Deadlifts are Cool Again. Wasn't too long ago they weren't. But they are now, and in 3-5 years, they wont be again. How Do I Know This? I watch people do them on the reg and just because you picked it up off the ground, doesn't make it a good deadlift. "It's Not a Deadlift That Hurt Your Back. It's What YOU Did, and Called a Deadlift, That Hurt Your Back" Here's the common deadlift issues I see. <----yes, they usually all go together. Arches collapsed Knees Collapsed Hips posteriorly tilted Low back rounded Thoracic spine rounded Shoulders out of the joint Reaching for the weight Knees driving forward (and in) Why Do … [Read more...]
You Should Do This: Pendlay Row
June 13, 2019 by
If you've been around here for a minute you've heard this: "Muscles up Front are for Show, Muscles in Back are for GO!" or more eloquently put "You Can Never Have Too Much Ass, Abs and Upper Back" I've had lots of clients that were: Anterior dominant Kyphotic <----generally flexed forward. This is mostly through the thoracic spine. Quad dominant Weak Core And to some extent all of those can, and do, usually result in some movement or orthopedic issues. <---yes, these are typically related. But I've had very few clients who were: Posterior dominant Glute dominant Overly strong core Too thick in the upper … [Read more...]
You Should Do This: Plank Elbow Touch
May 15, 2019 by
Why do we swing our arms when we walk? This used to be one of the big questions in exercise physiology. The other was what's the limiting factor in oxygen utilization? O2 uptake at the muscles or O2 uptake at the lungs (the pressure across the alveolar membrane and red blood cell affinity for 02, etc) <----its this one, google anatomical dead space Circa 2009 we figured out why we swing our arms.... Swinging your arms while you walk: Makes walking more "economical" Keeps us walking straight "The results showed that arm swinging, either normally or in the opposite direction, required little effort from the muscles. “Instead of being … [Read more...]
You Should Do This: Single Leg Hip Thrust
May 9, 2019 by
There is a good chance that 2018 was peak Insta-Ass. What's Insta-Ass? Insta-Ass is the fitness subcategory (which I kinda just made up) that is nothing more than girls in leggings doing "Booty Workouts" and ass shots on Instagram. Actually, lets face it, until the fairly recent and kinda small backlash against the Instagram Fitfluencer thing, the whole Insta-Ass thing was at least 70% of all fitness related posts on Instagram since about 2015. Butt, here's the thing: Glutes REALLY are Important. I have would argue that glutes are the MOST IMPORTANT muscle group in the human body. "for us, for athletes, glutes are everything — the absolute … [Read more...]
You Should Do This: Row W/ Miniband Around Wrist
April 24, 2019 by
Han Solo and Chewbacca Penn and Teller Bill and Ted Wayne and Garth Mulder and Scully like all great combos the sum value of the system is greater than the individual value(s) of both parts combined. Somehow a great combination makes 120% where only 100% should exist. The TRX Row With Miniband Around the Wrists is no exception. Most combination exercises suck because one of the exercises isn't really challenged at all. In things like lunge into biceps curl or Deadlift into shoulder press, half of the movement is basically just going through the motions. This isn't that because really, you're not combining exercises, you're just adding a … [Read more...]
You Should Do This: Banded Hand Walks
March 19, 2019 by
"I Think it's my Rotator Cuff" But it's usually not. It's usually the delt, maybe the biceps tendon, occasionally the lat, often the pec minor See there's a LOT of shit going on around the shoulder. That shoulder pain you're having, it's usually NOT the rotator cuff.... But sometimes it is and hearing the words, "Its your rotator cuff" Scares everyone. But a LOT of people actually have FULL THICKNESS rotator cuff tears, and they're fine. An astonishingly high rate of rotator cuff tears in patients with asymptomatic shoulders was thus demonstrated with increasing patient age. - Age-related prevalence of rotator cuff tears in asymptomatic … [Read more...]
You Should Do This: Landmine RDL
March 9, 2019 by
The Most Butchered/ Tortured/ Faked movement in the world... The Hip Hinge Its NOT a squat Its NOT "bending over" It's NOT "sticking your butt back" It's a HIP HINGE. Hip Hinge: "A hip hinge is movement (flexion and extension) through the hip joint, keeping a neutral spine and the knees slightly flexed." -Breaking Muscle Key Points to the Hip Hinge: Neutral Spine Vertical or Near Vertical Shins Throughout the Movement Hips "stay high" and move behind the knees. The Difference between a Squat and a Hip Hinge: A squat has a greater knee-joint (motion, flexion/ extension) contribution. Deadlifts (hip hinge) have a greater HIP joint (motion, … [Read more...]
You Should Do This: DB JM Press
February 14, 2019 by
Few words strike PAIN into the elbows of old school lifters like Extensions Meathead Humor: Q: "Who Does Skullcrushers?" A: "No One Over 30." Elbows Just Ain't Built For It Triceps extension exercises, like skullcrushers, place the triceps in a fully stretched and maximally loaded position at the same time. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing except that the triceps tendon is stretched DIRECTLY OVER THE ELBOW. That's the back of your arm. The white line that "connects" the Long, Lateral and Medial heads? That's the triceps tendon. See that knob it crosses over? That's the elbow. And that probably wouldn't be an issue except elbows are boney as all F, and … [Read more...]
