With 2010 winding down, I thought I'd use this last week of the year to direct you to some of the most popular content of the past 12 months here at EricCressey.com, as this "series" was quite popular last year. Today, we start with the most popular articles of the year; these are the pieces that received the most traffic, according to my hosting statistics.
5 Reasons You Aren't Getting Stronger - This post came during the launch week of Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look, Feel, and Move Better. With some of the unique programming strategies outlined in Show and Go, it seemed like a good opportunity to outline some of the common mistakes folks make that I really sought to avoid when writing the program.
How to Find Your Fitness Niche - The popularity of this post surprised me. I suppose it means that I have more fitness professionals (and aspiring fitness professionals) reading my blog than I'd previously thought. This piece discusses how I "fell" into my baseball training niche.
Make My Kid Run Faster - Apparently, I'm not the only one who has to deal with the occasional crazy father who tells me how to train his kid!
Clearing Up the Rotator Cuff Controversy - This post discusses my approach to structuring rotator cuff exercises throughout the training week.
The Fascial Knock on Distance Running for Pitchers - This was a fun article to write because it combined a review (of Thomas Myers' presentation at Perform Better) with a summary of my own experiences training pitchers. It's always great to take the perspective of another and see how it meshes with your own philosophy - whether it confirms or refutes what you're doing.
High Performance Training without the Equipment (Installment 1) - I'm glad that I checked back on my statistics to find that this was so popular, as I haven't gotten around to writing any subsequent installments. I'll pick it up soon.
I'll be back soon with the top product reviews of 2010.
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This weekend is going to be one of very mixed emotions for our entire family, as we'll lay my grandfather to rest Saturday morning; he passed last Thursday morning. Gramp had been the center of our family for my entire life, and he was a huge part of making me the man that I am. Were it not for Gramp, I never would have developed the passion for baseball that eventually led to me finding a career that focuses on the game. On one hand, it's going to be hard to say goodbye to him, but on the other hand, we're happy to celebrate his life and take solace that he's finally at peace after a long illness.
That said, in his final weeks, Gramp requested a Saturday funeral because - as a former high school principal - he didn't want any teachers to have to miss school to attend. To that end, he'd want the show to go on at this blog, too - so that's what we'll do with some random thoughts today.
1. I got a mention in the USA Today on Wednesday in a very interesting article on the biceps tenodesis surgery, as this procedure could become the "next big thing" in SLAP repairs. I was mentioned alongside the likes of Curt Schilling, James Andrews, Brett Favre, Jake Peavy, and Bud Selig...pretty good company! Check out the article: For Pitchers, Shoulder Surgery Cuts Both Ways.
2. Speaking of pitchers, here's yet ANOTHER study showing that resistance training (with throwing) improves throwing velocity significantly more than throwing alone. Meanwhile, we still have some old-school coaches saying that kids shouldn't lift. Ugh.
3. How's this for some solid feedback on just the first two months of Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look, Feel, and Move Better?
"Hey Eric, Just wanted to keep you updated with the results I've had from Show and Go, as well as ask a quick question regarding this. I started the program at 10% body fat (measured with AccuMeasure callipers) and am now down to about just over 7% body fat! This is the lowest I've ever gone."
For more information, check out www.ShowandGoTraining.com.
4. Here's some interesting research that shows that vitamin D deficiency doubles stroke risk in Caucasians. Deficiency incidence is lower (6.6%) in whites than African-Americans (32.3%), though. Beyond just cardiovascular health, though, vitamin D is one of the first things we look at in those with chronic soft tissue problems, especially in Northern climates where folks don't get enough sunshine during the winter months.
5. Today is the last day to get Joel Marion's Cheat Your Way Thin Holiday Edition at the introductory discount; check it out HERE, if you're interested.
6. Here's a great video from Mike Robertson on "Conquering the Chin-up:"
7. And your weekly dose of puppy...
Have a great weekend!
Hey Eric,
Just wanted to keep you updated with the results I've had from Show and Go, as well as ask a quick question regarding this. I started the programme at 10% body fat (measured with AccuMeasure callipers) and am now down to about just over 7% body fat! This is the lowest I've ever gone.
Because Alex Maroko is a good buddy of mine, I decided to make this webinar available to you at absolutely no cost. If you want to learn about the thought process behind each strength and conditioning program I write - for athletes that range from baseball players, to basketball stars, to professional boxers, to Olympic bobsledders - then look no further.
If You Read Alex's Daily Emails, Use His Special Show and Go Half-Off Discount Link Below Today for Big Savings!
1. The most obvious reason, of course, is that at midnight tonight, the early bird discount (40% off) ends. Forever. There won't be any of this "our system was maxed out, so we're extending the sale by 2 days because I really care about you, friend!" You know you've all heard it before - but you won't hear it here.
2. To follow up on that one, let's be honest: I'm not really sure if you're my "friend." You could be a crazy internet person, for all I know. In fact, many of you probably are - and acquiring a program like Show and Go could be really good for you to attend to your social awkwardness by heading to the gym to do the program and, in the process, meet some new people. You might even get diesel and attract a member of the opposite sex, settle down with them, and name your first child "Eric Cressey." No pressure on that one, though.
3. The feedback thus far from customers has been excellent. In addition to all the testimonials you'll see from the "guinea pigs" I put through the program, I've gotten some immediate one from people who have purchased the program via email; here's one quick example that just came in this morning.
"Eric, I've just purchased Show and Go. Have started to use this straight away, and can definitely say that it makes training and writing programs for clients very easy and effective especially with the massive data base available. Plus all the add-ons from the other coaches - such as conditioning and glute exercises - are awesome." - Chris Carter
4. At first glance, this simply looks like one demonstration from the huge Show and Go video library (don't worry; trap bar deadlifts are not mandatory).
However, if you look closely, what's going on in the background is possibly more significant. You'll see a few of my pro baseball guys starting up their sessions with foam rolling and mobility warm-ups. Most of these guys are just now arriving for their off-season training - as the product is released. In other words, this video was filmed back in February or so - which tells you that it literally took seven months (an entire professional baseball season) to bring this sucker to market because we spent so much time tinkering with it and trying to make it perfect (and putting a host of people through it as a pilot program over a four-month period). In a day and age when some folks are kicking out new products each week, you have my word that this is not a fly-by-night operation; we invested a lot of time, thought, and energy into making this something of which we could be really proud.
5. On the financial side of things, I'm getting married next weekend...and it would be nice to use this book to pay for a wedding, honeymoon, and protective helmet to wear for the rest of my life. Just kidding, honey!
6. On a more urgent note, tomorrow night is my bachelor party - and we're going to need bail money to get Tony out of prison after he's incarcerated for causing a scene at the casino when he realizes that they only serve free alcohol - and not almond milk - at the blackjack tables.
7. One afternoon earlier this week, just for the heck of it, I counted the professional baseball players in our facility. There were 12 - two Royals, one Blue Jay, one National, four Braves, one Met, two A's, and one Tiger - and this is just minor leaguers, without the major league season even having wrapped up. All told, we'll be over 40 professionals from all over the country. This is not to blow sunshine up my own butt; it's to make a very important point: I actually train people six days a week. I write a ton of programs, do a ton of evaluations, and love to coach. And all this give me a great perspective from which to program for the "masses" - as I see everything from 10-year-olds to 70-year-olds in just about every athletic and weekend warrior population.
This shouldn't even be something I have to mention, but I do - because you'd be surprised how many people write and sell programs when they aren't out there seeing it first hand. Theories are all well and good, but the best programs are rooted in principles that have proven effective time and time again in the real world.
Give it a shot; you've got nothing to lose: www.ShowandGoTraining.com.
In honor of the end of the minor league baseball season yesterday, I thought I'd go with a baseball-only theme today for our "Stuff You Should Read." First, though, I thought I'd give you the heads-up that I finally broke down and got a Twitter account, on the recommendation of a few people. If you're interested in following me, you can do so HERE.
With that out of the way, some baseball articles that may interest you:
Athlete Profile: Shawn Haviland - This is a great feature at Precision Nutrition on one of our athletes, Shawn Haviland, who was recently named a California League All-Star after striking out 169 batters in 153.2 innings, with a 3.65 ERA. Shawn has worked really hard to get where he is, and this article shows just how tough getting in proper nutrition can be during the professional baseball season.
Medicine Ball Madness - This piece touches on our unique medicine ball training program. At some point, I'm going to get around to writing up a detailed resource on this, but for now, this will do. Suffice it to say that our guys will get a little bit of a break over the next few weeks, and then we'll be destroying a lot of med balls up through the first of the year.
Should Pitchers Overhead Press? - The following video is an excerpt from Mike Reinold and my Optimal Shoulder Performance DVD set. It's a great resource for fitness professionals and rehabilitation specialists alike - especially if you are working with baseball players.
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Q: I just saw your post about Strasberg and pitching injuries. This may be hopelessly naive, but - do "submarine" throwers face the same perils? I'm old enough to remember Kent Telkulve, so it made me think. It seems as though I see a fair number of throws from SS and 3B positions that appear somewhat submarine-like in motion, so the technique wouldn't be completely unknown. Thoughts?
A: In short, the answer would be "yes," they do face the same perils.
If you actually slow things down and example joint angles, you'll see that the shoulder and elbow positioning most of these guys get to is very similar to what you see in more overhand throwers. The difference is in how much lateral trunk tilt they have; the more trunk tilt, the lower the release point.
The primary difference you'll see is that sidearm/submarine throwers will typically break down at the elbow a lot more than the shoulder. Aguinaldo and Chambers found that sidearm throwers had significantly higher elbow valgus torques than overhand throwers. It's not surprising, given that they do tend to lead with the elbow a bit more.
Position players who throw more sidearm can largely get away with it because a) they don't have anywhere near the volume of throwing in a single outing or a season that pitchers do, and b) they aren't throwing off a mound. We know that just stepping up onto the elevated mound dramatically increases arm stress.
So, what are the practical applications of knowing the demands are, for the most part, very similar?
First, spend a considerable amount more time focusing on core stability and working to iron out excessive right-left asymmetries that arise secondary to all the lateral trunk tilt. In other words, worry as much about the spine as you do about the arm.
Second, I'd put an even greater emphasis on soft tissue work at the medial elbow - particularly on the common flexor tendon (the muscles that join to create this tendon protect the ulnar collateral ligament from excessive valgus stress).
Third, as is usually the case, use these guys as relievers to keep their throwing volume lower while still maximizing their utility.
Other than that, manage them as if you would any other pitcher - which should always be a tremendously individualized process, anyway!
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A few questions from one of our pro baseball guys inspired me to create this video "tutorial" on how to develop power. It starts general, and progresses to specific. Think about how it applies to YOUR sport and your training history.
For more detail, check out The Ultimate Off-Season Training Manual.
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1. Mike Reinold polled some of the best in the world of manual therapy, physical therapy, and strength and conditioning (plus a schmuck named "Cressey") to ask for their best career advice for students and young professionals in our fields. Here is the post that emerged; it came out really well - and actually serves as an awesome adjunct to yesterday's advice on starting out in the fitness industry.
2. I'm pumped to report that my advanced copy of Gray Cook's new book, Movement, arrived yesterday. I'm digging in to it tonight. You can pre-order your own HERE.
Gray's been talking about this book (and working on it) for years now, and there is no doubt in my mind that he won't disappoint. I'm really looking forward to it.
3. Here's a link to an interview with Cressey Performance and Lincoln-Sudbury athlete Adam Ravenelle, who is committed to play baseball at Vanderbilt:
Player Perspective: Adam Ravenelle
The thing I like the most about this interview is the fact that Adam emphasized the importance of in-season training and how valuable it is to young pitchers. You'd be amazed at how many guys work their butts off in the off-season and show up to the start of the season strong...only to skip their lifting and flexibility work for the next 6-8 months. It's one step forward, and one step back - but not for guys like Adam who "get it." "Rav" has gained over 50 pounds with us since 2007 while going from the high 70s to low 90mph range - and having an open-minded and dedicated attitude toward in-season training has been a big part of it.
3. Speaking of throwing the baseball faster, Haag et al. found that pre-throwing static stretching did not negatively affect baseball pitching velocity. This is pretty significant, as many modern coaches generally encourage players to universally avoid static stretching right before training and competition for fear of reductions in power output (that research horse has been beaten to death).
Personally, though, I've always felt that it was really valuable to stretch the throwing shoulder in the majority of our pitchers before they threw (the exceptions being the ones with crazy laxity). Typically, we stretch guys (or encourage them to stretch themselves) into shoulder internal rotation and flexion. It's safe to assume that getting range in their directions is going to not only minimize the effect of the peel-back mechanism for SLAP lesions at lay-back, but also enable them to have a longer, smoother deceleration arc.
While more research is definitely warranted, my hunch is that static stretching is less "inhibitory" in the upper body than the lower body because the upper body deals with predominantly open-chain motion, and is therefore more heavily reliant on mobility than stability.
5. Last, but certainly not least, here's a quick article about CP athlete Tim Collins, who was traded for the second time in three weeks, this time to the Royals.
Related PostsThe Importance of Strength and Conditioning for High School Baseball PlayersThe Lucky 13: Cressey's Top Reading RecommendationsEnter your email below to subscribe to our FREE newsletter:
Though a somewhat "normal" day at the gym, yesterday marked Cressey Performance's three-year anniversary.
While my business partner's blog post yesterday did an excellent job of doling out "thank yous" to a lot of the important people who have been so involved in our success - from clients to parents, coaches, interns, and significant others - I wanted to add my own two cents on the matter today. More than anything, I really wanted to highlight a sentence that illustrates what makes me the most proud about where CP has been, where it is, and where it's going.
We've done this for the right reasons, and we've done it the right way.
I read a business development blog post by Chris McCombs the other day where he wrote something that really hit home for me. When he was talking about how he decides to accept or reject a new project/opportunity, here is one of his guidelines:
"Only Take on Projects That Are In Line With My Current Values and Fulfill Me Beyond Just The Money - A project must fulfill me in some way BESIDE just money...too many people spend their life JUST chasing a buck; to me, that's no way to live. For me, the money must be there, but it should fulfill me personally, be fun, help a lot of people, and build and be in line with my current brand and brand equity."
Back in 2007, I had a tough decision to make. My online consulting business had really taken off, and the Maximum Strength book deal was in the works. My other products - Magnificent Mobility, The Ultimate Off-Season Training Manual, and Building the Efficient Athlete - were selling well and getting great reviews, and I'd just had a study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. This website was growing exponentially in popularity, and I had just wrapped up my first year on the Perform Better tour - so lots of doors were opening for me on the seminar front to present all over the world - and I could have stayed home and just written all day, every day.
I was getting really crunched for time, as I was already training clients 8-13 hours per day, seven days per week, as my in-person clientele had rapidly grown. My phone rang off the hook for about three weeks after Lincoln-Sudbury won a baseball state championship after I'd trained several of their guys, and one of my athletes was named state player of the year. And, after being featured on the front page of the Boston Globe with a nipple so hard I could cut diamonds, I was in demand as a t-shirt model (okay, not really - but it made for an awesome blog post, The School of Hard Nipples).
I was exhausted and stressed - but absolutely, positively, "living the dream" that I'd always wanted.
To make matters a bit more interesting, I had just started dating a great girl (now my fiancee) who I really had a good feeling was "the one" after about three months. The work days, however, were insanely long and I was worried that I'd screw up a good thing by not spending enough time with her.
Every business development coach out there would have seen a "simple" answer to all my problems: stop training people in person. Just write, consult, make DVDs, and give seminars. It would have cut my hours by 80% and still allowed me to earn a pretty good living - and enjoy plenty of free time. There was a huge problem with that, though; as Chris wrote, it wouldn't "fulfill me personally, be fun, help a lot of people, and build and be in line with my current brand and brand equity." I like doing evaluations, writing programs, coaching, sweating, training with my guys, cranking up the music, helping people get to where they want to be, collaborating with and learning from other professionals, and watching my athletes compete - whether it's at some high school field or at Fenway Park. Giving that up wasn't an option; I guess I'd have just been a crappy business coaching client, as I would have been stubborn as an ass on giving that up.
Fortunately for me, Pete Dupuis, my roommate from my freshman year of college, had just finished his MBA and was in the midst of a job search. And, during that MBA, he'd started to train with me and packed on a ton of strength and muscle mass - making him realize and truly appreciate the value in what I was doing (especially since he was and is a goalie in a very competitive soccer league). Pete had also met and become friends with a ton of my clients - and taken a genuine interest in my baseball focus, as a lifelong Red Sox fan. Almost daily, Pete would encourage me to do my own thing and let him handle all the business stuff for me.
Simultaneously, Tony Gentilcore was ready for a change of scenery on the work front. Having been Tony's roommate and training partner for almost two years at that point, I knew he was a genuinely great guy, that he'd read everything on my bookshelf, and that he could coach his butt off and "walk the walk." He, too, had met a lot of my clients - so there was continuity from the get-go.
So, on July 13, 2007, Cressey Performance was born. Here is what we started with.
Boatloads of renovations and equipment additions later, it wound up looking like this.
Of course, we outgrew and demolished this space after about nine months and moved three miles east to a facility twice the size. And, we've continued to grow right up to this day; June was our busiest month ever, and July should be busier. We've got regular weekly clients who come from four states (MA, NH, CT, RI), and in the baseball off-season, I have college and pro guys who come from the likes of OH, AZ, CA, SC, NC, GA, FL, and VA. And, we had 33 applicants for this summer's internships.
To be very candid, though, I don't consider myself a very good "businessman." No offense to Pete or Tony, either, but I don't think they even come close to the textbook definition of the word, either. We just try to be good dudes. "We've done this for the right reasons, and we've done it the right way."
We don't allocate a certain percentage of our monthly revenues to advertising. In fact, we haven't spent a single penny on advertising - unless you count charitable donations to causes that are of significance to us.
We don't search high and low for new revenue streams to push on our clients. In fact, if I get one more MonaVie sales pitch, I'm going to suplex whoever delivered it right off our loading dock. Rather, we bust our butts to set clients up for success in any way possible - and trust that those efforts will lead to referrals and "allegiance" to Cressey Performance. We ask what they want from us and modify our plans accordingly. It's what led to us bringing in manual therapy, a pitching cage, and, of course, pitching coach/court jester Matt Blake's timeless antics.
Along those same lines, we don't measure our success based on revenue numbers; we measure it based on client results. In three years of seeing LOADS of baseball players non-stop, we've only had three arm surgeries: one shoulder and two elbow. All three were athletes who came to us with existing injuries, and in each case, we kept them afloat as long as we could and trained them through their entire rehabilitation. I don't want to toot our own horn, but this is a remarkable statistic in a population where over 57% of pitchers suffer some form of shoulder injury during each competitive season - and that doesn't even include elbows! And, our statistics don't even count literally dozens of players who have come to us after a doctor has told them they needed surgery, but we've helped them avoid these procedures. The college scholarships, draft picks, state titles, individual honors, and personal bests in the gym are all fantastic, but I'm most proud of saying that we've dedicated ourselves to keeping athletes healthy so that they can enjoy the sports they love.
The same goes for our non-competitive athlete clients. The fat loss and strength gains they experience are awesome and quantifiable, but beyond that (and more qualitatively), I love knowing that they're training pain-free and are going to be able to enjoy exercise and reap the benefits of training for a long time.
We don't penny-pinch during our slowest times of the month (late March through mid-May - the high school baseball season). We see it as an opportunity to do more staff continuing education, renovate the facilities, and get out to watch a lot of baseball and support our athletes. And, we adjust our hours to open up on Sundays and stay later on weeknights during the baseball season to make it easier for athletes to get in-season training in whenever they can. If a pitcher wants to come in and get his arm stretched out before or after an outing, he stops by and we do it for him - but don't charge him a penny for it. It's about setting people up for success.
We don't try to just "factory line" as many clients through our facility as possible with everyone on the same program. You might walk into CP and see 20 different clients on 20 different programs - because a 16-year old pitcher with crazy congenital laxity is going to have a markedly different set of needs than a 16-year-old linebacker with shoulder mobility so bad that he needs help putting a jacket on. One program on one dry erase board for hundreds of athletes isn't training; it's babysitting.
Taking this a step further, we don't boot clients out after a certain amount of time. Clients take as long as needed to complete the day's program. And, when they're done (or before they even begin), loads of our clients spend time hanging out in the office just shooting the breeze and enjoying the environment. As an example, Toronto Blue Jays Organizational Pitcher of the Year Tim Collins spends a minimum of five hours a day at CP all off-season.
Tim has sold girl scout cookies for the daughter of one of our clients, and he's been our back-up front desk guy when Pete is out of town. Yesterday, he was back to visit on his all-star break - and he said hello to every client he saw - and remembered them by name. If you're a 15-year-old up-and-coming baseball pitcher, how cool is it to get that kind of greeting when you walk into the office? Well, at CP, kids get that greeting from 10-15 pro guys all the time. And, if they're lucky, they might even get to throw on a bobsled helmet and join these pro guys in a rave to Miley Cyrus, apparently.
At least once a week, I get an email from an up-and-coming coach asking for advice about starting a facility. When I get these emails, I now think about how Rachel Cosgrove recently mentioned that more than 80% of fitness coaches leave the industry within the first year. In most cases, this happens because these people never should have entered the fitness industry in the first place - because their intentions (money) were all wrong. They usually leave under the assumption that they could never make a living training people, but in reality, these folks are going to have a hard time making a living in any occupation that requires genuinely caring about what you do and the people with whom you work, and being willing to hang your hat on the results you produce.
As such, the first advice, in a general sense, is obvious: do it for the right reasons, and do it the right way. Sure, making a living is essential, but only open a facility because it would fulfill you "personally, be fun, help a lot of people, and build and be in line" with who you are and what your values are - which together constitute your "brand." Making the move to start up this business was one of the most daunting decisions I have ever had to make, and all the efforts toward actually getting the business started were equally challenging. However, in the end, it has been more rewarding both personally and professionally than I could have ever possibly imagined.
Thank you very much to all of you - clients/customers, parents, EricCressey.com readers, seminar attendees, and professional colleagues - for all your support over the past three years. We couldn't have done it without you - and look forward to many more years of doing things for the right reasons and in the right way.
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Back in December, I was honored to be included as one of several speakers who presented at Ron Wolforth's 2009 Ultimate Pitching Coaches Bootcamp. As was the case in previous years, it was a great event that brought together a lot of forward-thinking minds from various roles in the pitching world. Today, I'm happy to announce that I've arranged for a sweet deal on the DVDs of the event for my readers only.
Since I was a presenter and Ron's a good friend of mine, he agreed to let me make the DVDs available to my readers at $50 off the normal purchase price. All you need to do is click through the following link, and the discount will automatically be applied at checkout:
https://m130.infusionsoft.com/go/UPCBC2009/EC/
My presentation, Whip: What it is and how to get it, lasted 75 minutes and covered:
-The stretch-shortening cycle: what it means to pitchers and how to get the most out of it
-How different pitchers throw hard via different mechanical, flexibility, and strength/power factors
-How to identify and address mobility and stability deficits in pitchers
I also gave a 30-minute hands-on session on foam rolling for pitchers.
In addition, there were several other fantastic, informative - and sometimes controversial - presentations from Phil Donley, Neiman Nix, Wes Johnson, Brent Strom, Flint Wallace, Aaron Weintraub, and, of course, Ron Wolforth. I love the fact that this event always covers everything from physical therapy/injury prevention, to physical preparation, to mental preparation, to mechanics, to structuring practices, to pitch sequencing.
Fortunately, the 150 coaches in attendance aren't the only ones who will get to experience this event, as the entire weekend was recorded.
So, whether you coach, rehabilitate, or train baseball athletes, this is a great resource that you'll find yourself looking back to for years to come. I know I put a ton of time into my presentation and did my best to load as much information into it as possible - so you have my word that it'll be worth it.
Here's the link again:
https://m130.infusionsoft.com/go/UPCBC2009/EC/
