Skill of Strength is an LLC!

It's official! We are Skill of Strength, LLC.

We're working on taking our business to the next level. Stay tuned for some other exciting news, including pictures of the Skill of Strength vehicle we're getting and more details about what we are currently offering. If you're in the Greater Boston/Southern New Hampshire region and you or anyone you know is looking for Kettlebell Training or for personal training in your home or locally, please feel free to contact us.

A big huge thank you to all of our friends, family, clients and readers for all of your support to date!
We look forward to continuing to provide you with information, news and videos on strength training, conditioning and nutrition.

God bless our military and their sense of humor!!

Can you write up a program for me?

When I meet people and they know what I do for a living, this is what happens.

New Person- You are a strength coach, can you write me a program? I have been stuck lately and I am not sure what to do. Can you help?

Me- Yes, I can help. I need some background information. First, we should set up a time for an evaluation.

New Person- Well, can't you just write me some exercises to do and maybe some cardio.

Me- No I can't, I have no idea on your medical history, injury history, medications, bad habits, lingering injuries, your current workout routine, your sleeping habits, your diet, your alcohol consumption, whether you smoke or not and how much time you have to dedicate to the gym. We also need to do a functional movement screen to address weak links, imbalances etc.

New Person- Wow, that's a lot, I am not sure I have the time.

Me- That's ok with me, you can go buys Mens Health or search Google for 'Best routine to get jacked '.

This is reality folks, people want the quick fix, the short cut. There are not too many people that actually want to do the necessary things to move better, feel better and look better. It's too much for them. They are lazy, maybe not lazy with their job or family, but lazy when it comes to working out. This is why people always ask trainers if they can write a routine for them.

I don't have a problem writing a routine for them once I evaluate them and teach them the proper way to execute the exercises on their own. Then, for a fee, I will write them a routine. I am a professional and it takes time and knowledge to write a program. If you don't want to pay for it, you want to take the easy way out and don't really want to move better, feel better and look better then, like I said, buy a magazine or go on the internet.

I want you to try this out. Set up an appointment with a brand new Doctor and say this verbatim.

"Doc, I know we just met but I am gonna need some vicodin, oxycontin, flomax, viagra, celebrex, lomotil, accutane and some GHB."

My guess is that he is gonna think you are two sandwiches short of a picnic. He should not prescribe you anything until he gets your medical history and performs a physical. If he does prescribe you the drugs mentioned above, he may not be a legit doctor or he likes breaking the law.

This happens with trainers as well. A good trainer should not just write up a program for you. He/she should evaluate you, look at your goals, perform some type of movement screen and then decide what the best path is for you.

If a trainer/strength coach does not do any of this and the first exercise they do with you is the nautilus leg adduction or rear deltoid machine, please run for the hills!

The Ultimate warm-up- The Skill of Strength 20/20 Movement Prep

This warm-up is simple. 20 exercises, 20 reps and it takes roughly 20 minutes.

This prep was designed to improve mobility, flexibility, increase work capacity and improve muscular endurance. It was based off of 100's of FMS screens and the goal is to address weak links and imbalances commonly found in athletes. This is a great prep for anyone that wants to move better and feel better.

Enjoy and please comment!

Note: The video is in 3 parts since its 20 minutes long.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

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

Man vs. Mountain...Mountain wins

I went mountain biking with my wife last weekend at Ahern State Park in Laconia, NH. Here was my attempt at a knarly hill. I lost this battle but I will win the war.

This is pretty entertaining ;)