Stick to the Basics

I'm constantly the "K.I.S.S." Principle to my clients.  The simple stuff will ALWAYS win in the end.  My colleague, Tony Gentilcore, recently wrote a post on this very topic.  He summarized keeping it simple better than I could, so I wanted to share his sentiments:

- Focus on compound movements that force you to integrate the entire body: squat, deadlift, chin-ups, bench press, military press, lunge variation, row, etc.

- For the love of god, step away from the Smith machine.

- And would it kill you to wash your gyms shorts on occasion?

- Stress QUALITY over quantity. I’d rather someone go to the gym and perform 5×5 deadlifts (making sure technique is solid on each rep) than spend an hour doing god-knows-what.

- 3x per week, full-body, is a solid approach for most people.

- Throw in a day (or two) of interval based training and you’re golden.

- Please don’t skip your soft tissue or mobility work.

- Walking shouldn’t be considered exercise.  It’s called life.

- How much weight should you use?  If you can easily hit all your reps, bump the weight up 5-10 lbs.  It’s not rocket science.  And no, you won’t get big a bulky.  Stop thinking you’re going to turn into Arnold Schwarzenegger in a week.

- Just to mix it up a bit, save “bench day” for any day other than Monday. Trust me, the world won’t end.

- Training sessions should be no longer than 45-60 minutes (75 minutes, tops if you include SportsCenter highlight breaks).

- The bulk of your exercises should be barbell and dumbbell based.

- If you can’t perform at least five bodyweight chin-ups (man or woman), you have no business performing 46 sets of bicep curls.

- Do some push-ups (or TRX rows) instead.

- Find a good training partner.  It makes all the difference in the world.

- Less is more.  Try to limit yourself to 3-5 exercises per session.

- Don’t be intimidated to ask for help or to be coached.  Even the best in the business ask for help from time to time.

Another Successful Boot Camp

I just wrapped up another awesome Boot Camp tonight.  We had a full turnout and finished with a great effort from all those involved.  Nice mix of bodyweight strength training, resistance bands, Agility Ladder movements, conditioning drills, etc... Great stuff!  I'm lucky to have my camp next to a park where we utilize the equipment ("Neutral Grip Inverted Rows" for back and arm strengthening pictured above).  Hope to see everyone back in the future for more hard work!

4 Mobility Drills from Coach Eric Cressey

One of my All-Time Fav Videos! (Sofia Rooney)

Brett Klika discusses Progressions to Bodyweight Exercises

Dan John & Mike Boyle- two of my fav speakers

"Want to Stink This Winter?"

The following comes from an article written by Str & Cond Coach Mike Boyle:

Catchy title? This article is for all you parents who are trying to help your kid get in shape for a winter sport. I spoke with a mom the other day who inspired me to write this. There is a saying I use often in my talks. It is in fact the title of this article.
If you want your child to perform poorly this winter I have the answer. The answer is cross country. I have had countless parents over the years tell me that they can’t figure out why little Janie or Johnny had such a bad winter sports season. They worked so hard in the fall, running all those miles.
Lets get some facts straight. There are no team sports where you run for miles at a time. Even if you actually “run” miles in a game, those miles are actually a series of sprints interspersed with a series of walks or jogs. In the case of a rare sport like ice hockey, you actually sprint and then sit down. Running long distances does not prepare you to run short distances. There is a concept in sport called sport specific training. The concept basically means that from a conditioning perspective the best way to condition for a sport is to mimic the energy systems of that sport. If the sport is sprint, jog , walk, than the training is sprint, jog , walk. Makes perfect sense.
There is another very large concept to grasp here. It is simple. Train slow, get slow. The reality is it is very difficult to make someone fast and very easy to make someone slow. If you want to get an athlete slow, simply ask them to run slower, longer. Simple. They may be in shape, but it is the wrong shape.
Another problem with a steady state sport like cross country? Injuries. Did you know that something like sixty percent of the people who take up running get injured? Those are really crappy odds.
Last and certainly not least, who dominates in sports? The fastest athlete! The athlete with the highest vertical! Yes, conditioning matters but, train for the sport.  Lift weights, jump, sprint. Gain power. It takes years to gain strength and power. You can get in shape in a matter of weeks. Most kids are playing their sport at least a few times a week in the off season so strength and power are much bigger concerns than conditioning.

So this year, don’t give the gift of slowness, If you are not a cross country runner, don’t run cross country. If you like a nice outdoor run and don’t care about speed, be my guest. If you want to get faster and get in great sport condition than train the way the best athletes train. Use a combination of strength training and interval training to prepare properly.

Sticky Fingers

No.....I'm not talking about the lead member of the rap group Onyx here.   I'm talking about the latest trick for Olympic gymnasts using honey.  Check out the full scoop here:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444097904577535700455486064.html

Great Wisdom from Coach Mike Boyle

No one has ever gotten better lifting light weights. Light weight is an oxymoron. A weight should be appropriate to the goal but, rarely, if ever, intentionally light. The load should be based on the strength level of the person. The reality is if you are lifting a weight ten times, numbers nine and ten should be difficult. If you can lift a weight 20 times but choose to do only ten, you are wasting your time. Period.

The essence of effective strength training is a concept called
progressive resistance exercise. This means that that even if
the resistance may be light to begin with, it should not stay 
that way.

I go crazy when someone tells me about the routine they’ve been
doing with their eight-lb hand weights. (P.S. Call them dumbbells.
Calling them hand weights is a dead giveaway that you are clueless.)
My first question is this. How long have you been doing this?

Often, people respond with something like, “I’ve done this three
times a week for three months.” The doctrine of progressive
resistance says that the first two weeks were beneficial and
the next 10 weeks were wasted. It’s no wonder people stop working out.

Once you have passed the first three weeks of training, you
should lift a weight that is heavy but allows perfect form.

Be wary, however, of another all-too-common mistake. When we
say the load should be heavy, people begin to cheat. We are
not encouraging cheating. Strive for perfect technique in all
exercises AND progressively increase the resistance.

Work on basic strength in basic exercises. If your trainer
has you practicing your golf swing with a dumbbell in your hands,
get a new trainer. Do not wave dumbbells around and call it strength
training. Learn to body weight squat, learn to do a push-up. Good
basic training should strongly remind you of the calisthenics you
used to do in high school.

Here’s the truth. The secret is, there is no secret. If you want
to hit a golf ball further, you need to get stronger. You will not
get strong lifting a five-pound dumbbell.

Zumba Safety

Martin Rooney's daughter Sofia is my new hero!!

Take the stairs :-)

For better "tone," try fewer reps and more challenging weights

Good piece from Anahad O'Connor in The NY Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/health/06real.html?_r=1&ref=health

Protein at every meal

I was reading a good article by nutritionist Brian St. Pierre recently about a concept I instill with my PT clients: ingesting protein at every meal.  Great sources of protein include wild salmon, lean beef, and chicken.  Check out the full article here: http://www.dieselsc.com/bsp-nutrition-tip-3-eat-protein-every-meal/

Alzheimer's Prevention

Good warm-up video from Coach Kevin Carr

Excellent Interview with Dr. John Berardi

Dr. Berardi remains one of my go-to sources for the best nutrition information available.  Here is a segment of an interview he gave for a local morning show in Toronto.  Great stuff!  You can click on the sidebar on You Tube for other pieces of this- and other- interviews.

Only One Body

Imagine you are sixteen years old and your parents 
give you your first car. They also give you simple 
instructions. There is one small hitch, you only get 
one car, you can never get another. Never. No 
trade-ins, no trade-ups. Nothing.

Ask your self how would you maintain that car? 

My guess is you would be meticulous. Frequent oil 
changes, proper fuel, etc. Now imagine if your 
parents also told you that none of the replacement 
parts for this car would ever work as well as the 
ori ginal parts. Not only that, the replacement 
parts would be expensive to install and cause you 
to have decreased use of your car for the rest of 
the cars useful life? In other words, the car would 
continue to run but, not at the same speed and 
with the efficiency you were used to.

Wow, now would we ever put a lot of time and effort 
into maintenance if that were the case.

After reading the above example ask yourself another 
question. Why is the human body different? Why do we 
act as if we don’t care about the one body we were 
given. Same deal. You only get one body. No returns 
or trade-ins. Sure, we can replace parts but boy 
it’s a lot of work and it hurts. Besides, the stuff 
they put in never works as well as the original 
“factory” parts. The replacement knee or hip doesn’t 
give you the same feel and performance as the original 
part.

Think about it. One body. You determine the mileage? 
You set the maintenance plan?

No refunds, no warranties, no do-overs?

How about this perspective? One of my clients is a 
very successful businessman. He often is asked to 
speak to various groups. One thing he tells every 
group is that you are going to spend time and money 
on your health. The truth is the process can be a 
proactive one or a reactive one. Money spent on your 
health can take the form of a personal trainer, 
massage therapist and a gym membership or, it can be 
money spent on cardiologists, anesthesiologists, and 
plastic surgeons. Either way, you will spend money.

Same goes for time. You can go to the gym or, to the 
doctors office. It’s up to you. Either way, you will 
spend time. Some people say things like “I hate to 
work out”. Try sitting in the emergency room for a 
few hours and then get back to me. Working out may 
not seem so bad. Much like a car, a little preventative 
maintenance can go a long way. However, in so many ways 
the body is better than a car. With some good hard work 
you can turn back the odometer on the body. I wrote 
an article a while back (Strength Training- The Fountain 
of Youth) that discussed a study done by McMaster 
University which showed that muscle tissue of older 
subjects actually changed at the cellular level and 
looked more like the younger control subjects after 
strength training.

Do me a favor, spend some time on preventative 
maintenance, it beats the heck out of the alternative. 

Just remember, you will spend both time and money.


Source: StrengthCoach.com

27 Rules of Conquering the Gym

Outstanding piece from Jason Gay that he wrote earlier this year.  Always worth re-reading.  Enjoy...

This is the time of year when even people who hate the gym think about going to the gym. Many of us are still digesting whole floors of gingerbread houses, and jeans that fit comfortably in October are now a denim humiliation.

Sweating is a good way to begin 2012. Exercise, like dark chocolate and office meetings that suddenly get canceled, is a proven pathway to nirvana. But if you're going to join a gym—or returning to the gym after a long hibernation—consider the following:

1. A gym is not designed to make you feel instantly better about yourself. If a gym wanted to make you feel instantly better about yourself, it would be a bar.

2. Give yourself a goal. Maybe you want to lose 10 pounds. Maybe you want to quarterback the New York Jets into the playoffs. But be warned: Losing 10 pounds is hard.

The New Year's push to lose weight is bringing crowds to gyms. Jason Gay offers tips to conquering the gym. Photo: Getty Images.

3. Develop a gym routine. Try to go at least three times a week. Do a mix of strength training and cardiovascular conditioning. After the third week, stop carrying around that satchel of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies.

4. No one in the history of gyms has ever lost a pound while reading "The New Yorker" and slowly pedaling a recumbent bicycle. No one.

5. Bring your iPod. Don't borrow the disgusting gym headphones, or use the sad plastic radio attachment on the treadmill, which always sounds like it's playing Kenny Loggins from a sewer.

6. Don't fall for gimmicks. The only tried-and-true method to lose 10 pounds in 48 hours is food poisoning.

7. Yes, every gym has an overenthusiastic spinning instructor who hasn't bought a record since "Walking on Sunshine."

8. There's also the Strange Guy Who is Always at the Gym. Just when you think he isn't here today...there he is, lurking by the barbells.

9. "Great job!" is trainer-speak for "It's not polite for me to laugh at you."

10. Beware a hip gym with a Wilco step class.

11. Gyms have two types of members: Members who wipe down the machines after using them, and the worst people in the universe.

12. Nope, that's not a "recovery energy bar with antioxidant dark chocolate." That's a chocolate bar.

13. Avoid Unsolicited Advice Guy, who, for the small fee of boring you to death, will explain the proper method for any exercise in 45 minutes or longer.

14. You can take 10 Minute Abs, 20 Minute Abs, and 30 Minute Abs. There is also Stop Eating Pizza and Eating Sheet Cake Abs—but that's super tough!

15. If you're motivated to buy an expensive home exercise machine, consider a "wooden coat rack." It costs $40, uses no electricity and does the exact same thing.

16. There's the yoga instructor everyone loves, and the yoga instructor everyone hates. Memorize who they are.

17. If you see an indoor rock climbing wall, you're either in a really cool gym or a romantic comedy starring Kate Hudson.

18. Be cautious about any class with the words "sunrise," "hell," or "Moby."

19. If a gym class is going to be effective, it's hard. If you're relaxed and enjoying yourself, you're at brunch.

20. If you need to bring your children, just let them loose in the silent meditation class. Nobody minds, and kids love candles.

21. Don't buy $150 sneakers, $100 yoga pants, and $4 water. Muscle shirts are for people with muscles, and rhythm guitarists.

22. Fancy gyms can be seductive, but once you get past the modern couches and fresh flowers and the water with lemon slices, you're basically paying for a boutique hotel with B.O.

23. Everyone sees you secretly racing the old people in the pool.

24. If you're at the point where you've bought biking shoes for the spinning class, you may as well go ahead and buy an actual bike. It's way more fun and it doesn't make you listen to C+C Music Factory.

25. Fact: Thinking about going to the gym burns between 0 and 0 calories.

26. A successful gym membership is like a marriage: If it's good, you show up committed and ready for hard work. If it's not good, you show up in sweatpants and watch a lot of bad TV.

27. There is no secret. Exercise and lay off the fries. The end.

Where's my infomercial and best seller?