For some people, back issues are bad enough to make any slight deviation in a normal movement cause pain.  Because of this, an exercise like a squat is out of the question for awhile.  In one of my client's cases, stability needs to be developed around the lumbar spine by increasing endurance in the abdominal wall and glute function needs to be enhanced while learning to properly drive through the hips instead of the low back.  Here is a great beginning exercise to take care of both of these things at once.

In this video, you can see that Dick's trunk stays nice and stable.  You can also see the good tone that he has in his glute as it contracts during hip extension.  Both of these things have come a long way since he started and is noticeable even when he walks.  We start on an incline to make things easier and will progress lower as we go. Obviously, there has to be progression from here but this is a great exercise to build some framework and develop appropriate movement patterns with for someone with deeper issues. 


On a couple of side notes, massage therapy school is going good so far and I've already been getting into some hands-on bodywork and its a lot of fun.  I really think adding this to my services will take things to the next level and am very excited. 

My training has continued to go great lately. I hit 300lbs+~40lbs of chain on medium grip floor press for a single last week and have done some semi heavy squatting and it feels good.  Glutes and obliques have continued to get much stronger and technique feels good on everything.  I have also begun to put a little bit of size on and feel leaner than ever right now.  Back feels great and I'm feeling good about things. 

If you are looking for something else to read, Mr. Robertson wrote a great blog about abdominal training and you should definitely read it.  Great great read!!! 

That being said, I hope everybody has a wonderful weekend.  Time to go drag some sled and push some prowler!!!

Having trouble getting you lifts up?  Well, my training has been going great as of late and I wanted to share a little of what I have been doing.  Today, I am going to focus on my bench/upper body training. 
I have been doing max effort 5-3-1 cycles.  As an example for one cycle, I have done a 2board bench press w/ mini bands.  Week 1- work up to 2-3 max sets of 5 reps
Week 2- max sets of 3 reps
Week 3- max singles
Week 4- no heavy barbell work, rep work with pushups or dumbbells

Next cycle- Medium Grip Floor Press w/ chains
Week 1- max sets of 5 
Week 2- max sets of 3
Week 3- max singles
Week 4- reps

This type of max effort cycling has been working great for me over the last 3 or 4 months and I have been hitting some nice PR's.  This past Thursday, I worked up to 275lbs+~40lbs of chains for a triple on the floor press.  I have been training with a medium/semi close grip as well to build my weaker point and get my triceps into my bench stroke more.  If you don't know, floor presses are harder than regular bench since you have no leg drive and you pause on the floor.  The closer grip I have been training with also makes it more challenging for me.  So pressing what equals out to 315 at the top for a triple in this exercise makes me happy right now!! If I were to test my max in the regular bench right now, I am 99% sure I would set a real nice PR. 

While this max effort cycling has worked well, the assistance work I have done has made a huge contribution as well.

First, I have made a big effort the entire year to bring my triceps up.  It was something I hadn't particularly focused on for awhile and I realized needed to be done.  Exercises I have hammered to bring them up and in turn raise my bench include rolling db extensions, elbows out extensions, incline extensions, overhead extensions, chain extensions, pushdowns, one arm tricep pushups and jm presses.  Pressing with bands and chains with a closer grip has helped as well.  If you read anything by any huge bencher, you will see that strong triceps are key to a big press.  I hit them hard at least twice a week, doing 2 to 4 exercises of 3 to 5 sets each depending on which workout day it is. (One day, I might focus on triceps early on.  On a max effort day, they are usually trained specifically later in the workout)  I cycle from as low as 5 rep sets to as high as 15 rep sets for different exercises.

Second, I have done a lot to bring up specific upper back muscles, particularly my lower traps.  Heavy chest supported rows, chest supported db rows and pullups to hit all of the major pulling muscles have been huge.  For the scap musculature as a whole, face pull variations have helped.  For specific lower trap work, I have hammered out lots of chest supported "I's," "Y's", and band "W's."  While my back as a whole has been a strong point for quite some time, specific areas such as the lower traps lagged behind.  After focusing on bringing things up to par, I feel much more stable when I press and my shoulders feel much better.  When you bench, your upper back should be nice and tight so that you have a solid base to push from.  You should be able to feel yourself almost rowing the bar down as your scapulae pinch.  This makes you much stronger coming out of the bottom. 

Heres how my workout from Thursday looked:
Floor Press w/ chains (add ~40lbs) 225lbsx3 245lbsx3 255lbsx3 265lbsx3 275lbsx3 PR 225lbsx10


High incline db press w/ pause 70lbs 3x8-10 55lbsx12

Chest supported db row 70lbsx6 80lbs 3x5 60lbsx8

Pullups 3x8

High to low face pull 110lbs 3x8

Incline elbows out extensions 45lbs 3x6-8/chain extensions 4x8-15

Incline hammer curls 45lbs 3x6-8/chain curls 3x8-15

Face pull x20




Extra workout:  Chest Supported I's  15-20lbs, 3x8-12
                       Chest Supported Y's 10-12 lbs, 3x8-12
                       High to Low Face Pulls 3x15
                       Light db flies
                       Grip Work

I was amped up the entire workout and after I hit some solid floor presses, I was rolling the rest of the workout.  I should note that I've been doing lots of db pressing with a pause at my chest, both flat and incline.  This is helping me to be much stronger off of my chest.  The weights drop down quite a bit to do them with a pause but it has been paying off. 

My other upper day which will be done Sunday will focus on triceps early on and will have a larger emphasis on shoulder work as well.

Hope this gave you some ideas.  Train hard!!!!

So I have received inquiries about exercises I do/have done with Dan, the marathon runner who had hip issues, that I train.  I've been working on getting more videos taken.  If you haven't already done so, be sure to read the hip impingement blog from months back.   Here is a vid explaining some basic progressions I like to use to get the glute medius functioning better. Check it out.

One thing I want to point out.  As you saw in the video, he flexed his hip when he first did the side leg raise.  I then cued him into extension.  He could be extended better than what we finished with; he was fatigued since we did this after his entire workout.  When the hip flexes, that means that the tfl (abducts the hip just like the glute med, tends to become more dominant) is trying to do the work.  So always be sure that the hip is extended fully when raising the leg up.  The side leg raise is done against the wall first while actively pushing back into the wall with the heel to ensure that the glute is doing the work.  The side leg raise shown here is done after.

As I said, it is very important to do multi joint exercises to get the muscle working in a "real time" environment.  Single leg exercises Dan has done and progressed with include split squats, stepups, reverse lunges, forward lunges, and progression from dumbbells to barbells with each.  Bulgarian split squats and one leg squats would be the next that I would use.  Hip dominant exercises include one leg glute bridges, one leg rdl's, hip thrusts, band stomps and single leg reverse hypers.  These all get the glute max nice and strong as well, which he lacked. 

When we first started, his left glute med was much weaker than his right so extra sets were done for the left with the clam shells.  I also used a band to teach him to keep his knee straight during single leg movements. 

After a couple of phases with all unilateral movements, we added in some bilateral movements including plate squats, back squats, front squats, yoke bar squats, pull-throughs,  rdl's, sumo rdl's, good mornings and reverse hypers (in different phases obviously). 

On top of all of the glute work (his glute was not extending the hip like it was supposed to so the femur rubbed against the socket, hence the reason for so much glute work), his tfl, rectus femoris and psoas needed length (psoas actually needed some strength too).  So plenty of stretching and mobility work has been done for these muscles.  The hip flexor stretch I have previously shown has been a mainstay.  It should also be noted that specific abdominal muscles play a role in what goes on at the hip and pelvis as well.(  We will save that for another post. 

He now has hardly any hip pain or clicking and has actually begun to get into some light running drills without issues.  Doing what needs to be done in the weight room to help running performance and prevent injury is HUGE and hopefully more runners will begin to realize this.  In a future post (hopefully soon future), I will discuss some of the energy systems training Dan has done to maintain and build his endurance while simultaneously strengthening his hips and fixing his problems.  Stay tuned!!

  Nowadays, it seems like it is common to go with the norm, what is popular and to settle for average.  Many people have no real priorities, no real goals and no real accomplishment with their daily life.  This could apply to exercise; it could apply to a job; it could apply to what you do for fun.  Wanna know why most people are in miserable shape?  It is because they hang around other “normal” people who also have no priorities and no goals.  Here is a sad but true scenario and it has happened to me plenty of times. You are out with a group of people.  Lets say you are at a restaurant/bar.  Everybody orders their drinks and fattening food, etc.  You, who actually has real goals and priorities and maybe have to train in the morning, order food that will help you reach your goals and perhaps get some water or maybe just one beer instead of five or six.  You, being the one person who is not afraid to be an individual, be different and go beyond the norm are ridiculed in a sense for what you do.  Its as if it is “not cool” to practice healthy lifestyle choices.   “Oh well sorry we can’t all be like (insert name) and go to the gym everyday.”  People who aren’t happy with their lives, their physical appearance, success, etc.  never want the people around them to be more successful than them; therefore, they try to bring everybody else down to their level. 

  I heard Thomas Plummer speak in Chicago and the guy is a genius when it comes to having a successful career in business, particularly fitness.  One thing he said that stuck with me was that the more successful you become, the more new friends you will have to get.  Now, this is not entirely true and is a bit of an exaggeration but the general premise of what he said holds true and ties in to what I just said.  If you want to be successful, you have to have passion, drive and determination and have to surround yourself with other successful, like minded people.  Wanna be an out of shape alcoholic who acts like he/she is still in high school when their 30, who's only priority is partying every night and making negative comments about others? Then hang out with those people.  Wanna have a great, healthy body and have a successful career and life with goals to strive for every day?  Then hang out with other positive people who strive for excellence every single day of their lives. 

To apply this to exercise, wanna have an imbalanced body with pain, fat and no real goals to reach?  Continue doing nothing but workout videos, magazine routines and sitting on the elliptical. Keep listening to your friends who think they know what they are talking about because they read muscle and fitness. Oh, maybe even bust out the shake weight!! That will get you where you want to be for sure!! 

The fact of the matter is that most of what is popular in the fitness world is complete crap and will get you absolutely nowhere.  So, do you really want to reach your goals?  Then work with someone who is qualified and knows their stuff (most celebrity trainers do not) and who can get you to where you need to go.  Read a legit book or two, read credible articles and do research.  Try different and new things and break away from the norm! Instead of copying Bob who has done the exact same useless routine for the last 5 years and looks the same as he did back then,  break away and be different. 

There are plenty of tried and true methods to reach any goal imaginable with training.  It takes hard work, dedication and passion but that is what makes being successful so great.  Not everybody can do it.  So, take some initiative and make some goals for yourself.  If you have no goal or rationale for what you are doing, then you are only wasting your time.  Find some positive people to hang around with who will inspire you to be positive as well.  If the people you hang around with do nothing but act negative, try to bring you down for what you do and basically act like complete pricks then maybe its time to find some different friends.  Believe it or not, there are plenty of people out there who will inspire and support you for what you wanna do. This applies to a lot more than just exercise. 

In closing, set some goals and get some priorities; you might just be a lot happier and a lot more successful.  BE DIFFERENT!!!!!