Understandably, when most people see the the term “two-a-days,” they immediately think of football, and  the torturous sessions that the vast majority of high school, college, and professional coaches take their players through to get them ready for the upcoming season.  For the record, this is not what I’m referring to.

As it is, the only form of organized football I played was back in 7th grade, when my biology teacher Mr. Ott encouraged me to try out for the Junior High team - all 112 lbs of me.  It didn’t take long to realize that the only form football I actually cared for, and allowed me to live to see another day was Tecmo Super Bowl

Needless to say, after one week, I politely walked up to the coach and said, “I’m out,” and handed in my pads.

Up until this week, that was the only experience I had with two-a-days.

Long story short, I’ve always wanted to experiment with training twice per day.  Numerous strength coaches have written about it in the past - Christian Thibaudeau, Charles Poliquin, not to mention a cornucopia of obscure Russian coaches whose names I can’t pronounce, to name a few.  The most popular approach (at least the one most written about) entails hitting a major compound movement in the AM (say a heavy squat or deadlift), which would have more of a neural/CNS (Central Nervous System) demand.  A few hours later, you go back and do additional “accessory” work targeting the same muscle group with a high(er) rep scheme, which as you might have guessed, would have more of a muscular demand or emphasis.  Gettin swole if you will.

It may look something like this:

AM Session:

A1.  Front Squats 8×3
A2.  Eat Dead Animal Flesh

PM Session:

A1.  DB Bulgarian Split Squats 4×6/leg
A2.  Slideboard Bodysaws 3×10

B1.  Glute Ham Raise 3×8
B2.  Sled Drags (30 yds) - 3×1 trip

C. Maybe some form of metabolic finisher depending on whether or not you want to vomit.

As you can see, the AM session is short and to the point.  20-30 minutes tops (counting warm-ups).  Conversely, the PM session can be a tad longer (30-40 minutes), but you’re still moving at a pretty decent pace.

The advantages are self explanatory: you get stronger, and pack on slabs of muscle to boot (assuming you’re smart enough to set up programming correctly, are getting enough calories, and allow ample time for proper rest/recovery).  As well, it also allows you take the AM session and really try to focus on ONE lift and really give your all.  I like that idea.  Conversely, in the PM session, you have a little autonomy and can have a little fun with it and do stupid stuff.  This may or may not entail gettin gunny.

The disadvantages, though, are just as self explanatory, if not downright commonsensical:  it’s hard as balls, impractical for most (outside of professional athletes, who has time to train twice per day?), and did I mention it’s hard as balls?

Suffice it to say, I’ve always been intrigued by the notion of training twice per day, and while I have toyed with it in the past (example: sprinting in the AM, getting my lift on in the PM), I’ve never really given it a true trial run.

I’m giving it a go starting this week, along with my new training partner for the summer, Matt Cooney.  Albeit, we’re only doing it twice per week (Tuesdays and Thursdays - one is a lower body day, and the other is an upper body day).  Moreover, we’re only doing it for a month.  What’s more, I’m really going to take the second session of each day and really hammer on glaring weaknesses I have.  For example, today I incorporated some Turkish get-ups and slideboard conditioning into the mix, and I hated life for it.

I still have to tweak a few things and come up with a concrete strategy, but I think this is going to be pretty sweet (and fun). If people are interested, I’ll post some of the training sessions here on my blog.  On to the madness……..

Q: First off, your blog is fantastic. I wish you could show up at the gym I go to and smack all the morons around. Unfortunately, I go to a Planet Fitness because most gyms in NYC where I live are quite expensive, so I do what I can.

Anyway, I want to become a CPT and wanted to ask if you recommended the NSCA, or if you think another organization would be more effective? It looks like it’s the most expensive one, but I assume that’s because it’s the best?  Thanks for the advice, I truly appreciate it!

A: Thanks for writing, and for the kind words as well!  I know it sounds cliche, but I really do appreciate all the support that people show towards the blog.   I know it’s not quite a “geeky” as some people want it to be, but that’s because I’d rather talk about chainsaws and boobs than how the anterior fibers of the glute medius assist in hip internal rotation.

In any case, lets get to the heart of the matter.  With regards to the CPT (Certified Personal Trainer, for those unfamiliar), I’m going to play the “biased” card and say that the NSCA - despite the recent hooplah over uninviting Mike Boyle from speaking at their national conference this year - is definitely one of the gold-standard certifications you can get in the industry.  Although, for the sake of brevity, I’d also place the NASM and ACSM certifications in there as well.

In the grand scheme of things, however, you’re going to have to get certified through someone in order to get your foot in the door.  Most gyms require that their trainers be certified.  Sadly, some do not.  Seemingly, so long as someone looks the part or, I don’t know, has a tribal tattoo on their bicep, that’s all a gym owner wants in order to hire someone.

Most establishments are going to require a specific certification in order to work for them (NSCA, NASM, ACSM, NINJA**, etc).  Concurrently, for other places it won’t matter -  they just want to see that you’re certified.  Which, for the record, isn’t saying much since I could probably search online right now, and in a matter of minutes, get my electric toothbrush certified as a personal trainer for one easy payment of $49.95.  I’m only slightly kidding.

All in all, it comes down to this.  You need to get certified - preferably not through the interwebz. If money is an issue, then by all means go with one of the cheaper options. Who cares, it’s just a piece of paper.  Just because you go through a cheaper organization doesn’t mean you’re any less knowledgeable or qualified than someone who paid more money. Believe me, I’ve met a lot of trainers and coaches who are certified through some very reputable organizations who don’t know their ass from their asshole.

That said, regardless of which organization you decide to go through, what you do with it is up to you. In my mind, what separates the good trainers from the bad trainers isn’t so much who they’re certified through or how many letters they have next to their name as it is how much pride they take in making themselves better.

Are they making it a point to attend seminars and conferences?

Are they reading books, journals, blogs, articles on a daily basis?

Are they establishing networks with other fitness professionals?

Can they actually coach a real live person, or are they just someone who “thinks” they know what they’re talking about because they have 23,769 posts on some internet forum?

You get the picture.  In the end, that is what really matters.  I hope that helps, and good luck!

** For the record, this isn’t a real certification.  But lets be blunt - if you’re a ninja, it’s pretty much common knowledge you can get a job anywhere you damn well please.

1.  I’m changing things around a bit today.  Normally I do my blogging in the mornings.  Typically I get up between 5:30-7AM, take my morning piss, turn on my laptop, walk into the kitchen to make breakfast, prepare my meals for the day while waiting for breakfast, eat breakfast, and then spend the rest of morning doing any number of things ranging from writing programs, answering emails, writing articles (failing miserably in this department), reading, and/or blogging - all before I head to CP for the day.

To be blunt, my mornings are a cluster**** and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t wish I had more time to read more of the stuff I’d like to be reading.  I’m at a point where I feel like I’m forgetting more than I know, and it’s not a good feeling.

That said, I’m taking a bit of advice from Nate Green, and I’m going to experiment with doing more of my writing at night.  I don’t know, I’m hoping that by doing so I’ll feel a little more productive and my brain won’t feel so stagnant.

What’s more, by switching up my schedule this way, it will free up a little more time in the mornings for me to catch up on some reading/sun-bathing.  I’m not kidding when I say I’m whiter than a Maroon 5 concert.

Nonetheless, for the foreseeable future, I’ll be doing my blogging at night from now on.

2. And, for those who could give a rats ass, and are wondering why they’ve wasted 47 seconds of their life reading this first entry, and are also wondering why the hell I haven’t included any pics of random hot chicks recently - here’s a picture of British actress Sophie Winkleman

3.  I was talking with a few of our interns the other day about assessment, and one of the major points that I wanted to convey to them was that an assessment (at least in the general sense) isn’t to showcase to the client how much they suck at everything.  In other words, as a personal trainer or coach, the goal of the assessment isn’t so much to chastise the client to the point where they feel they can’t do anything correctly.

Rather, the main objective of the assessment is to ascertain what weaknesses - if any - the client may have in order to come up with the proper programming that will help him of her reach their goals in the quickest and safest manner possible.

Let me be clear.  I am NOT downplaying the importance of an assessment.  On the contrary, I think if you’re not doing some sort of assessment, you’re missing the boat entirely.  I think far too often, though, many in the industry go out of their way to look for a dysfunction - no matter how minute it is - for no other reason than to try to prove to the person that they know what they’re talking about.

While there’s certainly nothing wrong with pointing out a few things to a prospective client, try not to make it a habit to seek out stuff for the sake of seeking out stuff. If a dysfunction is there, it will present itself - you don’t need to spend 45 minutes testing someone’s glutes.  Take them them through your general assessment and then get them moving!  Get them out on the floor and watch them walk, pick up DB’s, bend over to grab a bar, perform a lunge, etc.  Trust me, you’ll be surprised at what you’ll find.

4. This has got to be one of the funniest things I have watched in a long time.

5.  Just when I thought the nuclear bomb of retard sauce that is Tracy Anderson couldn’t grow anymore, I read THIS the other day, and couldn’t help but feel her influence on the matter.  Wait, why am I defending the fact that I’m writing about how much Tracy Anderson sucks?  That’s like rationalizing why the ocean’s blue.  Or Lindsay Lohan likes coke.  Some things just are.

6.  Mark Young wrote a post over on his blog titled You Feed Your Kids What?, that I felt was absolutely fantastic.  I couldn’t agree more with what he had to say, and I wholeheartedly feel that parents need to suck it up and take more accountability with what their kids are eating on a daily basis.

I received this email from one of my female clients yesterday:

Today at the gym I was chatting with a girl who has recently gotten into lifting. She comes to spin a lot. I told her I was so psyched she was lifting etc etc. She was discouraged because the lbs weren’t coming off (started 2 weeks ago). Then, THIS CAME OUT: “I have been sure not to eat more than 1000 calories a day too”. Guess what she is by profession?  A nutritionist!!  Saaaad.

Wow, just wow.  Can you imagine what it’s like to be a client of this “nutritionist”???????  I’d love to be a fly on the wall as she takes a client through a session:

Nutritionist: So, how have things been going since the last time I we met?

Client: Okay, I guess.  I’ve been following everything you’ve told me to do.  The first month was great - I lost like ten lbs and was really motivated, but ever since then I feel like I’ve hit a wall.  I mean, I can’t walk more than ten feet without feeling like I’m going to faint, I have no energy at all during the day, I haven’t menstruated in three months, and I’m pretty sure the last time I had a bowel movement was Valentine’s Day.

Nutritionist:  Hmmm, I see.  Well, after looking at your food log, it’s readily apparent that we need to lower your calories even more.

Client: Are you sure?

Nutritionist: Trust me, I read like three books, I know what I’m talking about.

Client: Okay. I guess I’ll see you in a few weeks.  Actually, can you help me up?  I can’t feel the left side of my body.

How can someone call themselves a nutritionist and not understand basic physiology?  1000 calories a day?  Really?  Does she not realize that the whole “subtract 500 calories a day thing” only works for so long?

Sure, if you burn 500 more calories than you take in every day, you’ll probably lose roughly one pound per week.  Thing is, as one study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (88: 906, 2008) showed, once someone has lost roughly 10% of their bodyweight, the body - afraid of starving - starts to burn fewer and fewer calories.

In short, the body becomes a more efficient engine.  It’s gone from a Cadillac to a motorcycle - it’s getting more miles per gallon, and it’s a smaller vehicle.  By continuing to lower calories lower and lower, you’re just telling the body to go into preservation mode.  As a result, the last thing on it’s agenda is to burn fat.  Contrarily, it will want to hold on to as much fat as possible.

This is why I always tell my clients that when it comes to fat loss - while calorie control is important - it’s not the end all be all.  Dieting alone will only take you so far.  This is why lifting heavy things is so crucial to one’s overall success.  Not only will you maintain more lean body mass while dieting (a good thing), but you may actually build some muscle, which will burn more calories in the long run.  In the end, you may not necessarily have to decrease your overall food intake that much.

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, and since I’m sitting here stuffing my face with a peanut butter and banana sandwich, and only have like 15 minutes before I need to leave to go to work, lets get right to it.

What Is It: It’s the Pallof press, albeit with a subtle tweak.  Instead of just standing there in one place as you would with the original version, here you’re going to add lateral movement, which makes the exercise noticeably more challenging to the core as well as the hip stabilizers.

What Does It Do: Trains core stability, as well as activates the hip stabilizers.  Trust me, it’s harder than it looks.

Key Coaching Cues: You’re going to start with an athletic position - feet slightly past shoulder width apart, shoulders retracted, and knees slightly bent.  “Press” the cable out and hold with your arms fully extended out in front of you.  From there, you’ll want to brace as hard as you can, and then side shuffle away from the cable apparatus.  It’s important, though, that you keep your hips level throughout the duration of the exercise.  Two cues I like to use are:

Pretend your hips are the headlights of a car - they must stay level

OR

Act as if your hips are a glass of water - you don’t want to spill anything onto the floor.

Either one will work, and should get the point across.  All in all, you want to side shuffle as far out away from the apparatus as you can (generally 4-5 shuffles), and then back for a total of 3-5 reps/side per set.

And let me just say right off the bat, you won’t need to use a ton of weight with this exercise.  Far too often, people load this up and end up butchering it to the point where it defeats the whole purpose of the exercise in the first place.  So, don’t be a hero.  Honestly, I’d be surprised if anyone could go past the 3rd-4th pin on the weight stack.

Try it out today and let me know what you think!

Leg Curls……… - Charlie Weingroff

What’s more useful:  leg curls or a poop flavored lollipop?  Oh, uh, hmmmm.  Lets see.  Give me a minute…..

Finding a Personal Trainer: 2 Questions You MUST Ask - Mike Robertson

I get my fair share of emails from friends and family asking me how they can go about finding a good personal trainer.  I usually tell them to walk in, and ask them if they can name three out of the four rotator cuff muscles.  If they can’t - walk away, fast.

Here, Mike sheds some insight on two very important questions to ask, and I couldn’t agree more.

CrossFit Qualms in the Running World - Carson Boddicker

While I have my issues with CrossFit, I do understand that when it’s done right, it can be a valuable tool in the toolbox.  I get it.  There’s a lot to be said about working hard for the sake of working hard.  Most people (read 99%) you see in your local commercial gym have no idea what it’s like to actually push themselves. That doesn’t necessarily mean, however, that performing 692 burpees followed by 20 minutes of max effort deadlifts while climbing Mt. Everest on a BOSU ball, is the way to go either.

Nevertheless, Carson offers some insight into whether or not CrossFit has any applicability in the endurance world.

Sundays tend to be the one day out of the week where I’m able to slow down, take a deep breath, and catch up on life.  Put another way, grocery shopping, laundry, or whatever else the GF tells me to do.  As well, Sundays also allow me some time to catch up on some reading or any other form of continuing education (Webinars, podcasts,DVDs, etc) that I don’t have a chance to get to during the week.

This past weekend, I was able to watch two things.  The first, admittedly, had nothing to do with strength and conditioning, but was pretty badass nonetheless.

As I noted a few weeks ago, I plowed through The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo while I was on vacation, and it ended up being one of the most entertaining books I’ve read recently.  For anyone who likes mystery/thrillers, this is a must read.  Likewise, the film - which was made in Sweden a few years ago - was released here in the U.S a few weeks ago, and I was able to go see it this past Friday night.

Much like the book, it was easily one of the better movies I’ve seen this year - which is surprising considering most film adaptations make me want to melt my face off with a blow torch.  Read: they suck.

UPDATE: I spoke too soon.  I just read this morning that there are plans to make an American version for a release date sometime in 2012.  So it may suck after all.  I swear to god Hollywood, if you cast some no-talent assclown like Keanu Reeves to star in this, I’ll boycott you for like a week.   And I’ll send you up to your room with no dinner.

Alright with that out of the way, I can discuss the other thing I watched over the weekend -  Dr. Stuart McGill’s DVD The Ultimate Back: Enhancing Performance.

They might have just as well titled the DVD Dr. Stuart McGill Drops Knowledge Bombs All Over Your Ass, because that is exactly what he does in this video.  The main objective of the DVD, of course, is to guide the user through some basic assessments (as well as showcase some fantastic exercise progressions), which in turn will give the viewer the tools he or she will need to write effective programming.

Without giving away too much, I will say that the main objective of the DVD is to outline the 5 Stages of Building the Ultimate Back; which are divided into five sections

- Corrective/Therapeutic Exercise
- Stability/Mobility Considerations
- Endurance
- Strength
- Speed Power

While I obviously took a lot away from the DVD, one of the main things that stood out (at least for me, and especially as someone who has worked with his fair share of people with lower back pain), was how many people are quick to skip steps.

I recently started working with a client who has been hampered by a nagging back injury which not only has affected his training, but his everyday life as well.  To make a long story short, among other things, he can’t sit for long periods of times without discomfort, yet his first question to me was “when can I deadlift?”

Uh, hello????  How about we work on the fact that you can’t bend over without wincing in pain before we worry about that deadlift?  Likewise, while I can appreciate his enthusiasm, my job as his coach is hold him back a bit, and to get him to understand that fixing and/or correcting any aberrant motor pattens should be his first priority.

For example, lets take something as common as someone’s breathing patterns.  If said individual doesn’t know how to use their diaphragm correctly, and as a result tends to be more of a “chest breather,” what do you think will happen?  The muscles of their lower back will become hyper-tonic due to the repeated pattern of hyper-extending their lumbar spine, hundreds, if not thousand of times per day.  Take this bad pattern and draw it out over the course of days, weeks, months, and years, and you can see how this can wreck havoc on one’s spine health.

Similarly, take someone with poor upward rotation of the scapulae, and what do you think will happen every time you ask them to lift something over their head?  Again, they’ll compensate by hyper-extending their lumbar spine.  This is particularly important for anyone who trains overhead athletes.  Improve their upward rotation, and I’m willing to bet their lower back (and their shoulder) will feel better.

Along the same lines, whether we’re discussing people who sit in flexion all day in front of their computers, or those who carry heavy bags or backpacks over their shoulders, or even those who don’t realize that how they sit down and get up out of their chair affects their spine on a day-to-day basis - it’s imperative to get them to understand that they need to spend sufficient time fixing all those aberrant motor pattens before they’ll see ANY improvements in the weight room.  In short, DON’T SKIP STEPS FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!!!

At some point in our lives, 80% of people will have some form of lower back pain.  While lower back pain can be attributed to any number of things - aberrant motor patterns, mobility/stability deficits, lack of spinal endurance, or blunt trauma , to name a few -  I’d go so far as to say that 75% of those people (the ones who are physically active anyways) will usually point their finger at one specific training session where they tweaked their back performing either a squat or a deadlift.

Not surprisingly, these are the same people who will scour the message boards, tirelessly, warning people of the dangers of squatting and deadlifting.

Of course, if we were to dig deeper, we’d find out that their version of a squat is more like a rounded back goodmorning, and what they consider a deadlift is basically an epileptic seizure.

Nonetheless, the point I’m trying to make is that it’s rarely the exercise that’s the problem - it’s the lifter.  Both Eric and myself have always stated that there’s really no such thing as a contraindicated exercise, rather there are contraindicated exercisers.

Take someone with poor hip internal rotation, place a bar on his or her back, and have them squat, you’re probably asking for trouble.  Likewise, take someone with poor kinesthetic awareness, and have him or her try to lift a loaded barbell off the ground, and you’re bound to have issues.  Not always, of course.  But the risk increases exponentially when you have an unprepared lifter attempt an exercise that he or she isn’t ready for.

That said, I still believe that EVERYONE should learn how to squat and deadlift.  Both are basic human movement patterns that, for whatever reason: whether it’s poor mobility, some sort of kinetic dysfunction, inactive lifestyle, lack of core stability, tight this, stiff that - many people have forgotten how to do properly.  It doesn’t mean, though, they can’t re-learn it.

For example, the owner of the building where CP is located comes in and trains with me 2-3 times per week. He’s 70+ years old, which tells you a lot given that most people his age are sitting at home watching Murder She Wrote re-runs.

Unfortunately, though, while he has the spit and vinegar of a 20 year old, he still has the knees of a 70 year old.  As such, he about had a heart-attack the day I told him we were going to squat.  Matter of fact, it went something like this

Me: Jim, we’re going to squat today.

Jim: What the **** do you mean we’re going to ****ing squat?  Are you trying to kill me?  You know back in the day, I used to walk three miles to and from school in four feet of snow…..barefoot.   I used to hunt bear with a sling shot.  Dammit, I could have shown you young whipper-snappers a thing or two.

Once the dust settled, and I was able to explain some simple progressions we were going to take, we headed over to the TRX and I had him do a few sets of un-loaded, DEEP, body weight squats…..pain free.  He was sold.

Moreover, the same can be said about anyone with limited hip or thoracic mobility - which can make deadlifting from the floor a bit problematic.  Instead of trying to hammer square pegs into round holes, we can use something like the trap bar (with an elevated setting) which makes things infinitely more manageable, and safer.

Matter of fact, we don’t have to limit this to just squats and deadlifts.  Someone’s shoulder hurts when they bench?  While the simple answer would be to tell them to:

- Stop benching three times per week
- Implement more horizontal rowing into the picture, to the tune of 2:1, or even a 3:1 (pull/push) ratio.
- Push-ups, push-ups, and more push-ups
- Work on their technique, cause it sucks
- Add in more dynamic stabilization drills for the rotator cuff, like THIS
- Get some aggressive soft-tissue therapy done, whether it’s Graston, ART, or massage

Okay, so it’s not that simple.  As such, since most are going to bench anyways, why not show them some better alternatives, like floor presses or board presses?  They’ll still be able to “bench,” albeit with infinitely less stress on the shoulders.  Along with the stuff mentioned above, in a matter of weeks, they could be back to benching pain-free in no time!

In the end, it comes down to understanding that there are contraindicated lifters, not contraindicated exercises.  Understanding this point, as well as being able to make the necessary progressions, is oftentimes what separates the great trainers from the not so great.

Q: I’ve been an avid reader for a while now and know that you’d rather stick pins in your eyes than do ’crunches’ or some such for your abz.  That said, I was interested to know your thoughts about exercises that train the mid-section for show as much go?  Assuming you have your bodyfat down to single digits, what’s the optimal road to Ab-ville?

A: Well for starters, people need to understand that they’re not as lean as they think they are.  Almost always, people drastically under-estimate what their actual body fat percentage is.  It’s amazing to me how many guys are walking around claiming their at 6-8% body fat (which is magazine cover conditioning mind you), yet can’t even see one ab, let alone an entire six pack.

Similarly, this is on par with how every gym has that guy who’s struggling with 225 lbs on the bar, claiming he used to rep out 400 lbs on the bench press…….without warming up……….back in high school.  You know, before that nagging shoulder injury he suffered during the 1983 state football championship, where he scored 18 touchdowns (nine rushing, five passing, and four receiving), and was given his very own bald eagle by Arnold Schwarzenegger himself, put an end to everything.

All kidding aside, even if one’s goal is purely aesthetics, and they really do have single digit body fat (read, they don’t), and they could give a rats ass about how much weight they’re lifting, I still wouldn’t have them do any crunches.

Can sit-ups and/or crunches help someone attain a six pack?  Maybe, but at what expense?  I mean, Dr. Stuart McGill (who’s basically the world’s ninja when it comes to lower back stuff) has routinely shown that repeated flexion is the mechanism for disc herniation.

Not many people realize this, but every crunch - or sit-up for that matter - you do places 3300 N (roughly 760 lbs) of compressive load on the lumbar spine.  To use a great analogy given by Mike Boyle, it’s like taking a credit card and bending it back and forth - over, and over, and over, and over again.  Soon, it’s going to break in half.  That’s your spine every time you do a crunch or sit-up on a SWISS ball, Bender ball, or any other infomercial you see being advertised at two in the morning.

Of course, there ARE safe(r) ways to perform a crunch, but given that most people butcher them anyways, I just think the risk far outweighs the reward.

What’s more, when discussing the ramifications that hundreds (sometimes even thousands) of repetitions of crunches per day has on things such as neck pain, shoulder health, and more importantly, posture -  it’s hard for me to make a case to advocate that people implement crunches and sit-ups into their programming.

That said, here’s what I would suggest (assuming one is already at single digit bodyfat)

1.  Be honest with yourself.  Are you really single digit body fat?  I’ve heard numbers thrown around, but I feel that if you’re around 10%, you should be able to clearly see a six pack.  If not, you need to get less fat.

2.  The leaner you are, the harder it is to get leaner.  Unfortunately, the body doesn’t differentiate between you trying to get girls to want to hang out with you, and starving.  That’s why it’s so much harder to go from 10-6% body fat, than it is to go from 20-10% body fat.  I could go into detail about beta and alpha-2 adreno-receptors, hormone sensitive lipase, T3-T4, and how all these different hormones come into play when it comes to losing those last few lbs of stubborn body fat, but luckily someone a lot smarter than myself already wrote an entire book on the topic.  I HIGHLY suggest you check it out.

3.  Separate your ab training into four different categories (ala Mike Robertson), and hit one movement per training session:

Anti-Extension: med ball work, barbell roll-out/ab wheel variations

Anti-Lateral Flexion: off-set farmer carries, suitcase deadlifts, waiter carries, etc

Anti-Rotation (Rotary) Training: Pallof press variations, chops/lifts (split stance, tall kneeling, standing), etc

Hip Flexion w/ Neutral Spine: jackknifes, etc.

4.  Lift heavy stuff.  It sounds cliche, but those who make it a point to lift something heavy each session, tend to have a pretty nice set of STRONG abs. Ditch the leg curls, leg extensions, leg presses, lat pulldowns, and pec deck- the world would be a better place without them.  Instead, start each session with either a heavy squat variation (front squats ideally), deadlift variation, or chin-up variation.  Thank me later.

5.  Improving your conditioning probably wouldn’t hurt either.  I’ve never met a body composition issue that couldn’t be solved without a day of 400M tempo runs and/or a day (or two) of Airdyne bike intervals.  And, for the record, if you don’t hate life after doing either of the two, you’re not going nearly hard enough.

It’s hard to say without knowing the full picture, of course, what someone needs to do in order to really dial it in and get those abs to pop.  Nevertheless, I feel the points made above would be a good place to start for just about anyone looking for that road to ab-vile.  Have any tips yourself?  Leave them in the comment section below….

Unfortunately I didn’t have time to post this in the morning, but because I had a guilty conscience, I decided I’d sit down in front of the computer here at work and jot down a few random musings before I head home for the night.  Jesus, I love you guys.

1.  We’re definitely back in full swing at CP.  With the high school baseball season coming to an end (state play-offs started over the weekend), many of our athletes are making their way back in this week.  As well, many of our college athletes (who are home for the summer) are back and ready to get back after it.

Today, though, was a pretty diverse day to say the least.  In a span of two hours we had a US National Rugby player, the world’s defending female Ironman Brazil champion (Dede Griesbauer, who finished 2nd this year), a former divison I heptathlete training for the 2012 Olympic trials, a professional hockey player, a soccer player, and to top it off, two professional online poker players who, at times, make more in one hour than I do in a week.

In addition, we have visitors in from the UK and Wales, who are here observing for the week, which is great because it gives me a legitimate reason to walk around calling people wankers all week.

2.  The 2010 Major League Amateur Draft starts tonight, with the first round being televised on the MLB Network as I type this blog.  While we’re not expecting any of our guys to be selected tonight, we’re definitely going to be paying attention tomorrow as several of them are going to get the call at some point.  Needless to say, we’re ecstatic and can’t wait to see what they can do this summer.  Honestly, this is one of the many reasons why I love my job.  It’s a great feeling to see all the hard work these guys do - busting their tails throughout the year - and see all that hard work payoff in the end.  Well that, and all the free t-shirts.  It’s all about the free t-shirts.

3. An amazing thing happened the other night.  No, I didn’t sleep without my night light.  And no, I didn’t pee with the toilet seat up.  Nope, for the first time in my life, I actually ordered a seafood platter at a restaurant.  If you would have asked me a year ago to list things I’d most likely do before I willingly ordered seafood, it would have looked something like this:

- teach a yoga class dressed in drag

- turn on a vacuum cleaner

- watch an episode of Glee and not want to place my balls in a jar

Seriously, I thought Lady Gaga would win a Nobel Prize in Not Sucking before I ate seafood.  Nevertheless, there I was last Saturday night, off a client’s recommendation, ordering the grilled spice crusted mahi-mahi at the East Coast Grill (in Cambridge).  To say that my girlfriend was shocked would have been an understatement.  Ever since we started dating last year, I have adamently refused to eat any form of seafood whenever we go out to eat.  Slowly, she has gradually encouraged me to broaden my horizons, and I have to say, it was delicious.  It will be a cold day in hell before I eat calimari, though.  Just sayin……

4.  Mike Robertson is offering a pretty sweet early bird discount for his upcoming 2010 Midwest Performance Enhancement Seminar.  As it is, up until June 24th, he’s offering a rate of $149 per person, which is steal considering the likes of Brian Grasso, Brett Jones, Lee Taft, Pat Rigsby, Bill Hartman, and of course, Mike himself will be speaking.  Be sure to act now, and take advantage of the savings, as the price will go up to $199 after June 24th and stay at that rate until the date of seminar itself.

Click HERE for more information.

5.  Last, but not least, do yourself a favor and cancel your cable.  Ever since I did so a few months ago, I just find that I’m in a better mood on a day-to-day basis.  Ignorance is bliss.