What Is It: Ball to Wall Rhythmic Stabilizations

Who Did I Steal it From: Mike Reinold, the same guy whom I “stole” quadruped rhythmic stabilizations from a few months ago.

What Does It Do: As I’ve noted in the past, the main function of the rotator cuff isn’t so much external/internal rotation, as well as elevation of the humerus (although those are a few of its main actions); rather, the main job of the RC is to center the humeral head in the glenoid fossa, providing more dynamic stability.

While in the video I demonstrate the exercise being done in a closed-loop (predictable) fashion, ideally this exercise would be performed with a partner lightly tapping the forearm in a more open-loop (unpredictable) fashion.

Key Coaching Cues: It’s important to “pack” the shoulder DOWN throughout the duration of the exercise.  Many trainees make the mistake of “shrugging” and/or abducting (protracting) the shoulder blade, which defeats the whole purpose of the exercise in the first place.  From there, all you’ll do is gently move the ball in a multi-directional fashion - up, down, clockwise, counter-clockwise, etc.

Furthermore, if you’re going to do this with a partner, it’s important to note that he or she shouldn’t be too aggressive with the force they apply.  Again, all they need to do is gently tap the forearm - not try to break it.

All in all, you’re looking for 2-3 sets of 5-10 seconds per position (two in all), per arm.  Fist pump optional.  But what’s not optional is how I’m going to destroy the back of pants watching Inception this weekend.

1.  There are few things in life I hate more than apartment hunting.  At this point, I’d rather get kicked in the nuts every hour, on the hour, for the next 17,000 hours than go look at another apartment.  Hell, I’d even volunteer to go to a Coldplay concert to get a prostate exam at this point, I hate life so much right now.

Suffice it to say, my girlfriend and I spent the better part of the weekend speaking with real estate agents and checking a few places out, but alas, nothing really fell through.  I have a few appointments lined up this week though, so please, everyone, keep your fingers crossed for me/I’ll clean your dishes!

2.  I received an email last week from a former distance coaching client confirming, once again, that it is in fact possible to hit a 400 lb deadlift within a year of proper training.  It sent something like this:

Q: How many French Lit majors do you know who can deadlift 400?

A: …cause however many that is, you now know one more. I warmed up just like you told me to, so it went like this:

A1)   135×5
185×3
225×3
315×1
365×1
405xepic win

A2)   Flare lats at anyone who’ll look at me

So do I get to choose my superpower now or am I just the plaything of destiny?

It wasn’t until after the fact that he realized it was almost a year to the date that he started with me that he hit his goal.  It’s stuff like that that makes me realize that I have a pretty sweet job.  Nice work Cole!

3.  Speaking of deadlifts, Bret Contreras had an awesome article published over at Wannabebig.com that I thought was fantastic.  Check it out HERE.

4.  Keeping with the deadlift theme for a little while longer, it really, really, really, really, really amazes me just how clueless some people are.  Admittedly, I don’t spend a lot of time on Facebook everyday.  Sure I check-in on a daily basis to see what (real) friends of mine are up to, and I may post one of my blogs on there from time to time, but all in all, I’ll check my news feed once or twice a day, and that’s that.

I’d be a hypocrite if I said I didn’t use Facebook to self-promote myself and to establish a broader network of people to interact with on a professional basis.  Like I said, I’ll post blogs on occasion.  What’s more, I may reach out to other fitness professionals for interviews or just to talk some shop.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’m really turned off by those who use Facebook to do nothing but post countless, silly “status” updates, and do nothing but talk about themselves incessantly.

Listen, I get it.  On one hand, I realize that that is the nature of Facebook; me, me, and me.  On the other hand, however, I just feel that some people just take it to the douchey of douchiest degrees.

I remember a few weeks ago, a “fitness professional” posting a video of him or herself (I won’t name names) performing a deadlift, stating something to the affect of: “look at me and how awesome I am!!!”  Thing is, their form made my retinas perpetually bleed - it was THAT bad.  Worse still, just about everyone who commented on the thread congratulated this person on how great the lift was, and how impeccable their form was. Huh?  Did they not just see the same video I just saw???????  It just made me realize how much of a disconnect there is in our industry.   Sad, really.

5. Just when I thought a bad product couldn’t get any more ridiculous……….

You know for a fact that for one of these dudes, this was their “big break” into fitness modeling.  Poor guy. Here he is thinking that it couldn’t get any worse than being “the dude in the background” during a Tony Little infomercial, and now he’s going to be known for doing soft core porn. I guess it could have been worse - it could have been a commercial for industrial strength penis shrinking cream.  Such is life……

6.  And, just as a reminder - both Mike Robertson and Bill Hartman are hosting a pretty sweet seminar at I-FAST later this summer.  Outside of the Perform Better tour, this is undoubtedly going to be one of the better events this year!  Be sure to check it out HERE.

7. Came across this video from a local sports-talk show here in Boston (Toucher and Rich), and I had to share it with you guys. DOUBLE RAINBOWS!!!!!

Q: I have been reading your blog for some time now, and just want to tell you, I love what you have to say! I just wanted to ask you what your thoughts were on team training! I am a strength and conditioning coach at the high school level. I have anywhere from 45-60 kids in my athletic conditioning classes each day. I would love to be able to write each athlete a individualized workout but I do not have the space in the weight room for them to do that. What do you feel is the best way to train large groups in the weight room? I have 6 Power Racks, 1 Set of Dumbbells, with some other misc equipment.

A: Thanks for the question, as well as the kind words!  Training young kids can be bittersweet to say the least.  On one hand, it’s a great opportunity to teach them, early on, how to do things RIGHT!  Lets be honest, if it were possible, we’d all hop into our own Delorean and go back in time and knock some sense into our 16-22 year old selves.  Leg presses in the smith machine?  Really Tony?

Conversely, training young athletes can be a complete nightmare if done incorrecly - especially if you don’t have a game plan in place.  That said, here are some quick bullet point comments I’d like to say on the matter.

1.  Speaking bluntly, many (not all) tweeners/high school aged kids have the athleticism of a vacuum cleaner.  Far too often, rather than spending their free time playing kickball, wiffleball, riding their bikes, swimming, you name it - most kids are updating their Facebook page for the 37th time, texting their friends, and playing World of Warcraft.  It’s not uncommon to have a young athlete come into CP and find that he or she can’t even do a bodyweight reverse lunge without falling over.

As such, in the beginning, there is absolutely no need to get fancy with them.  Do yourself a favor and go to your local Home Depot and buy 15-20, five foot long, PVC pipes.  Regardless of equipment availability, PVC pipes will be your best commodity.

I know Dan John - who kinda knows a thing or two about training large groups of young athletes - will spend weeks, if not months using nothing but a PVC pipe.

2.  TECHNIQUE, TECHNIQUE, TECHNIQUE!!!  Again, this is where the PVC pipes will come in.  Overhead squats, front squats, deadlifts, as well as the OLY lifts can all be “grooved” using nothing but a plastic stick.

3.  Again, as I mentioned above - many kids just don’t move well.  That said, paying a lot of attention to movement quality is going to be important.  Implementing a formalized warm-up/dynamic flexibility circuit will go a long ways in setting them up for success in the future.  What’s more, it takes no equipment what-so-ever, so you can get as creative as you want here.  Again, stealing a concept from Dan John, “the warm-up is the workout.”

As an example, you could set up a station that looks something like this:

DB Suitcase Carry - 25 yds/side
Overhead PVC Squats x 10
1-Legged Hip Thrusters x 8/leg
Push-Ups x 8 (elevated for those that can’t perform them from the floor)
X-Band Series (assuming you have bands available)

Hip Mobility Drills w/ Hurdles
Jumping Jacks x 15
Fist Pump x 1/side

Do the above circuit THREE times through, and I guarantee they’ll feel it.

4.  Without question, a great way to build teamwork and camaraderie is to teach the kids how to spot one another, as well as load and un-load plates.  Each rack will have 4-5 athletes using it (give or take), so give each person a role.  You have the plate loader guy, the spotter, and we can’t forget the “all you, all you” guy.  In all seriousness, no one should be standing around twiddling their thumbs bored out of their mind.   So, put them to work!

5.  Really, one of the most important things to remember is to keep them moving, and KEEP IT FUN!  Of course, it’s going to be hard work in the beginning - you HAVE to coach your ass off.  But when all is said and done, it’s pretty impressive to see a well organized weight room in action.

I’m sure if I put more thought into it, I could come up with some more ideas, so please don’t take this as an exhaustive list.  Nevertheless, I hope it helps.

UPDATE: Speaking of Dan John, there is a slight possibility that he will be making a cameo appearance at Cressey Performance in mid-October for a one day workshop.

That said, I just wanted to get a feel for whether or not there would be any interest for those in or around the Boston area?  In case you’re wondering who this Dan John guy is, this would be analogous to Gandalf showing up at a Lord of the Rings convention.  It’s THAT big of a deal.  So, if you think you might be interested, please leave a comment below.

My car is almost eight years old.  It was the first major purchase I made after graduating from college, and to say that it has some sentimental value would be an understatement.  I love my car.  It just surpassed the 152,000 mile mark, and I’d be lying if I didn’t say I’m starting to think I should include “paying my mechanic’s mortgage” as part of my monthly budget.  A broken headlight here, replacing the timing belt there - you name it, it’s probably on the list.

That’s a few of the kids we train jump starting pushing my car outside the facility a few summers ago.

While driving home from Maine this past weekend, I noticed the temperature gauge for the engine fluctuating.  Granted it was hot.  Really hot.  But my car has never done that, and it’s definitely been through it’s fair share of hot summer days.  Nonetheless, there was definitely an uneasy feeling sinking in.

I called my mechanic this morning and told him the situation, and he said to drop it off and he’d take care of it.  Thing is, he’s located about three miles down the road from the facility - which happens to be 25 miles from my apartment.

Long story short - I get into my car and start driving through the city.  Nothing.  It seems fine.  I get on the highway, though -and BAM, the gauge darts up to “get the *bleep* off the road,” and I pull of on the next exit behind some random church parking lot.  I get out, lift the hood, and there’s smoke coming off the engine.  .  I called AAA to see if they could send a truck to tow my car.  FOUR hours later, sitting in 90-95 degree heat, a truck finally arrives.

Here’s the moral of the story.  I could have just as easily piss and moaned, hated the world, and dropped kicked every car that passed me while I was waiting.  But I didn’t.  I kinda wanted to, but I didn’t  Instead, I made lemonade out of lemons.

I grabbed the notepad that happened to be in my gym bag, and banged out a few client programs that I needed to write.  As well, since I had nothing better to do, I re-read the packet of power point presentations from the Optimal Shoulder Performance seminar that both Mike Reinold and Eric Cressey gave last winter.  It never ceases to amaze me how many more things I learn or pick up the second (or third) time around.  I made use of the time, and got things done that I otherwise wouldn’t have if I just decided to hate life and pout.

Suffice it to say, I finally made it to work, and I should have the car back tomorrow.  But it got me thinking just how much all of the above parallels with what many trainees deal with on a daily basis.  Take for instance, Worcester Academy pitcher Anthony Bilotta.  Going into this season he was touted as one of the best high school pitchers in Massachusetts. Coming off of two traumatic elbow “incidents” prior to coming to us, Anthony spent most of last winter at CP preparing for the upcoming season.  During his second start of the season, he hurt his elbow.  The straw that broke the camels back if you will.  Unfortunately, as is the case a small percentage of the time, his season came to an end earlier than expected and he ended up having to have UCL reconstructive surgery.

Rather than sulk about missing the entire season, guess who was back three weeks ago preparing for next season?  You guessed it……Anthony.  The kid is only a few weeks post surgery, and essentially only has one arm.  Yet he’s still getting after it four to five days per week, showing up at CP for his weekly training sessions.  In his own words: “I want to take this entire year and get as strong as possible and dominate next season.”

To his credit, he understands that he still has two legs, a core, and one arm we can train.  As such, he can still squat (albeit only with a safety squat bar), do various single leg movements (with weighted vests on, of course), train the other arm (which will undoubtedly carry over to the injured side), not to mention perform glute ham raises till he’s blue in face (and love every second of it). In short, he’s making lemonade out of lemons.

Similarly, we’ve had kids in back braces still come in and train on a regular basis, as well as clients on crutches!  They all took a bad situation and just ran with it.

So, the next time you skip a training session because you have a hang nail, or, I don’t know, you’re just too tired.  Think of Anthony.  You might learn a thing or two from him.

Holy mother of god, it’s hot as balls outside.  I think it hit 100 degrees here in the Boston area today.  And, as luck would have it, I picked the hottest day out of the year to go apartment searching.

NOTE: Does anyone else find it painfully uncomfortable when, despite the fact your realtor said you’d be stopping by at 4 o’clock to scope the place out, you arrive to check out someone’s apartment, and it’s blatantly obvious they weren’t expecting anyone to show up?   What’s more, you know that they know you’re judging them?

Wait, what was that?  Naw, no worries - I can barely smell the cat piss on the walls.

Nevertheless, the search is on yet again.  I’ve moved every year for the past six years, and I’m hoping that this next one will last me a while.  For the record, if anyone happens to be renting an apartment (or knows of anyone renting), in the Somerville/Brookline area let me know.  My only requirements are as follows:

- A parking spot for my tank.

- I can use my chainsaw whenever I want, even if it’s just to cut my toast.

- Toilet seat must be custom made with a gold plated finish.

- Pets must be allowed.  Including, but not limited to, dogs, panthers, komodo dragons, and sharks with lasers on their heads.

- heat and hot water included.

On that note I need to get back on Craigslist and continue my search.  In the meantime, however, I just wanted to share an interview I did for Bret Contreras over at his site last week.  Bret was gracious enough to take part in an interview on my site not too long ago (you can check out both parts here and here), and I was more than happy to reciprocate the sentiment when he asked me to do the same.  Check it out HERE.  It’s pretty awesome.

I had the opportunity to see Bill Burr perform live last fall when he came to Boston, and I quickly became a big fan.  Needless to say, he definitely has a knack for telling it like it is.  Here, he performs a bit on childhood obesity, and he definitely hits the nail on the head!

Just a little heads up, though - the video is NSFW, so it might be a good idea to turn down the volume on your computer.  Or, if your co-worker is always complaining about how their little snowflake can’t seem to lose any weight - turn that shit up!

On that note, I hope everyone has an awesome 4th!  I’m heading up to Maine this weekend with my girlfriend for some much needed dead animal flesh eating and not working.  I’m out.

The other day my inbox was inundated with THIS story of actress Gwyneth Paltrow reportedly being diagnosed with osteopenia, a precursor to the bone thinning disease, osteoporosis.

In light of my past transgressions towards Ms. Paltrow and her “intelligent as a ham-sandwich” trainer, Tracy Anderson, let me first say that I will never make light of someone’s misfortune.  The situation sucks, but if we’re going to look on the bright side of things, it seems as though she caught this early enough and should be able to reverse any damage that has already been done.

That said, with all the rainbows and puppy-dog kisses out of the way, let me just say WTF!!!!  At 37, I’m really hoping this is a wake-up call for Mrs. Coldplay. It can’t be a good feeling knowing that Betty White could kick your ass.

What’s more, does anyone else find it a bit comical that despite suffering from a fairly severe tibial plateau fracture a few years ago, she namely blames her condition on the fact that she was recently diagnosed with low levels of vitamin D? From her blog:

I went on a prescription strength level of Vitamin D and was told to…spend a bit of time in the sun! I was curious if this was safe, having been told for years to stay away from its dangerous rays, not to mention a tad bit confused. As we are all well schooled in the dangers of overexposure to the sun…..

Yep, 15 minutes of sun exposure a day is dangerous, but a decade’s worth of detox cleanses and macrobiotic dieting focusing on nothing but veggies, grains, soup, and fish is completely healthy!  Sorry, as much as I love my veggies, any diet that eliminates several food groups at a time and considers what mounts to sandpaper dipped in battery acid as a treat is borderline retarded.

Moreover,Gwyneth has also been quoted as saying that she trains six days per week following the routines that her trainer, Tracy Anderson gives her.  For those not in the loop, Tracy Anderson, in all her infinite wisdom, believes that no woman should lift a weight heavier than three lbs.  Ever.  Brilliant. Apparently she missed the part in exercise physiology class where you learn that, while strength training is a superb way to help prevent the onset of osteoporosis in women, you still need what’s called a Minimal Essential Strain (MES).  Doing cute arm-circles and leg lifts for hundreds of repetitions at a time ain’t gonna cut it.  Nice work Tracy!

Nevertheless, this story really hits home with me because as someone who makes his living training women on a daily basis, this is the kind of thing that I’m constantly trying to fight.  As much as I try to educate women on the merits of strength training and that eating calories is actually a good thing, I sometimes feel it’s a no-win situation when you’re battling the likes of People Magazine and Access Hollywood.

I’ll keep fighting the good fight, though.  And, with any luck, maybe someone will hear me

The following is a question I had from a client the other week.

Q:  So, I’m headed to Cancun for vacation, food is all inclusive so I will be eating so much dead animal meat you would even be proud and I will go easy on the drinking. Any suggestions on what to do as far as diet while on vacation?  What did you do in Puerto Rico?  Did you take your supplements?

A: Dude, you’re going on vacation. An all inclusive vacation at that - don’t be an a-hole.  Have fun.  At the same time, however, this doesn’t mean you have free reign to eat and drink all you want, ALL the time.  Why spend all those weeks getting into peak shape for vacation, only to see the fruits of your labor go down the drain in a matter of a week?  And for what?  All-you-can-eat nachos?????

I’m not saying you have to deprive yourself (again, you ARE on vacation), and lets be honest, one week of letting loose (probably) isn’t going to be the end of the world - but that certainly doesn’t mean it wouldn’t hurt to do a little “damage control” while you’re down there.

That said, when we went to Puerto Rico a few weeks ago, my girlfriend and I made it a point to check out where the nearest grocery store was (five minute walk away, SCORE!!!) and then made arrangements to have an extra fridge put in our room.  As soon as we got to our hotel, we un-packed and immediately headed over to the store to stock up on some staples - fresh fruit, veggies, oatmeal, almond milk, hummus, beef jerky, mixed nuts, etc.  Here’s a pic I took from our hotel room:

Yes, that’s a bottle of rum on the counter.  Yes, I had my first drink (or two) in like ten years while I was down there.  And yes, I think I ended up making out with the hair dryer as a result.  Honest mistake.

In any case, by doing just a little prep work, we didn’t have to spend an inordinate amount of money buying expensive meals every time we wanted to eat.  Sorry, I’m not paying $16 for a sandwich.  What’s more, from an ingredients standpoint, we weren’t thrown any curve-balls and knew exactly what we were eating.  Of course, you won’t have to worry about that since all your food is paid for - but it stands to reason that they’ll have plenty of healthy options for you to choose from.

All in all, after we hit the gym the morning we’d eat breakfast in our room and then pack a cooler to bring along with us to the pool.  At night, though, we’d hit off some of the nearby restaurants and try the local cuisine.  Dessert included.  The way I saw it, I wasn’t about to be a Johnny Raincloud and not enjoy myself and live life a little while down there.

As far as supplements, I did bring some on the trip. I brought fish oil, protein powder, and a probiotic.  That’s it.

All in all, to reiterate, you’re going on vacation - enjoy it for peets sake!  But if you’re looking for a little advice on how to keep it somewhat “clean,” then I think the points given above would be a great starting point.  If anyone else has any other suggestions, feel free to leave them below in the comments section.

The Best Postural Stretch? - Mike Reinold

A nice post from Mike concerning sitting posture, and what we can do to counteract it.  While I’m a little reluctant to go so far as to say that this stretch is a good idea for everyone (it isn’t), it does bring up some valid points with regards to just how flexion dominant our society is (cool chart Mike!).  I mean, regardless of whether or not you agree with his assertion, it stands to reason that something is better than nothing - even if we have to modify it .

That said, be sure to check out the comments section when you can.  Some great discussion there!

Puppies in the Vices: The Deleterious Effects of Sitting - Bret Contreras

If there was ever an Ann Rand award given to the fitness professional who writes the longest blog posts ever, Bret would win hands down every time.  In addition, much like Rand, he also writes some of the most introspective and thought provoking posts as well.  While it may actually take you the entire work day to read it, it’s spectacular nonetheless.

Weight Training Women - Ammi

I know I haven’t written a lot of “women only” content lately, but to make up for it, here’s a great post by a woman named Ammi who, although I have no idea who she is, has many of the same thoughts and concerns about women and training as I do.  As such, I decided to check her stuff out, and found this post which I felt was was spot on.   I’d definitely add this to my list of “go to” training sites for women.

Kind of short on time this morning, so rather than not write anything - I decided I’d share a quick email I received from one of my distance coaching clients over the weekend.   We’ve been working together for a little over a month now, and he’s a great kid.  He’s highly motivated, and just wants to learn more in the hopes of sometime down the road working in the industry himself.  Well that, and he wants to make girls want to hang out with him more.

Anyways, I generally ask that clients send me weekly updates in case I need to tweak things here and there.  Or, sometimes, they just write me to vent or to relay a funny gym story.  Like this:

Thought you might like this…So I needed the cable machine at the gym this morning, but idiot trainer and his dumb-ass client used the thing for half an hour doing tricep kickbacks (just beautiful form of course). In frustration I farted on em and went on to destroy my hip flexors.

That is all

You know how whenever someone reads something funny they always say, “OMG, I totally just spit my diet Coke/coffee/heart medication all over my computer screen!” ?  Well, replace diet Coke (or whatever) with protein shake, and you’ve got my exact reaction Saturday morning.  Priceless.