Back in graduate school, an opportunity arose to invest in an up-and-coming company. At the time, I was swamped with student loans and really didn’t have the $5,000 “buy-in” to spare. However, I’d always had the “entrepreneurial spirit,” and the company was recommended by a more experienced colleague I trusted (who’d also bought in), so I decided to take the plunge and devote a hefty chunk of my bartending (grad school evening job) income to the cause.
Almost a decade later, it’s been a tax deduction for me every April, as the company has lost money year after year. The lowlight came when the vice president walked off with $80,000 to waste on strippers and cocaine, as us unenthused investors were told. Apparently, when it comes to venture capital, there are “angel investors” and “poor grad students who accidentally fund guys who like boobs.” It didn’t take me long to figure out which category I was in (although I did take time to consider that $80K is a lot of $1 bills).
I’ve learned lessons from books, DVDs, seminars, training people from all walks of life, and lifting myself – but throwing $5K down the toilet when I really didn’t have it to spare actually ended up teaching me a valuable lesson: no matter who you trust, the only person you can really count on is yourself.
This can really be applied to just about any walk of life – from business (obviously) to personal development. Every decision you make in life is really a balance between trust and complete self-reliance.
When you hire an employee, it’s because you trust that he or she will do a good job with clients and customers at the level you expect. Otherwise, you’d have to extend hours and do everyone yourself…24/7/365.
When you go to church and put a few dollar bills in the collection plate, you trust that everyone who touches that money along the way will, in fact, ensure that it goes to the right place. Otherwise, you’d have to hand deliver your donation each week.
When you go to the doctor, you trust that he or she has been educated properly and is thorough enough to give you a diagnosis that might save your life. Otherwise, you have to get second opinions – or try to diagnose yourself.
Heck, even as you read this newsletter, you trust that I know my arse from my elbow (and in light of my stellar investment story from above, a lot of you are probably second-guessing yourselves already).
Catch my drift? Your life is really a series of dependencies on others, as much as you might hate to admit it. This applies to your strength and conditioning program in a big way.
When you go to the gym, you trust that the ownership of that facility has properly maintained that equipment so that it’s not going to break while you’re using it. Otherwise, you’d be checking out each piece of equipment meticulously between each set.
When you connect with a training partner, you trust that he or she is going to be as motivated as you and push you to be better. Otherwise, you’re lifting by yourself.
When you purchase a fitness product, you trust that the author has the experience necessary to create a program that’ll deliver the results you want in a safe and timely manner.
How do you ensure that your strength and conditioning program (or any aspect of your life) doesn’t end up as a series of failed dependencies on others?
1. Review the résumé of anyone you’re considering. When it comes to selecting people to work at our facility, the résumé is something that gets you a foot in the door – much like an academic transcript or SAT score might impact college admissions. At the end of the day, how you act during an interview and perform on the job is more important to me. For you, though, if you’re looking to purchase a fitness product, check on the background of who created it. Are they training people – or have they at least done so in the past? Or, are these hypothetical programs?
2. Look for a track record of success. This might seem synonymous with checking on a résumé, but it’s actually different. I’ve known people with tremendous on-paper accomplishments who couldn’t cut it in the real world because these achievements didn’t translate to a different realm, or because their previous success had made them complacent and apathetic. Sadly, I’ve also met people who have forged résumés altogether. Do your homework by seeking out testimonials and asking around – and that’s where #3 will come into play.
3. Surround yourself with as many positive – and insightful – people as possible. Your first impression is usually the correct one, but it never hurts to have additional perspectives from those around you. While there’s no way you can ever guarantee that all the advice you get is good, consistently reevaluating the relationships you keep can be really valuable – not only in terms of making sure that you have the best advice on hand, but also in determining if you need to get someone’s negativity out of your life. Not every friendship is going to work out, not every business dealing will be a good fit, and not every book/DVD will appeal to you. The more you can “hone in” your social circle, the better the decisions you’ll make – whether it’s in avoiding the extra slice of chocolate cake, deciding to go for the PR bench press on a day when you could have slacked off, or buying book “X” instead of DVD “Y.”
4. Look for a way out; there should always be a fall-back option. You can test-drive the care before you buy it. You can find a new training partner if things aren’t working out. You can always fire an employee if they aren’t the right fit. Many products have money-back guarantees.
5. Only delegate within your comfort zone. Learning to delegate was the absolute hardest thing for me when we opened Cressey Performance and I had co-owners and employees for the first time in my life. It took some time, but now I have people doing everything – billing, scheduling, taxes, maintenance, answering the phone – that doesn’t allow me to effectively leverage my strengths: assessments, program design, and coaching. Comfort in this regard doesn’t magically happen; it’s something that develops over time.
To bring this lesson to a close, look back at my botched investment and apply these five principles to it. I didn’t even know the president or vice president of the company, and therefore never checked their résumés (#1). They’d never run a business before and had no track record of success (#2). Rather than running my idea by multiple people, I went on the basis of one colleague – who was more of an acquaintance, anyway (#3). There was no fall-back option, so with this being my first investment opportunity, I would have been smarter to go with something more low-risk, such as investing in stocks/bonds rather than a brand new company (#4). I instantly delegated everything, andto people I didn’t even know! There was no easing into it (#5).
I deserved to lose my money; I was an idiot.
To take the guesswork out of your programming, check out my new program, Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look, Feel , and Move Better. I promise, you can trust me – and there’s a money-back guarantee.
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To kick off the week, here's a quick rundown of things you might like to read (or watch):
The 5 Most Common Deadlift Mistakes - I published this blog at Men's Health last week, and thought I'd give you a heads-up on it. It's a good tag-along to the FREE video I provide HERE on how to deadlift (you can also subscribe in the opt-in box at the bottom of this blog to get access).
Does Hip Range of Motion Correlate to Low Back Pain? Maybe Not in Everyone - This is a good post from Mike Reinold that talks about how research on the topic can be tough, and that rotational sport athletes and sedentary folks need to be considered differently.
Anti-Rotation Sled Dragging - Here's an innovative core exercise from Jim "Smitty" Smith utilizing the sled for your strength and conditioning program.
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If you read this blog on a regular basis, I'm sure you know that while I'm undoubtedly an "experiment in the trenches" kind of guy, but I'm also very evidence-based in a lot of things I do. As such, I spend a lot of time reading research. Doing so not only affirms or refutes what I'm doing, but also provides me with consistent content ideas for this blog: read more, write more!
Without even thinking of it, I rely pretty heavily on what I was taught in graduate school research methods courses and what I learned during my own master's thesis training intervention, data collection/analysis, and subsequent publication in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. Unfortunately, a lot of folks never get this training in school - or they get it at a time when it isn't interesting or applicable, because all they're doing is cramming for the next test or counting down the hours until a big party weekend. Then, down the road, when it comes time to interpret research on a scholarly journal, they overlook key elements of a study, misinterpret results, or let poor research practices slide.
Additionally, a lot of people simply don't know where to look when it comes to finding new research in their field of expertise. Especially within the fitness industry - where one may need to cover everything from nutrition, to sports medicine, to strength training - things can be tough to locate.
The good news is that my buddy Mark Young just released a product called How to Read Fitness Research to address these problems.
I won't lie to you: reading about research methods isn't sexy, and you probably won't be able to watch all the webinars straight through like you would the Rocky or Jaws movies. However, if you put the time in to cover this material, you'll be rewarded with a better understanding of how to approach continuing education in the fitness industry.
The general fitness enthusiasts in the crowd shouldn't worry about picking this one up, and neither should those of you who've been through college exercise science research methods classes (and actually paid attention). Those of you who entered the fitness industry as a second career or as a first career without a college education should absolutely check this out, though. At $37, it's a great value.
A lot of people know me as a guy with incredible willpower when it comes to eating; I’m not a guy who eats pizza, desserts, or really anything kind of junk. However, a lot of people take that to mean that I don’t enjoy food – but that couldn’t be further from the truth. I love to eat – but I prefer it to be healthy food options; give me a good steak and some fresh vegetables and I’ll be much happier than if I’d just spent some quality time with Ben and Jerry.
That’s why I’m always psyched when I get healthy recipes thrown my way. As much as I like healthy food, it’s easy to get stuck in ruts with the same things over and over again. Taking it a step further, now that I’m living with a wife, I have to keep in mind that she doesn’t tolerate a bland diet as easily as I could – and since she likes to cook, new recipes are pretty clutch for my marriage!
As such, I was really fired up when I read through Dave Ruel’s Metabolic Cooking, a resource consisting of over 250 awesome recipes for eating healthy. If you like John Berardi’s stuff in this regard, you’ll also love Dave’s.
Metabolic Cooking is a really expansive product, as it provides recipes for breakfasts, chicken/poultry, fish/seafood, red meat, pork, sides, smoothies, snacks, and vegetarian options. There were several things that really stood out for me about this fantastic resource.
The first thing I really took away from this resource was how to use different spices in cooking. You’ll get a kick out of this, but the ONLY thing I added to our wedding registry last year was a spice rack, as I wanted to use more herbs and spices in our cooking. I received it – but it’s been sitting idle in our kitchen since October simply because I didn’t know when to use things like thyme, sage, and rosemary. Sure enough, Dave includes a lot of these in his recipes – and they’ve been delicious additions to meat and vegetables. Check out the herbed green beans I made the other night.
He does some equally creative stuff with healthy salad dressings, too.
Second, Dave “convinced” me to start eating some pork again. I never really resisted including pork in my diet like a lot of people do nowadays (because they think it’s unhealthy), but I didn’t really have any good recipes that made me want to go out and buy some. That changed last week when I made some slow cooker chili pork the other night.
Third, Dave gave me something to do with the coconuts and fresh pineapples in our front yard during our honeymoon in Costa Rica. Check out this pina colada smoothie (yes, I even hacked up the coconut and pineapple myself). Before and afters:
Fourth, my wife and I eat a fair amount of ground turkey, which almost always comes in one-pound packages. The problem is that 16 oz of meat cooks up to 12oz of meat – and I’ll eat 7-8oz and my wife will eat 4-5oz. In other words, there are zero leftovers after we have dinner – and I get "hangry" (a combination of hungry and angry) when there’s nothing kicking around the next day for me to take to work. Dave’s got a great recipe called “Mexi Turkey-Eggs Skillet” that adds eggs (and some vegetables) to the ground turkey, which thickens it up and ensures that you’ll have some leftovers.
When all was said and done, my wife and I both had our dinners – and then had enough for lunch for both of us to take to work the next day. And I wasn’t hangry at all.
Fifth, on the logistical side of things, Dave has a cool feature in his e-book that allows you to easily navigate back and forth from the individual recipes to the table of contents (and vice versa). I hadn’t seen this before in an e-book and I absolutely love it (so much, in fact, that I plan to incorporate something similar where appropriate in my future products).
For those looking to lean out (or gain muscle, for that matter), Dave provides nutritional facts for each recipe and advice on whether to include it as a protein and fat, protein and carb, or “mixed” meal. So, it’s not just recipes; it’s very useful advice as well.
In case you couldn’t tell by now, I give this product about 47 thumbs up, as evidenced by the fact that all I’ve been doing is eating healthy food (and a lot of it) ever since it arrived. I mean, can you argue with this Lemon Herb Mustard Chicken? Not bad for a meathead strength coach, huh?
Trust me: this is a resource you will use for years to come. Pick up a copy and you won’t be disappointed: Metabolic Cooking. As an added bonus, it's on sale for 67% off this week - along with its "sister resource," Anabolic Cooking, which is also awesome. You can get them both for just $20 right now...pretty sweet deal.
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Packing in the Neck - This is an old one, but a good one from Charlie Weingroff. Charlie talks about proper neck positioning while lifting - a topic that I think gets really overlooked in discussions of appropriate lifting technique. In case you can't tell from this deadlift technique, I'm in full agreement with Charlie.
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I just received this review from a happy customer of Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look, Feel, and Move Better(and grow out of every single piece of clothing you own):
Eric,Thought I'd add to your pile of stories about my experience with Show and Go. As a 30 year-old non-athlete who has never truly followed a complete training program, Show and Go really challenged me, brought some great results, and has turned me into a huge snob in the gym (my rest periods are generally spent grimacing at peoples' form and judging them for their partial range movements/exercise choices). The biggest challenge for me was adapting to the longer workouts/more volume/new exercises. As I reached the end of the program I certainly noticed I had adapted well.
I did not test my 1RM before starting, but I had good estimates and without a doubt I am much stronger and much more confident in my body to handle heavier loads. My results:1RM Deadlift - 380 (approx. +60lbs)
1RM Front Squat - 245 (approx +55lbs)
1RM Bench Press - 260 (approx +30lbs)Other stats of note:- Gained about 9lbs even though I know I don't eat enough
- Literally ripped the back of 5 pairs of pants bending over or sitting down (and grew out of most of the rest of them)
- Grew out of almost all my suits (pants and jackets)I'll be coming back to Cressey Performance in the next few weeks to get a new program in person and can't wait. Hopefully my legs/butt will settle down and stop growing out of pants. It's getting to be an expensive hobby for someone who has to dress up for work everyday.Thanks for this program. It was what I needed and it worked. Your blog and Tony's blog helped with continued motivation and instruction throughout.You guys have a good thing going. Looking forward to what's next.Zach Stanley
Whether you're a beginner or a veteran lifter, I'd encourage you to check out the program that had Zach splitting pants and moving big weights: Show and Go.
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A lot of folks who read this blog might not realize that those who subscribe to my free newsletter also receive free access to a 9-minute video that teaches you everything you need to know about how to deadlift. This thorough deadlift technique tutorial covers the conventional, sumo, and trap bar deadlifts - as well as the common mistakes we see on all of them.
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Also, if you have a friend (or 50 friends) who you think would benefit from this video, please click "Tweet" or "Recommend" at the left side of this page. Thanks for your help in spreading the word!
The baseball off-season is a lot of fun for me, but it also means crazy long hours, loads of competing demands, and quite a bit of stress. To take it a step further, though, most of my long hours are spent on my feet on the floor at Cressey Performance, which isn’t exactly conducive to making progress in a training program. Topping it off, we've gotten about 470 feet of snow in the Northeast this winter, which makes us all want to simply go into hibernation!
While I’ve gotten all my gym sessions in during this time, the reality is that in many cases, they were a lot more like “working out” than they were “training.” And, although I haven’t wasted away, it’s never a good sign when someone you haven’t seen for a few months asks you if you’ve lost weight when you haven’t been trying to do so – and that happened a few weeks ago.
The end result? I’m under 190 for the first time in over two years – and sadly, I’m not really any leaner (or stronger, for that matter).
Something clicked two weekends ago, though. Since the gym is closed on Sundays, I find it’s the best day for me to go in refreshed and get in a good lift. Thanks to a little rest, loud music, and a good training partner, I sumo deadlifted 500 for a set of five. And, it felt damn good!
It also made me realize how much of a pansy I’d been in the gym for the two months prior. With that realization, I headed home to put a program for myself on my to-do list.
The next morning, I woke up anticipating writing that strength and conditioning program (along with about a dozen others!), but before I could get to it, I found an email from Mike Westerdal waiting for me. And that email included an advanced copy of the new product he created with Elliott Hulse: Lean Hybrid Muscle.
For those who don’t know of Mike, he’s a strong dude, with competition bests of 640 squat, 630 bench, and 600 deadlift at a body weight of 242. And, through his website, criticalbench.com, he’s helped thousands of guys bust through their bench press plateaus, not to mention interacted with and programmed for a lot of experienced lifters. Elliott is no quack, either; he is a professional strongman and runs a hardcore gym in Tampa, FL.
I’ve often reminded my readers that that if you need a contract written, you’d go to a lawyer. If you needed your taxes done, you’d go to an accountant. Well, I’m also here to say that if you need a program to kick you in the arse when you’ve been training like a sissy, you go to qualified lifters and coaches who have consistently helped people get strong, burn fat fast, and put on muscle. And that’s what I did.
And, I’ve definitely received that kick in the arse. The past 10 days of training have been some of the more challenging I’ve encountered in over a decade of lifting. And, just as Westerdal assured me, it has been a nice change of pace from the powerlifting-oriented work I’ve done in the past. Here’s what I like about the program:
1. Concurrent Periodization – it might be high volume, but that doesn’t mean that you won't be able to increase strength. If your goal is changing body composition – and not just dropping fat or building muscle exclusively – it’s a great resource. Anybody can get you to lose weight with a high volume program, but not everyone can help you maintain or even increase strength and build muscle mass in the process.
2. Video Demonstrations – Mike and Elliott have links to every exercise featured in this strength and conditioning program, so if you don’t recognize one, you can quickly and easily check it out. I know my stuff in this regard, but it was helpful when I came across a few new ones that these guys must have invented themselves.
3. Versatility – I’m fortunate to have quite a few extra goodies – sledgehammers, farmer's walks handles, tires, turf, kettlebells, sleds, slideboards, kegs – at my fingertips, and Mike and Elliott are all about incorporating what you’ve got into the strength training program. I’ve used it to modify the interval work included in the program. They also give you a wide variety of strength exercises from which to choose so that you can work around injuries or specialize on your weak areas.
The benefits certainly go well beyond these three points (the nutrition component/meal plans are excellent, for instance), but in the interest of brevity, I’d highly encourage you to check out Lean Hybrid Muscle. It actually makes for a great follow-up to Show and Go, for those of you who are just wrapping up that program.
For more information, head over to the Lean Hybrid Muscle Website.
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Q: I’m confused about when I should arch. I was re-reading some of your older articles, and noticed that in the Neanderthal No More series, you and Mike Robertson advocate posteriorly tilting the pelvis while performing some core exercises, yet when it comes to performing squat and deadlift technique, you encourage people to maintain the arch.
My back tightens up a lot when I arch strongly, but if I just bend over to touch my toes in flexion, it doesn’t bother me at all.
1. Could it be possible that I am arching too much during everyday movements and strength exercises?
2. What really constitutes a neutral spine? Is it different for each person?
3. When is it (if ever) appropriate to have a flat spine?
A: The main thing to consider – at least in my experience – is whether there is compressive loading on the spine. In compression, you want an arch - or at the very least, the natural curve of your lumbar spine. The discs simply don't handle compression well when the spine is in flexion (or flat). We do more of the posterior pelvic tilt stuff when you are on your back (glute brides, as the glutes posteriorly tilt the pelvis) or on your stomach (if you arch, you're slipping into hyperextension, which defeats the purpose of trying to resist gravity as it pushes you down to the floor).
Bending over is a LOT different than squatting and deadlifting (and comparable strength exercises). When you add load, the game changes. Cappozzo et al. found that squatting to parallel with 1.6 times body weight (what might be “average” for the typical weekend warrior) led to compressive loads of ten times body weight at L3-L4. That’s 7000N for a guy who weighs about about 150. Meanwhile, in a study of 57 Olympic lifters, Cholewicki et al. found that L4-L5 compressive loads were greater than 17,000N. It’s no wonder that retired weightlifters have reduced intervertebral disc heights under MRI! They get strong, but at a "structural price."
According to Dr. Stuart McGill in his outstanding book, Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance, the spine doesn’t buckle until 12,000-15,000N of pressure is applied in compression (or 1,800-2,800N in shear) – so it goes without saying that we’re always playing with fire, to a degree – regardless of the strength training exercise in question, as there’s always going to be compressive loads on the spine. That’s a laboratory model, though; otherwise, the Olympic lifters above wouldn’t be able to handle much more than 12,000N without buckling. In the real world, we have active restraints – muscles and tendons – to protect our spine.
If those active restraints are going to do their job, we need to put them at a mechanical advantage – and flexion is not that advantage. The aforementioned Cappozzo et al. study demonstrated that as lumbar flexion increased under load, compressive load also increased. In other words, if you aren’t mobile enough to squat deep without hitting lumbar flexion (because the hips or ankles are stiffer than the spine), you either need need to squat a little higher or not squat at all. That said, I don't think that you have to force a dramatic arch when you squat (or any strength exercise, for that matter); I think you need to brace your core tightly and create stability within the range of motion that you already have – and, indeed, “neutral spine” is different for everyone. For instance, females have an average of 5-7 degrees of anterior pelvic tilt, whereas males are more like 3-5 degrees - meaning that females will naturally be a bit more lordotic.
Having sufficient lumbar flexion to touch your toes with “uniform” movement through your lumbar spine is certainly important, and for most, it’ll be completely pain free (regardless of range of motion), but that doesn’t mean that a flat or flexed lumbar spine is a good position in which to exercise with compressive load.
So, to recap:
1. Neutral spine is different for everyone. What’s the same for everyone is the need to have stability within the range of motion that you’ve got.
2. Flexion is fine (and a normal functional task) when it isn’t accompanied by compressive loading. And, there is a different between subtle lumbar flexion and end-range lumbar flexion.
3. Arching (lumbar extension) doesn’t need to be excessive in order to be effective in improving tolerance to compressive loads. In most cases, that “arch” cue simply keeps a person in neutral spine as they go into hip flexion in the bottom of a squat or deadlift (or comparable strength exercise). “Arch” doesn’t mean “hyperextend;” it means to maintain the normal lordotic curve of your lumbar spine.
Looking to learn more? Check out Functional Stability Training, a comprehensive resource for assessment, programming, and coaching.
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As a business owner, I can say without wavering that there are a lot of times when I admittedly get stressed out and wish there were more hours in the day to get everything I have on my plate done - and still have time left over to spend with my wife and family.
And, while I haven't managed to figure out how to add more than 24 hours to the day, I have started to find a few ways to better manage my time - and, more specifically, my strength training program.
You see, many people use exercise as a means of relieving stress - and I think that's absolutely awesome. Unfortunately, when you already work 10 hours a day on your feet in a gym, it's hard to see things that way even when all the equipment is right at your fingertips. To that end, the stressed-out strength training tips I note below will be applicable to folks in any occupation, not just the fitness industry.
Tip #1: Increase training frequency, but reduce training duration.
I find that when I'm busy, I can find 30 minutes here and there, but getting 60-75 minutes free at a convenient time is tougher. One thing I'll do is simply up my training frequency to 5-6 times per week instead of just four sessions. Rather than having sessions that include four pairings (7-8 strength exercises), I'll just have two pairings (3-4 exercises).
If you've read anything from Chad Waterbury or Joel Marion, you'll find that both of these guys are fans of strength training as frequently as possible, provided that you can recover from those sessions. Somewhat coincidentally, sometimes the best way to utilize this frequent strength training approach is when you're already stressed and recovery is compromised! I still get in all my "work" over the course of the week, but it's spread out a bit more so that it's convenient and less taxing.
Tip #2: Leave the gym feeling refreshed.
Also on the "less taxing" front, I think it's important to leave the gym feeling "refreshed," not exhausted. While it might feel good when your legs are trashed at the end of a training session, you really don't know how well you're going to recover from that challenge until the days that follow. Doing 15 sets of 9 reps might have sounded like a good stress buster at the time, but when you can't walk up the steps to work the following day and are falling asleep at your desk at 11am because you couldn't sleep with your legs cramping all night, hindsight definitely becomes 20/20.
Don't get me wrong; there's a time and a place for doing crazy stuff. Your most stressful days aren't that time, though.
Tip #3: Train early.
This is something that I've grown to love with the baseball off-season in full swing and my day starting earlier. Normally, I'd train alongside the rest of our staff at 10:30AM, but at that time of year, I may have athletes at 9:30AM MoTuThFr. So, I get in at 8:15AM to get my lifting session in. Why?
First, lifting early requires planning. You need to go to bed early and prepare your stuff for the next day. So, in the process, you make time instead of finding time. That's huge at a stressful time when you're inclined to miss a session altogether.
Second, most people I know (at least the adults out there) have better energy in the morning than after a long day of work. That said, many people take a few weeks to warm up to the idea (and feeling) of training early. If you're going to make the switch, give it a few weeks and be consistent with it; you'll find that you get more and more comfortable with morning training with each new session.
Third, I'm a firm believer in the adage that one hour of sleep before midnight is worth two hours of sleep after midnight. When you train in the morning, you've got to get to bed earlier or else it simply isn't going to happen.
Get better sleep quality and just about everything else in your life will improve.
Tip #4: Outsource things to keep training fun.
I'll admit that many times, after a long day in a strength and conditioning facility, the last thing I want to do is follow my own weight training program. I spend all day getting other people organized on that front, so a bit of chaos in my own strength training is sometimes welcomed relief.
About two months ago, believe it or not, I asked one of my pro baseball players (who was hanging out in the office at 7pm one night) to put a lower body program up on the dry erase board for me. It turned out to be one of the better training sessions I'd had in weeks. The same goes for any conditioning I may do; often, I'll just pull Robert Dos Remedios' book, Cardio Strength Training, off the shelf and give something a shot.
Variety may be the spice of life, but when it comes to training, that variety usually needs to come from someone else. It might be why so many fitness professionals have really enjoyed my Show and Go program; it not only demonstrates some of my programming approaches, but also gives them a change of pace in their own training, as a recent blog post showed.
Tip #5: Use less variety.
Normally, I am all about strength exercise variety within a training session. However, when you're pinched for time, sometimes you can just throw that out the window and it's the best decision.
Think about it: for every additional exercise in a day's session, I add a warm-up set as well as the need for equipment set-up. If I keep my training day to 2-3 strength exercises and just increase the volume on each, I can usually do just as much (if not more) work in less time. You get variety over the course of a training phase and career; you get a training effect within a single session.
In other words, don't be shy about doing 5 sets of 3 on deadlifts, then 4 sets of 8 on dumbbell reverse lunges from a deficit - and then calling it a day for your lower body training - especially if you're trying out the frequency recommendations I noted earlier.
Tip #6: Use deloading periods.
At the end of the day, when it really comes down to it, stress is stress. Sometimes, when life is beating you down, adding training stress to that personal/professional stress is the worst that you can do. As a general rule of thumb, the more training experience you have, the more likely you are to need some down time from the gym when the rest of your life gets super hectic. If you're new to the iron game, though, chances are that some exercise will help you manage the stress much more effectively.
For more information on how to attack deloading periods, check out my e-book, The Art of the Deload.
These six strength training tips are obviously just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to exercise and stress, but hopefully they'll be enough to get you headed in the right direction. Additionally, what strategies have those of you out there implemented for training during stressful times?
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