Slider Side Lunge Most of what we do in the weight room occurs in the astral plane sagittal plane. These are forward/ back ward movements like squats, lunges, bench press, pullups etc. This makes sense. Much of life occurs in this plane too. Most, not all. A LOT of life occurs in the other planes too. Transverse and Frontal and the truth of truths is that MOST things actually occur in a combination of ALL these planes of movement. Muscles coordinate actions across joints to control the movement creating the desired outcome. Well, anyone who has done literally ANYTHING even mildly athletic knows.... NOT Allowing Movement is Just As Important as … [Read more...]
You Should Do This: Goblet Squat
January 8, 2020 by
Squat: The King of All Exercises That's what the squat has been called. Why? Well, a good, heavy, squat works, well, EVERYTHING. From top to bottom: Upper Back: Gotta keep the mid back (rhomboids), lats, traps TIGHT AF through the movement to maintain upper torso stability. <---you NEED to be LOCKED INTO the bar. You DO NOT want to be balancing the bar on your upper back. Grip: At least in the back squat and Kettlebell Goblet Squat. Better be CRUSHING the bar to tighten the whole body and help keep that bar in place. Core: Lot's of people who have never squatted anything relatively challenging will tell you, "squats don't work the core" Those … [Read more...]
Winter is Coming: Get Ready to Ski.
September 19, 2019 by
I Have NEVER Skied. Fun Fact: I train a whole bunch of skiers. More Fun(er) Fact: They don't need "Ski Specific" training to improve. People that sell you "sport specific" are often charlatans who don't actually know what sports specific means. And NO sport specific DOES NOT mean the movement kinda sorta LOOKS like the sporting movement. Sport Specific: For an exercise to be classified as "sport specific" it MUST, in the same motor regime, accurately replicate similar joint angle velocities as the sporting movement its self. Most Fun Fact: In my experience, the "training" most skiers (and weekend warriors as a whole) do, isn't training at all. It's … [Read more...]
B Stance isn’t B.S..
May 22, 2019 by
A few years ago I saw The Glute Guy, Bret Contreras, using the B-Stance with some lower body lifts like RDL's, Squats and Deadlifts. Truth be told, I thought it was dumb as all hell. It literally made NO SENSE to me. But, half a decade later, I was stuck in a hotel gym and needed to do a hip hinge hamstring movement. I was armed to the teeth with a pair of 50lbs dumbbells. So I committed blasphemy and tried B-Stance RDL's And they didn't suck. In fact, I really liked them. I was able to handle less weight and still get a good training effect on the hamstrings. Why I Thought the B-Stance was Bullshit My number one reason was, Why not just do … [Read more...]
You Should Do this: Kettlebell Figure 8
December 15, 2017 by
These are Kinda BRUTAL Like they can get really hard, really fast... Hard Where? Hard All Over. This exercise was popular for a minute a few years ago, but you don't hear about it much anymore. I guess cause it's kinda F-ing hard, takes your breath away, makes your whole body burn and you sweat instantly. Why Do Kettlebell Figure 8's? Cause they hit EVERYTHING at once. Literally: Core (all of it) Upper Back Shoulders Quads Hamstrings Glutes They all get hit pretty hard. Why Else (the Real, Real Reason I use them): The Kettlebell Figure 8 (when done correctly ie. not all slop city) forces you to CONTROL movement, in an ATHLETIC … [Read more...]
You Should Do This: Double Kettlebell Racked Front Squat
December 1, 2017 by
Q: Why do Double Kettlebell Racked Front Squats? A: Cause you hate yourself.... Personal Opinion: These are the hardest F-ing Skwaats in the world. And they might be the best. This is paraphrased: These FORCE you to "lock down" the core in a way that no other squat does. And in a world full of duck butt lumbar hyperextension/ overarching and butt wink these are one of the best instant remedies for BOTH of those. Why? Cause to handle the bells well you MUST stay in a perfect NEUTRAL spinal position which means the core is 100% activated and acting as a corset... You know, the way the core is meant to work? Because you're spine and pelvis are … [Read more...]
Why I Love Zerchers and You Should 2
May 10, 2016 by
Do you know where Zercher Squats came from? Prison... Supposedly the Zercher squat came about because there are weights, but no racks, in the joint. They needed a way to squat and figured out that they could pick up a lot of weight off the ground in the crooks of the elbow. Zercher Squat. Ed Zercher came up with this squat variety many years ago. In 1966 or 1967, I read about a prisoner by the name of Robert Barnett, who had just pulled a 675 deadlift at 165 BWT. He related that the Zercher squat was responsible for his success. He reported that his best was 395 x 5 reps done off the floor.- Louie Simmons I don't know if that's the truth, but it's a hell of a … [Read more...]
Ohh Sh@t, Vacation is Here…..Workout and Free E-Book.
June 11, 2013 by
This time of year I get LOTS of emails (and clients) that go like this, "I'm going away soon and I need to look better, what do I do?" First you need to get your diet in line, if it's not you're screwed. But I'm gonna assume that you're good already training hard, eating really well and you just need to "tighten up" some. Personally, I think these "This workout is great for this or that" posts blow. But, F-it...this is pretty much <----programs should be individualized, even if they're similar----> what I do with a female in this situation as a template. Keep in mind: This ain't gonna take you from worst to first, sorry, nothing is...it's just a … [Read more...]
