Know what every guy in every gym does on every Monday? He benches.... Monday is basically National Bench Press Day every week all year.... The funny thing is that all these 200lbs guys and their 225lbs benches, which they think is really good cause "they do it at the combine" can't do 20 good pushups. Which is a shame because pushups, in a lot of respects, are actually a much better exercise. Here's some of the awesomeness of pushups: Core activation Serratus activation Safe on the rotator cuff The scapula get to move naturally (small upward rotation) Self limiting i.e. hard to get hurt Thoracic extension Take note: all of the above only … [Read more...]
11, Have a Better Workout Today Warmups.
September 25, 2012 by
I know, we went over the whole warm-up thing in this blog Warm Up Warriors: Overboard or on Target so obviously people who read it, all both of them (thanks mom, grandma), were like, "Well Mr. Smarty Pants what should I do before I workout"? Generally speaking, here's what you should do: SMR: Foam Rolling, Lacrosse ball work, The Stick, etc. Stretch: Hip flexors, Glutes, Chest, Lats, Calves (especially for the ladies who wear heels) Activate: Bridges, Knee Outs, TKE's (yes, I know everyone hates these now. But guess what? Experience has told me these make my clients knees feel better.....so I do them with lots of clients), pull aparts, wall slides Move: … [Read more...]
Book Review: Easy Strength
September 10, 2012 by
I'm a REALLY big nerd. When most people go on vacation they do a whole lot of nothing and when they do read something it's usually not "industry related". I'm guessing the economists of the world are not on the beach going, "WOW, this expose on the European debt crisis is just fascinating".......then again they are economist....bad example, my bad. (I kid, I kid) That said isn't that the whole reason people go on vacation in the first place to get away from work? Well as I said, I'm a nerd so I do things like read issues of the Strength and Conditioning Journal and books about training to "get away from work". My latest entry into nerd-dom lead me to, Easy … [Read more...]
Time, money, and How to build a kick ass home gym for a grand or less….
September 4, 2012 by
I know, a grand is a lot of cash......but in reality it's all about perspective. What are you getting out of that $1,000? (assuming that you actually follow through and use the equipment). Would you pay $1,000 to: NOT have your knees hurt every time you walk down stairs, up stairs or bend down? NOT get headaches throughout the day? NOT have your back hurt all day every day? NOT be tired and worn down from doing just the basics of everyday life? NOT be overweight? NOT have the medical issues that are associated with being overweight (diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol)? NOT have to pay every month for those medications? I'm guessing the … [Read more...]
Kids are Kids, NOT Little Adults
July 10, 2012 by
Things that piss me off in "Fitness": Ohh how I loathe: CrossFit for competitive athletes and average people and for that matter anyone who doesn't plan on competing in CrossFit...btw Robb Wolf agrees Yoga/ Pilates to lose weight (and cure cancer) Group Exercise class, especially the choreographed kind The Bender ball Unstable surface training Distance Running Opinons passed off as scientifically tested truth: BROSCIENCE! But Nothing and I mean NOTHING pisses me off like training children as if they are adults. That, my friends is the epitome of ignorance in physical preparation. This morning I got an email from a friend who is coaching his … [Read more...]
Warm-Up Warriors: Overboard or on Target?
June 7, 2012 by
"It's cool to pee your pants"- Billy Madison (Adam Sandler) http://youtu.be/Bv6pjoKLPSY Obviously that's a load of B.S., it's not cool to pee your pants, it's probably the exact opposite of cool, it's anything but cool, it's totally uncool...... and that's how I feel about warm-ups.... Seriously, they suck, they are UN-COOL. No matter how many articles I read about how awesome the foam roller is or this stretch is or that mobility drill is they all suck as far as I'm concerned. They are boring as hell and detract from time that can be spent being awesome (smashing weight, eating meat, being a costumed crime fighter) But here's the deal: YOU GOTTA DO … [Read more...]
Book Review: Never Let Go- I read that sh*t
February 22, 2012 by
A client got me a Kindle for Christmas and I must say this thing is an impressive little device. Any who, when Dan Johns book Never Let Go became a Kindle freebie a couple of weeks ago I snatched it up. (It's $10 now, but still worth it). Now this bad boy is long, 418 pages but it's a really easy read and every article/ story is really good. They're mostly reprinted, old articles, from T-nation.com, in fact I had already read most of them but after reading them again I'm reminded of how easy it is to forget things we "know". Here's a quick synopsis of the book: Learn and do the basics: Squat, deadlift, clean, bench...you know the stuff they judge to be … [Read more...]
Why Everyone Learns to Squat
February 17, 2012 by
Virtually (not always if they don't stick around long enough) every client I train learns to squat. We're talking 90% or better, obviously I think it's important. So I was caught off guard a little this week when I got hit with this gem by a "fitness professional" none the less (paraphrasing): "You know, you should only have experienced athletes squat because it's bad for the back and knees and it's non functional. I went to a seminar and learned there's just too much spinal compression to justify using it." at first I was in disbelief for these reasons: I just met this person an hour before. they told me every fallacy attached to the exercise in 2 … [Read more...]
