1. I started a little deadlift specialization program this week. So far, it's beating me up like a rented mule - and this is just the introductory week. I don't know if it will get me to 700, but at the very least, it'll prove whether deadlifts to excess really can kill someone. I'll let you know how it goes.
(I still get a kick out of how disinterested the air conditioning repair guy in the background is during this video)
2.A big congratulations goes out to CP athlete Danny O'Connor, who ran his professional boxing record to 9-0 with a third round knockout on Thursday night. I can honestly say that I've never seen anyone get knocked out with a body shot, but let's just say that this was one for the ages. When his opponent actually regains the ability to speak, digest, and walk upright, I'm sure he'll agree.
Next up for Danny is a big fight on November 7 at the Hartford Civic Center, so we're back in the gym getting after it today.
3. My fiancee went to get her annual physical the other day, and because she started a new job with a new insurance plan, it was her first time with a new primary care doctor. Since she knew bloodwork was going to be part of the drill, I had encouraged her to ask to get her Vitamin D levels checked. The doctor replied with, "No, we won't do that. You're not post-menopausal."
Are you serious???? Um, Vitamin D isn't just about bone health. As Chris Shugart covered in a recent article, it has some pretty darn extensive roles in the body, and it's been established that a large chunk of the population has insufficient - if not deficient - levels of Vitamin D.
I find it fascinating that this doctor wouldn't hesitate to order cholesterol and glucose measurements for a second year in a row, yet would rigidly oppose testing for something that's a heck of a lot more useful (even in someone under the age of 30).
Not surprisingly, from what my fiancee (who is also a doctor) told me, she had a terrible bedside manner to go along with her complete lack of preparedness and openmindedness. She even busted out the body mass index line with a female patient who deadlifts over 250 pounds and can do ten body weight chin-ups. Women can have muscle, you know.
Needless to say, she is down one patient now.
4. Here's a great, comprehensive article on antioxidants by John Romaniello and Joel Marion; it covers what works and what doesn't, and does so in an entertaining format: Movie Stars, Blockbuster Berries, and You
5.Chris Frankel from TRX is in town to do an in-service for our staff this morning. We started using these just a few weeks ago and are excited to see all the new tricks and tips Chris has for them. Check them out for yourselfHERE.
Have a kick-ass weekend. This kid definitely will!
Here are a few good reads from a variety of disciplines:
Organic vs. Kind of Organic vs. Wait, I'm Confused - This was a great blog post by Tony Gentilcore that tells you everything you ought to know (but might not want to know) about organic food.
Clean Eating Gone Wrong - Another great post, this one from Dr. John Berardi. It just goes to show you that being on the money with your nutrition can quickly and easily hit the fan.
Blood and Chalk: Jim Wendler Talks Big Weights - Jim is a great dude and one of the most amusing guys you'll encounter in this industry; he's always got something funny, but incredibly valuable to say. Check out this interview with him at T-Muscle.
The theme of this week's random thoughts is "questions" (even though I know that having a theme makes it pretty non-random).
1. Yesterday, one of our high school guys was throwing - or tossing, I should say - the medicine ball with less than stellar velocity. So, I went over and pinned a $20 bill to the floor with a dumbbell, and told him that if he broke a medicine ball, he could keep it. He didn't break one, but at the very least, it got him throwing the ball harder.
Seconds later, I hear a thud - only to look over and see that my fiancee had dropped a dumbbell directly on one of our stopwatches. Her question? "Do I get $20 for breaking a stopwatch?"
Sorry, honey, breaking stopwatches doesn't get you the $20 when you already have access to my credit cards and checkbook.
2. Do you watch The Biggest Loser? If so, you have to read this blog post by Robert do Remedios.
3. Can someone tell me why this kid doesn't just put down the controller? Weird.
5. Was that video just woefully inappropriate?
6. Does anyone think there is actually hope for Matt Forte as a legitimate fantasy football running back this year? He really let me down in Week 1 (five points, and I lost by one), and I have a bad feeling that it's going to be a looooonnnnggg year in this regard. Some #4 overall pick...
7. For the record, I think it's a disgrace if Zach Greinke doesn't win the AL Cy Young award. He'll be punished because he plays for a team that is isn't very good (four of his eight losses have been in games where the Royals were shut-out), but seriously, how can you ignore these numbers? He's got 244 strikeouts and just 44 walks in 210 innings right now. Filthy numbers.
8. Have you watched Mike Boyle's Advanced Program Design DVD set? I'm in the process of updating my resources page, and I came across it. It made me realize what a great product it was, yet how it seems to get overlooked. It's definitely worth checking out, if you haven't already.
I received this email this weekend from a very satisfied female Maximum Strength customer. It should put to rest any doubts about whether or not this program works for females:
Dear Eric,
Hello, I'm Kelsey Doucette. I'm a 22 year old (female) powerlifter and aspiring Olympic lifter. I just finished your Maximum Strength program. I made splendid gains.
Beginning: End:
Body weight: 113 Body weight: 115
Squat- 200 Squat: 205
Deadlift: 265 Deadlift: 260
Bench: 115 Bench: 135
Pull-ups: 15 lbs extra Pull- ups: 25 lbs extra
Broad jump: > 5 ft Broad jump: 7.5 ft
You're probably wondering about the squat and deadlift numbers (and why I'm ecstatic about them). Allow me to explain. Right before I began your program, I just started physical therapy for my hips. Among a myriad of problems (I was considered "a train wreck" by the therapists) one was that I had weak adductors, hip flexors and poor (I mean REALLY poor) glute activation. I also had horrendous hip mobility. I started your program and noticed a difference within the first two weeks just from doing the mobility warm-ups and foam rolling. Not only did your program inspire me to lift like a real strength athlete (I am a former body builder. I decided I liked lifting better than posing) but also to aggressively attack my hip issues both with knowledge and actions.
It was about half way through your program when during a squat I felt my glutes activate. I was so excited I jumped up and down in jubilation once I finished my set. The same thing happened with deadlifts. So I guess you could say I squatted 205 and deadlifted 260 WITH glute activation, which I consider a major accomplishment from where I started.
My conclusion is that even though my numbers didn't change a whole lot (at least on the two lifts I really care about. I think i was just sick of benching less than a plate and that's why my bench went up so much) I feel like a much more efficient lifter. My muscles are firing in synchrony like they're supposed to and I'm now on my way to busting my former lifting plateaus. I also understand my body a lot more and I'm enthusiastically devouring as much knowledge about strength and conditioning as I can.
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Kelsey Doucette
It's time for another intern end-of-summer finale. Alex went the other night, but tonight, it was Phil "Gunzzzz for Hire" Gauthier's turn to work his mojo on this medley (his effort put him in second place, just behind Alex's time).
Phil also completed the Maximum Strength program with some big gains in size (over ten pounds) and strength while fixing up a bum shoulder this summer and turning himself into one heck of a coach. Some credit goes out to Phil for:
a) doing this circuit after he'd already trained lower body easlier in the day (including a HUGE front squat personal best)
b) rocking his high school colors (Go Maynard!) and NOT wearing a Power Rangers t-shirt and spandex (watch the video; you'll understand)
c) naming a professional hockey player as his emergency contact ("Sorry, Mom!")
d) doing better push-ups than in the first go-round
f) giving us an even better frame of reference from which to appreciate just how bad Roger got dominated later this afternoon (more on that in a future blog; stay tuned)...
So, without further ado...
Give our man a little love in the comments section! I know you're out there, Maynard!
In a given month, this blog will get over 25,000 unique visitors. So, as you can imagine, I get quite a bit of "fan mail." I recently received this lovely note from a loyal Swedish reader of mine; it's posted almost exactly as it was received (including incorrect spelling, spacing, grammar, and content, but edited for cursing):
"Eric is a fony , in his book he think bridging is OK so you actually fool yourself that you are lifting big but you just lift the weight 8".Real athletes lift the weight, in benchpress, with their backs FLAT . Take your skinny bragging as and go f**k yourself . I hope you get cancer."
My response:
Dear Fan,Thank you very much for your thoughtful note. It means so much to me to hear from my readers, especially my particularly loyal Scandinavian following. The Germans may love David Hasselhoff, but he's got nothing on my popularity with the Swedish.In response to your observation that the weight only travels 8" on each rep, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that some folks will only move it 7.5 inches because of larger upper bodies. Really, you make such a strong case for your position that I couldn't possibly come up with anything to refute your argument, so I'll only bow to your unrelenting knowledge and contribute to your argument.Certainly, lifting with a flat-back is the way to go. While we've evolved over centuries to a posture that has our spine in a S-shaped curve, clearly bench pressing is an exception to the rule, as you so graciously observed. I stand corrected.Your well-wishes for my continued success are greatly appreciated.Respectfully Yours,Eric Cressey
Note from EC: this is a sarcastic response. For more information on why a subtle arch on the bench is useful and safe for bench-pressing, check out this article from Craig Rasmussen. I'd also add that flattening the back forces the thoracic spine to flatten as well, and this causes the scapulae to wing out: not what you want under a heavy load.
Q: I'm finally recovered from my deadlifting injury, which was a strain of my right lumbar erector spinae. I would like to start trying to deadlift again, but what's the best way to start? With rack pulls? Isolated lower back machines? Hyperextensions? Or, straight into deadlifts?
A: The answer would be "E: None of the above." Of course, it depends on the person, as always!
First, you need to make sure that your body is ready to get back to deadlifting in any capacity. That's something I can't tell you without knowing more about your situation, but you should address it with a qualified professional before you get back to the activity that originally injured you.
Second, in terms of maintaining a training effect while you're on the shelf, I generally stick purely with single-leg variations with recent back issues. They allow us to gradually reintroduce compressive loading in a situation where the center of gravity is maintained within the base of support. In other words, we minimize shear stress, and we make sure that the spine is in neutral, where it's in the best position to handle compression. I usually start with body weight variations, then progress to variations loaded with dumbbells, and then move to a barbell reverse lunge with a front squat grip. Depending on the person, we may also use glute-ham variations and sled pushing/pulling.
Down the road, I prefer pull-throughs and trap bar deadlifts as early progressions, with sumo deadlifts and rack pulls following before any progression to conventional deadlifts from the floor. This, of course, assumes that you have a body that's even capable of doing a deadlift correctly. A lot of people have functional (poor ankle or hip mobility) or structural (long femurs or short arms) that make conventional deadlifting unsafe. They may be better with other variations (as noted above) or no deadlifting at all.
When the time is right, we generally start people off with speed deadlifts - emphasizing perfect technique - at 50-60% of estimated one-rep max.
Of course, everyone is different - so you should get checked out and listen to your body.
Recommended Reading:Lower Back Savers: Part 1Lower Back Savers: Part 2Lower Back Savers: Part 3
I'm sure a lot of you took economics back in the day - either in college or high school (or both). I don't know about you, but one concept that stuck in my mind - besides the fact that one of my professors was a ridiculously annoying Yankees fan - was that of opportunity cost. Rather than define it myself and risk missing an important component, I'll defer to Wikipedia:
"Opportunity cost or economic opportunity loss is the value of the next best alternative forgone as the result of making a decision. Opportunity cost analysis is an important part of a company's decision-making processes but is not treated as an actual cost in any financial statement. The next best thing that a person can engage in is referred to as the opportunity cost of doing the best thing and ignoring the next best thing to be done.
"Opportunity cost is a key concept in economic because it implies the choice between desirable, yet mutually exclusive results. It is a calculating factor used in mixed markets which favour social change in favour of purely individualistic economics. It has been described as expressing 'the basic relationship between scarcity and choice.' The notion of opportunity cost plays a crucial part in ensuring that scarce resources are used efficiently. Thus, opportunity costs are not restricted to monetary or financial costs: the real cost of output forgone, lost time, swag, pleasure or any other benefit that provides utility should also be considered opportunity costs."
I see opportunity cost all the time in the world of training - both in clients/athletes and their trainers/coaches.
On the fitness side of things, we know there are certainly exercise modalities that yield more effective results than others in the least amount of time. In fact, this was the entire premise behind Alwyn Cosgrove's Hierarchy of Fat Loss article.
If you want to get stronger, bigger, and more athletic, you're better off doing squats than you are leg extensions.
If you only have an hour to exercise and your goal is to get stronger, drop body fat, and improve your overall fitness, then you're probably better off skipping the Hip-Hop class and instead going to the gym to do:
5 minutes foam rolling
All of these modalities can be individualized, whereas a group exercise class is more one-size-fits-all. So, if you have imbalances or injury concerns, the individualization is a major benefit.
Plus, the added benefit is that you're much less likely to get tortured on by your friends if you lift heavy stuff and push the sled than you are with Hip-Hop class. Just throwing it out there. That's just a purely hypothetical example, though...
You'll see a lot of really business-savvy trainers who are always reading personal development books, but never actually pick up a book or attend a seminar to learn how to train people. They are really just good salespeople in revealing and/or tight workout clothes. In fact, if you search Google Images for "personal trainer," photos like this are just about all that you get!
The opportunity cost of their time is that they could have spent time becoming better trainers instead of just prioritizing something at which they're already effective. Or, perhaps they're better off hiring a good trainer to take that duty over so that they can best leverage their selling.
Likewise, you'll see some trainers who are great at assessment, programming, coaching, and getting results, but clueless on the business side of things. These people need to be reading more business books and attending seminars on how to run a business effectively. And, as with the previous case, they should consider collaborating with someone who has good business know-how so that they can leverage their strengths. I actually do a lot of this myself at Cressey Performance; while I'm about 80/20 training/business, having Pete as our full-time business guy allows me to spend more time specializing in various contexts to expand our market segment.
Just some food for thought. I'd encourage you to look at what you do on a daily basis, and consider the concept of opportunity cost as it relates to your fitness and professional development. I know I do it all the time.
New Blog ContentThings I Learned from Smart People: Installment 1Random Friday ThoughtsThings I Learned from Smart People: Installment 2
Have a great week!
EC
You probably noticed that there wasn't a blog post on Tuesday, and I'm only now getting around to this at 9PM on Wednesday night. It's because my fiancee and I returned from California early this morning after five days of fun - including the Perform Better Summit in Long Beach, my staff in-service for Alwyn and Rachel Cosgrove's staff at their facility in Newhall, and a visit to my buddy Scot Prohaska and his place down in Huntington Beach. Needless to say, it was a very busy trip - but that's not to say that we didn't have some fun. Muscle Beach, anyone?
Don't worry, though; I actually did get a bit of relaxation in. Just give me a day to get back in the groove, dig myself out of the giant landfill that is my email inbox, and I'll be kicking out new content in no time.
