I love writing features with multiple installments because it really allows me to dig deep into a topic of interest. It's like writing a short book, with each blog being a different chapter. That said, here were a few of my favorite features from 2012 at EricCressey.com:
1. Quick and Easy Ways to Feel and Move Better - This weekly series was largely put forth by Cressey Performance coach Greg Robins, and it includes five tips for taking your nutrition and strength and conditioning programs to the next level. I contribute here and there, but the majority of the praise goes fully to Greg. Here are the five most popular posts from this series in 2012:
Here's a little sample of the kind of content Greg kicks out each week:
2. Coaching Cues to Make Your Strength and Conditioning Programs More Effective - I started this (ongoing) feature in early 2012, and it was a huge hit. Apparently, people love the idea of having some cues they can use in place of having a qualified coach right there with them. Here were the ones we ran this year:
3. Increasing Pitching Velocity: What Stride Length Means and How to Improve It - This three-part series was very popular with my baseball audience, as preparing the body for an appropriate stride is key to pitching success.
Here's this week's list of tips to fine-tune your nutrition and strength and conditioning programs, compliments of CP Coach Greg Robins.
1. Improve your squat by starting neutral.
2. Remember: “Everything should made as simple as possible, and not simpler.”
At Cressey Performance, we are fortunate to be in an environment where we are constantly learning.
As an example, this past week we had a spectacular in-service delivered by Eric Schoenberg of Momentum Physical Therapy and Performance. Eric is someone with whom we work closely. I respect Eric immensely as he has the rare ability to make things simple. When I hear him speak, I am reminded of the quote from Albert Einstein:
"Everything should made as simple as possible, and not simpler."
In his presentation, Eric made one point in particular that really hit home with me.
His talk mainly focused on helping us create a united front on how we coach many of the arm care and movement drills used by our athletes; as many of them swing between his clinic and our gym floor. When pressed with questions on the specifics of these exercises (where should the shoulder blades be, what muscle are making this happen, that happen, etc?) he stressed the importance of making the movement just look and feel good.
If it looks good and feels good, it’s probably good. If it looks like poop, and feels like poop, it’s probably poop.
Makes sense, right? Everyone is a little different, and everything may measure out to be a little different, but it holds true in the majority of cases.
However, there are times when it might look good to the eye and feel fine to the athlete, but not actually be good. These are the cases we don’t want to make simpler. As an example, what if an overhead squat looks phenomenal, but when you assess the individual on the table, you notice considerable tissue shortness at the hips? These individuals may have phenomenal core stability to overpower their stiff hips, but still need to work hard on tissue length to prevent injury.
Focus on making things look good, and know what “good” looks like, and you’ll be in a great position 90% of the time. However, don’t ever forget about that 10%.
3. Get out of extension before bridging exercises.
4. Make water less boring.
I strive to drink a gallon of water every day. And, 80% of the year, I accomplish that objective just fine. I don’t dislike the taste because, well, it doesn’t taste like anything.
However, I guess the lack of taste is why I sometimes find myself falling off the wagon. When I can’t stand the thought of drinking another ounce of water, I simply spice it up. For many of you, doing so may be just what you need to start making hydration more enjoyable. It seems like a stupidly obvious suggestion, but I guarantee that half of the people who read this don’t drink enough water. I also guarantee they would if it tasted like something worth putting in their mouth.
We all know the benefits of cooking ahead of time. If you are struggling to drink enough water, then prepare a few gallons of flavored water ahead of time, too. Squeeze in lemons, limes, grapefruit, oranges, or anything else you want to include. Spread throughout the entire gallon, the squeeze of half of an orange is going to add a trivial amount of calories to your intake; don’t get worked up about it.
5. Overhaul your dishware for portion control.
Here is an easy tip to control portion size without even thinking about it. Take a look at your dishes: I’m willing to bet they are pretty massive. If you’re in the market for new kitchenware, or just looking for a strategy to reduce calorie intake, consider downsizing your plates and bowls. If there’s less to fill, you will be forced to consume a smaller helping.
Additionally, this is a great strategy for damage control at holiday parties. Many times, people will offer dinner plates and smaller plates for appetizers and desserts. Choose the smaller plate and limit yourself to what you can fit on top. This is another simple tip, but an incredibly effective way to make your nutrition program more successful if you struggle with portion control.
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Compliments of Cressey Performance coach Greg Robins, here are this week's tips to improve your nutrition and strength and conditioning programs.
1. Improve your anti-extension core stability exercises with these tips:
2. Improve your sitting posture with one easy step.
This past week we were fortunate enough to have Michael Mullin from Orthopedic Associates in Portland, ME give a guest in-service on how he uses concepts from the Postural Restoration Institute in his practice. I picked up a lot of great tips from Mike, but one in particular I found particularly easy to implement. When asked what people can do when sitting (especially at a desk) to improve posture, Mike suggested simply sitting on the edge of their seat, a concept he referred to as "functional sitting." By doing so they are in a more “active” position where the body has to stabilize itself more. I’ve spent the last few days putting it to the test and I think it’s a great piece of advice. Give it a try!
3. Appreciate the importance of breathing (namely exhaling) in “core stability.”
Another interesting point that was hammered home by Mike was that the body can draw stability from three major sources: Muscular, Positional (think joint placement), and Gaseous (breathing). As an example, try this:
Make a fist and tense up your whole arm, that arm is under a lot of muscular tension and is stable.
Now relax and completely slouch over in front of your computer, you body is probably hanging out on bony structures now, and drawing stability primarily from the position in which gravity has put it.
Finally, take a deep breath and hold it. The expansion of your diaphragm and lungs has filled you out and is giving you stability.
We need to draw stability from all three sources appropriately; in fact, all three depend on each other. If we breathe correctly, we will be a in a better position. If we are in a good position, we will use muscles appropriately to create stability.
With that in mind here is a quick way to add some focused breathing into a common stability drill. When doing your dead bugs, practice fully exhaling in the bottom position before returning to the top. As you exhale try to depress the rib cage and lower it towards the hips. This will cause the low back to sit heavy into the ground. We have incorporated this at CP, and it has a made a great difference in showing athletes how exhaling activates the abdominals and causes true “core stability” to be trained.
4. Consider your somatotypes when making fitness-based decisions (Part 1).
A person’s body type (also known as their somatotype) is a general classification of their physical composition, as well as certain physiological characteristics. Taking into account your body type is an easy way to individualize your approach for added success in the gym and the kitchen. If this is a new concept to you, first you need to figure out what body type you are most similar to. Then, consider these general guidelines for training and nutrition to optimize your results. For more information, I encourage you to poke around the Precision Nutrition website. Many of these suggestions come from their certification manual. Their web site, nutrition programs and certification program provide an unparalleled source for nutritional information.
Ectomorphic: You tend to be “skinny” through both your limbs and torso. Your metabolism is fast, and in some cases hyperactive. Your tolerance to carbohydrates is great. You tend to be someone who always wants to gain “size”, especially in the limbs (arms and legs). If this sounds like you, use what works for you to your advantage. Go heavy on the carbohydrates; at least 50 – 60% of your intake can come from them. Furthermore, if you are looking to get bigger, limit extra physical activity and focus your efforts on strength gains, and in time, the addition of higher training volumes.
Stay tuned next week and I’ll hit upon another body type!
5. Read into skinfold measurements a bit deeper.
Calipers are often used to measure a person’s body fat percentage. It is a relatively inexpensive way to get an accurate idea of this number, and track progress. One really interesting topic I read about when prepping for my Precision Nutrition exam was the relationship between skin fold measurements and hormone levels. Basically people with similar hormone profiles also tend to carry body fat in the same place. By considering this information you can take a better approach to eliminating body fat as a whole. For example, if you have a high abdominal skinfold you are likely to have elevated levels of cortisol and stress in general. Therefore a better approach to your body fat reduction should include strategies to reduce stress, improve sleep, increase protein intake, and suppress cortisol.
Here are a few more tips for you to consider in relation to where you store body fat:
High suprailiac: Reduce your carb intake, and/or use nutrient timing strategies.
High subscapular: Improve your insulin sensitivity. Consider adding in fish oil supplementation.
High chest: Boost your testosterone by making sure your calories are high enough and you are receiving enough dietary fat.
High triceps or thigh: Reduce your estrogen levels, exercise more, and eat plenty of green leafy vegetables.
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Compliments of Greg Robins, here is this week's list of quick and easy strategies to improve your nutrition and strength and conditioning programs.
1. Consider this concept for easy general programming.
I often get asked for tips on how someone can go about writing their own strength and conditioning programs. There are many great posts and articles covering this topic out there. In fact, maybe none as complete as those Eric has featured here on this site.
I like to show people a very simple concept based around improving “work” by improving three different variables: intensity, volume, and density.
Consider setting up a training session like this:
a. Choose one exercise to focus on improving the actual amount of weight you can put on the bar for one set. For example, try to move more weight on the squat for one set of 3–5 reps. All that matters here is your “top” set, so you can take as little, or as long as you want to reach that set.
b. Next, choose 2-4 exercises to improve how much total weight you can move over all the sets for each given movement. For example, let’s say you choose DB Bench Press for 4x8, and DB Reverse Lunge for 4x8/side. For ease of calculations, assume you used 10lb dumbbells for each exercise; you would have moved 640lbs total for each exercise in that training session (per leg on the lunges). Next week the idea would be to move more than 640lbs total. This can be done by adding sets, reps, or increasing the weight.
c. Lastly, choose 4-6 exercises and designate a rep number and weight for each movement. After that, choose an amount of time (realistically 8-10min). Focus your efforts on doing more work in that time frame from one training session to another. For example:
A1. KB Swing (20kg) x 10
A2. Push Up (BW) x 10
A3. KB Goblet Squat (20kg) x 10
A4. Inverted Row (BW) x 10
Week 1: You complete three rounds in 10min.
Week 2: Anything over three sets of each exercise in 10min is an improvement.
For those of you in a jam, this should provide a simple and easy way to set up a training session. Enjoy!
2. Make 1-arm carries more effective.
3. Don’t attempt to use pre-workout supplements for a general lack of effort.
One debate that you can’t escape, in nearly any setting, is which pre-workout supplement is the best. Which one gets you the most “jacked up, bro!?” I’m here to reiterate once again, that it doesn’t matter. Take, for example, this recent study published in The Journal of The International Society of Sports Nutrition. A certain popular pre-workout supplement was put to the test against a placebo. While the results favored the group taking the supplement, the difference in results were minimal at best. Not to mention the favorable results were all things that could be just as easily provoked with other means. I’m not saying that things like creatine, caffeine, beta-alinine, etc. don’t work; they do. I am saying that no pre-workout supplement will ever be the difference maker in you having success in the gym or your sport. Want a boost? Have some coffee. Want to cover all your nutritional bases? Eat well, and grab a few supplements that actually supplement things you aren’t getting enough of from food. Want to perform at an elite level? Do what it takes to make that happen: outwork everyone, take care of your body, and seek out a motivating environment with like-minded people.
Your pre-workout supplement is overpriced, largely ineffective, and a non-factor in your success. Move on.
4. Improve your positioning on standing cable exercises.
5. Enjoy cranberries as a Thanksgiving super food!
There are a lot of great foods that make the cut for Thanksgiving, and one of my favorites is cranberries. Cranberries are a major super food, and one we probably neglect most of the year. After all, they are pretty bitter unless we add sugar. What a shame! Cranberries’ antioxidant properties are through the roof. Additionally, they help keep your urinary tract, kidneys, and bladder in check. Plus, they are often used to treat skin conditions, and help fight the “less desirable” physical characteristics of aging.
So, how do we go about including them without adding a bunch of sugar? Here are a few ideas:
a. Dehydrate them and include them in baked goods, salads, or other dishes.
b. Use them with fatty foods like oils, and fattier meats the bitterness can actually blend well!
c. Mix them with other fruits that tend to be sweeter in flavor.
d. For cranberry sauce recipes, experiment with honey, natural fruit juices, or agave nectars instead of the usual sugar filled varieties.
We hope everyone has a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!
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Compliments of Cressey Performance coach Greg Robins, here are this week's strategies to help improve your nutrition and strength and conditioning programs.
1. Create better tension in the Turkish Get-up.
2. Add fat to your shakes and smoothies for easy calorie addition.
For those of you looking to gain weight, here is an easy way to add more calories into your daily routine. When preparing shakes and smoothies, consider adding sources of healthy fat. Many of these options are easy to include, add a considerable amount of calories, and do so without adding a lot of actual volume.
Some of my favorites additions include: olive oil, coconut, coconut oil/butter, chia seeds, cacao nibs, almonds, walnuts, and nut butters.
3. Watch the kettlebell as reference for swing technique.
It’s great when you have a coach or training partner available to help give you feedback on your exercise form. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. One thing I love about the kettlebell swing is this easy way to gauge whether or not your form is staying on point. Check out this table I made for your convenience.
If the bottom of the kettlebell is above the wrists at lockout, there are two probable causes. First, one may be excessively extending the spine instead of fully using the hips; the solution to this would be bracing the core at lockout to keep the rib cage down, and think about squeezing the butt cheeks together. Second, the wrists may be "breaking" - which equates to pulling your knuckles to your nose; the solution to this is to keep the wrists locked in place, but maintain a medium/low intensity grip on the kettlebell.
If the bottom of the kettlebell is in line with the wrists at lockout, you're in a good position!
If the bottom of the kettlebell is below the wrists at lockout, there are two potential causes. First, you may just be raising the kettlebell with your arms instead of using the hips; the solution is to think "swing out" and think of the arms as just "connectors" between the 'bell and your body. Second, this faulty position may come from a "death grip" on the kettlebell; you'll want to relax your grip to the same medium/low intensity I discussed earlier.
4. Activate the glutes in all three planes of motion.
Glute activation is obviously an important element in many of our warm-ups, and programming strategies. However, we tend to focus primarily on glute function in the saggittal plane. Bridging variations dominate weight rooms and gyms across the country. It’s important to consider the function of the glutes (max, med / min) in all three planes of movement, and train them accordingly. Make sure you include exercises that attack this muscle group in the frontal and transverse plane, as well as drills to train their function in all three planes at once.
As an example:
Side Lying Clams - Transverse Plane - external/internal rotation.
Side Lying Straight Leg Raise Variations - Frontal Plane - abduction/adduction.
5. Consider using balloons in breathing intensive drills and exercises.
This past weekend, I was fortunate to attend my first course with the Postural Restoration Institute. While the course was not on respiration, we were introduced to a few basic principles used within their approach to aid in respiratory facilitation.
One training aid I found particularly helpful, easy to implement, and under-utilized was - of all things - a balloon!
Using a balloon gives you feedback as to how fully you are exhaling, something many of us think we do, but tend to never fully complete. Additionally, the balloon acts as a source of resistance to help fire your abdominals. This activation is particularly important in heavily extended populations, such as athletes, and active individuals.
Give it a try by including it in drills such as the dead bug, or supine 90/90 belly breathing.
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Here's this week's collection of strategies to improve your nutrition and strength and conditioning programs, compliments of Cressey Performance coach Greg Robins.
1. Teach/learn inverted exercises from finish to start.
2. If you’re a student-athlete, make sure that Tupperware is your best friend.
The summer is a tremendous time for college athletes to make outstanding progress. Athletes can train almost every day, get plenty of rest, and enjoy Mom’s home cooking. At the very least, they are tapping into a well-stocked fridge and pantry. August comes, everyone heads back to school, and it’s not too long until we get e-mails from many of these athletes. Each one is the same, and each one has a fairly simple solution.
Generally the problem is that they either can’t eat enough, the food they want is only available sometimes (ex. greek yogurt at breakfast, but not lunch or dinner), or the quality is inconsistent.
When I was in college, I actually made some of the best physique gains of my life. In fact, my freshman year was when my fitness kick truly began. I treated the cafeteria like a grocery store. In addition to eating what I wanted at each meal, I would bring empty Tupperware and plastic bags in my backpack. This way, I could take back veggies, yogurt, nuts, and other tasty amenities to my dorm room.
Once they were in my fridge, I had healthy snacks. Plus, if I showed up for dinner one night and everything on the menu was terrible, I could do some damage control and return back to my room afterwards to get some quality protein in.
3. Stop considering a week to be seven days long.
When people write programs, they always base it off a 7-day week. I get it, the rest of the world works off a Mon – Sun format, so your training should, too. Doing so leads to a few different ways to split up a training program, and for the most part, the common choices are 3–5 days of training with 2–4 days of rest or supplemental activity.
Don’t get me wrong; this is 100% fine, and it certainly works. However, your body doesn’t know what a week is; it has no idea a week is seven days long. Therefore, you should consider writing strength and conditioning programs in any format you choose that would be optimal for the results you are looking to achieve.
Essentially viewing a “training week” as however long you want gives you the opportunity to meet more demands while still allowing for optimal recovery. Or, it can be used to hit certain lifts,or body parts more often while still allowing other lifts or body parts that may require more time between training sessions to get rest. Here’s an example:
Traditional 4-Day Training Split w/Movement Training
Monday: Lower Body
Tuesday: Upper Body
Wednesday: Movement Training
Thursday: Lower Body
Friday: Upper Body
Saturday: Movement Training
Sunday: Off
"Spreading Things Out" Split
Day 1: Lower Body - Squat
Day 2: Upper Body 1
Day 3: Movement
Day 4: Off
Day 5: Lower Body - Accessory Work
Day 6: Upper Body 2
Day 7: Movement
Day 8: Lower/Full Body - Deadlift
Day 9: Off
By spreading my “training week” out, I have allowed two things to happen. One, I get an extra day of training to address weaknesses, or to just spread out some of the exercises from the previous model into a fifth day. Additionally, I will have more total days off in the course of a year, as the first model gives you one day off every 7 days, and the second model gives you 2 days off for every 9. Lastly, I have more days off before hitting certain lifts again, which can allow for better recovery between sessions.
Like I said, 7-day models work just fine. I just want to challenge you to think outside of the 7-day mindset, as doing so leaves some potential to do some different things with your training.
Note: Kudos to Chad Wesley Smith for introducing this concept to me. Chad utilizes a 9-Day training week with many of his athletes, and in his Juggernuat Method.
4. Spice up your heavy single arm rowing with this variation.
5. Do more “bottoms-up” kettlebell exercises.
I have often touted the versatility of the kettlebell, which are unique in large part due to their shape. In a very early installment of this series, I showed you how to hold the bell correctly. This time around, I challenge you to try a few traditional kettlebell exercises upside down!
No, not you, the kettlebell!
Turning the bell upside-down provides an awkward task to stabilize the bell in that position. Doing so can make traditional carries and presses more challenging, and also more productive, depending on the desired training effect.
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Here's this week's collection of strategies you can apply to your nutrition and strength and conditioning programs; it's a collaborative effort between Greg Robins and me.
1. Clean up your overhead pressing and pulling with these exercises and cues.
Overhead pressing isn’t for everyone, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a good exercise choice. In fact, vertical pressing and pulling is an important part to any balanced approach. For those of us who have lived most of our lives below the shoulders, it may play an integral part to an unbalanced approach, aiming to bring overall balance back.
Overhead pressing and pulling may become problematic when people allow themselves to move into a heavily extended posture as they perform the exercise. In some cases, the factors contributing to this may warrant the elimination of overhead work until certain mobility and stability deficits are improved upon.
For many it’s simply a question of cueing, and re-learning what “right” feels like. Try some of these exercises.
Back to Wall Shoulder Flexion - engage anterior core, activate glutes, make a double chin, and don't allow the lower back to arch (keep it flat against the wall). Exhale fully in the top position. Those in a lot of scapular depression and/or downward rotation will want to to get shrugged up a bit at the top, whereas those with a big upper trap substitution pattern will want to leave this cue out and focus on a bit more posterior tilting of the scapula during upward rotation.
Half-Kneeling 1-arm Landmine Press - The half-kneeling posture makes it harder to substitute lumbar extension for overhead activity, and the pressing angle serves as a nice progression to eventually getting overhead. The cues are largely the same as with the back-to-wall shoulder flexion, including the cue for those in a lot of scapular depression and/or downward rotation to get shrugged up a bit at the top.
Half-Kneeling 1-arm Lat Pulldown - You'll generally do better with traction (pulls ball away from the socket) than approximation (forces ball back in to socket) exercises early on with overhead activity. The cues are, again, much the same. Notice, however, that Greg is attentive to not extending the humerus past neutral, which would create an anterior scapular tilt and cause the head of the humerus to glide forward.
2. Use the eccentric portion of a lift as an indicator.
We are stronger eccentrically than we are concentrically. In other words, we can lower higher weights in control than we can actually lift. For some, the difference between what they can load eccentrically, as compared to concentrically, is minimal. For others, the gap is quite large. Many refer to this difference as the “Strength Deficit.” Essentially the strength deficit is indicative of the difference between our maximal strength potential (absolute strength) and our actualized maximal strength.
With that in mind, keep a watchful eye on athletes (and yourself) during the lowering phase. Their ability (or inability) to show control in this portion is a valuable way to assess the appropriateness of the weight and exercise. I realize other factors could contribute to form breakdown on the way down or up, but in general, if you see athletes unable to lower a weight under control, it’s probably not going to look any better going up. Furthermore, if the athlete shows great control going down, but struggles on the way up, you know there is a recruitment breakdown and they are unable to realize their potential strength at this point. When you see that, address it as soon as possible! Lower the weight to where the concentric portion looks good and gradually progress the load.
Lastly, apply this concept to jumps as well. Consider teaching athletes (especially youth athletes) how to absorb and store force before sending them right into releasing it. Reversing the usual order of events, and teaching landing mechanics before jumping mechanics can effectively do this.
3. Vary soft tissue techniques for better recovery.
Many people don’t realize that the body will adapt to restorative strategies in a similar fashion to how it adapts to training. Vary how you approach your soft tissue work, by using different sized objects, changing directions between passes and modifying the sequencing.
Additionally, seek out trained professionals who can administer a number of different approaches.
4. Try meat muffins.
Meatloaf (the food, not the musician) makes everything better. If I could eat it for every meal, I'd be a happy man.
As with eating muffins, the absolute tastiest part is the top - but in a traditional meatloaf cooking container, the amount of "top shelf loaf" is minimized. The solution to this, of course, is to cook your meatloaf in a muffin baking sheet.
Also, if you're looking for a healthy meatloaf recipe, check out this great turkey meatloaf one from Dave Ruel (makes six servings):
Ingredients
• 2 lbs ground turkey
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 diced onion
• 1 tsp garlic (optional)
• 1⁄3 cup dried tomatoes
• 1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
• 1 whole egg
• 1⁄2 cup parsley
• 1⁄4 cup low fat parmesan
• 1⁄4 cup skim milk
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tsp oregano
Directions
1. Cook the onion with olive oil separately
2. Mix everything together in a big bowl, add the cooked onions
3. Put the mix in a big baking pan
4. Bake at 375-400°F for about 30 minutes.
This recipe is one of 200 awesome ones in Dave's product, Anabolic Cooking; I'd highly recommend you check it out, as my wife and I cook from it all the time.
5. Be realistic when you write programs if you know you'll have time constraints.
Most of us have very busy lives, and if we aren't careful, they can quickly cut into our gym time. One of the biggest mistakes we see when folks write their own strength and conditioning programs is that they choose advanced exercises that may take a lot of time to set-up. Take, for instance, a reverse band bench press. In addition to requiring a lot of set-up time, it requires that you find a spotter and load/unload more plates than you'd normally use. The same would go for a board press variation; you need a spotter, someone to hold the boards, and more weight than you'd use on a regular bench press.
Sometimes, if you're strapped for time you're better off just picking an exercise on which you can fly solo, like a dumbbell bench press or push press. You're increasing your likelihood of adherence and, in turn, success if you know you can get in more quality work in less time.
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In this momentous installment of this series, Cressey Performance Coach Greg Robins introduces you to some valuable lessons he's learned from the past 14 months of competitive powerlifting training.
With this being the 20th Installment of the series (whoa!), I decided I want to do something different. This post will be longer than the others, but I urge you to read it in its entirety, as the lessons from this past 14 months of training will be worth your time. These tips are based on my own experiences and are applicable to any fitness goal.
“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.”
-Theodore Roosevelt
The quote above has followed me for a long time. I keep it in my wallet (it was on a business card I once received). I kept it in my locker when I played baseball, and I taped it inside my wall locker when I went through basic training. My powerlifting journey began at Total Performance Sports in June of 2011. I noticed a corkboard on the wall, and in bold letters, this quote was pinned to the top corner. Surrounding it were updates from different powerlifting and strongman events.
At first, it didn't convince me to train for a powerlifting meet. However, it did kind of bug me. I’m like that; if you can do it, I can do it. For better or for worse, that’s largely how I operate. Give it a month or so, and training with a group of guys who are all trying to get brutally strong rubs off on you. It’s sort of a survival of the fittest environment. It wasn't just a pride thing; it was a challenge. If you know me well, you know I am always working on a physical challenge.
Fast forward to July 2011, and the quote got taped inside my training journal; I decided I wanted to do this.
The process was a major change in how I was used to doing things. I had just finished OCS that summer, and for the past two years, my training had been focused on building a lot of relative strength and aerobic capacity. I decided if this was my goal, then I’m going to go after it hard. This included eating a ton, training hard, and taking time to recover. When it was all said and done, I could reassess and see what I thought. This was my first lesson:
1. Embrace a three phase training mindset.
The three phase training mindset is something I live by now. I first learned to embrace it after reading this post from strength coach Dan John. I encourage you to read it, but the important part is in the last paragraph. It reads "Plan the hunt, hunt the hunt, discuss the hunt." This boils down to approaching training in three phases.
First, you plan your training. With the help of my training partner, and co-worker at the time, Jamie Smith, a 12-16 week training cycle was born. Additionally, I had always been someone who, in retrospect, was held back in possible strength gains by constantly avoiding gaining too much weight. I decided on day one that I would forgo the constant nutritional dilemma in my head, as well as the urge to finish every workout, and fill every off day, with "conditioning". I had a plan: do the program to a tee, execute the assistance work I decided ahead of time would target my weaknesses, stop conditioning excessively, and eat like a horse. When it was over, and not before, I would discuss the results.
If you are going to go after a goal, sit down and figure out the best way to get there. Furthermore, assess what you are doing now that may interfere with your success. Prioritize what will have the best transfer and execute with unyielding intensity. As I tell all the athletes at CP, train with a purpose. Once you have carried out your plan with a 100% effort, then you can sit down again and re-evaluate.
This is precisely what I did, and I got exactly what I wanted. I improved all my lifts dramatically, gained 25lbs, and had a whole host of ideas to bring to the table for my next planning session. This leads me into lesson #2.
2. Learn to tweak a program, not "change" it.
Coming off my first meet, I was very happy that our program had produced results, I stuck to my guns with regards to my nutritional approach, and avoided any extra conditioning. That being said, I had managed to gain a fair amount of not-so-lean body mass in addition to a lot of new muscle. Likewise, I was slowly developing into a one trick pony – or a three trick pony (Squat, Bench, Deadlift), as the case may be. While I was surely able to lift a heck of a lot more than ever before, I was getting winded walking up multiple flights of stairs, and feeling a little disgusted in my physique.
While the power lifting purists may scoff at that comment, I knew enough to know that progress could ensue without continuing to become a sloth. I had lived the first two phases of my training mindset, and now it was time to re-evaluate. The important lesson here is that I kept the nuts and bolts of my training program the same. I planned to work off the same percentages, hit the same supplemental lifts in the same sequence, and choose accessory movements that targeted my weakness.
The difference this time around was in how I approached my nutrition, and additional "moving." Common sense would tell us that you can't remove two sources of energy (calories, and the addition of more physical activity) and continue to gain. So. I chose to remove one source of energy, and tweak another. I made sure that my calories were still very high, but that they came from better sources.
On top of that, I decided to utilize a nutrient timing protocol to make my calories work towards my goals more productively. I did that by slowly adopting the principles of Carb Back Loading, which you can read about here.
Knowing that my caloric intake was more than enough to gain muscle and strength, I simply placed in "movement" days in a fashion that would promote more calorie burning, but also enhance recovery. This was done by intelligently approaching these days with less intensity, as well as by optimizing the means. An example of this would be running sprints at low intensities 50 - 70% on an elevated (hill) soft surface (grass).
Fast forward 16 weeks, and the new plan had worked as well. I was stronger, leaner, and much more confident in my physique. I even got girls to like me again...phew!
Too often people jump from program to program. Most people jump before the first one is even done; this is silly. There are also a fair amount of people who finish one program and think the most logical choice is to scrap it and start something completely different. This isn't always stupid, depending on certain factors. However, I would strongly encourage you to think about tweaking programs, rather than abandoning them all together. Conveniently, this leads me to lesson #3.
3. Know thyself.
Being able to put lesson #2 into practice is largely a function of learning to know oneself as a lifter. At this point, I am 3 weeks out from my second powerlifting meet. It is also the 30th or so week I have followed the same program.
It's pretty funny to think back on the three separate training cycles and how I felt at any given point during the training. I remember saying to myself in week 10 of my second go: "Wow, I feel horrible." Then, I thought about how I felt during week 10 the first time around: the same. Come week 10 this time, it was same thing. It's important because I was able to locate an exact point where the volume was getting to me. This means I was able to do two things.
First, I didn’t abandon ship, because this was normal, and I was beginning to taper the volume anyhow. Second, I was able to slightly tweak training sessions in order to optimize my training. As a young fitness enthusiast, I would read about the difference between advanced and novice lifters. A common theme was that the advanced lifter was able to auto-regulate his training. He or she could make calls on how they felt while staying within the parameters of their training approach as a whole. I even thought a few years ago I was one of these people. I would smash it when I felt good, cut back when I felt crappy. In some ways this was beneficial. However, now I am able to do this on an entirely different level, and I'm still new to understanding it. This is a little over a year of understanding how to train for optimal outputs; the best have decades of experience!
If you want to be great, and have great success in the gym, you need to understand how you react to all the stresses put upon you. It may be possible for some of you already, but I guarantee you it is possible for all of you if you stick with a certain approach over an extended period of time and remain cognizant of how you feel under different circumstances.
Bottom line: do something consistently enough to be able to determine what works, what doesn't, and what can be improved. Furthermore, listen to your body. As a side note to coaches: listen to your clients and athletes.
Moving on, my next two lessons don't flow from the previous ones quite as smoothly as the others. I’ll never be described as a literary genius, but nonetheless, they are good ones!
4. Hammer home technique, technique, technique!
Powerlifting has filled a void in my life. One thing I loved about playing baseball was working on my swing, and receiving skills as a catcher. The neat thing about sport performance is that the most elite athletes are able to blend both tremendous physical outputs with mastery of their sport skill. When a high level of each is achieved, the result is simply amazing to watch.
When I would lift weights in the past, I knew form was important, mainly so that I didn't get hurt. After all, my weight room antics were mainly done in order to improve performance in activities outside the weight room. Now lifting weights is my sport, and technical mastery of the three lifts is hugely important. While I have obviously gotten a lot stronger over the past year, I attribute a large amount of my success to dissecting my form. I have well over 250 videos of different lifts saved on my computer, and I’ve watched each multiple times and scrutinized for flaws in technique. If you have seen some of my videos on Facebook, you are probably wondering what the heck I am looking for, as it isn't always pretty. In all seriousness, it has been the single biggest factor in improving my squat and bench press, and a good way to locate little mishaps in timing with my deadlift. If you are a competitive lifter, break down your technique and learn the nuances of each lift from people who have lifted weights you hope to someday lift. If you are a coach or fitness buff, I would advocate the use of video on the big lifts. I also think becoming meticulous with your technique will add a rewarding piece to your training as a whole!
The last lesson is the most important, and in light of what it is, and the fact this article is already a short novel, I will keep it short.
5. Do Less, get more.
If powerlifting has done one thing for me, it has proven this mantra. My training has become focused. I have three lifts I am looking to improve. I have learned that doing too much physically outside of these lifts will negatively impact them. I have learned that doing more mentally (looking at video, crunching numbers, assessing training stress) with these three lifts will improve them.
This is the lesson that can be most easily applied to everyone's training and life. Don't do so much that you become mediocre at a lot, and great at nothing. Don't create so many variables that you cannot locate and manage the ones that matter.
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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!
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.
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)
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…
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.
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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Compliments of Cressey Performance coach Greg Robins, here are this week's tips to make you just a little more awesome.
1. Consider assigning rest intervals, or using "active rest" to better facilitate the desired training effect.
Assigning rest intervals is a topic of hot debate. Many coaches are against it, some are strong advocates for it, and many don't pay much attention to it at all. My stance, as it tends to be with so many strength and conditioning topics, is "situationally dependent."
For many athletes (particularly younger or less experienced ones), assigning rest intervals simply adds an unnecessary variable. Why? It's largely because the primary goal with these athletes is developing strength and muscle mass. These goals are pretty easily achieved in novice populations. They have little to no training experience and moving weight is going to cause these adaptations, generally regardless of the amount of rest they take between sets.
In more experienced athletes, though, different strength qualities must be trained in order to further advance the transfer of training to sport improvement. In these cases, the amount of rest can definitely alter the training effect, even when moving loads of the same intensity. In his text, Special Strength Training Manual For Coaches, Yuri Verkhoshansky outlines a few basic parameters in regards to this philosophy.
Consider an example: moving a load of 70-90% of one-rep max for as many as 3-10 total repetitions over 4-8 sets, with rest intervals of 3-4 minutes, yields a training effect geared more towards explosive strength development.
Moving a similar load (70-80%) for 6-12 total repetitions over the course of 3-6 sets, with rest intervals of 1-2 minutes, yields a training effect more geared towards maximal strength and muscular hypertrophy. In both cases, the load and set/rep scheme is basically the same. However, by giving the athlete time to recover (3-4 min), we allow them to apply a near maximal output against the resistance every set. This greatly alters the result of the training.
Verkoshansky goes on to provide a number of examples where rest is the most altered variable differentiating between working on explosive capabilities rather than maximal strength, hypertrophy, or localized muscular endurance. Keep this in mind when you utilize exercises in an effort to develop explosive strength, such as jumps or throws. If your goal is to make athletes more explosive, you need to make them rest. At Cressey Performance, we do this by pairing exercises such as med ball throws with mobility drills, which forces an athlete to take more time between sets. This approach has commonly been referred to as "active" rest.
2.Teach people how to be coached.
Does this sound familiar? Your client or athlete is in the middle of a set. He or she is on rep 2 of 5 and you call out a coaching cue: "chest up!" All of a sudden, they turn their head - right in the middle of the repetition - and ask, "what?"
Needless to say, this isn't a great situation. Luckily, it is one that is easily avoided if you take the time to coach the "little" things right from the get-go. Some of you might be reading this and saying: "Duh, Greg." Unfortunately, this kind of thing happens ALL THE TIME. In fact, I bet the majority of you don't touch on the nuances of lifting and getting coached with your clients until an event like this takes place. Do everyone involved a favor: before you teach them anything concerning technique, teach them how to be coached. Make sure they understand that at no point during a lift should they turn their head, talk, or stop midway through, unless instructed to do so. A mentor of mine used to start every new client by getting them in a mock squat position and moving to various spots around them, asking if they could hear him. It was meant to prove that in order to be coached, they didn't need to move their head. Again, it seems rudimentary, but it's very important.
3. Roll your adductors on an elevated surface.
Many of you already roll out your adductors (inner thighs). However, in most cases, it is primarily done on the ground. While doing so on the ground is definitely beneficial, you will find the position to be somewhat awkward. Additionally, it is tough to apply enough pressure on the ground to actually get a good effect. Check out this video to see how we utilize an elevated surface to get into a better position; you can also utilize a med ball instead of a foam roller to improve the training effect.
I realize many gyms don't have this luxury, but you will find that using a weight bench also works, but might feel somewhat awkward. Instead of placing the opposite foot on the ground, just place the opposite knee on the ground instead to make up for the lack of surface height.
4. Go ahead, eat some chocolate!
Who doesn't like to indulge in some chocolate, and a good cry? Okay, well at least the chocolate, right? In his popular book, The 150 Healthiest Foods On Earth, Dr. Jonny Bowden makes a point to include dark chocolate. Thank goodness, because that stuff is delicious! The best part is that consuming the right kind of chocolate is actually great for our health as well. For starters, cocoa is rich in flavonoids. These are compounds found in plants that help protect the organism from various toxins. When we consume the plant, we also receive the benefits of these compounds.
It is interesting to note that the flavonoids found in cocoa help synthesize nitric oxide. Every meathead knows that nitric oxide helps increase blood flow, that's why they crush NO workout products like nobody's business. Well, that and they think they're going to make them hyooooge. Seriously, though, the flavonoids ability to modulate nitric oxide has a great effect on decreasing cardiovascular issues (such as high blood pressure) and can help to improve insulin sensitivity. Seek out real chocolate bars, not the kind you find in a mini mart. Make sure it's at least 60% cocoa or more to get these benefits. Furthermore, while the fat content in real dark chocolate is primarily good fat, it does contain a fair amount of "bad" fat, so it is best consumed in moderation.
5. Volunteer or donate to charity.
This blog has never been about politics, nor will it ever be. However, with the recent releases of tax returns from both candidates in the presidential race, it's pretty awesome to see both Romney and Obama donating approximately 20% of their income in 2011 to charity. I figured this could be the first blog to highlight something that's not negative about either candidate! Hopefully more Americans will follow their lead on this front - or at least volunteer their time if they don't have the resources to contribute financially. Remember, these tips are about ways to feel better - and that includes the psychological benefit you'll receive from helping others.
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