Most of those obnoxious, pestering dials are concerning MMA conditioning. See, Chris trains mixed martial artists–a lot of them, I’ve only trained one, he has a lot that I desire in that realm.

He’s told me about their movement prep, the finishers he uses to raise their anaerobic threshold, and the off-day aerobic work capacity training, but he’s always sure to drive home one point with every conversation–there’s no replacement for mat time. True MMA conditioning is the baptism of hands flying at your face, feet contacting your thigh and an opponent attempting to lock a submission. Resisting an onslaught and countering with a powerful offensive, in real time, is what conditions a fighter for 15 minutes of savagery in the octagon.

The same is true for other sports–nothing prepares you for a sport more than playing it.

Unfortunately, this mind set is often taken to the extremes; conditioning programs are set up only to mimic the sport, or athletes only play their sport to condition. There is a time and a place for non-specific conditioning. As with all things S and C, the answer to what time and what place is it depends.

My best friend, and client, Josh Hull plays linebacker for the St. Louis Rams. Have a look at his face.

I tried to warm him that his eyes would get stuck that way, but he wouldn’t hear it. Now he looks like Luo Ferrigno’s inbred second cousin Ernie.

A few years ago Gatorade came to the Rams facility and put some of the players through a fuel partitioning test. They had the participants cycle at high heart rates and percentages of V02max to see which fuel source they burned predominantly–carbohydrates or fats. Josh ripped through carbs during the entire test.

What does it all mean, Basil? It means he has an underdeveloped aerobic system, Austin. (Probably the result of his 5 years at Penn State under the supervision of a woefully lacking strength and conditioning staff. This is speculation, of course, and I’m kind of a jerk.)

Josh’s teammate, James Laurinaitis, burned fat for almost the entire test. Two guys that play the same position, weigh about the same and move comparably used two different energy systems to complete the same rigorous test.

Josh, however, should have been able to access his oxidative capacity at some point during the test–it lasted until he failed at around 45 minutes and they were working at high Vo2max percentages. His inability to do so is an energy systems problem–inefficient aerobic system leands to slower recovery times and is linked to connective tissue injuries. Mr. Hull tore his ACL and suffered a high ankle sprain during consecutive years.

Non-specific, lower-heart rate aerobic system development was necessary for Josh–so we spent a fair deal of the winter doing it. Had we focused our conditioning efforts on activities that strictly mimic the time and intensity requirements of an NFL football game we would have done Josh a disservice.

For the rest of the summer Josh will train like a monster and drill like a mad man; he’ll condition specifically with his training group in Ohio (that’s right a former PSU football player finishes his off-season at Ohio State). But his performance, and is injury resistance, are improved because his aerobic system was developed.

There’s no replacement for mat, or field, time, but that doesn’t mean more conditioning is unnecessary.

Chris will be back on the blog on Thursday to talk more specifically about conditiong–especially for mixed martial artists.

Peace and chicken grease, fools.

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Anyways, here goes Aaron:

Chris and Todd foolishly turned over the keys to the website to me for the day. This could only have been done for three reasons:

• Crippling laziness
• Momentary lapse of judgment
• To get readers to appreciate their intelligent, thought provoking posts more (see Todds recent post “My Back Hurts” for an example)

My original idea was to postulate a theory about the link between abnormal strength, stubbornness and gas in redheaded men.

I later began to write about the merits of training in uncomfortably short shorts (ref. Koldowey, Nick 2013*). After careful consideration I thought I could provide more meaningful content by writing about my experience training at Beyond Strength Performance so far.

To be honest, I could have more accurately titled this article “Confessions Of A Terrible Goal Setter” or “Musings Of An Uneducated Knuckle Dragger” but figured we would get more page views with the existing title.

For those of you who live on another planet (like wherever the Chris was born), I have been training at BSP and assisting coach Chris since the beginning of 2013. For clarity, my definition of assisting amounts to nothing more than mild harassment and a never-ending onslaught of questions. I came to exist in the BSP universe (patent pending) the same way numerous clients do; To put it bluntly, I was broken and needed smarter people to put me back together again. You see, despite Chris’s objections, I had a significant surgical procedure done mid-way through 2012. If you can believe it, it was not a “reduction” of any sort (if you know what I’m sayin’). I had surgery to correct impingements in my hip that were limiting my range of motion and stability. At the time I believed I had done adequate research on the subject and was convinced surgery was the best course of action. Fast forward a few months and I found that despite my progressing through rehab in record speed, I was nowhere I believed I should be in regards to my strength, mobility, and stability. In constant pain and truly out of ideas, I started working with Chris Merritt.

Recent Picture of Chris and his best friend, Mr. Snuggles

Chris helped me find my “big rocks”, or major training goals and has shown me what it means to train with intensity. I can honestly say that I am a better athlete today than I was before I had my surgery. Before you write this off as me over-selling the experience, I don’t collect paychecks from this place. Outside of some great coaching, all I get is BRUTAL amounts of verbal abuse from Chris and the clients at BSP. To provide more tangible (and sexy) evidence, I went from not having the stability to perform rack pulls for reps with 225, to pulling a textbook 415 deadlift PR a few weeks ago.

I imagine that my reality of what training is like at BSP is similar to the other clients there. I am constantly challenged, learn something new everyday, find success frequently, and have a strong community around me to pick me up when I fail. I have shattered my own expectations, made great friends and have found what I consider to be the holy grail, a home away from home.

I don’t know how to finish articles, likely because I have never written one before so I intend to ramble on for a little while longer and then abruptly finish. I wanted to wrap up this post by poking more fun at Chris and Todd but now that I have written it, all I really want to say is this; Thank you from all of us for having the courage to undertake something of this magnitude. You’ve given more than you’ve got and never complain about it. One Team, One Mission – Progression Through Perseverance.

Aaron Lee

Improving the world one ginger joke at a time

Citations

Koldowey, Nick 2013

Over the weekend he asked his lovely girlfriend–now fiancee–to marry him. Chris got the win–with an insurmountable amount of luck, of course.

I mean, have a look at this face–he’s not getting any calls from GQ. Nice calves, bro.

 As a post-engagement hooray, Chris did some nice deadliftin’. (That’s how it’s said where we are from in Central PA).

Recently Chris switched to a high-frequency deadlifting program–similar to the one that trained me to pull over 600 pounds. He’s seen good results thus far.

His hair has grown out all white-trashy like that without him even trying. Majestic.

Besides his spontaneous growth of trailor park locks, his frequent deadlifting is also awakening a monster. Let’s view a glimpse of his progress.

Here’s the future Mr. Jessica Blazer pulling 395 for a double:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Pretty solid, eh? It definitely seems that he is leaving weight on the bar. He agrees.

Here’s Chris pulling 405 for a double just a few minutes later:

Click here to view the embedded video.

After watching the two videos it’s no secret–the boy done strong. He is, however, leaking energy like the Exxon Valdez. You’re killing baby Sea Otters, Chris.

Whaddaya say we help Chris get closer to his goal of deadlifting 500 by breaking these videos down? All in favor clap twice and pinch your nose. Good Lord, I hope you’re in public.

Let’s start with the positives. Chris uses a great bar path–he keeps the bar on his legs from start to lockout.

His bar speed is also good, considering that he’s working at a high percentage of his one rep max. These two factors, joined with Chris’ athleticism, made the lifts successful. He has an efficient and adaptable nervous system, but that won’t take him from good to great–he’s got to eliminate the energy leaks.

We’re going to work from the neck down and start with the video of Chris pulling 395. Notice in the video his neck extends immediatly on ascension. This dog ain’t gonna hunt.

Notice that it also happens in the second video. Chris and I talked about this and he felt as though his neck was packed. He had the sensation that he had his neck and head in good position, but they actually weren’t. What’s going on here? His body is searching hastily for stability–it finds it in compensatory cervical extension.

The problem is visible at the top of the chain, but the cascade of maladies begins at the bottom of the chain. His foots are all wrong.

He has them shits pointed straight forward. With his feet in this position it’s impossible for him to dial his feet effectively and create a stable foot triangle. Check it out:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Without foot centration, contact of the 1st MTP, 5th MTP and calcaneus, it’s impossible to maximize hip centration; hip stability and strength suffer. By misaligning his feet, Chris is putting a governor directly on his engine–the posterior chain.

Chris “Danger Boy” Merritt is also missing torque and tension further up the chain. Let’s have a look at his lats.

 Look at the elbows–Dead Give Away. His elbows aren’t tucked–meaning that he has limited lat tension. Lack of lat tension during heavy deadlifts results in instability of the Thoracopelvic Cannister. Long story short–the spine isn’t stable so the body creates false stability by extending the neck and flexing the lower back. So even though he felt like he had his neck packed–and it’s obvious that he didn’t–there’s no way he could have. He was lacking the requisite stability farther down the chain.

There’s also an interplay between the deep cervical flexors and the inner-core that Senor Merritt is lacking. I’d hazard to guess that Chris felt like he had his air in a good place. I’ll also guess that he didn’t. There’s a reciprocal pattern of stability here–packed neck promotes utilization of the inner-core, activation of the diaphragm with a solid belly breath creates stability that allows for neck packing. It’s a circle. Having these two elements locked in let’s the brain open up the juice to the peripheral nervous system. This means strong.

So, what should My Main Man Merritt do? All of this stuffs:

1) Dial his feet.

2) Set his air low and hard in a 360 degree pattern.

3) Pack his neck like a bawse.

4) Grab the bar with his body flexed and then pull himself into extension to build tension.

5) Tuck his elbows.

6) Pull the bar into his body while pushing the floor away with his legs.

7) Force his knees out as the bar approaches the mid range.

Finish with his hips to the bar.

If I were coaching Chris in person I wouldn’t throw all of these things at him at once–I’d give him one cue and let him concentrate on it. When the cue stuck I’d work on another–and so on. It’s a process; we have to committ to the process.

Wake the monster.

  (98)

Jess rockin' the ring!

Hey guys,  I’m going to be honest- this post is going to be a little all over the place.  Why?  I got engaged this weekend!  So the majority of my weekend was spent in a celebratory bliss, going to the Nationals game (where I proposed), visitng wineries, and lounging with my now fiancé, Jess.  But I still feel like there will be some pretty awesome gems in this post (at the moment being I really do not know that, I am literally sitting down to type, free of any real plan).  Here goes nothin….

Omegawave

I guess I’ll start here because every time that I make a post on Facebook about it, I get a million questions about what it is.  I am NOT an expert in HRV (heart rate variability), so these are just my observations from using it the past few weeks.

• It tells me what I already know (for the most part).  I don’t drink to the point of getting plastered often at all, but I’ve attended some celebrations recently (thanks Bill and Diana for the craziest open bar wedding I’ve ever been to).  On the mornings after drinking heavily it tells me that I am essentially a wreck.  No surprise there.
• It surprises me sometimes.  There are some mornings where I feel like a train hit me, and I get pretty good readings.  I have found that on those mornings I actually do have great lifts, where I may have taken it easier on those days in the past.  Placebo?  I don’t know.  However, it’s also told me that I am not fully recovered sometimes when I would have thought that I was (based on feel first thing in the morning).  On these mornings I look back at my sleep, training logs, and food journal for the few days prior and typically I have an “aha” moment.
• It’s merely an auditing system.  Let’s be honest, I have a pretty busy lifestyle.  I’m not going to skip a workout because of the stupid reading.  I just listened to Dan John talk about this on the FitCast and he was spot on.  Would you really care what your Omegwave reading says on the day of a major competition?  In his words, “of course your sleep sucked, it’s the night before “x” competition!”  I’m not really going to change my major lifts and such on the daily because of a stupid reading.  With that being said, if there was a downward trend, yeah, I’ve got to take a look and make some changes (see “aha” moment above).
• I did notice a constant “incomplete recovery” reading since I’ve gotten the Omegawave.  My “aha” moment was looking at training logs and realizing a few things:
1. I wasn’t doing much for recovery.  So, I started taking long epsom salt baths multiple days a week.
2. I wasn’t following through on “recovery workouts.”  I’ve made sure to add in a full body TRX routine 2 days a week. I wrote about this on my gym’s website last week.  I wear a heart rate monitor for the whole workout, moving from exercise to exercise with no break.  After each round I recover until my HR reaches 110bpm before starting again.  I wrote this routine for an online client, but have been using it myself for two weeks.  On week one I did three rounds, and now on week two I am doing four.  I will follow up with five next week and reduce the volume to three again on week 4.  Read about the workout and see the video here: http://www.bspnova.com/full-body-trx-routine/
3. I am two weeks into these changes, and today was the first perfect reading I have ever gotten.  I know that “n=1″ doesn’t make this an amazing study, but I think it’s all related.
• Is the Omegawave that important?  No.  But I do enjoy the “game” of trying to see a complete recovery, while hitting PRs on the regular.

Wineries

They’re pretty awesome, and if you live in an area with them around you, you should go.  No real training advice here, but that’s some truth.  Jess and I visited two wineries on Sunday:

• Casanel Vineyards in Leesburg, VA
• The Barns at Hamilton Station Vineyards in Hamilton, VA

The Barns at Hamilton Station was my favorite of the two, but they were both pretty awesome.

I’m headed up to the Finger Lakes region to help present a seminar with Todd and Dr. Justin Rabinowitz in two weeks, and you best believe we are going to visit some wineries while we are there.

Hanging out at The Barns...

So I didn’t really have much today…

But hopefully you’ve gotten something out of the Omegawave rant.  I get asked about it so often, and I’m alway all over the place in my answers- but I think the above about wraps it up.

If you’re interested in seeing the proposal VIDEO, make sure to watch out on www.bspnova.com later this week.

She said yes!

Enjoy the week! (97)

As I was exiting the birth canal, Nomgar, the fire dragon from the North, attacked me. I parried against his fire and claws with a ball of infant explosion and savagery described with adequate vim as Ginger Fist. During the battle, however, I over-utilized my supple infant tissues to dodge fire and inflict damage–as a result my spinal column was permanently skewed to the right.

That's me after defending the first assault. Good luck you sumumabitch!

To further protect my spinal cord from mythical bushwhackers, my body saw it fit to fuse two of my thoracic vertebrae together. The rest of my tissues, however, remained supple–leaving me with one bodily point of extreme stability while the rest moves with hypermobility.

The lack of mobility in my thoracic spine accompanied by hypermobility in my distal joints presents my T/L junction with an interesting conundrum–should it stabilize more or mobilize more?

It’s a great question. Since I am 3/8 meat head (6/8 of my brain still works) much of my training consists of heavily loaded barbell movements–most notably the hoist of the dead. I also think a lot of over head pressing.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Because of my limited thoracic mobility, both of these lifts torque the hell out of my T/L junction. If you haven’t watched the video, go ahead and take a look at it. Notice where all of my spinal extension comes from–appears to me that it’s at T-12, L-1. This ain’t no good, son.

All this flexion and extension stress causes my T/L junction to lock–I mean it’s the Fort Knox of spinal segments. This starts a cascade of poop that runs swiftly down hill. Now I have too much movement it my lower lumbar segments that has led to either disc or peripheral nerve issues–maybe both.

Quick Aside: I know much of what I said made you go, well, Todd then stop doing this shit, ya dumb. Did you also have the thought, I hope he isn’t doing this with his clients that present the same way. Here’s my response: question number 1–shut up, question number 2–I don’t…I would never have someone with my issues put a bar over their head. I can do whatever I want to myself, but my clients deserve best practice.

Why is this important for you? Well, many people have limited T-spine movement. Many of those people, you might be one, or perhaps you train some, like to load up with the big lifts. Sitting and heavy barbell movements perpetuate a cycle of thoracic segment locking. To stay healthy, or to keep your clients healthy, a cost-benefit analysis is necessary. I’m going to stop overhead pressing with a bar–at least for a while.

We also have to develop strategies for spinal movement; spinal stability is discussed often, but it’s often forgotten that the spine is supposed to move with stability–not lock the hell in place. The big lifts are necessary for savagery, but they compromise spinal movement. So, we have to create balance with drills that promote spinal mobility with stability. Here’s what I did, in sequence, to unlock Fort Knox.

Another quick aside: I’m using this as an example–these drills are specific to me. Of course, they may work for you, or a client that requires an intervention, but I came to the sequence through a self-assessment and trial and error. Assess and see what works, everything is individually dependent.

Baby Breathing w/ Kettlebell Hold: Align in the baby breathing position–supine, knees to chest until sacrum is flush with the ground, feet together and knees externally rotated and thighs abducted. Spine is long and neutral. Grab a kettlebell by the horns (I use a 16kg) hold it over your chest and lock your rib cage in place. Now raise the kettlebell over your head–go as far back as you can without unlocking your rib cage and extending your T/L junction. Do a few sets of five diaphragmatic breaths in this position.

Explanation: This drill puts the T/L junction in a neutral position (mind is constantly locked in extension) and trains good breathing patterns–creating inner-core stability. The tension in the outercore in this supine position let’s the T/L junction relax and reset.

Quadruped, Lumbar Locked T-spine Extension Rotation: That name is way too damn long–I just have no idea what else to call them. Set yourself on the floor on your forearms and knees. Make sure that your toes are pointed and that your butt is rocked onto your heels. Place the arm of the side that you’re rotating to palm up on the small of your back–the other arm has the forearm on the ground, hand flat and open. From this position you’ll rotate in your T-spine by first looking in the direction your rotating, then turning your head that way by rotating your neck, then you’ll rotate with your upper-back. Your lumbar spine shouldn’t move at all. Hit a couple of sets of eight each way.

Explanation: This is a basic thoracic mobility drill–we’re working on creating good movement after putting the T/L junction in a better stable position.

Forearm/Foot Crawl: This is a bear crawl, but rather than being on your hands and your toes, your forearms are your upper-body’s contact point. Be sure to keep your hands open and palms flat on the ground while doing these. Forget about lifting your head, too. Try it and you won’t go anywhere–keep your neck in the neutral position. Keep your hips down–knees close to the ground. Do a few sets of twenty to thirty feet crawls.

Explanation: Crawling patterns allow  the spine to move around fixed points (our hands, feed, forearms, shins, etc.) Spinal movement with stability cements the changes we made with the first two drills and trains healthy spinal movement. It’s also a great shoulder centration drill.

I do these three drills in a circuit every day–sometimes a few times per day–persistence is necessary for change. I’ve been doing them for three weeks; my spine is moving more fluidly and the pain in my back and hips is dissipating.

These drills provide a good template–it’s your job to fill it in with drills on an appropriate level. Again, just because this is appropriate for me doesn’t mean it is for you or anyone else. It also may work for you–experimentation is necessary. Remember also, I’m not a fuckin’ doctor. If you have pain get it checked out.

Are you pondering Nomgar’s fate? He was my first post-natal meal.

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Me and Dustin Pague at my college graduation in June of 2009

A few weeks ago I had a high school junior message me through Facebook to ask if I would take some time to answer a few questions on going to college for exercise science.  OF COURSE I said yes…  And my answers were some things I wish that I had heard before starting college as well.  So, I figured rather than reaching one person, I’ll make a blog post out of this.

His questions were essenially:

I am looking into studying Kinesiology in college and would like to get your feedback on the pros and cons of this particular career path. Do you like it? What do you recommend I start studying to prepare for college? Is it a good paying career? Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated.

Here is my complete response, and then some (Revisions are in red.  I have thought of more since responding, so I will be sending this to him as well):

Alright, here goes!  Before I start, let me say that you are welcome to come over to my gym and shadow, ask questions, and sit down with me ANY time.

Kinesiology.  Yes, I liked going to school for Kinesiology- I feel that it has been very beneficial to my career- but with that being said…

I obtained my first personal training certification and began training people just months after turning 18.  I continued to read every strength training book, business book, etc., shadow in a variety of gyms, and train people all through college.  This EXPERIENCE is by far the most important aspect of my “education.”  School teaches you the science, but very little on the application aspect.  The science is VERY important, but it’s very hard to apply it if you don’t start doing it right away.

The only con to this was that Penn State would not allow me to inern in their facilities without taking some intro level courses that covered exactly what my certification covered.  This seemed to be due to a disconnect in formalities between branch campuses and main campuses.  By the time I found this out, I didn’t have enough time to take those courses to then complete my physical internship in their facilities.  However, their in-house internship program was not vey good I later learned.  In the end, it was probably best that I got out and interned in other performance facilities, corporations, and regular gyms.  I am hoping that since the football coaching staff has turned over, there are better opportunities for PSU students to shadow “modern” training techniques.

Like anything in life, training people is a matter of mastering habits.  You will be in school for at least four years.  Now I know there’s summer breaks, but don’t take a “break.”  Keep learning.  This gives you 208+ weeks to learn non-stop.  That can be overwhelming, but don’t let it be.  Keep a journal through college.  Every single day, write down the things that you feel are the most applicable and profound pieces of knowledge.  At the end of every week, boil these daily things down to 2 action items.  Own these action items.  Memorize them, use them, make them a priority.  That’s 208+ weeks of applying some really powerful stuff.  Even every other week- 104+ “habits.” 

Apply these habits in real-life training situations, and continue this continued growth well beyond college.  You’ll be golden.

If I could do it all over again, I would still go to school for Kinesiology.  However, I would have attended even more seminars on training, shadowed at even more (world recognized) gyms, interviewed more successful professionals, and reached out for a mentor right away.

I wish that someone had told me about the best blogs and websites sooner.  School is great, but you’ve got to read about what the best people in the world are doing.  There’s no simpler platform to “get to know” these inividuals than their blogs.  So here’s my current regular reading list:

• Tony Gentilcore: www.tonygentilcore.com [Tony is funny, informative, and he gives real information that you can use all of the time.  He is also really good about sharing the blogs of people that he reads.  This is another great way to learn about even more experts.]
• Kelly Starrett: www.mobilitywod.com [Kelly is a Physical Therapist that owns his own Crossfit gym.  His blog is all about mobility and proper movement principles.  This stuff is huge.  The biggest thing you can do is learn how to assess movement and COACH it.]
• Dr. Justin Rabinowitz: http://drjustinrabinowitz.com/ [Dr. J Rab is a younger guy in the field, a recent graduate of Chiropractic school, but is by the far the most hungry young professional on the therapy side of the ball that I personally know.  His blog is concise, informative, and entertaining.  He will be one of the most sought after professionals in years to come.  Mark my words.  Read his blog.]
• Eric Cressey: www.ericcressey.com [Eric's blog is a little bit of a heavier read than these others, but he is one smart dude.  He mainly works with baseball players, but he puts out GREAT info on training in general.  It's definitely more info heavy than it is entertaining.]
• Dan John: www.danjohn.net [Dan is the simplistic coach.  His books and blog are full of extremely valuable, easy to apply information.  With 1,000,000 years of coaching that he has under his belt, you'd be a fool to ignore him.
• Precision Nutrition: www.precisionnutrition.com/blog [The brain-child of Dr. John Berardi, Precision Nutrition is a no-nonsense source for nutrition information.] 
• The RawBrahs and RawSistahs: www.rawbrahs.com/blog and http://www.youtube.com/user/RawSistahs [This one is a newer one for me.  I graduated from Penn State with a girl by the name of Steph Hendel, and she has since gone on to do big things- over 2,000 subscribers to her YouTube page for instance.  The RawBrahs are three brothers living what looks to be one hell and care-free healthy lifestyle.  This one is about the motivation to get out and do what you want with your life.  Steph and the Rawbrahs seem to be EVERYWHERE in the world, literally, on a regular basis spreading the joy of freedom of movement, healthy eating, and lifestyle choices.  You'd be lying to say you aren't envious of the lifestyle.]

Pros:

• truly change lives
• real, live human interaction on a consistent basis (you won’t be stuck behind a desk typing away for endless hours)
• make your own schedule (eventually)
• following your passion (hopefully this is your passion)
• you get to wear shorts and a t-shirt every day (as long as you look presentable)
• you will work with people from all industries, making you a valuable member to the community and sought after for referrals- making it very easy to barter for services that you need in your personal life
• easy to stay in shape
• VERY profitable when you become the sought after expert in your area -no ceiling on your income (also no “floor,” see below)
• This also would imply that you are an independent or own your own facility at this point.

Cons:

• inconsistent hours (early mornings, late evenings), especially in the beginning of your career
• at the mercy of your clients’ schedules when starting out
• hard to make a living early on (I scraped by on barely $2,000/month for YEARS after college- *looking back, I could have done much better- but point being, it’s rare to find a salaried training job- it’s typically based on commisions and hourly pay)
• You have to be commited, passionate, and push forth with a drive to succeed more than almost any other industry.  Training is not easy for the wrong individual.  Dan John mentioned at his seminar that Chris Poirier of Perform Better told him there is almost an 80% attrition rate in this industry.  Be willing to trudge through a lot of crap to succeed.  The point where most people quit is right before success would have started rolling their way.

Before college, get a reputable CPT certification through any of the following

• NSCA
• ACSM
• NASM

A lot of my friends thought that I was crazy for working as a trainer all throughout college.  But guess what?  None of those individuals are working in the industry today (exactly 4 years after college).  In fact, many of the people I graduated with did not make it.  They may have gone into something “related,” but I do not know many successful strength coaches from my class (I can only think of two off the top of my head).

Point being, start learning the princples today, training TODAY, and apply new concepts to those principles weekly.  No one will be able to stop you.  But if you wait until graduation to try and apply all of knowledge, YOU WILL FAIL.

Read:

• Movement by Gray Cook, then shadow someone utilizing the FMS
• Becoming a Supple Leopard by Kelly Starrett
• Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe
• Any of the New Rules of Lifting series from Alwyn Cosgrove and Lou Schuler- probably best to go with the newer ones

I could reccomend a ton more on training, nutrition, and business- but these are a great starting point.  Read them, apply the principles, shadow someone utilizin this stuff with success.

Experiment on yourself, friends, and family from what you read.

A few final words of wisdom:

• Don’t listen to anyone who speaks in absolutes.  Their are a 1,000,000+ ways to skin a cat, there is no end-all-be-all. 
• Shadow and work (if possible) in a variety of industries, not just the one you want to work in.  I got to intern, shadow, and work in some very different settings that didn’t directly have to do with the type of coaching I do now: The Hershey Company’s corporate wellness department, Penn State’s Student Fitness Assessment Center, Penn State’s Professional Golf Management utilizing the myTPI program, Town Center Orthopaedics as a Physical Therapy Aide, etc… EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE IMPACT WHAT I DO TODAY.
• Set realistic goals often, complete them, and make new loftier ones.  Repeat.
• Don’t listen to people who try to hold you back.  I had so many people tell Todd Bumgardner and me that we were too young to start our own business.  Age is a number, a degree means you can probably cram for a test, experience can be passive, but passions trumps all…  I’m only 26, I work for myself, I have 60+ current clients and growing

Lift!

Boom Boom Pow

I don’t know any card tricks.

What I do know is that I got a few questions about planning assistance exercises when using a cluster strategy.

Size Cluster Assistance

The size cluster progression I outlined in the magical article is designed to be used as a main lift. It can also be used for a first level assistance exercise.

If you choose to use to load your first level assistance lift, then your main lift needs to be strength based. This loading consists of three to five sets of three to five reps at an intensity around @8. Strength based loading has a post-activation potentiation nervous system effect–heightening it’s activity and preparing it to handle cluster loading. In this case, though, cluster reps would be your assistance training.

Using a higher rep strategy for the first lift before employing cluster sets for the second lift is too fatiguing. Your strength is diminished and the clusters won’t be as effective because you won’t be able to use heavy enough loads.

Assistance and accessory loading after using the hypertrophy cluster strategy needs to accentuate the cluster’s combination of intensity and volume. Big exercises that progress in sets in reps up to five sets of five or four sets of eight have worked best for me. The total amount of lifts for the session falls between three and five. If you load the movements well, and do complete them with focus and intensity, you’ll not feel the need for more.

Strength Cluster Assistance

The strength clusters from the article I now know only as “The Unicorn” are based around sets of five. They are used as secondary loading to the main lift–which is loaded first by using heavy straight sets.

The accessory lifts that follow the strength clusters are loaded with heavy straight sets using reps between four and six. Volume accumulation with these lifts is based on what’s necessary–autoregulation is the key. (Mel Siff called this cybernetic training).

Building absolute, and relative, strength doesn’t require the overall training volume that building mass does. Therefore, if you’ve gotten good work in with your main lift, clusters, and a few sets of your first accessory lift, call it a day. Strength building is nervous system intensive, so the last thing a lifter should do is destroy the nervous system–their means to adaptation.

Skill Cluster Assistance

Skill clusters are employed for two reasons: someone is new to an exercise and they need a ton of technique work, or because someone is soon peaking on an exercise and needs a ton of technique work.

These two factors must be considered when planning subsequent accessory exercises and loading.

Newbys need volume. After completing their skill cluster, they return to doing exercises in the five to eight rep range.

Those peaking need intensity. They return to heavier straight sets of an exercise that improves upon a weakness after they complete their skill cluster. Once that exercise is completed another exercise in the four to six rep range is done. Again, this is based on the minimum effective dose mindset. Do what’s necessary to build strength and no more.

If you had questions, I hope this little piece clears them up for you. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, go to T-Nation and read “The Unicorn” right now.

Peace.

Bumgardner Out.

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My guess is no. I’m not saying that you, in part from everyone else,  have anything wrong with you–it’s just a numbers game. Most people intend to do more–training, living, growing–but fail to act accordingly by what they envision.

It’s like playing a movie in your head. Your brain is the projector, but instead of the real world being your screen the light only makes it to the back of your eyes.

Jonathan Hughes’ story is a powerful example. He started off as a skinny-fat, but talented, fighter–training only in the martial arts and adding no other physical elements. Becoming a great fighter, though, requires more. When Jon intended to become more–a great fighter–his actions changed; and after eight months of training like a mad man, he went from being a skinny-fat talented fighter to a monster. His transformation is so powerful that when his opponent read about it he backed out of the fight. That’s no bullshit. (They’ve since found a new opponent for Jon to mangle.)

When intentions are congruent with actions people get results.

Congruency, though, is the crux of the problem.

People often take meaningless action; but they also often mean well but fail to act. How do we change that?

Build a Vision

Vision is predicated on desire. Before we move on let’s keep something locked in our heads. There is a distinct difference between want and need–we’re all clear on that. But if you don’t want anything out of training, out of your body, out of life, then you are acting in direct insult to those that provided your opportunities. We’ve been given insurmountable opportunities by those that came before us; those that acted and lived based strictly on need instead of want. They’ve built a world for us that allows us to accomplish our desires–disregarding that because it’s easier to be comfortable, or spend your life as a party drone, is spit in their face.

Ok, rant over.

Synchronization of intent and action begins with a vision–if you don’t know what you want there is no way in the back corner of Hades that you can ever develop intent. Actions, then, remain erratic.

The vision must be big. Here’s an example.

Let’s say that right now you squat 300 pounds, but you want to squat 500 pounds. Why?

Is it so that you can tell people? Will it bolster your appearance? Or do you know that after you sit down with a quarter ton and stand back up you’ll have a catharsis–expelling the past, making way for the new.

The first two reasons won’t get the job done–you can’t make a strong emotional attachment to superficial reasons. The last reason, though, that’s where the vision is. A goal that’s a means to accomplishing something deeper attach strongly to our limbic system and emotional attachment is made. This attachment is powerful–it’s necessary.

Without hardwired, frontal cortex emotional embedding intent will falter. But for many there is a firewall that blocks goal attachment–fear.

Remove Fear of Failure

“You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake.”

                                                                           Tyler Durden, Fight Club

This is going to sting. You’ve avoided failure in the past because you think you’re special–that everyone is paying attention to you. You believe failing is a direct reflection on you and your abilities. So you blend in. Rather than take a big goddamn swing to see what happens, you fall in line and follow the status quo–in fitness, in life, in your career.

I’ve been there.

It’s oxymoronic–the very reason that you avoid failure is because you think you’re special, but you’re actions limit the expression of the true uniqueness that you possess. You’re not so special that you get to hide it.

So fail. The only way to find out how bad failure really isn’t is to do it. Fail–do it today. Try to do something hard–something with a seventy-five percent chance of failure–and give it your all. You’re probably going to suck. You’re going to stumble and shit your pants, but then you’ll come to a realization. You’ll look around and see that you’re still alive. The sun will still be shining or the rain will still be falling. Most importantly, you’ll likely be one step closer to accomplishing what you’ve attached to.

Remember, snowflake, you’re not special. No one cares. No one’s paying attention until you do something worth noticing. That won’t happen until you abolish fear.

Acting with Bold Intent

Develop a vision worth having.

Attach to it emotionally.

Act.

What’s it going to take to make my vision reality?

This is an every day question. It’s a first thought of the morning type of question.

Look at your vision and chunk it into smaller goals. Break those goals into smaller every day action items. To relate, let’s learn from an overhead press parable.

Your overhead press goal is 200 pounds–this is your vision. It’s coursed through your mind thousands of times–lighting your frontal cortex on fire with a million visions and connections. You’ve seen yourself accomplish the goal–you’ve felt the catharsis; felt the old discharged, leaving a vacuity that welcomes progress.

Intention is now directed into every action. The program you write, or follow, is directed towards your goal. Each time you grab a bar to press it, or pull it, your intent is focused on conquest. Each grip is a mile in the road, each tension set is a step up the ladder and each rep is a violent committment to the journey.

As you press, your mind is blank. You’ve committed to the goal; you’ve set your intent–all that’s left is action.

It’s a Matter of Congruency

Develop a vision worth having.

Attach to it emotionally.

Act.

This is a skeleton–a vacuous beginning. It’s a three step process that is filled by congruency of intention and action. This is a requirement for desiring more out of training–a requirement for doing anything worthwhile.

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Jon deadlifting an easy 315# on a de-load week, this past Saturday.

As many of you know, my gym is adjacent to a mixed martial arts school. So, you would think that there’s a constant flow of fighters strolling through the doors. And while there are some, it’s not nearly as many as you think…  You see, there’s a common term thrown around in the MMA game: The eight week train-up.

You see it all the time on the popular MMA websites and tv shows- so and so are in their camp for this fight or that, and the younger generation is reading this stuff and taking it as a literal “eight weeks” of training. But it’s really just the final eight weeks of extreme focus. It usually means that they are cutting themselves off from the distractions of the outside world for the time being. For many of them it means not seeing their family, friends, and co-workers. It’s a time to dial in and get ready for war.

This isn’t just a problem in our gym, as I’ve witnessed this in many gyms across the country. I know that with time, as the leaders of our MMA gym step up and set a good example, that the younger generation will follow suit. Luckily for them, one guy here is really stepping up and training all year round before dialing it in for the final few weeks- Jonathan Hughes.

The cool thing (well, cool for demonstration purposes) is that Jon didn’t strength train consistently at all during his amateur career, and only trained for eight weeks for his pro debut. He got away with it as an amateur, racking up a pretty good record in the process. However, he got his ass handed to him in his pro debut against a superior grappler, Mike Pope. Can I guarantee that he would have won with consistent strength training? Nope- but I can guarantee he would have performed a lot better.

Here’s what Jon looked like pre-strength training:

Not so beast mode...

If you ask him, he strength trained.  But, going to Gold’s and doing bench press and bicep curls doesn’t count in my book.

Right after those pictures were taken he started training with me three days a week, every week.  After just a few months he finally started to look like an athlete (pictures taken 03/13/13):

That's more like it...

Fighting should have been the least of his problems in the before pictures… He actually thought he was a stud, even claims he “got girls,” but we have been unable to confirm anything of the sorts.

Pick up any real book on strength training with an example program in it.  I’ll bet you it’s twelve weeks.  Maximum Strength, Fit to Fight, Supreme Strength, even P90X- I might not care for it, but that Horton guy knows that you need at least twelve weeks to make a marked improvement.  And that’s just the foundation.

Real programming should have “bigger picture” goals for different phases.  For Jon, his first few weeks of training were just for hypertrophy.  After a little hypertrophy, we maintained that muscle gain through a proper diet and got him strong as hell in the gym.  He made considerable gains on all of his lifts, including a 200# + increase on his deadlift in the first eight weeks.  With that new found muscle and strength we’ve thrown back in the conditioning.

This, with solid technique work on the mats and in the cage, makes up the recipe for for a killer.

Here’s what Jon looks like right now (pictures taken 05/04/13… 8 months of solid training), before a water cut, ripped to shreds (13 more pounds will come off his frame this week before weigh-ins):

Shred-tastic

We had a hard time getting these pictures with a straight face- but that about sums up the environment of the gym on a Saturday morning when these pictures were taken this week…

He has always dieted for fights on top of his BJJ, Muay Thai, and MMA training- and yet, he has never looked like this.  This is the new Jon.  All he did was add on strength training and made it a HABIT over the last 6 months.  He trained with a goal.  He trained with purpose.

So now that we’ve laid the framework, we are in the process of dialing it in for his May 11th fight.  I can’t guarantee you that he’ll win, but I can guarantee you that he’s the best athlete he’s ever been, he’s more motivated than I’ve ever seen him, and I couldn’t be more proud of the work he has put in.

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Success?

Earlier this week Chris asked us a question, have you progressed? Hopefully you took some time to think objectively on the question. Have you written a good movement history, or does it need a greater effort of penmanship? Are you learning? Do you have a support system?

I thought about Chris’ questions a lot over the past few days–a lot of what ifs came to mind. Most notably, what if a dude doesn’t want to make progress? What’s his strategy?

It bothered me, you know? Chris and I know that our Beyond Strength Performance methods aren’t for everyone–we’re proud of that–but we like to help brothers out when we can.

So I thought about those indubitably destined to spin their wheels. I thought about how they can ensure that they never make a millimeter of progress. Here’s what I came up with.

1) Completely Disregard Movement Quality. Quality of movement is only important for rehabbing injuries and twelve year old Russian gymnasts. You know, people that want to get better. You don’t want that–it’s scary.

2) Spend Money on Supplements, Not Education. The easiest way to paint yourself into a strength and body composition corner is to rely completely on supplements. Suppz. Ignorance is bliss–if you don’t know anything you can hold yourself accountable for dilly dallying like a kid trying to avoid doing chores. Rather than hiring a coach with years of experience and top level education, take $500 bucks to GNC and bro out.

3) Be A Lone Ranger. Seeking help means that you have to admit that you don’t know everything. That admission is the first step in making progress. Avoid this like a Taiwanese lady-boy hooker.

4) Set Lackluster Goals That Don’t Require Committment. Failing sucks. If you set lofty, concrete goals you might not reach them–that’s fuckin’ embarrassing. Save yourself the heartache. Rather than thinking of something measurable like benching 315 or broad jumping over 9 feet, decide that you want to look better in a cut off shirt. With the right lighting, and after a biceps pump, you’ll definitely obtain your goal. You won’t have to wait for success either. You could reach this goal like four or five times per week.

5) Get Bored Because Shitty Goals Require Shitty Focus. Boredom is the antithesis of progress–this is where you’ll live. Set goals that are easily achieved and meaningless so you get bored every few weeks.

6) Use Program Hopping as a Gains False Positive. Once boredom sets in decide that you want to do the next super-program from Flex Magazine. During the first week DOMS will call you on the phone every day and there’s a good chance you’ll get more veiny. At this point, you’re definitely kind of making progress. It’s a definite maybe. Do this for two weeks then find a new “program.”

7) Listen to Your Mom. You’re fine just the way you are, sweetie. Your heiney is special and different from everyone else’s. Find a nice girl at the Wal-Mart, marry her and watch re-runs of American Gladiators and pretend those men wouldn’t squash you like a bug.

If your mom says stuff like this, listen to her. She is your greatest ally in avoiding progress. (101)