Performance. As was the case with our extremely popular fall event over the past four years, this event will showcase the great staff we're fortunate to have as part of our team. Also like last year, we want to make this an affordable event for everyone and create a great forum for industry professionals and fitness enthusiasts alike to interact, exchange ideas, and learn. 

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Here are the presentation topics:

Pete Dupuis -- Business Before Branding

All too often, business owners put the cart before the horse by focusing on branding before establishing a solid business foundation. Before you worry about creating the most memorable hashtag on Twitter, you need efficient systems, a sound team, and concrete training philosophies. Anyone can convince a client to hand over their money once, but a consistent and predictable service retains the lifetime value of a customer. In this presentation, Pete will take an in-depth look at the core values, systems and principles that helped to create the foundation of our success at Cressey Sports Performance.

Miguel Aragoncillo -- Enhancing Performance with Plyometrics

Are you using bounding, jumping, skipping or hopping in your exercise programs? From track and field to team sports, plyometrics can enhance your performance. Miguel will cover plyometric basics to address various aspects of speed and power development. Whether you're a trainer or want to improve your own performance, this presentation will cover coaching and programming based on your goals. This presentation includes a hands-on component to identify specific techniques when performing jump training.

Greg Robins -- Lessons in Savagery

Nothing can replace old fashioned hard work in the weight room, but a savage work ethic and intelligent programming don't have to be mutually exclusive. Greg will share several important lessons to get strong, build muscle and become a savage without sacrificing the fundamentals of quality physical preparation.

Chris Howard -- What Massage Can Do for Your Strength Training

Massage therapy is often used to treat pain in the strength and conditioning setting. However, after seven years as a strength coach and massage therapist, Chris has developed methods to integrate massage into training programs for improved performance in healthy individuals. In this presentation, Chris will share his lessons learned on how massage therapy can benefit professional athletes and weekend warriors alike.

Tony Bonvechio -- Reverse Engineering the Novice Powerlifter

The rising popularity of powerlifting has sparked a resurgence in heavy barbell training for people of all ages and experience levels. Tony will discuss how to handle a brand-new powerlifter, including considerations for fine-tuning their technique, writing their programs and preparing them for their first competition. This presentation will feature hands-on movement and technique assessments to highlight what truly matters when evaluating powerlifters.

Nancy Newell -- Tackling the Road to ACL Recovery

An estimated 80,000 anterior cruciate ligament tears occur annually in the United States. The majority of these injuries are suffered by 15- to 25-year-olds who want to get back on the field or court as fast as possible. Nancy will examine current research regarding graft selections, risk factors, and how the strength and conditioning coach can help athletes recover both mentally and physically.

Eric Cressey -- Forecasting Fitness

Fifteen years after entering the industry, Eric will make some projections on what the next 15 years will look like in the fields of health and human performance. He'll pay attention to the business, training, and clinical sides of the equation to help fitness professionals to position themselves correctly in the years ahead.

**Bonus 2:30PM Saturday Session**

George Kalantzis and Andrew Zomberg-- The Method Behind CSP Strength Camp Madness

Group training is rapidly overtaking one-on-one training as the most profitable fitness service. However, an effective group fitness system is often difficult to create and sustain. In this session, George and Andrew will take participants through an actual CSP strength camp. The training session will be accompanied by a brief presentation and handouts that dive into the components of programming, coaching and marketing strategies to drive new business and client retention within a group training model.

Location:

Cressey Sports Performance
577 Main St.
Suite 310
Hudson, MA 01749

Cost:

Regular Rate – Early Bird (before August 25) $129.99, Regular $149.99
Student Rate – Early Bird (before August 25) $99.99, Regular $129.99

The early bird registration deadline is August 25.

Date/Time:

Sunday, September 25, 2016
Registration 8:30AM
Seminar 9AM-5PM

**Bonus session Saturday, September 24 at 2:30pm.

Continuing Education

0.8 National Strength and Conditioning Association CEUs (eight contact hours)

Click Here to Sign-up (Regular)

or

Click Here to Sign-up (Students)

We’re really excited about this event, and would love to have you join us! However, space is limited and most seminars we’ve hosted in the past have sold out quickly, so don’t delay on signing up!

If you have additional questions, please direct them to cspmass@gmail.com. Looking forward to seeing you there!

PS - If you're looking for hotel information, The Extended Stay America in Marlborough, MA offers our clients a heavily discounted nightly rate of just under $65.00. Just mention "Cressey" during the booking process in order to secure the discount. Their booking phone number is 508-490-9911.

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Register Now for the 4th Annual Cressey Sports Performance Fall Seminar!

We're very excited to announce that on Sunday, September 13, we’ll be hosting our fourth annual fall seminar at Cressey Sports Performance. As was the case with our extremely popular fall event over the past three years, this event will showcase the great staff we're fortunate to have as part of our team. Also like last year, we want to make this an affordable event for everyone and create a great forum for industry professionals and fitness enthusiasts alike to interact, exchange ideas, and learn.

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Here are the presentation topics:

Pete Dupuis -- Empowering Your Fitness Team

This presentation will serve as an introduction to the Cressey Sports Performance method for leveraging each coach's unique skill-set in an effort to create a superior training experience. In this presentation, Pete will discuss the importance of cultivating distinctive assessment skills, personal brand development, and the importance of employing a broad spectrum of personality types on your fitness team.

Greg Robins -- What Matters Most

One of the characteristics that makes the fitness industry special is the variety of approaches. However, it can also be a bit noisy. Constant access to new ideas and the plethora of free information may leave trainers, coaches and clients a bit confused. In this presentation, Greg will reflect on what he has found to matter most, both in getting you and your clients where you want to be.

Chris Howard -- Referred Pain: What is it and what does it tell us?

Practically every fitness professional has encountered an athlete or client dealing with referred pain whether they knew it or not. In this presentation, Chris will discuss what referred pain is, what it tells us about our clients, and training modifications to alleviate our client’s pain. Whether you are a strength coach, personal trainer, physical therapist or athletic trainer, this presentation will provide a new perspective on your client’s pain.

Tony Bonvechio -- Creating Context for More Efficient Coaching

Coaches put endless focus into what they say, but this presentation will illustrate the importance of how they say it. Creating context with your clients goes beyond internal and external cueing, and the ability to create "sticky" teaching moments will get your athletes moving better and more efficiently. Tony will discuss different cueing approaches, how they resonate with different learning styles, and how to say more with less to help your clients learn new movements with ease.

Tony Gentilcore -- Spinal Flexion: A Time and Place

Spinal flexion is a polarizing topic in the fitness world. Spine experts have illuminated the risks associated with loaded spinal flexion, leading to crunches and sit-ups getting labeled as taboo. In this presentation, Tony will discuss when encouraging spinal flexion - specifically on the gym floor - can address pain and dysfunction in our athletes and clients while also improving performance.

Miguel Aragoncillo – Cardio Confusion: A Deeper Look at Current Trends

Designing the cardiovascular aspect of a comprehensive exercise program often leaves us with more questions than answers: Is it helpful for body composition or performance? Should you run or should you sprint? Are there other ways to improve cardiovascular fitness? In this presentation, Miguel will discuss the trends and evaluate existing research of various conditioning methods. Finally, he’ll offer practical strategies for immediate application with your Monday morning clients.

Eric Cressey – Bogus Biomechanics and Asinine Anatomy

The strength and conditioning and rehabilitation fields are riddled with movement myths that just never seem to die. Drawing heavily on case studies, scholarly journals, and what functional anatomy tells us, Eric will “bust” some of the common fallacies you’ll encounter in the strength and conditioning field today. Most importantly, he’ll offer drills and strategies that can be utilized immediately with clients and athletes in place of these antiquated approaches.

**Bonus 2:30PM Saturday Session**

George Kalantzis and Andrew Zomberg-- The Method Behind CSP Strength Camp Madness

Group training is rapidly overtaking one-on-one training as the most profitable fitness service. However, an effective group fitness system is often difficult to create and sustain. In this session, George and Andrew will take participants through an actual CSP strength camp. The training session will be accompanied by a brief presentation and handouts that dive into the components of programming, coaching and marketing strategies to drive new business and client retention within a group training model.

Location:

Cressey Sports Performance
577 Main St.
Suite 310
Hudson, MA 01749

Cost:

Regular Rate – Early Bird $129.99, Regular $149.99
Student Rate – Early Bird $99.99, Regular $129.99

The early bird registration deadline is August 13.

Date/Time:

Sunday, September 13, 2014
Registration 8:30AM
Seminar 9AM-5PM

**Bonus session Saturday, September 12 at 2:30pm.

Continuing Education:

0.8 National Strength and Conditioning Association CEUs pending (eight contact hours)

Click Here to Sign-up (Regular)

or

Click Here to Sign-up (Students)

We’re really excited about this event, and would love to have you join us! However, space is limited and each seminar we’ve hosted in the past has sold out quickly, so don’t delay on signing up!

If you have additional questions, please direct them to cspmass@gmail.com. Looking forward to seeing you there!

PS - If you're looking for hotel information, The Extended Stay America in Marlborough, MA offers our clients a heavily discounted nightly rate of just under $63.00. Just mention "Cressey" during the booking process in order to secure the discount. Their booking phone number is 508-490-9911.

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Register Now for the 3rd Annual Cressey Sports Performance Fall Seminar!

I’m psyched to announce that on Sunday, September 28, we’ll be hosting our third annual fall seminar at Cressey Sports Performance.  As was the case with our extremely popular fall event over the past two years, this event will showcase both the great staff we're fortunate to have as part of our team.  Also like last year, we want to make this an affordable event for everyone and create a great forum for industry professionals and fitness enthusiasts alike to interact, exchange ideas, and learn.

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Here are the presentation topics:

Thoracic Outlet Syndrome: A "New" Diagnosis for the Same Old Problems - Presented by Eric Cressey

More and more individuals - both athletes and non-athletes alike - are being diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome. In this presentation, Eric will explain what it is, how it's treated, and - most importantly - what fitness professionals and rehabilitation specialists can do to prevent it from occurring in the first place.

Making Bad Movement Better – Presented by Tony Gentilcore

Tony will cover the most common technique flaws he sees on a daily basis, outlining both coaching cues and programming strategies one can utilize to improve exercise technique. He'll also cover progressions and regressions, and when to apply them.

Paleo: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly – Presented by Brian St. Pierre

Paleo: possibly the most hyped nutritional approach to come along since Atkins. This, of course, begs the question: do the results match the hype? Is it right for everybody? Do we really need to avoid dairy, legumes and grains to achieve optimal health? Do all clients need to take their nutrition to this level? In this presentation, Brian explores the pros and the cons, the insights and the fallacies of the Paleo movement. And, he'll discuss the accumulated wisdom from coaching over 30,000 individuals, and what that teaches us about which nutritional camp to which should really "belong."

Trigger Points 101:  – Presented by Chris Howard

In this presentation, massage therapist Chris Howard will discuss what trigger points are, why they develop, where you'll find them, and - of course - how to get rid of them! He'll pay special attention to how certain trigger points commonly line up with certain issues clients face, and how soft tissue work can play an integral in improving movement quality while preventing and elimination symptoms.

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How Bad Do You Want It? – Presented by Greg Robins

In this presentation, Greg will discuss the factors that govern how individuals stick to (or abandon) their training and nutrition goals. He'll introduce real strategies to help people make changes by focusing on the most important variable: themselves.

Finding the Training Potential in Injury – Presented by Andrew Zomberg

Don't let a setback set you or your clients back in the weight room. Injuries happen, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t still achieve a great training effect. Andrew will discuss the most common injuries/conditions individuals encounter, and how the fitness professional can aid in sustaining a training stimulus during the recovery phase. This will include exercise selection tips, coaching cue recommendations, and programming examples.

Location:

Cressey Sports Performance
577 Main St.
Suite 310
Hudson, MA 01749

Cost:

Regular Rate – $149.99
Student Rate (must have student ID at door) – $129.99

Date/Time:

Sunday, September 28, 2014
Registration 8:30AM
Seminar 9AM-5PM

Continuing Education:

0.6 NSCA CEUs pending (six contact hours)

Click Here to Sign-up (Regular)

or

Click Here to Sign-up (Students)

We’re really excited about this event, and would love to have you join us! However, space is limited and each seminar we’ve hosted in the past has sold out quickly, so don’t delay on signing up!

If you have additional questions, please direct them to cspmass@gmail.com. Looking forward to seeing you there!

Read more

Strength and Conditioning Stuff You Should Read: 3/25/14

It's time for this week's collection of recommended reading, with a Cressey Performance flavor to it.  I grabbed dinner with a bunch of our Marlins, Cardinals, and Mets guys last night in Florida, so it seemed like only the right thing to kick things off with some baseball stuff!

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Draft Q&A: Eric Cressey, Part 1 - I was interviewed last week by Baseball America on the topics of MLB draft preparation, long-term athletic development, and some of our client success stories.  Be sure to also check out Part 2, as there are some great lessons in here, regardless of whether you work with baseball players or not.

CP Client Spotlight: Meet Stacie! - Here's a great story of a CP client who's made some awesome progress training at CP.  Stacie proves that Cressey Performance isn't just for baseball players!

Are You Foam Rolling All Wrong? - In this Daily Burn interview, CP massage therapist and strength and conditioning coach Chris Howard weighs in on the topic of foam rolling.

Sign-up Today for our FREE Baseball Newsletter and Receive Instant Access to a 47-minute Presentation from Eric Cressey on Individualizing the Management of Overhead Athletes!

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Strength and Conditioning: What I Learned in 2013

This is the eighth time I’ve recapped some of the bigger discoveries of the previous year in an article.   As I look back on the previous seven years of content, I notice a number of key observations that have immeasurably improved the way that I coach and program for athletes.  To that end, I hope that the 2013 recap offers some solid pearls of wisdom you can apply right away.

1. Frequent soft tissue work throughout the day works best.

We might not know exactly why soft tissue approaches – everything from foam rolling, to massage, to instrument-assisted modalities – work, but we do know that they help people feel and move better.  With that in mind, we’re always searching for ways to help people get faster results with less discomfort.

Earlier this year, Chris Howard, the massage therapist at Cressey Performance, was flipping back through an old massage therapy textbook and found a little pearl: a suggestion that shorter, frequent exposures to soft tissue work throughout the day is likely more effective than one longer session.  And, it certainly makes sense; our bodies “learn” and adapt better with frequent exposures. 

Candidly, it always drives me bonkers when I see someone foam roll for 30 minutes at the start of the session.  You aren’t going to magically fix everything in one session; you have to be patient and persistent.  In fact, Thomas Myers (an authority on fascia and bodywork), has commented that prominent changes may take 18-24 months to set in. 

Nowadays, when we have an athlete who is particularly balled up in one area, we heavily emphasize repeated exposures.  We recommend that they split massage therapy sessions up into shorter appointments throughout the week.  And, we’ll have them hop on the foam roller 5-6 times per day for 30-60s, as opposed to just grinding away at the same spot in one lengthy session.  It’s not convenient, but the results are definitely noticeably better.

2. Understanding an individual’s movement learning style can improve your coaching effectiveness instantly.

I’ve always divided folks I coach into three categories, according to their dominant learning styles: visual, kinesthetic, and auditory.

Visual learners can watch an exercise be performed, and then go right to it.

Auditory learners can simply hear a cue, and then go to town.

Kinesthetic learners need to actually be put in a position to appreciate what it feels like, and then they can rock and roll.

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While most individuals are a combination of all three categories, one invariably predominates in every single case I’ve ever encountered.  With this in mind, determining an individual’s learning style during my assessment is something I started to do in 2013.  If you can streamline the cues you give, athletes will pick movements up faster, and you’ll be able to get in more quality work from the session.

I should also note that no one of these three categories is “superior;” they’re just different.  I’ve had professional athletes from all three categories.

3. External focus cues rock.

Building on the coaching cues theme, the best presentation I saw this year was Nick Winkelman’s Perform Better talk on external focus cues.

As a brief background, an internal focus cue would be one that made you think about how your body is moving.  Examples would be “extend your hips” or “tuck your elbows.”

Conversely, an external focus cue would have you focus on something in your surrounding environment. Examples would be “rip the bar apart” or “drive your heels through the floor.”  The bar and the floor are points of external focus.

Most coaches use a combination of the two – but with a greater emphasis on internal focus cues.  As Nick demonstrated with an extensive review of the literature, we out to reverse this trend, as external focus cues almost universally lead to improved performance and technique when compared to internal focus cues.

With this research in mind, evaluate the cues you give yourself before each lift.  When you deadlift, are you telling yourself to “keep the chest up” or are you reminding yourself to “show the logo on your shirt to the guy in front of you?”  Sometimes, relating things just a little bit differently can yield dramatic changes.

4. You should learn as much about recovery as you do about training at an early age.

Every decade in life seems to come with new “scare tactics” to make you think that your body is going to fall apart when you hit 30, 40, 50, 60, etc.  I turned 32 in 2013, so I’ve now had almost three years to stew over this.  Recovery just isn’t the same as you age, not matter how great you are with diet, sleep, and monitoring training volume, as degenerative changes kick in faster.  I can tell you this and I’m only at the start of the gradual downslope!

I’ve heard that, on average, strength peaks at age 29.  Obviously, this can change dramatically based on training experience.  However, in my line of work – professional baseball – the “prime” for players is widely regarded as ages 26-31.  Effectively, this constitutes just before the peak, the peak itself, and then just after the peak.  The higher the peak, the longer a playing career a player has.  This is one reason it’s so important to establish a strong physical foundation with athletes early in their career; it’s what will likely sustain their skillsets for longer.

It is equally important, however, to learn about what recovery strategies work well for you at an early age.  In fact, I’d say that not paying more attention to recovery in my younger years was one of the biggest mistakes I made.  It would have not only made my progress faster, but just as importantly, it would have prevented accumulated wear and tear for down the road (i.e., now).

Everyone responds differently to various recovery protocols.  I have guys who love ice baths, and others who absolutely hate icing.  I’ve seen players thrive with compression approaches, and others who saw no change. 

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Some high-level athletes can do great with seven hours of sleep, and others need 9-10 each night. Recovery is a 100% individual thing – and it’s constantly changing as you age and encounter new training challenges.

For that reason, don’t just get excited about the latest, greatest training program on the market.  Rather, try to get just as excited about finding a way that you can bounce back effectively between sessions.  It might be nutrition, supplementation, manual therapy, movement schemes, or initiatives like ice or compression.  The sooner you learn it, the better off you’ll be when you start hearing more and more of the “scare tactics” about age.

Conclusion

These four items were just the tip of the iceberg, as the strength and conditioning field is incredibly dynamic and new information emerges on a daily basis. Luckily, it's easy to stay up to speed on the latest cutting-edge information.  If you're looking for an affordable online resource to help you in this regard, check out Elite Training Mentorship.

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Register Now for the 2nd Annual Cressey Performance Fall Seminar

I’m psyched to announce that on Sunday, September 22, we’ll be hosting our second annual fall seminar at Cressey Performance.  As was the case with our extremely popular fall event last year, this event will showcase both the great staff we're fortunate to have as part of our team.  Also like last year, we want to make this an affordable event for everyone and create a great forum for industry professionals and fitness enthusiasts alike to interact, exchange ideas, and learn.

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Here are the presentation topics:

Cracking the Crossfit Code - Presented by Eric Cressey

Let's face it: Crossfit is here to stay.  With that in mind, it's time for someone to take an unbiased look at how we can make coaches and fitness enthusiasts successful within the scope of this training system.  In this presentation, Eric will look past the emotions people have with respect to this approach, and discuss rationale ways to accentuate the positives while offering solutions for the shortcomings. In short, the goal is to bring people together, not drive two sides further apart.

Training Joe vs. Jane:  Do Women Need to Train Differently Than Men? – Presented by Tony Gentilcore

Should women avoid lifting appreciable weight?  What are the most effective strategies for training women through pregnancy? Is there such a thing as an ACL-Prevention Program?

In this presentation, I will discuss many of the common misconceptions and "myths" relating to training female athletes.  I intend to provide extensive responses and feedback to some of the most frequently asked questions I have encountered relating to the art of strength training for women.

Insulin: The Hormone, The Myth, The Legend – Presented by Brian St. Pierre

Carbs spike insulin and insulin causes fat gain. So, cut the carbs and you'll end up lean and healthy. End of story. Or is it?

While the Paleo and low carb camps loudly proclaim that carbs and insulin are the enemy, the latest science suggests otherwise. In fact, we're starting to learn that high insulin is an effect of being overweight, not a cause. In this session, Brian will explore the real relationship between carbs and insulin, discussing some of the common myths about insulin, and sharing some practical eating strategies you can put into action immediately.

Integrating Corrective Exercise for Performance Enhancement – Presented by Mike Reinold

Often times, muscle imbalances, alignment issues, and movement impairments can lead to injury and decreased performance.  However, corrective exercises are often unsuccessful for various reasons.  By focusing on several key principles, you can maximize your ability to apply corrective exercises to optimize movement and enhance performance.

Getting To Know Your Athlete: Understanding Learning Styles to Be a More Effective Coach – Presented by Chris Howard

In this presentation, I will discuss the different learning styles and how knowledge of this information is helpful in becoming a more effective coach.  I will also delve into the differences between introverted and extroverted clients and how it is necessary to coach and assess them differently.

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Excellence In Group Training – Presented by Greg Robins

Group training, small group training, and bootcamps are here to stay. Let me help you understand how I manage the variables associated with group training to optimize a less than ideal scenario. The information presented will be sure to help everyone from the strength and conditioning specialist to commercial fitness professional alike.

The Role of Physical Therapy in a Strength and Conditioning Facility – Presented by Eric Schoenberg

Physical Therapy earns little respect in strength and conditioning circles due to the inability of traditional PTs to properly progress a patient from injury to high-level activity.  This lack of versatility has contributed to an increased role of the strength and conditioning professional in the care of the injured athlete.  But, is there a role for Physical Therapy in the training world?  Physical therapist Eric Schoenberg will share his thoughts on why partnering with the right physical therapist can add great value to your business and improve results for your clients.

Location:

Cressey Performance,
577 Main St.
Suite 310
Hudson, MA 01749

Cost:

Regular – $149.99
Student (must present current student ID at door) – $129.99

Date/Time:

Sunday, September 22, 2013
Registration 8:30AM
Seminar 9AM-5:30PM

Continuing Education:

0.7 NSCA CEUs (seven contact hours)

Click Here to Sign-up (Regular)

or

Click Here to Sign-up (Students)

We’re really excited about this event, and would love to have you join us! However, space is limited and each seminar we’ve hosted in the past has sold out quickly, so don’t delay on signing up!

If you have additional questions, please direct them to cresseyperformance@gmail.com. Looking forward to seeing you there!

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Strength and Conditioning Stuff You Should Read: 4/4/13

Here's this week's list of recommended strength and conditioning reading:

Mobility Exercise of the Week: Palmar Fascia Soft Tissue Work - This is a reincarnation from the archives of EricCressey.com. CP coach and massage therapist Chris Howard talks about a commonly overlooked area for self myofascial release and manual therapy: the hand.

Passion, Hard Work, and a Little Luck Will Help You Find Your Niche - For those interested in the business side of things, here's a Podcast interview with me from last week on the topic of finding your niche in the business world.  There are some good lessons in here, regardless of whether you're in the fitness industry or not.

Baseball 2013: Here Come the Flamethrowers - The Wall Street Journal did a pretty good job with this article, which details how advances in science - from training techniques to video analysis - have helped to push pitching velocity higher and higher in MLB with each passing year.

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6 Ways to Get More Protein in Your Diet

Today's guest post comes from Chris Howard. In addition to being a strength and conditioning coach, Chris handles nutrition consultations for all the clients at Cressey Performance.

In my work with clients at Cressey Performance I have noticed that people need to get more protein in their diets. Most of us are so carbohydrate focused, making sure that we get the Food Guide Pyramid’s recommended 6-11 servings of grains a day, that we neglect to get enough protein. This is unfortunate, not only because people are still using the Food Guide Pyramid for advice, but also because protein is such an important and essential nutrient. I find this is particularly true in our female clients, with whom I am always discussing ways to get more protein in their diets, as many tend not to be huge consumers of meat and animal products. In addition, I find that many of our high school kids who are looking to gain weight can benefit from eating more protein. Here are some of the tips that have really helped our clients.

1. Eat more eggs!

Eggs are a simple way to include more protein in your diet, particularly at breakfast. A large egg has 6 grams of protein in it. Adding a few of these in throughout the day can go a long way toward helping you achieve a protein consumption in grams equal to your body weight in pounds. As a bonus, there are numerous ways to cook eggs, so there is likely a method you will like even if you are not an egg person – scrambled, poached, hard-boiled, baked, fried, and many others. Add some veggies and spices for a more complete meal.

2. Switch to Greek yogurt.

Most of our clients eat yogurt frequently, but unfortunately most of it is the processed, sugar-added garbage that the commercials are telling them will help them lose weight. My suggestion for higher protein intake and a healthier body is to switch to Greek-style yogurt. Greek yogurt has over twice the protein of even plain traditional yogurt at 23 grams versus 10 grams per cup. Add some berries and flax or chia seed to your Greek yogurt for a healthy breakfast or snack idea.

3. Make a smoothie!

I think smoothies are a great option no matter what your nutritional goals are. You can easily incorporate additional vegetables as I mentioned previously. In this case, smoothies are a great way to up your protein intake by adding protein powder, greek yogurt, almond milk, or even egg whites. A lot of people don’t necessarily like the taste of protein powders or greek yogurt, so smoothies make for a more palatable way to incorporate these foods into your nutrition plan. Here is a great article by the folks at Precision Nutrition to get you started on your smoothie-making journey.

4. Increase your portion size.

I know this one sounds strange, especially to the fat-loss community. Think about it, though. If you are having chicken for dinner and want to increase your protein intake, just eat more chicken. Hey, no one said this was rocket-science. For most of our clients, I recommend aiming for 1-2 palm sized portions of protein at each meal, which will usually get them into the range of 1g/lb body weight. When I look at the portion sizes of many of our skinny high school kids and our adult fat-loss clients, they simply are not eating a large enough portion size of protein. Speaking of chicken, here is a dynamite recipe for chicken fingers from Metabolic Cooking. Add some vegetables for a complete meal.

5. Don’t forget cheese.

While I tend not to eat a ton of dairy food and a lot of people are switching to more paleo-style diets, let’s not forget about cheese. It can be used as an excellent source of not only protein, but also calories for those of you looking to gain weight. Now, I am certainly not suggesting that you sit around eating a block of your favorite cheddar every day, but I’m not opposed to throwing a little on an omelet in the morning or having some fresh mozzarella with your chicken and asparagus at dinner.

6. Look to your fat source for some extra protein.

Nuts and seeds are a great addition to any diet, mainly for the healthy fats they contain. However, nuts and seeds have the added benefit of providing some much needed protein. An ounce of almonds has 6 grams of protein, which when added to a snack of greek yogurt with blueberries can make for a significant protein punch. Both cacao nibs and chia seeds will provide an additional 4 grams per ounce. Two tablespoons of peanut butter with provide an additional 8 grams. While nuts and seeds won’t compare to chicken or beef in terms of the protein they contain, nuts and seeds provide the benefit of being portable raw food options that work well for snacks between main meals.

Wrap-up

In closing, give some or all of these ideas a try when you are planning out your next meal. I’ve heard countless clients talk about how much more energy they have and how much better they feel after increasing their protein intake. Please remember, you don’t ever need to completely overhaul your diet, but rather make small changes each day or week that will lead to large changes over time.

About the Author

Christopher Howard received his his Bachelor’s of Science in Exercise Science and Masters of Science in Nutrition Science from the State University of New York at Buffalo. In addition, Chris is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength & Conditioning Association, a Licensed Massage Therapist in the state of Massachusetts, and a Level 1 Certified Precision Nutrition Coach. Chris has been a strength coach at Cressey Performance since 2010. You can follow him on Twitter here.

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7 Strategies to Get More Vegetables in Your Diet

Today's guest post comes from Cressey Sports Performance coach Chris Howard.

As a “nutrition guy” at Cressey Sports Performance, I spend a considerable amount of time looking over three-day food logs from our clients and athletes to help them create healthy food options for their menus. A common dietary trend among our young athletes and even some of our adults is a serious lack of vegetables. As a way to help the world at large consume more vegetables, I have come up with this list of seven strategies to get more vegetables in your diet.

1. Learn to Cook (or at least follow a recipe).

This strategy is a bit different from the other six, but it’s really where getting more vegetables in your diet has to start. Sure, you can eat vegetables raw; in fact, it’s encouraged, but you certainly get more variety from cooking them. Use Google as your friend and search for recipes that include vegetables or just different ways of making something as simple as broccoli. See some of the recommendations below for more information.

2. Include Vegetables in Smoothies.

In this post, Greg Robins talked about eating more pumpkin, and it made me think of a great smoothie recipe to enjoy this time of year. Here it is:

½ cup Canned Pumpkin (make sure it’s the pure pumpkin, NOT the pie filling)
½ cup Plain Greek Yogurt
1 scoop Low Carb Vanilla Protein Powder
¼ cup Walnuts
¼ cup Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
8oz. Vanilla Unsweetened Almond Milk
4oz. Water (just to thin it out a bit)

Throw all the ingredients in a blender and enjoy!

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Of course, adding vegetables to smoothies doesn’t begin and end with pumpkin. Spinach is another smoothie-friendly vegetable common among the CP staff. It works in pretty much any smoothie and will usually be overpowered by the other ingredients so that you won’t even taste it. Still, you may get some weird looks from classmates and colleagues as they wonder what is in the green sludge you are drinking.

3. Make Soup/Chili.

Soup and chili recipes are a great way to hide vegetables. Brian St. Pierre has written extensively about his wife’s chili recipe, which is still one of my favorites. However, I have a new recipe that while technically not chili, looks, feels and tastes pretty darn similar. The recipe comes from Sarah Fragoso’s Everyday Paleo website. Be sure to check out her version of the recipe here. To make this recipe easier and quicker to make, I have chosen not to stuff the green peppers with the meat mixture, but to chop up the peppers and include them in the meat mixture, instead, which makes it more like a chili. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

4. Don’t Forget about Stir Fry.

While participating in the Precision Nutrition Lean Eating Coaching Program, I was introduced to Robb Wolf’s Food Matrix. He outlines a simple set of instructions that really hammer home how simple cooking and eating healthy can really be. Try this “recipe” with your next stir-fry:

1. Put oil in a skillet or wok;1-2 tbsp coconut or olive oil will work well.
2. Put some meat on the skillet or wok; think chicken, beef, or whatever you like
3. Let the meat cook for a minute or so.
4. Add a ton of veggies; I tend to use frozen broccoli, cauliflower, or stir-fry mixes.
5. Stir it around a few times.
6. Let it cook for 5-10 minutes, until the veggies and meat are cooked to your liking.
7. Eat and Enjoy! It's as simple as that.

This is not only easy to do, but you can also literally change the recipe every night for variety while still using the same cooking methods. Plus, I think this is something that even high schoolers can manage to do without burning down the house.

athletic-greens-pack

5. Add Flavor with Spices/Dressings.

Learning how to use spices on foods can really liven up a dish. Sure, there’s going to be some trial and error here, but it’s definitely worth a shot. Here’s a simple way to make kale, a superfood, taste better in the hopes of becoming a staple at your dinner table:

Ingredients
1 bunch kale
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon seasoned salt (you can substitute any spice you like here)

kale-852033_1280

Directions
1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F.
2. With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoning salt.
3. Bake on a cookie sheet until the edges brown but are not burnt; it'll be approximately 10 to 15 minutes.

6. Make omelets a regular breakfast selection.

One of the questions I always get is how to get vegetables in at breakfast. I usually suggest either a smoothie with spinach or pumpkin (see above), or - even better - an omelet. Again, from a variety standpoint, the options are really endless with an omelet. Here are some ideas:

a. Peppers
b. Onions
c. Tomatoes (Yes, they're technically fruits, but who cares? They are good for you.)
d. Salsa (best for those who are “easing” their way into vegetables)
e. Spinach
f. Mushrooms
g. Asparagus (if you're feeling bolder)
h. The list goes on and on…

kitchen-775746_1280

7. Substitute Lettuce for Tortillas on Tacos and Fajitas.

What kid doesn’t love tacos? I know I could eat them every day for the rest of my life and never get sick of them. One way to make them healthier - and maybe a bit messier - is to substitute lettuce for the tortilla. Try experimenting with different types of lettuce to see which you like the best.

Eating vegetables doesn't have to be boring as long as you're willing to put a bit of thought into preparing them.  Give these tips a shot - and by all means, share any additional strategies you may have in the comments section below.

Note from EC: While we're on the topic of healthy nutrition, in case you haven't heard, here's a quick heads-up that Metabolic Cooking - my favorite cookbook of all time - is on sale for just $10 through the end of this week. My wife and I have used the recipes in this resource for years with great results. You can learn more HERE.

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About the Author

Christopher Howard received his his Bachelor’s of Science in Exercise Science and Masters of Science in Nutrition Science from the State University of New York at Buffalo. In addition, Chris is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength & Conditioning Association, a Licensed Massage Therapist in the state of Massachusetts, and a Level 1 Certified Precision Nutrition Coach. Chris has been a strength coach at Cressey Sports Performance since 2010. You can follow him on Twitter here.

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