Conversations about the classic men of strength and sports training commonly include names such as Siff, Zatsiorsky, Hackenschmidt and VasilyAlexseyev. Mel Siff and Vladimir Zatsiorsky have gone to great lengths to improve other’s understanding of the science of strength. Hackenschmidt and Alexseyev have shown the world what feats of strength mortal men are capable of. Whether through science or practice—these men have laid the foundation upon which a castle of strength and power was built. Although impressive, this castle looks much more like a weight-room; and rather than being in some fabled British isle it’s in Ohio.

Many have spread the good word of strength and its positive effect on health and athletic performance, but one man in Ohio has done more for strength than any other. Louie Simmons and his group of powerlifters at Westside Barbell have set the strength precedent. In a world full of mixed up training philosophies based on trends and fads, Mr. Simmons developed the Westside Conjugate Method (WCM) using science, experience, blood, sweat and chalk.

As is the case for strength coaches all over the world, Louie Simmons and his WCM have had an immeasurable impact on our coaching philosophies and, subsequently, the Supreme Strength program. The fact that we are both competitive powerlifters accentuates Westside’s impact on our training because we have both felt, personally, the effects of conjugate training at its finest. We know first-hand the dramatic effect that developing maximal strength has on health and athletic performance.

To be strong and successful you must set clear goals and then hold yourself accountable to achieve them. Self-accountability is dependent on emotion.

 What Drives You?

 What do I want to change? Why do I want to change it? What outcome(s) do I see in my head? Ask yourself these three questions before you set any goal. These questions will either reveal your motivation for obtaining a goal, or reveal a proposed goal as a farce.Through the questioning process you’ll find what drives you. Pay special attention to the last question. What do you see in your head? The images should make you feel happy, fulfilled and successful. Hold these images; remember them, because these are what you’ll emotionally attach to. These pictures will drive you to achieve your goals.

Set Your Goals

 After you’ve asked yourself the above questions, and determined your answers, set your goals. Set a goal for each testing lift and a total outcome for the program.

How will achieving your individual goals help you achieve a bigger outcome?

 Write Them Down

 After you set your goals—write them down. It doesn’t matter what you write on—it could be a dinner napkin. We recommend in your training log and on a scrap piece of paper.You do, however, need to keep your written goals where you can see them. Keep a copy by your bed so they are the first thing you see in the morning and the last thing you see before you turn out the lights. Look them and visualize success.

 Taking Action toward Your Goals

 Writing your goals and visualizing success are necessary—this much is true. But all the writing and visualizing in the world won’t matter if you don’t take action.

Take action every day to achieve your goals. Train hard on your training days, and recover on your off days. Make every step calculated and keep your focus laser tight.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Encountering a true expert is rare these days. Many profess, but very few actually know. Bret Contreras, however, is a true glute training expert; in fact he is the glute training authority.

Being the deadlift addict that I am, I’m constantly searching to learn more about training the posterior chain. I can’t think of a better resource than a super-trainer known as “The Glute Guy.” So I asked Bret if he’d help me out by answering eight questions about glutes and deadlifting. He’s a good dude, and he obliged.

Below are, quite possibly, the most informative eight responses I’ve ever gotten. Enjoy.

 Bret, Thanks for doing this interview. I’m a big fan of your work and I’ve incorporated a lot of your exercises into my programming. They produce incredible results.

You’re known as The Glute Guy. What inspired you to become an expert in all things derriere?

BC: Thanks Todd! Genetically-speaking, I wasn’t gifted in the glute-department. But through consistent and hard training over the years, I’ve built them up and seen great results. The fascination in the glutes grew from realizing that traditional programs were leaving a ton of room on the table for optimal gluteal results.

Many people have nasty, altered length-tension ratios at the hip that result in inefficient force couples (even we habitual deadlifters). It’s often more of a problem in one hip because of extended periods of driving or use of dominant limbs. I’ve noticed that this can lead to impaired glute function of the contralateral glute (in the hip that isn’t as restricted). Any strategies that work for getting the glutes back in balance?

BC: I don’t feel that we can ever have completely balanced development; the nervous system and every-day living don’t allow for it. However, we should strive to minimize imbalances especially if they’re extreme.

Many trainers, coaches, and therapists are quick to point out that unilateral training is superior to bilateral training in regards to improving asymmetries. While I would agree with this if I had to choose between one or the other, I disagree with the premise that unilateral training is the only way to restore imbalance. If a lifter relied solely on bilateral lifts for his entire life, he may see imbalances if he one day decided to test out his single leg strength and power. For example, he’d probably be able to perform more Bulgarian split squats or jump higher off of one leg compared to the other. This is why it’s wise to incorporate single leg training into one’s arsenal. However, if a lifter relied solely on unilateral lifts for his entire life, he may see imbalances if he one day decided to test out his double leg strength and power. For example, if testing on dual force plates, he’d probably shift toward one side or push harder through one leg compared to the other. For this reason, it’s wise to incorporate bilateral training with an emphasis on quality, symmetrical movement patterns.

So both single leg and double leg training should be used for balanced strength and symmetry. If there’s an imbalance, more attention should be given toward the weaker leg; however, it’s important to see if mobility or stability restrictions in the lower body joints are causing this imbalance. If that were the case, simply performing more strengthening exercises won’t always cure the problem.

A good plan of action when imbalances exist involves:

1. Screening to ensure no dysfunction exists
2. Alleviating the dysfunction if it does exist by restoring proper ROM and/or joint stability
3. “Coordinating” the newfound ROM or stability into natural movement patterns
4. Strengthening the weaker limb to match the stronger limb through unilateral training
5. Strengthening bilateral patterns while ensuring symmetrical movement

 What’s the most common misconception about the glutes as they function during the deadlift?

BC: I think that most people leave some room on the table for glute development by solely focusing on deadlifts (and/or squats) because it is my belief that the hip extensors don’t limit deadlift (and squat) strength. Sure you can get impressive levels of gluteactivation, especially if your core strength and intraabdominal pressure (IAP) capabilities are superior, but you can’t maximize glute activation through these lifts.

I believe that the hamstrings are more important at the bottom of the deadlift since the glutes don’t have ideal leverage down low, and at the top of the deadlift the glutes have better leverage in hip extension and also function to prevent anterior pelvic tilt. So the glutes are a bit more important for top range deadlift mechanics.

Click here to view the embedded video.

 The deadlift is axially loaded, but is there an anteroposterior glute exercise that you’ve found to have the most carry-over to deadlift performance?

BC: In terms of carryover to the deadlift, here is the hierarchy in my opinion:

1. The deadlift version that you’re trying to maximize (law of specificity)
2. Other deadlift variations (for example sumo deadlifts for conventional pullers and vice versa)
3. Squat and good morning variations (since they’re axial loaded, they improve IAP capabilities, they strengthen the erectors, and they strengthen the hips in flexed positions)
4. Anteroposteriorglute exercises such as hip thrusts and back raises (to improve the deadlift lockout)
5. Knee-flexion dominant exercises such as glute ham raises and Russian leg curls (to strengthen the hamstrings)
6. Abdominal/core exercises such as straight leg sit ups, RKC planks, and band rotary holds

Click here to view the embedded video.

Of course, if you have a dramatically weak link then a particular assistance lift will initially help improve deadlift totals considerably (for example the glute ham raise when the hammies are weak or the hip thrust when the glutes are weak). But after a couple of months the carry-over diminishes. This is why it’s good to rotate exercises and continue to work on weak links.

 What about the height of the lifter? Does this play a role in how active the glutes are during the deadlift and, subsequently, influence glute training for the deadlift?

BC: Taller lifters’ hips will be further away from the bar so they’ll be able to exert more torque in hip extension, but I think it has more to do with anthropometry and body segment lengths than height alone. For example, relatively long arms reduce hip flexion ROM in the deadlift which makes deadlifting easier for these folks, whereas relatively long femurs tends to increase torso lean in the deadlift which makes deadlifting more difficult for these folks.

I have noticed that everyone I train seems to adopt a “higher-hips” position in the deadlift over time. Their deadlifting mechanics gradually morph toward strategies that take advantage of increased hip strength.

In my early years as a trainer, I was heavily influenced by Louie Simmons and Dave Tate who espoused tons of reverse hypers, back raises, and glute ham raises, not to mention good mornings and box squats. Over time I blended that in with lots of hip thrusts and pendulum quadruped hip extensions and all of a sudden you’ve got an incredibly strong and well-balanced posterior chain on your hands.

This tends to cause lifters to use less quads (knee joint ROM) and more hamstring and glute (hip joint ROM) during the deadlift. Many would say that this isn’t ideal, but many male clients of mine typically put 100 lbs on their deadlifts during their first month alone, so I have a hard time believing that this type of training is not the best strategy for deadlifting gains. As a matter of fact, I put 70 lbs on a male client’s max deadlift last month during his very first session just by setting his hips higher and moving his shoulders out over the bar.

How much carry-over do unloaded activation exercises have to deadlift training?

BC: I don’t feel that exercises such as bodyweight glute bridges, bird dogs, side lying clams, and side lying hip abduction are going to carry over much to max deadlifting strength for the majority of lifters.

Side Lying Clam

However, last year when I was in New Zealand I helped a Crossfit instructor put 70 lbs on his deadlift in one month. He could squat and deadlift 405 lbs but would tremble at the top of a bodyweight glute bridge, He’d literally shake like crazy. His end-range hip extension strength was terrible. I had him perform glute bridges every single day along with bodyweight back extensions with a pause up top and RKC planks. I also improved upon his form and his program design, and his deadlift sky-rocketed. Much of this was probably due to improving his end-range hip extension strength.

But this wouldn’t work for everyone. A powerlifting friend of mine from New Zealand performed a 405 lb barbell hip thrust on his very first attempt, with excellent form. These two examples clearly demonstrate that typical lifters who regularly squat and deadlift can have dramatically different end-range hip extension strength levels. They all have good “flexed” range hip extension strength, but their “end” range hip extension strength differs dramatically. The folks with inferior end-range hip extension strength will benefit much more from low-load glute activation than folks who are already strong in this ROM.

 Do you cue your clients to feel the glutes working?

BC: Hell yes I do! I can tell you with absolutely no reservations that this is an incredibly important component to eliminating low back pain. Countless lifters out there are moving at the spine and not at the hips. When you teach them to move at the hips and use the glutes while keeping the spine rigid, magic happens.

If the hinge pattern looks good, but a client says they are “feeling” the muscles working in the wrong sequence, do you break the movement down and re-teach?

BC: Not really. As a personal trainer I take on a client for at least a month at a time. I’m going to have at the bare minimum 8 sessions to get him strong. For the first session it’s all about learning good form on the various exercises. Every subsequent session involves using more load and pushing it a bit harder while keeping that same great movement quality. I do my best to make sure they learn it the right way from the get-go, and then they build upon that so proper motor patterning is programmed continuously.

However, I’m not obsessed with each client looking absolutely perfect on day one. What matters to me is that someone can watch me train someone, and then three months later they can come back and watch me train that same person and they’ll be better all around (using more weight, doing more reps, using better form, etc.). It takes time for some folks to really learn how to use their glutes or how the pelvis should behave throughout the entire deadlift ROM. Most folks get there within 6 weeks and they’re suddenly commenting that they feel their glutes working all the time in everyday life, that any back pain they had before has completely vanished, and they feel stronger and more functional.

If you haven’t yet, I encourage you to check out Bret’s book, Advanced Techniques in Glutei Maximi Strengthening. You can find it by visiting his website, www.bretcontreras.com.

The Glass Metaphor

Sometimes it’s difficult to picture how absolute strength affects all other physical qualities, and understandably so. Drawing a connection between absolute strength and endurance doesn’t appear to make physiological sense–but it does. A useful metaphor always helps us understand how.

The best metaphor I’ve found for relating absolute strength to all other physical qualities is the glass metaphor.

The glass is absolute strength–all other physical qualities are represented by whatever’s in the glass. I choose to fill mine with porter–Edmund Fitzgerald porter to be exact. Hmmm…a beer metaphor works well. Let’s stick with it.

Instead of a glass you have a bierstein. The bigger the bierstein, the more porter it can hold–I know, this is obvious.

Getting past the obvious, remember that our bierstein represents our absolute strength level and that porter represents all other physical qualities (i.e. speed, power, endurance, etc). A huge bierstein, that’s relative to our bodyweight, can be filled with whichever porter style we see fit. Endurance runners drink more distance porter as the linebackers down the power variety.

No matter the flavor, we won’t be drinking much beer with a tiny bierstein. Without absolute strength, we’ll miss out on developing optimal levels of speed, power and endurance.

A Quick Note on What’s Relative

Being strong and a fat mess at the same time won’t improve athletic prowess. Aim to achieve strength without gratuitous weight gain–unless you need to put on weight to be successful (i.e. you’re an undersized lineman).

The King and his Bierstein

A king doesn’t show his face with a small bierstein–imagine the humiliation. A king walks the earth proudly, chest broad and shoulders back–a grand cup filled with chosen ale.  A strong body developed to his choosing.

Strength will always be king–all other physical qualities depend on it.

ENJOY!

1.)    Tabata Pro v3.5.1- We purchased the Title Platinum Professional Gym Timer at my gym back when we first opened.  This thing is awesome!  However, at a price tag of $260 on most websites, it’s a bit pricey.  So this past week when I stumbled across the Tabata Pro app for $2.99, I was in complete disbelief.  This bad boy actually has more options than the Title timer, for just over 1% of the price!

• 3 programmable timers
• Customize all time settings (prep, work, rest, cycles, and sets)
• Syncs with your music, using a feature included called Workout DJ (choose between pause, lower volume, or stop and skip to next song during the rest cycles)
• Screen flashes during work cycles (optional)
• You may run it in the background (other apps will work simultaneously)
• External display support (you can hook up your iPhone 4, iPod touch 4^th gen, iPad & iPad 2 to play through a TV, or even a projector screen)

Click here to view the embedded video.

2.)    KB Timer Pro v1.12- While this timer is similar to the Tabata Pro, it has one extremely cool option- the ability to input repetitions.  Let’s say that I am doing intervals of :30 work to :30 rest, and in that time I want to complete 6 repetitions.  Every 6 seconds the timer will beep letting me know I should be completing a rep!  The other night I used this for conditioning in Muay Thai class.  I set the timer for :30 work and 40 repetitions.  We moved through pushups, then bodyweight squats, and finally box crunches with a short break in between each exercise for 3 rounds.  Reader beware, these guys are EXTREMELY conditioned, and this NOT easy.  But sometimes we need to step outside of our comfort zone.  That comfort zone is all relative to the individuals involved.

• Also use the reps option for speed work… for example, I could set the clock for :06 and set the reps to three for bench press.  At each beep the athlete would contract eccentrically and concentrically as quickly as possible and maintain a static contraction at the top portion of the lift until the next beep.  Obviously this is not limited to the bench press…
• The app has a “random” option.  You can choose the work intervals, rest intervals, or both to be set to random.  You can still choose the total length of the circuit, but rest and work will be random.  This in combination with the reps option makes for some awesome mental training with your athletes…
• You can also display the exercise to be performed for each round right on the screen (even getting as detailed at telling you when to switch hands on kettlebell exercises)
• Save your workouts with the workout history option… this even comes with the option to export your workouts through text or a spreadsheet (all auto-generated)
• Seemingly unlimited timers can be saved
• Just 99 cents!
• This app would have been #1, but it doesn’t work with the music as well as Tabata Pro

Click here to view the embedded video.

3.)    You Are Your Own Gym v2.14.1- Sometimes it becomes very easy to repeat yourself.  I’m talking about exercise programming here, and this app has over 300 variations of bodyweight and minimal equipment exercises broken into quick access categories (push, pull, legs, core, and whole body).  I’ve already used this to discover variations of common exercises that I had either forgotten about or altogether never seen before.  But it’s the “timers” that make this one stand out.

• Comes with pre-set customizable timers for interval sets (traditional resistance training), super sets (low volume, high intensity), 4-step ladders (high volume, low intensity), stappers (timed circuit training), and tabatas (HIIT).
• The interval sets timer is unlike anything that I’ve seen in an app before.  It’s designed with strength training in mind.  I could type my whole workout into the program, set the rest between each set and hit the start button.  Let’s say that my first exercise is seated box jumps for 3 sets of 2 jumps with :45 rest between sets.  Once I complete my first 2 jumps I click “reps complete” and it automatically starts a countdown timer for my rest.  I can customize the rest for EVERY SINGLE EXERCISE!
• This app is based around the designer, Mark Lauren’s book “You Are Your Own Gym.”
• Just $3.99!
• If you’re new to program design and just want a good workout, use one of Mark Lauren’s 10-week programs (basic, first class, master, and chief) that come pre-loaded in the app!

Click here to view the embedded video.

4.)    Seconds Pro v2.1.1- To be honest with you, I have not had a ton of time to play around with this one, so that is really the only reason why it is #4 on my list.  However, there are some awesome things to note right off of the bat.  This thing may eventually move way up.

• The music settings are very detailed…  I can create custom playlists for different phases of each workout (the warm-up, work sets, rest sets, and cool-downs), making this thing very appealing to those of us who teach any type of group classes (I have group conditioning classes at my gym as well as a contract with AOL to do boot camps for their employees at their headquarters)
• The screen is very clean, showing a lot of information in an easy to read format throughout your workout
• Only $2.99!

Click here to view the embedded video.

So there you have it, my top 4 conditioning apps!  Leave a comment below after you download them and let me know what you think…  AND if you think I missed something awesome, make sure to leave a comment below and let me know- I’m always looking for cool new fitness toys.

Best,

Chris

Click here to view the embedded video.

Pretty explosive right?

As many of you know, we are about 6.5 weeks out from Dustin’s next fight at UFC on FX 3, June 8th in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  He is facing Jared Papazian, a very well-rounded fighter who also likes to stand and bang.  Dude is tough, always down for a war…  Be sure to tune in!

Okay, shameless plug done.

I see everyone training jumps (for the most part)- but it’s mainly box jumps.  I also see everyone starting to do loaded glute bridge variations (awesome!), but I see a void.  Where’s the broad jump?!  Sure, a lot of us are using it to TEST, but I don’t really see anyone using it to train.  I propose we change that.

Above, we talked about those flying knees, but there are lots of situations in sport where an explosive broad jump is going transfer to an increase in specific athleticism.  Why do you think they test it at the NFL Combine anyways?  And while there are lots of strength exercises that are going to lead to an increase in broad jump capability (barbell glute bridges, single leg hip thrusts, barbell hip thrusts, squats, deads, etc…), it’s silly to think that working the broad jump specifically wouldn’t help.  And in the case of working with Dustin, to be honest, I don’t really care about his broad jump numbers.  All I care about is whether he is stronger, faster- DOMINANT on June 8th.

So this cycle of his train-up we have been using a drill I call lateral bounding to broad jumps (I know, exciting name) for explosive work prior to strength work on his lower body day.  I had Dustin film me doing them on Monday,  check it out:

Click here to view the embedded video.

This is a violent move.  When you jump, get forward!  Drive your feet like your life depends on you travelling no less than 9’6″ (Martin Rooney’s excellent score for the broad jump in “Warrior Cardio”).  However, due to the elastic energy from lateral bounds leading into the broad jump on this drill, we were scoring anywhere between 10′ and 10’3″ on this drill.  You can’t approach this one like it’s just another exercise.  Get angry, set goals, try and dent the floor by pushing off as hard as possible.  Even for the landing, reach forward with your legs and FIGHT for every inch possible…

We have been performing these anywhere between 3-4 sets of 1-3 jumps per leg throughout this phase.  Due to the explosive nature of the exercise, do not go with high reps on these.  The idea is to CRUSH it, not get tired and crap out.

So keep getting stronger, keep doing box jumps, keep doing explosive weighted brindging variations, and keep throwing things- but learn how to program these exercises for continual progress.  And finally, start broad jumping!!!

And since we talked about Muay Thai earlier, let me leave you with this amazing gem:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Best,

Chris

1) You are the Culmination of Your Choices: There is a widely accepted notion that our social and emotional output is the direct result of the collective input of the five people we spend the most time with. That’s depressing, isn’t it? It’s disturbing to think that we are nothing more than cogs, responding to the world based on what we subconsciously perceive as acceptable.

This is a faulty, reductionist idea, and I think it’s bullshit. It completely disregards congnition–the psychologically definitive element of being human.

We can think–this means that we can make choices that direct our behavior.  We are more than automatons that respond to input.

Make good choices based on well examined information–and do it continually. Your life will be the culmination of your good choices. Start by choosing to be happy–then choose to surround yourself with good people.

2) People Don’t Understand what Lifting Heavy Means: Maxing out every day on the same movements isn’t lifting heavy, it’s lifting stupid. Training hard to give your body the stimuli it needs to get stronger, without destroying it, is lifting heavy.

3) I’m not a Doctor: I know, it’s an obvious statement; but sometimes people neglect to notice that I don’t have D.C. or M.D. after my name. It’s almost every day that I receive a question about rehabilitation for a damaged elbow or a query about healing a torn rotator cuff. People even ask me what to do to beat the common cold.

In the past I would field these questions–I know, dangerous territory. But this past year I grew wiser and I deflected. I’ve developed a network of viable resources and I constantly refer out.

I don’t mess with pain and I leave healing to doctors.

4) It’s Worth the Drive: I drive a lot, and for multiple reasons. My girlfriend lives 200 miles from me; I drive 30 miles every day to my gym; and I frequently travel to coach at seminars. I can’t forget my Rumba classes on Wednesday evenings and driving to watch my athletes compete. Veronica, my Saturn Vue, has put some miles under her wheels. She’s a sassy lass.

It’s an obnoxious amount of driving, and I sometimes wish that it wasn’t necessary. But as my life goes, so do I. Thus far, though, every mile has been worth it.

My clients are a group of incredible people–athletes willing to train like they just broke out of the psych ward and fitness enthusiasts committed to making themselves better. Missing out on seeing them every day would be a tragedy.

I’ve met incredible people at every seminar–four of which have been from different countries. Each experience has made me better and I’ve been able to help a lot of people.

Opening a door to a beautiful, smiling face makes 200 miles seem paltry.

Every mile has been worth it.

5) It’s Good to Have Heroes (But It’s Better to Meet them): Some say that heroes aren’t necessary–implying that admiring heroes is a limiting practice.

Bullshit–everyone needs heroes.

Here’s what Phil Knight (Chairman of Nike) had to say about his hero, Joe Paterno.

Click here to view the embedded video.

 Like Mr. Knight, I’ve always needed heroes. I spent my early twenties looking up to guys like Eric Cressey, James Smith and Tony Gentilcore–great coaches and great men. But reading articles and watching videos only goes so far. At some point I had to get off of my ass and take action. Seeking out and meeting my heroes had a dramatic impact on my life and career.

I took some drives during my 25th year–one to Hudson, Massachussetts, a few to New Jersey and many to Elmira, New York. At the end of each road I found humble guys willing to help me; some of them I’m proud to now call friends.

In lesson one I discounted the idea that we are entirely who we spend our time with. I believe we are the culmination of our choices, but choosing to spend time with incredible people makes us better–seemingly by osmosis.

6) Mobility Doesn’t Always Precede Stability: I’m not a doctor, and by the same token, I’m not a physical therapist. I do, however, pay attention to what I see during movement.

During the past few years the dogma–mobility precedes stability–dominated my programming thought process. After a year of quasi-experimentation, I don’t think the same way.

When it comes to training, everything is relative and situational–and every situation requires a different training stimulus. It’s true, there are times when mobility must be trained before stability. But, when necessary, stability training will improve range of motion and solidify a movement pattern before extensibility or joint range of motion is addressed.

Don’t be dogmatic. Choose a tool based on need, not expectation.

7) Ebb and Flow: Running hot all the time leads to burn-out. It’s a simple lesson my mom taught me when I was young. I’ve instructed others to construct their daily schedules in ebb and flow, but I’ve never been great at taking my own advice. Finally, this year, I have. Information has influenced my behavior.

Working until 11:30pm and then getting up at 5:30am to start all over again is a bad idea. I kept this pace for months and it kicked my ass.

Now I make time for downtime, trade out metal for Mumford (sometimes) and I go to bed before my eyes start to burn.

8) Fruit Snacks are My Cryptonite: High-mileage driving often brings me to refill at gas stations. Our local, Central Pennsylvania chain is called Sheetz.

I think that the company is plotting against me because they always have several varieties of Welch’s fruit snacks in stock. Even worse, they are seemingly always coming out with new types (the tangy fruits are my favorite!). So I say to me-self, as I walk down the aisle, ”Shit. I haven’t had those yet. I’ll have to eat them.” Then I snag a bag, spend $1.69 of my hard earned money on gummy sugar diguised as oranges and I walk to my car, defeated.

9) Conditioning Isn’t My Strength: I’ll say, hat in hand, that I’m the best strength and movement coach in my area. I get people moving well and I make them brutally strong. After we accomplish those two ends, my clients and I power Top Gun high-five.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I’m not, however, a great conditioning coach. Don’t get me wrong, my clients condition, but my understanding of energy systems training is my limitation. Reading the work of Anthony Mychal and Joel Jamieson exposed my weakness. I’ve got a lot of work to do.

10) I’ve a Long Way to Go: At the risk of self-deprecation I’ll tell you that I don’t know that much. My twenty-fifth year taught me that. As I’ve reflected, I’ve realized that I’m growing humble and quiet–and that I learn more from interaction than from any other source. But I don’t think I’ll be trading wisdom at the expense of youth.

My goal is to forever keep the fervor of my twenties as I accumulate understanding. I think it’s a good goal, that’s why I’m sharing it with you.

I’ve a long way to go, but hopefully I never reach a destination.

The Big Take Home:

I want to leave you with something actionable. I’m not here to tell you how awesome I am (I have red hair for crying out loud!); my goal is to teach in parables. We’re all in this together, so let’s share what we’ve learned.

At the end of each month make a list of the things you learned–then narrow it down to one or two important things. Track the source of the information and take action using your new understanding.

Over the course of the year you’ll compile a good list–review it on your birthday. Reflect on what you’ve learned and what you’ve taken action on. Has it been a good year?

Keep Learning and Get Stronger,

Todd

Today’s post is a guest article from Joe Giandonato, CSCS, a great coach located in the Philadephia area.

For the past few years, the glutes have stolen the limelight, so much so, that fitness professionals and researchers have dedicated a bulk of their time to investigating their impact on injury reduction and performance enhancement and rightfully so. I can attest that getting my glutes stronger over the past couple of years alleviated my chronic lower back pain while helping me add several inches to my vertical jump and nearly a hundred pounds to both my deadlift and squat. Influenced by the great minds of Bret Contreras, Eric Cressey, and Mike Robertson, I’ve programmed direct glute work for all of my clients and athletes throughout the years, ranging from low intensity activation drills, such as bird dog variations, one-legged kick outs, and supine unilateral leg raises, to heavily loaded barbell hip thrusts and glute bridges.

On the flipside of glute training and all the benefits it bestows is the psoas, which too has garnered attention in recent years, mainly negative, as tight psoas muscles have been implicated in begetting a quandary of postural issues and impeding performance.

Yes, I’m in agreement that the psoas is a major player in Lower Crossed Syndrome as its tightness contributes to the hips anteriorly tilting, causing the lumbar spine to slip into extension. Hip extension virtually becomes non-existent as the glutes (primary hip extensors) and hamstrings (secondary hip extensors) become inhibited. We know this. But what we overlook is the psoas and its role as a hip flexor.

The psoas, or psoas major, is actually one of two muscles that make up iliopsoas. The second muscle, the iliacus, originates from the inner surface of the ilium, whereas the psoas has attachments spanning from transverse processes of T12 to L5, which also include the intervertebral discs. The fibers of iliacus and the psoas blend together, anterior of the femoral head and insert at the lesser trochanter of the femur. The iliopsoas, which is essentially the only muscular link between the upper and lower body, is capable of generating tremendous amounts of hip flexion at femoral-on-pelvic or pelvic-on-femoral perspectives. However, the potential strength of the iliopsoas is never achieved, as many people are locked into crappy posture throughout the day, thereby disrupting lumbopelvic rhythm, creating compensatory movements of the hip joints and lumbar spine. A tight iliopsoas will also interfere with hip and trunk extension patterns, overtaxing the extensor muscles and apophyseal joints and discs of the lumbar spine.

Strong iliopsoas muscles can also assist in stabilizing the lumbar spine provided they are not anteriorly tilting the pelvis, in absence of rectus abdominis strength. Strength must be appropriately distributed throughout the lumbopelvic hip complex in order to stave off injury and to effectively absorb, generate, and transfer force. While I’ve seen many programs which lack hip extension through direct glute work and abdominal training consisting of flexion exercises only, most if not all programs I’ve seen prescribed either ignore or inappropriately work the hip flexor muscles, namely the iliopsoas. We roll them, we stretch them, but we don’t strengthen them once we work hard to restore the hip flexors back to their natural resting lengths. We target our glutes by activating and strengthening them. We train our core musculature in multiple vectors, yet we target our hip flexors with a battery of generic stretches and call it a day.

Having hip flexion strength, particularly unilateral hip flexion strength, can enhance hip separation which impacts sprinting gait, leaping ability, and acceleration. Among the hip flexor group the iliopsoas is the only muscle that is active beyond 90 degrees, which is why it’s vitally important to train to improve athletic performance.

I’ve compiled a list of a few exercises that I prescribe to my athletes and clients to achieve hip flexion strength.

1. Wall Supported Alternating High Knees

I really like these as they prevent excessive lumbar or hip extension as seen with high knees performed in dynamic warm ups. I’ll typically cue my athlete or client to forcefully drive their knee up to their chest as fast as possible. I might also tell them to hold at the top for 1-3 seconds.

1. Sled Pull High Knees

One of the most underrated, yet valuable training tools are training sleds. Don’t have a sled? A tire with a rope will suffice. Just be sure that the rope and leg attachment is long enough so the tire doesn’t hit your feet or lower legs. If you have a training sled, attach a strap to one of your legs and perform a unilateral high knee. For example, you’ll take a step with your unstrapped or free leg and then pull your strapped leg forward and up. Be sure not to load the sled too heavily during these.

1. Banded Monster Walks

Another great exercise, which simultaneously stretches the hip flexors and resists them in flexion are banded monster walks. These can be performed as part of a dynamic warm-up or to finish off your hip flexors after more challenging movements, which I’ll describe ahead. I like alternating these with band stomps before a squat or jump session.

1. Seated or Standing Dumbbell Hammer Marches

The hip flexors should be targeted from seated and standing positions. When seated, it’s easier to achieve greater flexion without compensation of the hips or lumbar spine. With that said, I’ll place heavier dumbbells on my thighs while seated and bring my knee up, as high as possible one leg at a time. The standing marches are a bit more challenging, as you must lock your lumbar spine and hips in place, so I’ll go lighter on these. Not only will you activate the hip flexors, but challenge the core musculature as well.

1. Elevated Resisted Mountain Climbers

Position yourself in front of a cable tower or sturdy column or pole and attach straps or bands to your ankles. You might want to consider elevating yourself, supporting your torso with two lower plyo boxes or steppers, to achieve a greater range of motion. Performing resisted mountain climbers with an elevated torso, best simulates firing off the blocks or from a sprinter’s stance during a sprint.

1. Any unilateral leg exercise with an extended ROM

Range of motion overload is a concept that deserves greater attention in the strength and conditioning community. As it pertains to overload, many coaches are locked into set and rep schemes with progress usually load driven. On the other hand, increasing a client or athlete’s range of motion presents a great challenge of muscular stability, specifically core stabilization on lower body movements, joint mobility, specifically mobile hip and ankle joints during lower body lifts, and flexibility. As it pertains to the article, full ROM unilateral exercises with or without loads are necessary to establish hip separation (simultaneous unilateral hip extension and hip flexion). Here I’ll chose from an assortment of high box step ups, performed either linearly or laterally, to be performed with a knee kick or without, Bulgarian Split Squats, Rear Foot Elevated Split Squats, and Curtsey Lunges to Elevated Step. In advanced athletes, I’ll throw in Russian Lunges, where you alternate legs as quickly as possible. I’ll also add in bilateral movements, such as low box squats, medicine ball squats to underhanded tosses over the head, and Olympic squats. I’ll sometimes toss in a leg press, such as the Hammer Strength alternating leg press machine and load it with bands to keep the tension constant throughout a full range of motion.

The movements above work to address hip flexion strength should be concurrently incorporated with glute activation and strengthening exercises. Hip flexion strength in athletes is as critical as hip extension strength; therefore, hip flexion strength training should be prioritized within one’s programming.

Homemade LARA BARS

If you’re like me, you love LARA BARS.  I mean, they are fantastic, downright addictive.  However, they are also quite pricey.  Maybe not the most expensive bars out there, but a box of LARA BARS adds up quite quickly.  So when one of my clients, Lindsey, walked into the gym with a food processor, and a multitude of pre-mixed bags of ingredients claiming that she could make any LARA BAR in less than 5 minutes, she had my attention.  And words cannot express how amazing these bad boys are.  So, today I am going to pay it forward and give you the greatest, yet simplest recipe in the world.

What you’ll need:

• 2 handfuls of Peanuts (preferably unsalted)
• About 3 pitted Dates or 5 pitted Prunes
• Semi-sweet chocolate chips (dark chocolate also works extremely well- and it packs a more nutritious punch)
• A food processor (I have the “Rocket.”  It’s a cheaper version of the Magic Bullet)

What to do (it doesn’t get any simpler than this):

• Throw everything together into the food processor and grind it to a slightly sticky consistency, making sure there are no major chunks left
• Pour the mix into a small Pyrex dish and press it flat
• I sometimes refrigerate it to make it a little firmer
• OR combine the peanuts and dates (or prunes) in the processor, and add in the chocolate chips afterwards (leaving them whole)
• EAT!

And for those of you visual learners:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Looking for a different LARA BAR recipe?  Read the ingredients on your favorite bar and mix away.  Me personally, I don’t measure out the ingredients (it’s a man thing), just experiment and find what I like.  Give it a try… thank Lindsey.

My Experience with the Renegade Diet

I’m not one to recommend things to my clients before I either try it myself, or enough of my trusted friends have.  So with all of the hype about intermittent fasting (IF) the past few months, I decided to give the Renegade Diet a go.  I’m not going to give away the details of the diet, but the main idea is to fast for 16 hours after dinner.  So, if I have dinner at 9pm, my first meal the following day would be 1pm.  Now, it’s much more detailed than that, and YES, it goes against everything you’ve heard.  However, you need to read this book.

• This has been perfect for me with having to be to the gym by 5:50am most days of the week.  I feel free of the “eating schedule.”
• My strength has continued to climb.
• My weight initially has dropped, but I am noticeably leaner ( I will begin increasing my calories a bit to keep my weight up)
• My energy is through the roof.  Really.
• My sleep is amazing.  After my main nightly meal I am ready to crash like never before.
• My girlfriend has been doing it as well with great results.  However, her job is more along the lines of a “9-5” (even though they don’t really exist anymore), and she finds it more of a challenge to get through the fast.  It took about two weeks for her to acclimate, which is normal.  It’s also great to sit down to a FEAST together every night.

The diet is not for everyone, but it is great for some- myself included.  I just really need to figure out what’s going to be best for myself.  I definitely don’t want to be losing weight, but I also don’t want to go back to the confines of 5 to 6 meals a day…  I will continue to post updates with time.

A preview of Dustin’s train-up teaser (can’t be giving away the recipe on this one, so, very select footage)

Click here to view the embedded video.

This fight is going to be awesome!

8 weeks out!

Until next time.

Best,

Chris & Lola

The lyrics above are from a song called “After the Eulogy” by BoySetsFire. My friend Joffy (his real name is Jonathan) introduced me to the song during the fall of our freshman year of high school. Every morning we’d blare the song in his sister’s car–torturing her as she drove us to school. Joffy sat in the front seat and I sat directly behind him, and when the bridge hit we would scream the lyrics as I shook the shit out of his seat.  As young idealists, we knew shredding was awesome and that the only bands worth listening to were pissed off about social injustice.

 I’ve grown up since then. Don’t take that the wrong way; I still rock to my anti-establishment anthems (I love Lamb of God!). But I mix in a wider variety of melodies and harmonies–depending on the place and time. Without shame I’ll tell you that I like John Mayer and that Mumford and Sons are the bees knees.

But a part of me still looks around and wonders, where’s all the anger?

I’m not talking about self-destructive pissing and moaning. Take a walk around the block or sit an office for long enough and you’ll get more than your fill. I’m not talking about hate either. We also have plenty of that. But I’m talking about focused, positive self-correction; a determination to change something that we don’t like because it pisses us off. It seems, to me at least, that this drive for change has disappeared. And, just as unfortunately, intensity has gone with it.

 A Slap in the Face

 Coach John Gaglione and I conducted the first Supreme Strength seminar a few weeks ago on Long Island. Mike Ranfone, a great strength coach from Connecticut, was one of our guests. At one point Mike jumped in and helped me coach the deadlift station. I was instructing one of the attendees on how to hip hinge with a neutral spine when I heard Mike talking about how he approaches the bar to deadlift. I can’t remember what he said verbatim, but it sounded a lot like this:

‘You have to approach the bar angry–I know I do. It sets the tone for the lift. The deadlift is my worst lift, man, and it pisses me off! I don’t let it fuckin’ beat me; I walk up to the bar with malice, grab it hard and let it know that I’m there.’

 I remember thinking, ‘Yes! That’s fucking perfect!’ And, yes, I did swear in my own head.

That’s the controlled anger and intensity that’s necessary to create positive change!

 Sure, the goal is always to be happy. Happiness, though, is not a steady-state condition; there is an ebb and flow.

Happiness is the product of perspective and desire–an understanding of where you are currently and where you want to be. It’s knowing that we have to make changes to make progress, and being comfortable with making changes. But to make changes that lead to progress, and truly be happy, we have to breed a mindset of barely subdued hostility–there should always be a monster lurking beneath the surface.

A beast with a healthy perspective.

Ask Yourself Questions

To make progress, and awaken your monster, ask yourself questions. Here are the ones that I ask myself:

What do I need to change?

Why do I need to change it?

What happens if I don’t change it?

What happens if I do change it?

What does this mean to me? or Why does this bother me?

Why are you so handsome? (This is one I ask myself while I’m brushing my teeth in the morning, looking at the mirror.)

I snuck some humor in there, but, seriously, you need questions like these. You’ll determine what you need to change and why you need to do it. It doesn’t matter if it is resetting a deadlift goal or how you approach your career.

Most importantly, ask yourself what making a change will mean to you. This is the question that develops the intensity–the lurking monster–necessary to make the change. It’s the question that most helps us grow.

Awakening the Monster: A Useful Fiction

 You may not be able to apply this tip outside of the gym–it may make you uncomfortable–but I’ll offer it anyway. It may prove useful in other situations.

Before I approach the bar for a big lift I hold an image in my head. I imagine that I’m opening the door to my house, and as I open the door, I see a stranger grabbing my mom as he raises his hand to slap her. In my head, I see the fear on my mom’s face as she looks in the stranger’s eyes.  Then I let the anger build. I don’t imagine how I would respond to this situation; I truly let myself feel the emotion of being in the situation.

How angry would you feel if you walked in on this?

Take that anger and direct it toward something useful. Grab a bar and hoist some iron.

Questions and Intensity

The above visual is intense–I’ll grant you that. But so is pulling 500 pounds from the earth and dealing with life. If it is more than you care to picture, though, find another image that you can hold in your mind’s eye. It can’t be a comfortable image. Conjure something pushes you to react.

Breeding your culture of change and awakening your monster starts with asking questions. If you don’t know where to start, refer back to the BoySetsFire lyrics.

Where’s your anger? Where’s your fuckin’ rage?

Get Stronger,

Todd