Home Posts tagged "Maximum Strength" (Page 5)

Box Squat and Piriformis Mumbo Jumbo

Q: A lot of strength coaches and athletes (myself included) utilize variations of the box squat. I've heard other strength coaches (one in particular) indicate that it does not fully stimulate/activate the piriformis. What are your thoughts on the issue of the box vs. free squat in terms of advantages and disadvantages? I currently utilize both variations however it would be nice to be able to articulate to an individual the pros/cons. A: I don't buy it. For one, the piriformis is a tiny muscle that is typically very overused. I wish we could get more people to calm it down and used their glutes for the majority of the work! Second, box squats are one tool in your toolbox; we use them in addition to a lot of other lower extremity exercises. In fact, they're an integral part of the Maximum Strength program. Nobody ever criticized chin-ups because they don't target the gastrocnemius - but that doesn't mean that they aren't useful for what they're intended. Additionally, I haven't seen any EMG studies to show the piriformis argument is legit.
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Random Friday Thoughts: 10/24/08

I'm headed down to Maryland today for my longtime friend Greg's wedding. It'll be quite a car ride, but luckily, I've got my girlfriend to keep me company. Of course, I don't know why any of you would care, but I was a little short on introductory content this week, so you had to put up with my senseless rambling. Sorry about that. 1. Speaking of Greg, I'm happy to say that I'm at least partially responsible for him being a stud in his tuxedo this weekend. You see, Greg did my Maximum Strength program over the past four months, finishing two weeks ago. Here are his pre-post numbers: Weight: 205 to 193 Broad Jump: 81" to 93" Bench Press: 245 to 275 Squat: 245 to 295 (Greg is coming back from a knee surgery last year) Deadlift: 275 to 315 3-rep max Chin-up: 250 to 263 (total system weight) His friend Bill did the program with him, and he proved to be another example of a guy who can either maintain or decrease his weight while still improving strength appreciably: Weight: stayed at 170 Broad Jump: 91.5" to 105" Bench Press: 275 to 300 Squat: 315 to 335 Deadlift: 365 to 405 3-rep max Chin-up: 260 to 285 (total system weight) Pretty soon, when he does chin-ups, Greg will have to also include the ball and chain around his leg in his total system weight calculations. Zing! 2. I've come to the conclusion that it kind of weirds me out when people email me and address me as "Coach." To be honest, nobody around the facility calls me "Coach." And, if the people I see in person all the time don't call me Coach, why should people I don't train call me that? I mean, do I look like any of these guys? While we're at it, I'm not a fan of being called "Bro" or "Comrade." And, the word "Yo" is stupid and really 1990s. 3. This isn't really what I had in mind with my focus on unstable surface training, but it's amusing nonetheless. 4. Speaking of unstable training surfaces, you see what happens with you swallow your bubble gum? Commit that to memory, kids. 5. Someone asked me earlier this week if for someone needing extra scapular stability work would find value in doing 1-arm DB punches flat, incline, and even overhead for the serratus anterior rather than just doing them solely on a flat bench all of the time. My response was that I actually think it could potentially be worse to do it on an incline or decline. The decline would encourage a bit more scapular anterior tilt (emphasizes pec minor over serratus anterior), whereas the incline might actually irritate an already-angry shoulder injury. So much for innovation! 6. My newsletter for this week focused on the state of the fitness industry. At risk of sounding overconfident, it's definitely worth a read. 7. I had the best steak of my life on Tuesday night. For those who haven't been, definitely check out Abe and Louie's on Boylston if you are ever in Boston. It was pure, succulent, dead cow bliss. If you're a vegetarian, sorry - but you can at least take solace in the fact that the asparagus and broccoli sides were pretty good (especially since they were drenched in steak juices). 8. While on the topic of steaks, I cooked up some moose meat earlier this week - and it was great. I'm from Maine, so it's not THAT weird-sounding to me. The secrets are to a) use a lot of spices, b) not overcook it, and c) try not to think about how it was carved on the back of a pick-up truck until after you've eaten it. *For the record, I resisted the urge to post a picture of a hunter posing with his rifle in front of the moose he'd just shot. I figured I'd upset the vegetarians enough already with random thought #7. So, I'll just upset the kiddies and cartoon fans by saying that I ate Bullwinkle. We just have eight thoughts this Friday, as my mind's on all the travel I have to do and programs I have to write. With all our pro baseball guys rolling or in the process of getting started, there are a lot of logistics to which I am attending. I'm psyched for a great off-season, and we'll have plenty of blog video content for you along the way. In the meantime, have a great weekend.
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FFL Week 6: Not Even Worth Discussing

My fantasy football team was beyond bad this week, scoring a whopping 73 points. I'm trading all of them away for a bag of beef jerky, a car wash, and Joseph Addai's soul (for getting injured after only two carries). Congrats to Brian on a good win - but moving on to something more uplifting: military men getting strong halfway across the world. I just received this feedback from a US soldier deployed to Iraq: “Eric, I finished you Maximum Strength Program, and wanted to give you my Packing and Moving Day numbers. My numbers aren't as good as I would like, though. I got sent to Kuwait for eleven days and was working 15 to 18 hours a day five days, with one day of rest before Moving Day. Here are the numbers: Body Weight: 176lbs to 181lbs (+5lbs) Broad Jump: 82” to 91” (+11”) Box Squat: 385lbs to 440lbs (+55lbs) Bench Press: 295lbs to 315lbs (+20lbs) Deadlift: 335lbs to 375lbs (+40lbs) Chin-up: BW+115lbs to BW +135lbs (+25lbs)* "Thanks for the program I'm pleased with the results, but I probably could have done better if I were in Baghdad and not in Kuwait. I can't wait for your next book. Thanks again. Rob” Thank YOU for what you're doing, Rob. Me writing a book pales in comparison to the efforts guys like you are putting in overseas.
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Maximum Strength and Interval Training

Q: I do intervals as part of hockey training, which is basically year-round – but especially now in pre-season. In Maximum Strength, you use a pattern of high-medium-very.high-low training stress for weeks 1-4. Would the interference with intervals that you talk about decrease if I do interval work mainly during the medium and low intensity weeks? What is your experience? A: I certainly wouldn't increase the volume of the intervals during the medium and low-intensity weeks. If you do, you simply negate the effects of the deloading period; it’s still stress on your body. Instead, I'd just keep the interval work constant and make all your training stress fluctuations occur within your weight training. That said, interval training isn’t necessary year-round if you are a hockey player. Check out my Ultimate Off-Season Training Manual for more information on that front.
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Detailed Review of Maximum Strength

I just got an extremely thorough review back from a happy Maximum Strength customer. Check it out for yourself! Hi Eric, First of all, a big thank you for writing Maximum Strength. It is an awesome book and money well spent. I strongly recommend it to anyone who wants to get bigger, stronger and faster. Improvements [note from EC: weights are converted from kilograms): Broad Jump increased 12” from 93.5” to 105.5” Box Squat increased 55 pounds from 297 to 352. Bench Press increased 50 pounds from 220 pounds to 270 pounds Deadlift increased 22 pounds from 462 to 484 3RM chin-up increased 22 pounds from BW+44 to BW+66 (BW was unchanged) I could write a book on my verdict of the whole program, but I've just got back from Testing day at the gym and I'm shattered. The biggest thing the program showed me was that I had not been training hard enough. The training sessions in Maximum Strength were brutal and longer than I was used to prior to doing the program. My whole attitude changed. I now always dig deeper and push myself to the limit. This brings me to another interesting point. I cannot over emphasize how important the deload weeks proved to be for me. I found that midway through the third week of each cycle, I was hammered and by week 4, my enthusiasm was nil. However, after the deload week I was always firing on all cylinders and raring to go for the first week of the next phase. I understand everyone is different, but three hard weeks followed by one easy seems to work great for me. Needless to say, great product! I am ecstatic with my results and there will be more to come. Thanks, Elliot Newman Leeds, United Kingdom Find out more about Maximum Strength here.
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Sturdy Shoulders, Big Bench

Anthony Lucia is a guy who came to Cressey Performance just over eight weeks ago with some chronic, painful shoulder issues – and he had just pre-tested for the Maximum Strength program. I gave him some takeaway mobility and soft tissue drills, plus a few subtle modifications to the Maximum Strength program. This morning, I got this email from him:

"Hey Eric,

"I just thought I'd give you some feedback. I have been doing MS for 8 weeks now, in fact I just started phase 3 today. On packing day my shoulder hurt so much I tried to bench 245 and just about couldn't rerack it. After seeing you personally, and 8 weeks of stretching and stretching and stretching, I benched 285 for 1 the other day, with no discomfort!

"You set straight an average gym guy with 25 years of lifting experience, who thought he knew it all. In fact, after I told my dad (age 70) what you did for me, he went out and bought your book. "I can honestly say, I never believed in stretching, I thought my warm-ups were good enough. Boy, was I wrong. Stretching has made me more flexible, and most importantly more aware of my form and balance.

"You have helped me with my recovery so much, thank you. I can't wait for the sequel to Maximum Strength!"

Anthony Lucia South Hadley, MA Order Maximum Strength!
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Random Thursday Thoughts: 9/17/08

We are publishing this on Thursday night again, as I am going to be up early tomorrow to train, do an evaluation on a pro baseball pitcher who is in town from South Carolina, and then hit the road to get to Stamford, CT in time to speak on a roundtable at Ryan Lee’s Bootcamp. I’m looking forward to a great weekend and catching up with plenty of friends in the industry – including Mike Roussell and Alwyn Cosgrove, which leads me to… 1. For those who missed it, it isn’t too late to get the EricCressey.com subscriber-only discount on Warp Speed Fat Loss. Check out this week's newsletter for more details – or just head over to pick up a discounted copy through the following link (coupon code is embedded already): Warp Speed Fat Loss 2. Still overpriced and lame. 3. Alan Aragon had a great article published at T-Nation yesterday. Definitely check it out: A Musclehead’s Guide to Alcohol 4. Anyone who can find me a good study that shows that you can isolate the vastus medialis effectively gets a gold star. If you want to save yourself a few days of frustrating Pubmed searching, you’ll give up now, because you aren’t going to find it. 5. Someone asked what I thought the best substitute for front squats would be in the Maximum Strength program if one didn’t have access to a power rack. I’d probably go with walking dumbbell lunges – mostly because it’d be funny to see someone do clusters with lunges! For the record, that was a joke, folks; lunge clusters would be stupid. 6. Some researchers say that we all would die of heart disease eventually if we “outlasted” everything else. I, on the other hand, would likely die from the monotony and pure frustration of trying to explain to baseball players and coaches why distance running is stupid. To tack a few years onto my life, please do me a favor; if you are a baseball player or coach, you need to read these two articles – and then forward them on to everyone you know who also plays or coaches. Part 1 Part 2 7. Someone asked me the other day if I thought all problems were related to anterior pelvic tilt. While it’s a big problem in athletes, I would not attribute any of the following problems to anterior pelvic tilt: gonorrhea, shingles, global warming, diarrhea, traffic jams, or that annoying cashier at Trader Joe’s who always insists on commenting on how I’m buying a lot of eggs. I do hope that bastard’s hip flexors are tight, though; he rubs me the wrong way. Michelle would probably kill him for a stupid comment like that. 8. I’ll be introducing a new product next week. While many of you might be disappointed that it won’t be the 2009 Mike Robertson Pin-up Calendar (March is the Funky Knee Surgery Scar Month; it drives the ladies wild), I’m sure you’ll be delighted with the content. This is absolutely, positively, a must-read for all personal trainers and strength and conditioning coaches. And, I suspect that a lot of you everyday gym-goers will like the content as well. If you aren’t already signed up for my free newsletter, sign up using the opt-in feature to the top-right of your screen (Name and Email Address) and you’ll be among the first to know. Have a great weekend, folks!
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Just One Missing Piece…

Each day, on my drive to work, I pass a series of traffic lights right where Rt. 16 in Somerville/Cambridge enters into Rt. 2, a pretty major pseudo-expressway here in Greater Boston. Without fail, at each traffic light, homeless folks will pace alongside stopped traffic with a cup in hand, asking for change (I'd say it's competitive among all of them, but the truth is that they seem to have a system mapped out, as there is always someone new on each corner daily). The locals have grown accustomed to it, and judging by the fact that these folks are there year-round, they make enough to get by. The other day, a gentlemen strolled past my car while I was stopped at a red light. He had the normal sign ("Homeless, Sober, God Bless") and the customary Dunkin' Donuts cup for change collection. However, he was also wearing a Yankees hat in the heart of Red Sox country - and in an area of knowledgeable/perceptive people (Harvard and Tufts are within a few miles of this spot, as a frame of reference). That hat couldn't be helping his cause... Here was a guy doing almost everything right (well, at least in the context of being homeless and asking for change), but he was missing out on a single crucial piece of the puzzle. It isn't all that different from most folks' fitness programs. You'll see people all the time have all sorts of stuff right: plenty of motivation, a good diet, a great training environment, top-of-the-line equipment, you name it. Then, they're missing out on something seemingly small, but hugely important. Maybe their back hurts because they're wearing cross-trainers when they deadlift (shifts the weight forward too much). Or, maybe they haven't implemented strategic deloading effectively, and are all banged-up or have hit a plateau. It might be poor exercise selection, too much or too little volume, or poor exercise technique. It's analogous to spending hours trying to figure out how to do your own taxes, and then overlooking a huge deduction you could have written off. You not only have to consider that you have physically lost money (the extra cash you paid to Uncle Sam would be your injuries and/or lack of progress); you also have to recognize the opportunity cost of your time doing taxes (efforts in the gym that didn't pay off). It would have been cheaper and more fruitful to just hire an accountant in the first place - just like you'd see a lawyer if you needed a contract, or a doctor if you needed surgery. For some reason, though, people have been conditioned to think that they can figure out exercise on their own. Just getting active is similar to understanding how to balance your checkbook. However, exercising safely, effectively, and efficiently is more along the lines of filing a tax return when you're self-employed with three ex-wives, 14 kids, and two company cars you want to write off (that's not me, for the record; I don't even have a goldfish, let alone 14 kids). What I'm saying in a not-so-concise format is that it's okay to outsource here and there. For a long time, I refused to put out articles and books/manuals that featured comprehensive programming, as I was all about how things need to be perfect for each individual. Eventually, though, after a lot of requests from readers, I broke down and found a happy medium when I wrote my Ultimate Off-Season Training Manual; it is a choose-your-own-adventure type of book where you tested yourself on some athletic qualities and then followed one of two programs depending on the time of year. The feedback was fantastic, and I realized that a lot of people were better off with an educated generic template than they were coming up with their own programs. That's why I was open to the idea of writing Maximum Strength when my co-author Matt Fitzgerald approached me with the idea. Effectively, we integrate comprehensive strength training, mobility/activation warm-ups, energy systems work, deloading, nutrition, supplementation, and quantifiable pre- and post-testing measures. For the majority of folks, these programs - with some minor modifications - do the trick. For others, more advanced strategies are necessary. Some folks see personal trainers, physical therapists, or orthopedists. I do a lot of online consulting work in the corrective exercise realm, helping folks who have chronic aches and pains that don't necessarily qualify them for physical therapy because they don't interfere with activities of daily living, but do act up with weight-training or sprinting, for example. I also work with a lot of folks who have just been discharged from physical therapy and need to figure out how to effectively transition back to "normal" training. So, with all this said, don't ever hesitate to outsource. Chances are there are people who outsource to YOU because you're an expert in some capacity where they need help.
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Random Thursday Thoughts: 9/11/08

1. Hopefully you all can take at least a few minutes out of your schedule to remember those who were lost in 2001 and their families. (and we’re all sending good vibes your way, Steph) 2. I'll start off with a bang; high-heels for babies and children is the single-most moronic thing I've ever seen. If a grown woman wants to absolutely destroy her lower extremities by wearing heels, that's her choice. However, putting a baby in a pair of high heels as she's learning to walk is certifiable. Be careful watching the interview with these people, folks; you will actually get dumber. Oh, and Britta Bacon? That’s seriously your name? Are you a water filter or a pork product? 3. I finally got around to checking out Alwyn Cosgrove and Mike Roussell’s Warpspeed Fat Loss e-book. This thing is fantastic; I’m annoyed with myself for waiting this long to open it up after they sent it my way a while ago. I’ll actually be doing an interview with Mike on this very topic next week in my newsletter, so stay tuned – or check out Warpspeed Fat Loss yourself in the meantime. 4. Maybe if we didn’t give out drugs so easily, they wouldn’t be contaminating our drinking water. I never heard of teaching people to eat right and exercise leading to pollution... 5. Great quote from an email exchange I had with pitching specialist Ron Wolforth the other day: “I have truly been blessed in having peers who are truly cutting edge and who are more interested in getting it right than being thought of as right.” 6. Speaking of Ron, I just confirmed this past week that I’ll be presenting two one-hour lectures and a hands-on portion at his Ultimate Pitching Coaches Bootcamp in Houston on December 12-14. If you’re a baseball coach or you train baseball guys, definitely check this event out; there is going to be a lot of great information and thinking outside the box. 7. Just a quick heads-up: if you have questions about the Maximum Strength program (or any of my products, for that matter), please post them HERE instead of emailing me. I figured a comprehensive thread over at T-Nation would be a good way to get everything in one place. And, for those of you who have purchased Maximum Strength, don't forget to check out the online FAQ page to which we allude in the book. Have a good weekend! I'll be dominating Pete in Fantasy Football this Sunday/Monday.
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I Love Emails Like This…

Over a year ago, I wrote an article called Are You Doing Stupid Stuff in the Gym? In that article, I made a somewhat bold statement that seemed to ruffle some feathers: "I've said it before and I'll say it again: any healthy male under the age of 50 can deadlift 400 within two years of proper training — and most can do it even faster than that." Several people took issue with it, but as they say, opinions are like a**holes; everyone has got one. We proved that two years was a conservative estimate for a lot of folks when my business partner Pete pulled 400 after just 364 days of lifting. Anyway, it's been a while since this statement of mine received any attention, but I just got this email the other day: A while back you wrote an article on T-nation, and in it you wrote your belief that anyone could achieve a 400-pound deadlift in two years of training. Anyway, here's another point of data to support that. I started working out July 06. I attempted my first DL that October and didn't start deadlifting regularly until February 07. I used a measly 215 lbs then. I made tremendous progress initially, hitting 385 in August 07. Then I stalled for a long time. In February 08 I made a slight gain to 390 then went cold again. I took a long break from DLing then started on the Coan DL program 7 weeks ago. Finally, 3 weeks ago I pulled 400 for a double, and this week I got 405 for a single. That's been a goal of mine and I'm pumped to have finally achieved it. Truth be told, I have absolutely no idea what kind of program this guy used to get to where he is, but it only took him 18 months from when he first started deadlifting regularly. Again, I'm not saying that your deadlift is the absolute measure of your progress or efforts, but I'd say that it's a reasonable consideration for those who are healthy and training regularly. Get your deadlift up with Maximum Strength.
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LEARN HOW TO DEADLIFT
  • Avoid the most common deadlifting mistakes
  • 9 - minute instructional video
  • 3 part follow up series