While this digital resource has been used by folks of all walks of life for everything from fat loss to athletic performance training , in light of an email I received the other day from my buddy, Kevin Neeld, I thought I'd highlight the strength increases aspect of things. Kevin is director of athletic development at a strength and conditioning facility in Sewell, NJ - and I sent him an advanced copy of Show and Go. Here's what he sent me the other day:
"Eric, I wanted to let you know that I put our whole staff on your Show and Go program and the result [after just a month] has been:
Matt Siniscalchi-405 x 5 (Personal Record)
David Lasnier-385x5 (Personal Record)
Kevin Neeld-425 x 5 (Personal Record)
"I also front squatted 285 for 3, which is pretty good for me. Turns out your programs work! I've been pumping Show and Go's tires a lot around here since you launched it. Hopefully the program is getting the attention it deserves."
Then, a day later, a few days later, I got another email:
"We just did the front squat 1RM test; here were some results:
David Lasnier - Front Squat (295 - PR)
Kevin Neeld - Front Squat (315 - PR)
"You should also know that David and I both tied/set PRs during our 1-RM bench press test too...but we were both SO sore from the previous upper-body lift that we didn't even bother shooting film. I think we'll both beat our previous bests by 10-15lbs in a couple weeks when you have the next 1RM built in. Thanks!"
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.
The question of what weight to use in a resistance training program comes up very commonly not only among beginners, but also intermediate and experienced lifters. So, when I got this question from a reader recently, it gave me the kick in the pants I needed to cover this in a detailed write-up.
Q: I have a question about how to select weights to use within programs like yours that may fluctuate the sets and reps from week to week. For example, if it’s 4x3 in week 1, 4x2 in week 2, 4x4 in week 3, and 3x3 in week 4, are there are certain percentages that I can use based off my one-rep max? This would make it easier to know exactly what weight to use each week.
A: Rather than reinvent the wheel, I’m going to paraphrase a bit from chapter 2 of the Show and Go main guide. Let me preface this explanation by saying that the goal of all my programs – and indeed any good strength and conditioning program – is to get stronger. And, I fully expect you to do so.
Now, if that’s the case, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to select what weight to use based on percentages of one-rep maxes that were taken before the program even began. By the time you get to phases 2, 3, and 4, you aren’t going to have sufficient overload to make optimal progress.
So, to that end, I rarely assign training percentages. All sets should be to one rep shy of failure; basically, go hard but never attempt a rep that you won't complete on your own. Each session should be somewhat of a test of your new strength as you work up to heavier loads and listen to your body along the way.
As a frame of reference, on your first (main) exercise(s), just work up to your heaviest set of the day (in perfect form, of course), and then find 90% of it. Anything you did above that 90% number "counts" as a set. Anything done before it is a warm-up. So, imagine you had 4 set of 3 reps planned on the bench press, and you worked up to 300 on you heaviest set using the following progression:
Set 1: 45x8
Set 2: 135x5
Set 3: 185x3
Set 4: 225x3
Set 5: 275x3
Set 6: 295x3
Set 7: 300x3
That puts you at three sets (275, 295, and 300) above 90% of your heaviest load for the day (300). So, to get a fourth set in, you just need to get one more set somewhere between 270 (90%) and 300 (100%). By the next week, this 90-100% range may have shifted up by 5-10 pounds, so you have to accommodate it – and prescribing percentages on an old one-rep-max just doesn’t do the job justice.
It really doesn’t matter what rep range is in question – whether you’re doing heavy singles or a 5x5 workout. You can really apply it to just about every set in every training session when you're wondering what weight to use.
Last week, Perry Nickelston interviewed me for his podcast. We covered everything from the origins of my latest product, Show and Go, to baseball workouts, to running a facility. You can listen to the interview for free HERE.
Looking for a masochistic new strength exercise to add to your resistance training program? Try the Dumbbell Bulgarian Split Squat from Deficit, one of my favorite movements for improving hip mobility while really challenging lower body strength and frontal plane stability. If you need to shake up your workout routine, this is a great place to start - assuming you don't mind being miserably sore!
As I mentioned in a blog earlier this week, my wife and I got a puppy last weekend. "Tank" is absolutely awesome and we (and all the CP clients) love him.
Like any puppy, though, it is going to take some time to housebreak him. While he's going to crap on the floor and pee on the carpet quite a bit over the first few months, we have faith in the fact that if we praise him like crazy and give him treats consistently each time he "goes" outside, he will get the point eventually and make great progress. This "faith" has been present in every single pet owner with whom we've talked over the past month.
Nobody uses electroshock routines to try to "get through" to the puppy faster, and there aren't thousands of supplements out there to expedite outdoor crappy progress. People are patient and trust in the system.
Wouldn't it be nice if those beginning strength training programs were like this???
I am fortunate to know a lot of people who have made ridiculous progress in the weight room and dramatically changed their bodies. And, I can tell you that just about all of them chalk up a big chunk of their success to just consistently busting their humps - both in the weight room and the kitchen - for years. I've never met a world-class bodybuilder, powerlifter, or other athlete that devotes a huge part of their success to a supplement they use, or radical training program they did in their first few years of training. It's funny, though; when I meet an up-and-coming lifter or athlete (and particularly professional baseball players), the first question is "what supplements should I take?" I generally recommend "Shut up and Train" in softgel form.
I've commented before on how I attribute a big chunk of my success to the fact that I didn't miss a single planned resistance training session in roughly eight years - and to end that streak, it took 32 inches of snow in 24 hours (and I made the lift up the next day).
Consistency is the most important thing – especially in beginners. You don’t need reverse undulating cybernetic periodization with quasi-isometric inverted wave loading and contrast training; you need to shut up and pick up some heavy stuff, as anything will work as you begin as long as you are consistent. Heck, I did garbage weight training programs straight out of bodybuilding magazines when I first got started and made great progress because there was no place to go but up. All that mattered was that for two years, I went home after lifting and shoveled down about 1,500 calories of quality food each and every time. My diet and training may not have been perfect (or even close to it), but they were damn consistent.
So, the next time you think that you start thinking that you're super special and physiologically different from everyone else, imagine me standing out in my backyard at 5:30AM freezing my butt off while I wait for my puppy to drop a deuce so that he can take one more step toward awesomeness while you spin your wheels. It might put things in perspective and have you back to the basics before you know it.
To take the guesswork out of your programming, check out Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look, Feel, and Move Better.
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Nick Chertock was one of the "guinea pigs" that we put through my new program, Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look, Feel, and Move Better. While he's the first to admit that he's still a work in progress, Nick made some excellent improvements - and decided to make a very entertaining video about those improvements and his overall experience on the Show and Go program. Check it out:
Let it be known, too, that the next person to come up with a (entertaining) 6+ minute video montage on their Show and Go experience will receive a Cressey Performance t-shirt on the house.
For more information on this high performance training program, check out www.ShowAndGoTraining.com.
Based on feedback on Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look, Feel, and Move Better, one of the most popular components of this strength and conditioning resource has been the exercise modifications section. This section features recommended modifications for everything from mobility deficits (e.g., can't squat deep without rounding the back) to equipment limitations (e.g., no cables or squat rack).
That said, I know it's never possible to use a single chapter to cover absolutely every equipment modification one will encounter, so I wanted to get a series going here that highlights some quick and easy substitutions that you can use in your strength training programs. To that end, here is the first installment of High Performance Training Without the Equipment. Today's focus will be what to do in your home gym if you don't have access to dumbbells.
If we're talking about regular bilateral dumbbell pressing, the modification is quick and easy: just use a barbell, and get your variety by using a collection of floor presses, board presses, full range-of-motion presses, and various inclines and declines.
If we're talking about either unilateral or alternating dumbbell pressing variations, then try out the 1-arm push-up. You can make the exercise easier by performing it off the pins in a power rack - and as you get stronger, gradually move the pin down lower.
On the "flip side," you can obviously use barbell rowing variations to replace dumbbell rowing variations. One that I particularly like is the 1-arm corner row, in lieu of the 1-arm DB Row. You just stick the end of a barbell in a corner.
Or, you can just do the 1-arm barbell row - which requires a ton more grip and forearm strength to keep the bar from tipping.
Of course, there are plenty more options in this regard; your imagination is your only limit!
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.
I've gotten several inquiries about whetherShow and Go will be a good fit for women trying to get fitter and stronger. I guess it really depends on whether you want to be able to do stuff like this.
My lovely fiancee just showing up and banging out eight pull-ups - in her work attire, without a warm-up.
Or Cressey Performance client Natalie putting on a show of her own with some rope pull-ups.
And a little something for the deadlifters in the crowd...
"At the beginning of this program, I was very out of balance, where my lower body was much stronger than my upper body and I will give Eric the credit for balancing me out. I found incredible strength gains in my chest, back and shoulders and was still gaining at the end of my 4 months. Working with Eric I knew the mobility and stability throughout my body would improve in the areas it needed to; I have never had any shoulder issues, but now my shoulders have never felt healthier, more stable or stronger. By the time I got to the third phase, I found my 1RM for the bench press climbed almost 30 lbs and I was working with weight I have never worked with before. Beginning the program I could not do any pull-ups .. I finished with being able to do 3 complete reps for 4 sets ... that's success to me! This program gave my body the perfect base to go in any training direction afterward."
Kelsey Pettengill - Saco, ME
"My fiance, Mathew, and I completed Eric's 16 week strength program in June. We were both extremely pleased with our results. I increased my squat by 55lb, my deadlift by 33lb, my 3-rep maximum chin-up by 12lb, my bench press by 8lb and my standing jump by 7.5"- great results in just 16 weeks.
"This is the first intensive strength program I have undertaken. The program will produce amazing results if you are completely committed, determined and motivated for the 16 weeks. I even managed to complete my training with international travel and demanding work pressures.
Mathew was an ongoing source of support and this program highlighted the importance and value of a committed and motivated training partner.
"As a female who up to three years ago focused their entire fitness regime on cardio, I highly recommend Eric's program and his strength and conditioning expertise for maximizing strength gains and sculpting a lean physique."
Cassandra Lees - Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
"I have nothing but glowing praise for Eric Cressey's program. I have been a recreational lifter for many years. Eric's program has helped me overcome some sticking points in mobility and strength that I wasn't able to address on my own. Even though I am relatively strong, I have never been able to chin. Now, I can do several sets of chins with various grips.
"Because of all the unilateral work that Eric recommended in this program, my basic lifts (deadlift, squat, bench) have gone up significantly.
"My favorite lift, the deadlift, has gone from 225 to 280 and that's at my body weight of 130 lbs.
"I was always a good conventional squatter, either free squat or box squat, but was never comfortable with the front squat. This program provided me with the tools to finally perform a decent front squat.
"I could go and on and on and tell you about all the other lifts and how they improved. Suffice it to say...THIS PROGRAM WORKS! Thanks, Eric!"
Arlene Robbins - New York, NY
"I can't say enough to describe the positive experiences I had with the Show and Go Program. Obviously, I gained significant strength across the board and got leaner, which in itself is rewarding, but the amazing part to me is that I did so as a 40 year old female with an office job and not as a younger elite athlete with access to more training resources. And my progressions weren't solely strength oriented as I also made improvements in my flexibility and range of motion in spite of having past issues in these areas. With the enhanced strength and flexibility, I'm now enjoying the best fitness, strength and health I've had at any point in my life. And, it's incredibly empowering to be a strong woman and reach strength levels I never thought were possible for me. There is no question in my mind that I got more than a 16 week training manual from the Show and Go Program. Rather, this program provided a road map for me to be able to continue to optimize my strength and overall health because I experienced the power of mixing of mobility exercises along with innovative strength gaining techniques."
