Todays training 10/5/10

5x2 weighted pull-ups

45 x2

55 x2

65 x2

75 x2

85 x2

RKC snatch test with a 20k

4 min flat

Gettin back into it again :)

Why you suck at pull-ups :)

Pull-ups are IMO one of the best body weight strength training exercises out there. I've witnessed tens of thousands of pull-ups in my day, some good and some bad...mostly bad. Why do people suck at pull-ups? Because they practice sucking at pull-ups. Do they suck on purpose? Is their primary goal to suck at pull-ups? Probably not, but they have never been taught how to do pull-ups and they haven't practiced pull-ups correctly. The apostle Dan John has a quote he uses a frequently "if it is important, do it every day." This is a great quote for many reasons but the angle I am going to take is related to motor learning and the nervous system.

Here are some quick facts about the CNS and skill development.

1. The nervous system does not have an on/off switch, it remembers everything you do, good and bad.

2. It is the fastest system in the body; Signals can travel over 300 mph.

3. Skill is developed by practicing drills and exercises perfectly. If you perform a drill wrong, you have just taught your body how to perform the drill wrong. Every time you accrue a bad rep, you are telling your body that its's ok to perform the repetition incorrectly.

Now, lets take a quick look at the 3 stages of motor learning and see how this applies to learning an exercise.

Cognitive (1-100 reps)

This is when a person is introduced to a task. The athlete is concerned with what to do and not so much how to do it. This is when we learn something new, like a pull-up. :)

Associative (1,000 to 10,000 reps)

The athlete starts to perform and refine the skills learned. They understand the task and begin to make changes to achieve the goal. Again, in this case, the pull-up.

Autonomous (100,000 to 300,000 reps)

The task becomes automatic, no thought is required. The athlete simply performs the drill and does not even think about it.

These are general numbers, some can master the task more quickly than others, but it all comes down to how much you practice and HOW you practice. As I mentioned before, if you practice the drill poorly, you will continue to perform the drill poorly.

Practice

Now, how do we practice getting better at pull-up? We do them every day. Does this mean we do weighted pull-ups every day? Do we do neutral grip pull-ups every day? Do we do reverse grip pull-ups, or how about band pull-ups?

Keep it simple stupid. If you want to get better at overhand grip pull-ups, practice them with an overhand grip.

The Experiment

Try this and see how you do. Do 1 or 2 pull-ups every 10 minutes at the gym. Or, you can do them when you get water or when you finish a different exercise. The key is to practice one or two with perfect form and with no fatigue. If you train for 1 hour you can accrue any where from 6-12 pull-ups a day with no fatigue. If you do this every day of the week you can accrue 42-84 pull-ups a week. This can equate from anywhere to 168 to 336 perfect pull-ups a month. That's a heaping pile of perfect pull-ups. Try this and I can guarantee you will get better at pull ups.

Also, consider this. When was the last time you practiced any exercise over 300 times in one month? And, if you did practice that many reps are you proficient at that specific exercise?

"If it is important, do it it every day "

If you want to get better at pull-ups, do pull ups. :)

Intermittent fasting and todays workout

I just started intermittent fasting as my eating regimen. Here is my basic plan, I eat my normal food intake but from 12 noon to 8pm. I basically eat for 8 hours and fast for 16 hours. During my morning fast I sip some amino acids and take fish oil to control my blood sugar levels. After 2 days I feel great, my energy is up in the afternoons and feel good thus far. I will keep this updated along with pics to see my progress. For more info go to www.leangains.com

Todays Workout

I started deadlifting again and felt pretty good, I also added in weighted pull -ups :)

Deadlift 5x5- I was pretty happy considering my achy back

135x5
185x5
225x5
275x5
295x5
305x5

Weighted pull-ups 4x2

70lb weighted
75lb weighted
80lb weighted
85lb weighted

Feeling better :)

Feeling better today, still a bit achy but slow and steady wins the race

Z mobility drills w/focus on high payoffs ;)

Deadlift 5x5
135, 185, 195, 205, 225

These felt light with no lower back problems

Weighted Pullups 5x5
all done w/a 24k kettlebell

I am hoping to get some swings in later today

A few thoughts on training young athletes

I am lucky to have the opportunity to train young athletes. I especially enjoy training high school athletes. I have been asked by several trainers/parents and coaches how to introduce strength training to their kids. If you are in the business of training/coaching young athletes here are five things that I suggest you nail down first.

1. Perfect hip hinge with a neutral spine- this is a must. This will teach the athlete how to extend their hips properly and safely. The hip hinge lays the foundation for RDL's, Bent rows, Deadlifts, KB swings and several other essential movement patterns. Teach this early and often, if will make your life easier as well

2. Body Weight squat- IMO, kids have no business putting a bar on their backs if they cannot perform at least 100 body weight squats in one session. Teach them to squat with proper depth and pay attention to their joint alignment as well as their lumbar spine. If you cannot teach a proper squat you might want to reconsider being a strength coach.

3. Anterior/Posterior pelvic tilt- teach the athlete about neutral spine and how to execute it by pelvic tilting. When paired up with the hip hinge will lay the foundation for proper movement patterns. This will also help the athlete during planks, and push-ups.

4. Push ups-Ahhh the push-up. Great when executed properly, terrible when taught wrong. Half push-ups don't count. Their is no need for a anterior cervical glide in a push-up. There is no need for a hyper-extended lumbar curve in a push-up. There is no-need for a butt in the air push-up. Teach the kids to connect their core with their upper body, do the push-ups right. End of story. There are way too many kids that cannot do a push-up, its embarrassing.

5. Lunge patterns- Too many kids cannot lunge these days. Here are my cues on teaching the lunge. Tall spine, vertical shin angle, weight in the front heel, no valgus or varus forces in the knee. These are simple cues but they work.


Here is my rant :)

High school athletes look bigger and stronger than ever but they are weaker than ever. Most kids train to look good not to perform good. I see way too may kids that can bench 225 but cannot perform 20 perfect pushups. The same kids can't even do 1 perfect pull-up. Their planks are terrible, they cannot deadlift due to poor mobility. They can't squat or even lunge.

Stop training your athletes like bodybuilders, train them to move better. Strength training is a skill and is slowly getting lost when it comes to our young athletes. It makes me sick

Random thoughts on training

Master the push-up before you bench press.

Master the body weight squat before you even think about throwing a bar on your back.

Do pull-ups correctly and strict. This means elbows locked out at the bottom and throat to the bar at the top.

Before you attempt a barbell hang clean make sure you have mastered a proper hip hinge and proper barbell front squat. If you can't do both you cannot hang clean.

Master the overhead squat and hip hinge before you barbell snatch.

Planks are about full body tension, if your glutes are not tight you are doing it wrong.

Prepare your body with a purpose. Butt kicks, A-skips, knee to chest and and a light jog will not help you squat better.

If you teach as a profession then someone must learn. If someone hasn't learned from you, learn how to teach better.

Swing before you snatch.

Swing before you clean.

Practice every day, you will become a better teacher by practicing.

Take care of your body, you only have one.

The deadlift was once called the healthlift for a reason. When executed correctly its an amazing exercise. When done wrong your dead.

Don't complicate your exercise regimen. If you can squat, deadlift push and pull there is no reason not to be fit.

If you sit at a desk all day in a flexed position there is absolutely no reason to perform "crunches." You are making your poor posture worse.

Stop reading a magazine on the cardio equipment. It's worthless. If you want to waste 45 minutes take a nap.

If you have dealt with a lumbar spine injury in the past and you are on the road to rehabilitation, quit while you are ahead. Leave your practice session feeling good not bad.

Throw away your wrist wraps and improve your grip strength. Don't let grip be your weak link.

Drink more water.

Find a healthy way to compete.

Todays workout

foam roll/tennis ball soft tissue work

Kb press
20k X10
24k X6
32k x5 2 sets

S-leg RDL
20k 4x4
24k 1x4

Weighted pull-ups
32k 3x3
cranks 2x4

BW pistols 4x4

Back is feeling better so I will increase volume on the pistols. Trying to quit when I still feel good ;)

Great Practice Day

Z mobility drills
aslr work
rib pulls
dowel squat press from different depths (WOW)
16kg get-ups 5 L/R
100 24kg swings
3x4 16kg pistols L/R
4x3 s-arm press 32kg x3 and 36kg x3 (felt light today about time) :)
40 strict pull-ups
40 strict dips

Added tons of mobility work into each set, lots of ASLR work, S-leg deads before pistols and modified Bretzels.

I think i am learning how to practice better these days, I feel good after my lift not worse!!

Keep it Simple Stupid

You have no idea how to work out. It's not your fault, you haven't been educated enough. Don't take it personally, it's just the truth. I know that you have been lifting for 10 years but that doesn't mean that you have any clue about training. Here is my point, Too many times we are trying the newest exercises in Mens Health. We buy Muscle & Fitness magazine because we want a bigger chest in 8 weeks. The truth is that most people haven't even mastered basic, proven strength training methods and yet they are trying advanced drills. Here it Comes....and the catch line is Keep it Simple Stupid! I got the idea to write this after I finished my RKC last April, not only was this a life-changing experience but it truly opened my eyes about Strength Training. Strength is a skill, in order to get strong you must first develop the proper technique(s). This comes through fixing imbalances, always practicing perfect form and logging thousands of perfect repetitions. Someone once told me, the most elite athletes in the world all have something in common, they all have mastered the basic skills and techniques in their sport. We can take this quote and apply it directly to our workouts, My challenge to you is to take these 5 exercises, learn them, practice them 3 days a week and see how you progress in 4 weeks.

Push-up

Start with your hands directly underneath your shoulder joint, keep your body in a straight line from ears to ankle. Create tension in your abdominals and squeeze your quads and glutes. Tighten your lats as if you are squeezing a piece if paper underneath your armpit. As you descend into your push-up, keep everything tight. Think about spreading your hands apart as you come down. Create that slight tension outward as you get to the bottom. Do not rest, stay tight. As you get ready to push-up, are you tight? Have you lost any tension in your body? From there slowly push to the top while keeping everything tight. Think about sliding your hands together as you ascend. Squeeze your chest and lats on the way up and finish just as you started. Try to complete 3 or 4 sets of 10 exactly as I described and see how you feel.

Body Weight Squat

Start with you feet roughly hip width. You can toe out slightly but not too much. Slightly extend your hips. Create outward tension as if you are trying to spread the floor apart. This will help activate your hips as you squat. As you descend, keep your stomach tight and sit back as if you are sitting onto a chair. Your posture should be tall and not hunched forward. Go as deep as you can and try to bottom out on your squat. You spine will most likely be in flexion at this point but as long as you are not loading the spine in flexion then thats ok. From here drive your feet into the floor, keep everything tight, stomach, hips and lats. Stand up tall and repeat. Try 3-4 sets of 20

Pull-Up

In my opinion the pull-up is the best upper body exercise when done correctly. If you can't do a pull-up order a superband from perform better, they will assist you until you have developed the strength/skill to perform a body weight pull-up. http://www.performbetter.com/detail.aspx_Q_ID_E_3889_A_CategoryID_E_352 Start at the bottom, set your shoulders back and down and try to pack your shoulder into the socket. This should be the first part of your pull-up. Remember the lats are the prime mover on these, if you don't do this you will be doing the pullup incorrectly. Start from a dead hang, keep shoulders packed and pull upwards, keep tension in your lats as you pull, and you should feel them working. Continue to pull until your chin has easily cleared the bar and the bar is at the bottom of your throat. Pause at the top. On the way down think about pulling your body down and slightly away from the bar. Try to envision it as if you are performing a overhead press. Keep all of the tension in your stomach and lats and control to the bottom. Try 3 to 4 sets of these. Do as many perfect reps as possible, once form is sloppy, STOP!

Bulgarian Squat

I am pretty sure that these didn't originate in Bulgaria but it is a great exercise. I will start with the Left leg forward for descriptive purposes. You can use a bench or a chair for the back leg in this exercise. Make sure the your have perfect posture on these, shoulders stay directly over the hips and remain that way through the exercise. Start with your Right leg on the bench, being on your toes is slightly more challenging while laces are a bit easier. Reach your Left foot forward far enough that the majority of weight is in your heel. Keep tall and imagine a plate of glass in front of your face, Squeeze your right glute and keep your stomach tight and go as deep as you can while remaining tall and keeping your weight into your heel. Keep tension in your hips throughout the exercise. Try 3 or 4 sets of 10 on each leg.

Plank

I have a problem when people do the plank wrong. Some say it's too easy while others say they can't feel it. If you feel it in your back you are most likely doing it wrong or do not have the strength to perform it correctly. You may need to start with a slightly less challenging exercise. Start with your elbows tight to your rib cage, keep tension in your abdominals and tighten your lats. Keep everything tight, make sure that your quads and glutes and tight at the same time. Keep your feet hip width and drive your heels back. Make sure that your spine stays neutral, don't arch your low back and round your upper back.. Keep your head neutral and facing down. Hold this and stay tight, try to squeeze everything while keeping mental notes of what's tight and what's not. Try performing 3 to 4 sets of 30 second holds.

Remember, stay hydrated throughout the day and make sure that you surround your workouts with Protein. You have already done the workout, make sure you take full advantage of it with proper nutrition.