This is a post by the astonishingly creative Adam Stoffa (@SEEAdamTrain) and Straight to the Bar's own Scott Andrew Bird (@scottbird). Resources for Twitterchat 106 - Recovery : Improving Monophasic and Biphasic Sleep.

Sleep is essential for maximizing recovery and improving performance. Scott switched over to biphasic sleep way back in September 2006, whereas Adam has been working hard to maximize the benefits of a single good night's rest. Although their approaches are different, both have found improvements to sleep to be extremely rewarding.

In this week's twitterchat we'll compare and contrast these two forms of recovery work. The benefits of each approach, how to do it and what impact it has (a very positive one) on your training. Really looking forward to it.

NB : if you'd like to join us, the details of how (and of 'what this is') are here :

Twitterchat 106 - Recovery : Improving Monophasic and Biphasic Sleep

This site - Straight to the Bar - has been around for an incredible 7 years (the first post was on Jan 17th, 2004), and to say I'm grateful is a gross understatement.

Thank you.

There have been some superb articles in that time (my favourites are listed below), as well as training logs, product reviews, forum discussions and of course the twitterchats. It's really been (and continues to be) an incredible ride.

Before we dive in to the list itself, a quick word on the content : while it's quality stuff, there's a lot of it. Feel free to pick out your favourites, bookmark them, add them to Instapaper/Evernote/Pinboard; Stumble them and share them with your friends. Dive in.

This is a guest post by Kevin 'Sgt Sweaty' Miller - Odd Object Training. Enjoy.

NB : This article is from the ebook Sgt Sweaty's Old School Training Course, available for free at sgtsweaty.com. Reprinted here with permission.

There is no doubt that barbells are a supreme tool of building overall body power, but there is a certain type of strength that they do not build. You see, barbells are well balanced objects. Many things in life though, are not. Very few things would be as perfect as a barbell, so your body isn't fully suited to control awkward, unwieldy objects. How do you go about building this odd strength? Through the use of things that are very difficult to lift, such as sandbags, kegs, rocks, chunks of steel; whatever you can think of. Training in this manner is taking the blunt but impressive K.A. Bar from barbell training, and sharpening it and getting its maximum potential out of it through the use of odd objects.

While they're meant to give you that razor's edge of strength, if you don't have a barbell then they are still a fantastic overall strength building tool that you can train with. It's much better to lift only odd objects and still get pretty damn strong than to do nothing.
Using these monsters will work the hell out of your body's stabilizing muscles, the ones you never knew you even had. You're working them much harder in completely different ways from how a barbell ever could because it's so perfectly balanced, and they don't work the all-important stabilizers.

Your stabilizers do just that, they stabilize. They contract isometrically to support your body under a load. This is why manual laborers can be so strong, because they work the heck out of their muscles and stabilizers the way barbells can't. An opposing lineman in the sport of football isn't going to push against you in a perfectly balanced fashion like a barbell will; they're going to be fighting you in all different directions. Lifting odd objects will give you advantage over any Joe who only lifts barbells, no matter who you are.
To round out your training, in addition to barbells you must train with odd objects, such as rocks, sandbags and kegs. These are very awkward objects to train with, so your body will adapt as so. Use of them will also help to improve your grip strength tremendously.

Lifting a barbell isn't nearly the same thing as trying to shoulder a 200lb sandbag or pressing a beer keg that's half filled with water. They're unbalanced objects that shift around, fighting you every step of the way. Almost as if it were alive. You have to do so by sheer power and control, because there isn't any comfortable way of balancing with each object, because you have to do that yourself. They'll keep shifting around, making themselves nearly impossible to control. If you can't clean and press that sandbag, then you can't do it. There is no bouncing or cheating, just pure grit and determination. Odd objects are a terrific solution on how one can go about building farm boy, pig wrastlin' strength that allows you to move damn near anything you want.

This is a guest post by Body by D-Rock's Derek Peruo - How to Build Your Own Sandbag. Enjoy.
Sandbags are incredibly versatile tools; and loyal readers of Straight to the Bar know how much we love our versatile tools! We like our tools simple, portable, and easy to repair. And if the tool looks right at home among tractor tires and sledgehammers, it's a sure winner. Not only do sandbags meet all the above criteria, but they are easy to incorporate into any program. If you're not using sandbags in your training, you should.

In this half of a two-part series, I'm going to look at some simple ways to build yourself a sandbag using cheap supplies and an afternoon of labor. Part two of the series will discuss training philosophy, technique and program design.

Stuffing Options

What you fill your sandbag with will determine its final weight and dimensions. I recommend sticking with the Big 3: Sand, Stones, and Shot.
Lead shot and small stones or pebbles will produce a very dense bag. Small bags are great for speed and power development, so this is definitely an option to look into. Plus, if the bag breaks, cleaning up lead shot or small stones is much easier than cleaning up sand.

Sand is still the classic option for filling a bag, and it is easy to find when you need more. The trade off is clean up, which can be a hassle if the bag breaks. You will need a large volume of sand to make a very heavy bag, but that's not a big deal. When I built my home-made sandbag, all I did was go down to the beach and swipe some. Didn't spend a dime.

Shell Options

You should always have two shells: an inner shell (or multiple inner shells) to hold the sand and an outer shell designed to take a beating. The outer shell should also have handles or grips of some sort. For my project, I used old duffel bags I had lying around.
Individually, each duffel bag was flimsy, so I placed one inside the other to minimize escaping sand. Ignore the sack of cocaine duct taped at the center of the photo; we'll discuss that later.

Hi, my name is Jedd Johnson, and I bend steel with my hands.

That's right, I take steel bars, wrap them in suede to prevent a cut to my hands, and bend them into a U-shape.

"Why the hell would he want to do that?" you might ask...

I'll tell you straight up...

Because it makes me feel like a friggin' animal.

It makes me feel like I am a 800lb rainforest gorilla that can destroy anything put in front of me.

And I like that feeling...

Maybe that description is too wild, and you can't identify with it, so let me describe it a little differently...

A PR Bend is like adding 50 lbs to your deadlift, and holding it there while you scream before dropping it back to the platform like a bomb from an airplane.

Completing a bend you never were able to do before is like hitting 100 snatches in 5 minutes for the first time ever, and letting out a warrior cry because it took so much hard work and determination to get there.

Much like the landmark feats described above, I love taking a perfectly good nail or bolt and making it completely useless.

Some people think this is ignorant, but they don't realize that BENDING IS THE PERFECT COMPLEMENT to movements such as the kettlebell snatch and the deadlift...

Now, you're probably thinking: What!?!? How in the world could bending steel complement my snatch and deadlift work?

The answer is the principle of Antagonistic Balance.

"Antagonistic" means opposite, against, contra-indicative.

Think of a Broadway Play. The agonist is the main character and the antagonist is the character that plays opposite him or her. Many times these two are enemies, or their views are somehow contra-indicative of one another - they are opposites; they disagree.

So what is Antagonistic Balance, then?

Well, your body works the best, improves its performance, and is at its healthiest when the antagonistic muscle groups in the joints and opposing sides of the body are within a reasonable balance.

Think of the shoulder. If you do too much bench pressing and not enough rowing, pull-ups, retractions and other opposite movement patterns, you can really do harm to your shoulders, messing up the posture, pinching off nerves, and thus ruining progress on the bench.

You've heard of this before probably a hundred times and you are well aware of it in your training, right?

And you know, if you do too much pushing and not enough pulling, you could be setting yourself up for a serious fall down the line.

Now, where does this come into play with respect to the relationship between steel bending, the kettlebell snatch and the powerlifting deadlift...?

To fully understand this, let's look at the movement patterns of these movements individually.

KETTLEBELL SNATCH

The Kettlebell Snatch is marked by Extension throughout the body.

The athlete starts in a flexed position with the knees, and hips bent. The bell is swung back through the legs, loading the hamstrings.


The momentum of the bell is reversed with controlled violence and then extension begins throughout the body. The hips and knees extend to give momentum to the bell. The spine is lengthened.


And finally, the arm punches itself into a straight, extended position.


DEADLIFT

The Deadlift is very similar.

The lifter starts out in a crouching position, grasping the bar as it sits on the floor.


From there, the lifter pulls the weight up along the body, extending the knees and the hips.


Once the bar is pulled to its highest point, the lifter further extends himself, pulling the shoulders back into a position of pride.


COMMON THREADS

Upon analyzing both of these movements, the action that is repeated time and again is extension: extension in the knees, hips, shoulders and arms.

So, what is the natural antagonistic balancing action for the movement pattern of Extension?

There has to be some kind of contra-indicative movement pattern that essentially will negate these two big lifts, right?

The answer is Flexion.

To repeat, we are looking for an antagonistic, or opposite movement pattern, and we already said that KB work and Deadlifts involve a lot of force into extension, so the natural antagonistic movement pattern would be flexion.

BUT WAIT - I thought that, just like the ghost busters crossing the streams, having your "body in flexion" was bad!?!?

Sure, sitting at your desk all day in flexion is BAD. It can have a huge toll on your body over the years, so let's try to avoid that...

How about Crunches?

SCREW THAT! BORING!!!

There has to be some other exhilarating strength training practice that involves flexion, while also requiring the same level of dedication, the same level of discipline, and the same level of technical precision in order to succeed that the Kettlebell Snatch and the Deadlift require. But what is it???

The answer - STEEL BENDING.

Don't believe me? Let's look at steel bending, now, and the movement patterns involved.

This is a guest post by freelance writer and lover of fitness Tamara Wysell - Finding Your Fitness In The Least Common Places. Enjoy.


I have been working out since I was ten. I was not necessarily lifting weights or doing 100 crunches a day. I kicked a soccer ball around Indoor, outdoor, at specialty camps all year long for four years. Then I found track and field in junior high and kept it up through high school. Who knew I, with the body of a shot putter, was a pretty good sprinter? Then I found basketball, which was probably my favorite part of high school. I think I was the only person who enjoyed sprinting down the court. It made for a super fast Center and kept me in shape for track season. Finally, I found rowing in college. Actually it found me. A coach saw and encouraged me to join. I rowed for Purdue University and enjoyed (almost) every moment of it. Besides being pushed to my extreme limit for the first time of my life and many times thereafter, I learned skills that would help me long after my athletic career came to an end.







After rowing for four years in undergrad, I came up to Michigan to coach rowing. I was the big bad athlete who knew everything about everything. Not really. I learned that teaching one to become an athlete is more challenging than actually being an athlete. Training isn't just sitting on a machine and lifting random weights just as swimming isn't jumping in a pool and flailing around. There are many methods that can make working out a brilliant experience. Proper techniques can minimize time spent in the gym, maximize a workout, minimize injury, and maximize the quality of life. Rowers, basketball players, runners, and all athletes need strength training. No matter how talented someone is, strength training helps increase your endurance and protect your body. Ask any coach or trainer.







I've known that since I was ten. I also knew that I couldn't just tell rowers, I had to show them. As a result, I broke things down to help explain what different exercises do for their bodies. Crunches can flatten a tubby tummy. Lifting makes for a solid set of guns (arms). But doing that in combination with cardiovascular workouts can make that flat tummied, arms fully loaded individual better off in the long run. This is what I would tell anyone who bothers to listen:



Find five to ten different types of crunches. For instance try a combo of leg lifts, regular crunches, bicycle, push-ups, and ball exercises. Most exercises that you can do on the floor you can also do on a strengthening ball. The ball is a great way to keep your core engaged. An engaged core equals supported back and a more effective workout. Modifications are necessary for individuals with lower problems (like me). For instance, with the leg lifts, only go down until your back begins to lift up off the ground. Then bring them back to perpendicular to the ground and continue your workout with this limitation. If you don't, you put your back under unnecessary pressure. Check out the snazzy video.

There are many other ab workouts there too. The key is to do all of these in a row. Maybe do 15 reps or 30 seconds of one, take a 15 second break, then do another until you have finished them all. Take a 2 minute break and repeat. The point is to work up a sweat and keep your heart pounding faster. It's an excellent form of strength training. 


This is a guest post by former wrestler and serious DIY equipment enthusiast Robert Lucarelli - How and Why I Train. Enjoy.
I started training for full contact sports when I was in Jr. High School, and Wrestling was the first sport I trained for. The exercises I did specifically worked the muscles I would be using in wrestling matches. I would train the back/neck by performing rolling neck bridges. I would roll to my nose in a back bridge for 15-20 reps and hold it in a static hold for 30-60 seconds. When rolling to the nose you elevate compression stress on the cervical region of the neck. This exercise strengthens the neck and back muscles. It helps you to escape precarious positions such as the pin or possible submission holds. I also worked on the forward rolling Neck Bridge. I would flip the bridge doing a head summersault transitioning from forward to backward bridging; I would also work my neck from side to side while in the forward neck bridge position. Rope climbing was what strengthened my grip and upper body. When it comes to wrestling, being able to pull your body weight up a rope is imperative for upper body and grip strength. 500 Hindu Squats and 250 Hindu Push Ups were also a wrestling staple. Low squats build the posterior chain muscles (hamstrings and lower back) which is needed when lifting an opponent off the ground. The squats also build great muscular endurance and lung stamina. I learned the squats from the English Shooter, "The Man Of A 1000 Holds" - Billy Robinson. In order to be conditioned for wrestling I recommend 250 Hindu Push Ups, 5 sets of 50 reps and 500 Hindu Squats, 10 sets of 50 reps. I also recommend rolling neck bridging, 15-20 reps with a 30-60 second hold at the end, and rope climbing several times up the rope. All exercises are done 3-5 times a week.

Boxing requires the ability to withstand body punishment. Take a 12-15 pound medicine ball and have someone deliver a body blow with the same form the individual would deliver a shovel hook but with the medicine ball delivered full force to your abdominal region. Do not hit the individual in the Liver, Heart or Kidneys when doing this exercise. Make sure to tighten your abdominal muscles and blow out air from your lungs when the ball makes contact with your abs. Skipping rope for 3-5, 3 min. rounds conditions the legs, along with 3-5 miles of road work done 3x a week. Punching power can be developed on a 150-200 pound Heavy Bag. Double End Bag develops punching accuracy. Sparring is important for learning how to gage distance and timing. I recommend 3-5, 3 min rounds of shadow boxing, Sparring and bag work following that order 3 times a week. Boxing requires Quad strength, and sand bag quarter squats and half squats give the legs a good workout. I recommend 3 sets of 50-100 sand bag squats performed 3 x a week, for boxes. Boxers can also benefit from wrist strength which improves punching power and neck strength which will strengthen the neck and allow the neck to act as a shook absorber when receiving blows.

Straight to the Bar will be turning an incredible 7 years old in a couple of weeks (Jan 17th - here's the first post). To everyone who's written, read and commented on the numerous articles, photographs and ideas - thank you all sincerely. It really is appreciated.
I'm also incredibly grateful to the support of our sponsors. These companies are all hand-picked and makers of things I actually use myself, in my training, diet and fitness education. Thank-you to all of them.

Many of them have contributed to the 7 Years of Straight to the Bar contest, donating some incredible equipment, nutritional products and books. Whether you're just beginning your fitness journey, or have been doing this for years, these will help out in no small way. For the contest itself, the full prize list is :

The Rotater (review)

Following years of shoulder abuse and injury, I was more than a little keen to try out The Rotater. And I have to say, it easily exceeded expectations.

Love it.

Follow The Rotater on Twitter : | Facebook

StrongerGrip Loadable Club

I'm a big fan of leverage training in any form, especially things like the Loadable Clubs from StrongerGrip.

Beautiful things.

Follow StrongerGrip on Twitter : | Facebook

NSD Powerball

This is an excellent way to get a little wrist training in - the NSD Powerball.

Love it.

Follow StrongerWrist on Twitter : | Facebook

The Diesel Crew's Nail Bending DVD
If you're new to the world of nail bending, this is the perfect DVD to get. It'll show you the exact techniques you'll need to get started right away. Created by world-class bender Jedd Johnson.

Follow Jedd on Twitter : | Facebook

AtLarge Nutrition's BCAA+

Much, much more than a protein shake.

Beautiful stuff.

Follow AtLarge Nutrition on Twitter : | Facebook

Gymboss

Ever tried interval work with a stopwatch, or by counting out the time? Grab a Gymboss.

The perfect way to time your fat-shedding sessions.

Follow Gymboss on Twitter : | Facebook

The Primal Blueprint & The Primal Blueprint Cookbook

If you're ready to take your health seriously and make the most of all your work in the gym, these two books are essential reading.

I can quite honestly say that my life changed (very much for the better) after discovering the work of Mark Sisson. Superb.

Follow Mark on Twitter : | Facebook

Mini Pinch Plate from Submit Strength
19 pounds of pure grip-training joy.

Love it.

Follow Submit Strength Equipment on Twitter : | Facebook

Straight to the Bar 'Got Yoke?' T-shirt (review)
What's black, comfortable and helps you out in the gym? A Straight to the Bar T-shirt of course.

Follow Scott on Twitter : | Facebook

As well as several bonus items. More on that over the next week or so - suffice to say that you'll want them. Seriously.

Thanks once again to all of the sponsors listed above - the equipment, nutritional products and books really are appreciated. And as they're all things I use myself, I know that the contest winner will be receiving some top-notch gear. More than $500 worth.

NB : if you're a an equipment/product maker or author and would like to add your name to the list above, send me an email. Look forward to hearing from you.

Straight to the Bar will be turning an incredible 7 years old in a couple of weeks (Jan 17th - here's the first post). To everyone who's written, read and commented on the numerous articles, photographs and ideas - thank you all sincerely. It really is appreciated.
By way of a thank-you we'll be - together with our fantastic sponsors, all of whom are hand-picked and makers of things I actually use myself - giving away some fantastic equipment to a lucky forum member. Details below.

NB : if you haven't already registered on twitter, there's still time. It's free, nice and quick, and definitely recommended. There's some fantastic information on there.

Contest Details

This contest is open to anyone who's interested in the world of strength training. Whether you're a beginner just dipping your toes in the water, or a professional athlete who's been training hard for years; this is for you.

All you need to do is to hop onto twitter, and :

1. Follow our sponsors at twitter.com/scottbird/sttbsponsors. They share some fantastic information.
2. Tell your friends about the contest with a quick tweet :

   'Win $500 worth of fitness gear : 7 Years of Straight to the Bar ( bit.ly/fXDA1g ). Just follow @scottbird/sttbsponsors . #7yearsofSttB'

That's it.

At the end of the month we'll be selecting one of the posts at random, and sending that person some incredible prizes. A Rotater, a Loadable Club from StrongerGrip, the Nail Bending DVD, a tub of AtLarge Nutrition's BCAA+, a Straight to the Bar t-shirt and much, much more. There's a full list of all the sponsors and prizes here.

Deadline

The closing date for entries is the end of the month, midnight on Jan 31st 2011. That's midnight in your local timezone, if you're a last-minute kind of person.

And thank-you again. I really am grateful for all the support, and wish you all the best in your own training.

Keep Lifting,

Scott

This is a guest post from Synergy Athletics' Joe Hashey - Strength Training Changed My Life. Enjoy.
Strength training has been one of the largest influences on my life over the last decade. It has built me up....and humbled me all in the same sessions. Without training, things would be A LOT different.

First, I have a confession - looking back at my high school I largely consider myself a waste of talent. I was blessed with size and athleticism, but I threw them away by never getting serious about training. I am still disappointed to this day.

I attended a small Catholic high school in Binghamton, New York which was not known for its sports programs. I enjoyed sports, playing football, basketball, and baseball. Unfortunately, all I did was dabble with strength training.

We did not have any organized lifts at the high school to speak of, but my dad had a few friends that used to play big time college football. One offered to pick me up each morning and take me to the gym before school.

I loved it....but still didn't get any stronger.

Honestly, I had no idea what to do at the gym. One day I would do all hammer strength machines, other days I would just bench and call it a day. Chin ups were too hard...never really did any of those.

Despite my lack of results at the gym, I was fortunate enough to get recruited as an offensive lineman and baseball pitcher. I decided to attend Colgate University and play football, but I still didn't "get it".

What do you think would happen to someone that was weak and taking the pounding of year round football program? You guessed it, I got injured. I went to all weight training sessions (mandatory), but still didn't get many results. It wasn't the programs' fault, it was my lifestyle. Before I knew it I had gone under the knife 4 times for knee injuries.

I was at a cross roads. At 6 foot 5, 310 lbs, I had two choices. Continue living a lazy lifestyle or make a change. I finally "got it". That summer between sophomore and junior year I lost 55 lbs on eating right and training hard. Working in a sheet metal shop making square pieces of metal out of flat ones all day with a hammer certainly helped as well!

This is an accompaniment to Twitterchat 99 - Motivation with Dean Coulson. Enjoy.
How motivated we are has a direct bearing on what we can achieve; the bigger the motivation, the better chance we have at achieving what we desire. However there are many factors that can stifle this motivation. As human beings we are creatures of emotion and that can have a big impact on the things we do in everyday life.

External factors play a major part in how we feel and how we react to them will determine whether we are successful in what we are about to do. From a training perspective all manner of things can and will try and stop you doing what you want to do, whether that is a gym session or competing. Your inner voice will try and convince you that doing anything that makes you uncomfortable (training in winter, doing a heavy squat session) is a waste of time and will try anything to stop you.

There are things that can combat that:

• ignoring it and thinking about other things (but going to the gym anyway) will help calm the chatter, it sounds crazy but can work.
• music that gets you so pumped up you want to bend bars (a favourite of mine)
• shouting at the top of your voice before you start a training session (another favourite) gets the adrenaline pumping and can make you focus on what you want to do
• Positive affirmations about what you want to do. Pick positive words about what you want to be and repeat them like a mantra.

We are all affected by many things in our lives, but remember, it is our
reaction them that determines how we get past them and stay motivated on our
goals.

The only limits are those that we impose on ourselves, so don't impose
limits, find your motivation and stick to it.

Resources

Web sites

• www.allroundathlete.com - My blog which covers all aspects of training, including motivation
• www.geoffthompson.com - A world renowned martial artist and an award winning author with many books written on self improvement.
• www.Rosstraining.com - Ross Enamait is known by many as a fantastic athlete and coach, who posts excellent articles that inspire and motivate.

Hi, my name is Jedd Johnson. I am a CSCS through the NSCA, an RKC through Dragondoor, and am co-founder of DieselCrew.com. Our website is dedicated to exploring the development of strength and conditioning for all athletes in all sports.

Over the years, my favorite facet of strength training has been Grip Strength and I compete in several competitions every year. Grip Competitions involve Crushing, Pinching, Support lifting and other forms of hand and lower arm strength.

One of the coolest parts of the sport of Grip is Nail Bending. Bending nails, spikes, bolts, steel stock, drill rod, and other things is one of the most exciting and obsessive types of strength training you can do.

Up until now, Nail Bending might be one of the last things you would ever think of doing in your program, but there are actually a ton of benefits that you can get from Bending. Check these out :

1. Forearm size

Nail Bending involves a great deal of tension in the hands, wrists and forearms which leads to major forearm muscle development. Often, forearm work at the gym involves movements like wrist curls and other simple variations.

While wrist curls and similar classic forearm exercises bring about results, they pale in comparison to the bulk built by bending. The sustained tension of nail bending causes growth in both the flexor side of the forearm and the extensor side of the forearm, creating an impressive look of balance and control.

In short, your forearms will probably BLOW UP!

2. Mental and Physical Toughness

Bending nails, bolts and other items involves taking a perfectly good nail and twisting it into a shape that makes it completely useless for any of its normal industrial applications. You're doing something that was never meant to be done, and to do this requires you to focus all of your strength and your mental power into the bend. A lack of commitment from either end of the spectrum will end up in your inability to finish up the bend.

When you become proficient in harnessing your mind's and your body's power in nail bending, imagine the results you will see in your other lifts or in the sport you play. You'll be unstoppable compared to everyone else who has never truly tested themselves in the ways you have after taking on the challenge of bending.

3. Make an Impression!

Take Note: Nail bending is NOT some form of trickery or sleight of hand like magic is.

However, it DOES bring about much the same reaction from a crowd.

Imagine talking about this new sort of strength training you are doing and when they ask you to show them, you bust out a nail, wrap it in a towel and bend it right before their eyes.

How awesome will that be?!?!

You could use this classic feat of strength of Bending to set yourself from everybody else at school, at the gym, or at your place of work. Instead of just blending in with the rest of the people, you will automatically be set apart from everybody else.

Instead of just somebody in the crowd, you'll become the Strong Guy/Gal (Yes, ladies bend too!!!), or The Nail Bender.

Every time people see you, even if it's only occasionally, you'll be burned in their mind as somebody with a strong grip - nobody to mess with, that is for sure.

This is a guest post by New York personal trainer Al Kavadlo - The Pistol Squat. Enjoy.

NB : This article first appeared in the 'Articles & Logs' area of the forums.

The first time I ever tried to do a pistol squat, I remember thinking it seemed impossible - my leg quivered, my abs hurt, even the other leg hurt just trying to keep it in the air! There were a lot of reasons why I couldn't do it right away, but regardless of the fact that my legs were too weak and my core stabilization was sub-par, the bigger problem was that I lacked the proper neurological capabilities. I know I might be starting to lose you there, but stay with me.

You probably don't remember what it was like when you were first learning how to walk, but I'm sure that at some point you've watched a baby try to. They really have to concentrate and even then they always wobble and fall down a lot in the beginning. This was like me trying to do that first one legged squat. This is how you'll probably feel the first time that you try it too. However, just like that baby who eventually learns to walk, if you keep at it, one day you will able to do a one legged squat relatively easily.

The reason for this, as I mentioned earlier, is as much about your brain as it is about your body. Whenever you try to get your body to do something that it isn't used to doing it has to build a new neurological pathway to make it happen. Your brain has never had to send that specific message to your muscle before so it must blaze a new trail in order to arrive there. It is also psychological in the sense that you might be a bit intimidated by the exercise itself. If this is the case, hopefully you can avoid falling into the "I can't" trap. Don't defeat yourself before you've even tried - when you believe, you can achieve!

However, before you start working on learning the pistol squat, there are a few prerequisites that you ought to have out of the way to ensure a solid foundation. You should be able to perform a proper two legged squat with resistance that is equal to your body weight (ladies this goes for you too!), or if you aren't into going for one rep maxes, you should be comfortable squatting at least 65% of your body weight for multiple reps.

Additionally, maintaining good posture, keeping your knee (on the squatting leg) from tracking forward in front of your toes, and achieving parallel depth are all essential components of any safe, effective squat - regardless of if you're using one or both legs.

Now that we've gotten that taken care of, there are a few ways to approach training your body to do a one-legger. One method is to start from the bottom up. While sitting down on a bench, lift one foot off the ground. Lean forward and use the heel of your other foot to push into the floor while squeezing your abs tight, puffing your chest out, and reaching your arms out in front. Once you get to the top, try to lower yourself slowly and repeat. You will likely lose control during the lowering phase and wind up plopping down onto the bench at the bottom. That's fine for now. In time your control will improve to the point where you no longer need to sit on the bench.

Another method to employ while practicing towards doing a one legged squat is to practice from the top down. Stand on a bench, a bit off to the side with one foot hanging off the edge. Squat down so that one leg drops below the level of the bench. Make sure you stick out your hips and butt, and lean forward a bit - otherwise your balance will be off. If you are having a hard time balancing with this, hold onto something to guide you. A resistance-band that is securely in place or a cable machine balanced with a full weight stack are great options. A broom handle works well too if you are doing these at home. If you have a training partner, have them assist you by either holding your hand or standing right by you so that you can grab them if you lose your balance. This is an exercise that I will literally hold my client's hand through the first time they try it!

This is a guest post by New York personal trainer Al Kavadlo - Training the Trainer : MMA Workout. Enjoy.

NB : This article first appeared in the 'Articles & Logs' area of the forums.

Everybody needs training - even me.

Luckily, I got to be on the other end of a training session recently - with Matt Ruskin, an MMA fighter, ex-marine, and all around badass.

Matt took me a bit out of my element by giving me an MMA (mixed martial arts) style workout. As he points out, "MMA training challenges your equilibrium by constantly making you switch from being on the ground to being on your feet."

The exercises we did all involve explosive changes in direction, and when all was said and done, I was pretty beat.

This is a guest interview by freelance writer and BJJ practitioner Yael Grauer - Double Kettlebell Workouts: For the Best of Both Worlds (an interview with Strength Coach Troy Anderson). Enjoy.
1. How did you develop an interest in kettlebells?

Truth be known, for at least a few months there early on I was an anti-kettlebell person; buying in to the bullshit that you can just use a dumbbell. How wrong I was.

My ultimate interest in kettlebells has always been the access they give to people to perform movements that they never would have in a normal environment; whether it is an athlete or some just looking to lose a few pounds. It is all about having the accessibility to the fastest journey from point A to point B and kettlebells provide that.

2. Most programs are written specifically for strength or specifically for fat loss. How do you program for both?

I think people used to think that they could not do both; but there is a trend out there that that is starting to insert heavier loading into fat loss programs. I think most of us would agree a large degree of fat loss is changing what goes into your mouth.

Strength and fat loss actually go quite well together, although we have been conditioned to think otherwise. When you think about it with pure strength work you should use relatively low volume work and with a restricted fat loss diet you don't want to expend too much energy.

Here's a personal example : I did the better part of a train-up for a strongman contest while using something called the velocity diet (fairly restrictive fat loss protocol) and it did not effect performance at all.

3. Why use kettlebells for strength and fat loss when you can use other tools?

Ultimately it is accessibility. If you are a pretty decent coach and your client has the physical ability with kettlebells the door is wide open.

It's really as simple as this - the vast majority of people can't squat or deadlift worth a damn, and we can get proficient at that stuff quickly with a kettlebell. There is no psychological 'hang-up' of having to 'address a big weight' and that is beyond value. Not only in long term movement quality but in regard to fat loss too they use more of the 600 principle as my friend Dax Moy likes to call it; in short they are using more of their 600 muscles and that is a good thing when it comes to fat loss.

Not to mention we can progress them to things like swings, snatches, get-ups and flowing complexes.

For athletes it is sad to say but most of them are pretty strong but move like shit, it allows the access again to refine some movement and coordination and then put the foot on the pedal and go into advanced movements again while having a very short learning curve, it's very powerful.

When were are honest about things we need athletes in & out fast with high impact results, not spending a ton of time teaching minutiae or refining technique.

Kettlebells are the perfect blend of a tool that provides diversity, and accessibility to many different populations; whether it is performance strength work, metabolic work, or even mobility work with just a couple kettlebells. As someone who needs their 'tools' to make money, that is invaluable.

4. Why double kettlebells?

Well as you may have figured I am not much of a 'load nazi', that is the apparent thing that the double kettlebell provides and for most people and athletes that is enough.

With the kettlebells we are allowed the opportunity to move relatively heavy weight fast, and this very good for developing athleticism and even better for fat loss.

There is another component and this something I call integrity; basically when someone is forced to hold the kettlebell(s) in the rack position regardless of the movement it just brutalizes the core in a good way, in other words it keeps people from being lazy and at the same time slips in a sneaky little bit of core work.

5. Can you describe a sample workout?

We have a variety of signature workouts from Big Iron Burn (BIB), Chaos Method (CM), and Smoke Session (SS). Things that make our program a bit different from purely the exercise standpoint.

We have a 'pick your own ending' style with the chaos method that switches things up everyday or Big Iron Burn which is a primary movement plus a burn circuit that supports the movement developed in the big iron portion.

Then we have the metabolic Smoke Session. Ultimately the programming is set up to sustain progress whether you are a kettlebell newbie or a fitness enthusiast so you will be able to step in and get kickass results.

Since most people want to feel like they worked out here's an example of a workout that I shot this fall with a football theme.

If you would like to check out all our other free workouts and videos go to: www.kettlebellworkoutvideos.com

This is a guest post by Strength and Conditioning Coach Karsten Jensen - Do You Believe in the Human Potential? Enjoy.

NB : This article first appeared in the 'Articles & Logs' area of the forums.

I am sure you have heard people say things like:

"You can't run below 10.40 in the 100 without drugs."

"Show me an Olympics track and field athlete who is not on drugs and I will show you the one who is last!"

In the powerlifting world, Louie Simmons is known for claiming that steroids are necessary to become "as strong as possible".

It has become a common belief that all high performers in power sports are on drugs. Repeated drug charges of famous athletes in sports like baseball and track and field, and recent movies like "Bigger, Stronger, Faster" only support this contention.

Since I was a young boy I have believed that we, as human beings, possess an unlimited potential.

Emerson said:

Wealth is moral. The only sin is limitation.

Cutting edge researchers like Bruce Lipton and Gregg Braden have written books with statements such as:

"Our genes are controlled by our beliefs."

"We are not bound by the laws of biology as we know them today."

I believe that we are about to see a BIG CHANGE in the methods used in strength and conditioning. The best coaches and athletes will start to pull in methods from outside our field and start applying within our field. A common denominator for these methods is that they will embrace the human being as an energy being (this is fact - check your physics book) rather than a collection of bones and flesh.

This is a guest post by freelance writer and BJJ practitioner Yael Grauer - Primero BJJ. Enjoy.
Which would you choose? Would you rather train at a gym with world class instructors even if it had a bad vibe? Or would you rather train in a gym with instruction that's less-than-stellar, but where you felt right at home?

I asked Shawn Tompkins, head MMA trainer at TapouT Training Center in Las Vegas, the same question. He said he'd pick the gym with the better atmosphere. "If you don't enjoy what you're doing, what's the point?" he asked.

I'd like to point out that this is coming from the guy who's coached MMA superstars Wanderlei Silva, Randy Couture, Dan Henderson, Mark Hominick, Vitor Belfort, Mark Coleman and more. A coach who is driven and passionate and worked tirelessly to perfect his own coaching style over the years. He'd pick the gym with the best vibe over the one with the best coaching.

Tompkins isn't the only person with that opinion. Many coaches have pointed out over the years that all the credentials and knowledge will not replace a good gym vibe or culture. Although it sounds like nails on a chalkboard to goal-centered athletes, the process really does matter as much as the destination. Create an atmosphere where everyone feels valued and respected, and that's where they'll really shine.

The best gym I've ever had the pleasure of training at was Primero BJJ in Tucson, Arizona. I can't say that I could differentiate between the good vibe and good instruction. Good instruction is part and parcel, really, but perhaps it is the atmosphere that makes students more receptive to it. Qualified instructors are a dime a dozen, but safe and positive environments? From my experience, they are deceptively hard to find.

The gym atmosphere permeates into every aspect of training. Good instruction is of paramount importance for those who are solely focused on training, and Primero had some of the best with the combined talents of Richard Bueno, Brian Ogule and Joe Solorio. And instruction is the first place where gym vibe is important, if you want to create an atmosphere where students feel safe enough to take risks, be creative, ask questions and try new things. I'd go to Primero for the conditioning; when I decided to get serious about getting in shape it was heavy lifting and Primero that got me there. This is another place where gym culture is important. How many athletes would go to a gym with a rotten vibe when they've had a bad day or are stressed out for other reasons? Much easier to talk yourself out of it, but a gym with a good culture has the opposite effect: students are more likely to attend under negative personal circumstances.

This is a guest post by New York personal trainer Al Kavadlo - The Human Flag. Enjoy.

NB : This article first appeared in the 'Articles & Logs' area of the forums.

The Human Flag is one of the greatest bodyweight challenges of all time. When someone can hold a full human flag, it always attracts the attention and admiration of onlookers. It's one thing to be strong - it's another thing to be a human flag! However, brute strength is not the secret to success with the human flag.

Like most things in life, being aware of the subtle nuances of the human flag is the key to performing it skilfully. Most people assume it's strictly an issue of upper body strength, but there are other things to consider when training for the human flag. I believe that achieving a full human flag begins by having a thorough understanding of these considerations. From there it's simply a matter of practice, dedication, and patience.

A lot of people ask me how long it takes to learn to do a human flag. It's natural to ask this question but I think the best way to approach training to do a flag is not to think about the end result. It is a long road to the human flag and people who go in expecting a quick fix will likely be disappointed. It takes a lot of practice - even if you're already fit. However, if you focus on the process rather than the end result, I think you'll find it a more rewarding experience. It also helps to set small bench marks along the way by using easier variations to build your way up to the full human flag.

The key to gradual progression is to practice similar positions where you'll have better leverage. Part of what makes the full human flag so challenging is that you're using a relatively short lever (your arm) to hold up a very long object (your body). Since you can't really make your arms longer, you need to find ways to make your body shorter in order to make the flag more manageable.

This is a guest post by Strength and Conditioning Coach Karsten Jensen - Progressive Distance Training. Enjoy.

NB : This article is an excerpt from the book: The Flexible Periodization Method, by Karsten Jensen.


The main purpose of Progressive Distance Training is to improve 1RM in lifts such as squats, deadlifts, bench press or military press.

Progressive distance training has been used by legends like Paul Anderson, Peary Rader and Bob Peoples. Progressive distance training is related to supra-maximal eccentric training, in the sense that supporting structures of the body, like grip, core, bones and tendons get exposed to loads beyond 1RM. Unless specifically addressed, a weakness of progressive distance may be a lack of stimulation of strength in the bottom position of a movement (typically the most challenging part).

By nature, progressive distance should be a 6-week cycle (or longer) to allow the athlete to adapt to the given settings. Due to the short range of motion (ROM) initially, the rep number is a little higher and tapers down as ROM increases.

A power rack with solid safety pins is needed for this MV.

Day 1	? x 5-1
Day 2	? x 3-6	(55-75% 1RM)
Day 3	? x 6-3
Day 4	? x 6-3

As mentioned in Appendix 6, the range of motion is related to the tension on the muscle and thus, intensity. The ROM is waved down and up from workout to workout and week to week using the following sequence. (Setting 1 should allow for about 1-inch of movement. Subsequent settings are counted based on setting number 1).

Variation in placement (setting) of safety pins.

	Week 1	Week 2	Week 3	Week 4	Week 5	Week 6
Day 1	1	2	3	4	5	6
Day 3	3	4	5	6	7	8

The goal of the system is to progress to full ROM. You can shorten or lengthen the progression (fewer or more settings than 8) if full ROM for the athlete/client corresponds to a number different from 8.

This is a guest post by New York personal trainer Al Kavadlo - Jumping Rope for Conditioning. Enjoy.

NB : This article first appeared in the 'Articles & Logs' area of the forums.

Did you know that jumping rope is a plyometric exercise?

Well, if you haven't jumped rope since you were a kid, you might be surprised by how challenging it can be.

In fact, I think it's one of the best forms of cardio conditioning out there - way better than the eliptical trainer.

You can probably expect to get winded and feel uncoordinated the first time you try jumping rope for cardio, but after a few sessions you will start to get the hang of it.

The Basics

Start by just practicing the standard two foot jump. It might take a little patience to get the timing right, but after a little while this should become relatively simple for most people.

Once you get that move down, you can move onto alternating feet (skipping), and then work on doing double skips.

Harder Moves

When you get comfortable with the basics, try doing a crossover or a double-under. Crossovers involve switching your hands to the opposite side and then back. Double unders are when the rope goes around twice during one jump. Both of these moves take some practice to get the hang of, but challenges are what makes life exciting!

This is a guest post by freelance writer and BJJ practitioner Yael Grauer - How to Get Your Gym on the Map. Enjoy.
It's always nice to get web traffic. Regularly updating your gym's website with useful content, kick-ass videos and a smattering of photos will often attract readers from around the world. But how do you gain traction on that by actually getting new clients to descend upon your doorstep? That's the question I posed to SEO expert Troy Lerner of Booyah Advertising, an online ad agency. He pointed out that a map listing would be particularly effective for increasing foot traffic.

A map listing is what shows up when you enter the word "gym" (for example) and the city and state. If you've ever looked up a business in your city, you probably already know that having your gym feature prominently on the map is extremely helpful for web users.
How do you get your gym on the map? First, go to places.google.com and verify that your business' information (address, phone number, hours, etc.) is accurate. Next, make sure your business is also listed on all of the major directories online. These include yahoo, bing, yellowpages, citysearch and local.com, as well as hotfrog and goguides. Okay, now open your browser to google and type in "gym" and your city. A bunch of maps will show up. Check out your competitors' listings - not their actual websites, but the reviews they get. Now start making a list of the sites that reviewed your competition.
Check those sites to make sure your gym is also listed and that your information (again, business name and address and phone number) is accurate. And if your gym is not listed, see if you can rectify that.

This is a guest post by Strength and Conditioning Coach Karsten Jensen - The Top 5 Mistakes to Avoid When You Create a Periodized Training Program. Enjoy.

NB : This article is an excerpt from the book: The Flexible Periodization Method, by Karsten Jensen.


How do I know that these are the Top 5 Mistakes? I know that these are the Top 5 Mistakes, because I and many other trainers and coaches I have conferred with have made them! Mistakes are a natural part of learning and only count as true mistakes if you keep repeating them.

Legendary Danish physicist, Niels Bohr, was known for saying that "an expert is someone who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a narrow scope of practice".

I will assume that you are currently creating your long-term training plan based on some form of periodization model (linear, non-linear, conjugate, block etc). If you are ahead of your game, you might even have my book "The Flexible Periodization Method".

(Not everyone is comfortable with "periodization" and find the concept to be confusing and too theoretical. If this describes you, I recommend that you initially focus on the most basic definition of periodization -"a division into periods".)

Programmes that follow the principles of periodization have been proven to yield better results than programs that do not follow principles of periodization (Study "Designing Resistance Training Programs", by Fleck and Kraemer to learn more).

If you are not basing your long-term training programs on a clear, effective periodization model, then that is 'the mistake of all mistakes!" Let's dive into it!

Mistake #1

Creating a great training program with the wrong goals. Just because there is jumping in a sport does not mean that the athlete should perform jump training, if jumping ability is not the weak link for that athlete!!! The Mantra is: Spend the time focusing on the components of training that will affect the athlete the most - whatever that is.

A great macrocycle plan is based on asking the athlete and or coach about the weak link in training or competition. I have written elsewhere about the 7 categories of weak links, but here they are listed for your convenience

1. Increased daily energy or vitality
2. Prevent repeated injuries and/or rehabilitate an injury.
3. Improve the ability to perform a high amount of sport specific practice with high quality .
4. Improve the ability to repeat current peak performance in selected elements of the performance or game.
5. Improve peak performance in selected elements of the performance or game.
6. Improve performance in prolonged or repeated competitions.
7. Change body composition

Mistake #2

Not enough time assigned to each mesocycle. Would an athlete improve muscle mass after one training session geared towards improving muscle mass? Obviously not!

What ever physical capacity the athlete is aiming to improve, the training program to address this particular capacity must be trained for a sufficient number of weeks so that useful training adaptations are created.

The sufficient number of training weeks ranges from 3 to 12 depending on the capacity to be improved, how strongly that capacity is emphasized in the program and the training age of the athlete or client.

This is a guest post by Strength and Conditioning Coach Karsten Jensen - Specific Method Variations for the Early Phase of a Macrocycle. Enjoy.

NB : This article first appeared in the 'Articles & Logs' area of the forums.

Here is an exerpt from my book: The Flexible Periodization Method; covering specific methods to use in the early phases of a macro cycle. Note how the optimal use of combination exercises can give a unique combination of medium-high loads and long duration sets.

MV 1: ? sets x 10-12+10-12+10-12 reps / Tempo: 502 / RI: 60 sec
Start with a 3-4/5 RPE load for 10 reps. Progress on load when 12 reps are completed in all segments in at least one set. Progress on nr sets from week to week.

(RI = Rest Interval, RPE = Rate of Perceived Exertion)

MV 2: ? sets x 8-10+8-10+8-10 reps / Tempo: 502 / RI 60 sec
Start with a 3-4/5 RPE load for 8 reps. Progress on load when 10 reps are completed in all segments in at least one set. Progress on nr sets from week to week.

MV 3: ? sets x 3-5 reps with an unilateral exercise alternating left and right for 4-8 minutes without rest / Tempo 502 / RI: 60 sec if more than one set is used.
Start with a 3-4/5 RPE load for 90 sec constant work. Progress on load, when at 2 min of unterinterrupted work can be performed. Increase nr of minutes from week to week.

MV4: 1 set x 100-200 reps / Tempo: m0m0 / RI: na

This is a guest post by New York personal trainer Al Kavadlo - Training for the Planche. Enjoy.

NB : This article first appeared in the 'Articles & Logs' area of the forums.

The planche is an advanced body-weight challenge that requires strength, balance and stability.

While it's commonly seen in competitive gymnastics, few people are familiar with the planche and even fewer have thought to try it themselves. I'm hoping to change that!

The textbook planche position is almost the same as the push-up position - except your feet are not touching the ground!

There are several positions to practice while building up towards this, such as headstands, handstands and the crow (aka frogstand). It's also helpful to practice planche variations with bent arms and/or legs, as these are typically easier.

Before working on the planche, you should establish a solid foundation of core strength as well as upper body strength, through doing exercises like planks, push-ups, and dips.

The full planche is still a work in progress for me but after months of practicing, I can get my body mostly straight when my arms are bent.

This is a guest post by freelance writer and BJJ practitioner Yael Grauer - How to Add 20+ Pounds to your Deadlift. Enjoy.

It was a sunny day in Phoenix, and I was lucky enough to spend the morning working out with Josh Henkin. Best known for implementing sandbags and sandpacks into training, Henkin has always been quick to tell me that he's not married to any one particular methodology. Sure, sandbags, the TRX system, bands, etc. can be very helpful tools, but only when used appropriately to solve specific problems rather than trying to squeeze clients into a pre-existing ideology.

I asked Henkin to take a look at my deadlift, which is probably my best lift. It took me 16 weeks to get from 175 lbs. to 200, and I was convinced that my newfound 1RM wasn't going to change any time soon. Twenty minutes with Henkin proved me wrong, and I walked out with a new 1RM: 220 lbs. But probably even more important (if you're of the belief that anything's more important than a PR), I walked away with a greater knowledge of my own muscle imbalances and movement patterns that need work, and some great ideas to help me get there.

Since these problems aren't particularly uncommon, I thought I'd share some of what we worked on to activate my posterior chain - particularly the glutes and hamstrings, with an emphasis on proper hip extension.

The problem

I knew that I wasn't using my body as a complete unit in my deadlift because my glutes were never ever sore, not even on 1RM days, but even a single (unweighted, partial) pistol would do the trick. And I'd been told by my training partner that I did in fact round my back a teeny bit when I got to the higher weights, and was not extending my hips all the way up top.

It's worth noting that these patterns didn't come out until I started putting real weight on the bar. This is particularly useful information for new coaches: watching someone lift an easy weight for them will not necessarily help you correct their form, so pay close attention when they are at or near their max or are slightly fatigued.

Here's some of the exercises Josh and I used between sets to get my glutes and hamstrings activated and improve my hip movement. These obviously also work as stand-alone exercises, and could even be incorporated in a warmup.

1. Internally Rotated X-Band Walks

Just like a regular x-band walk, you step on a resistance band, twist it into an X-shape and walk sideways. But in this case, you make sure your feet are inverted - that is, your toes are facing each other. If connected, they would form a V. This activates the glutes as you do your penguin waddle sideways.

Josh Henkin's explanation: "By internally rotating the feet you minimize the use of the dominant external rotators. This may sound contradictory, but you actually stimulate more of the stabilizers such as the gluteus medius. If the smaller muscles learn to fire better it will provide a better environment to have the prime movers more effectively perform their job."

2. TRX Hip Bridge

Simply put your feet up on the TRX and use your core and hips to complete a series of bridges, holding position at the top.

"The TRX provides a few different functions", Henkin explains. "For one, having the feet in the cradle allows the lifter to focus on "driving into the heels" which is a main cue for performing any bridging movement correctly. Secondly, we can slowly change the load by changing the body position on the height of the foot cradle."

This is a guest post by professional armwrestler Scott Latella - How to Become a Better Armwrestler. Enjoy.
So you want to beat your buddy armwrestling but all he ever does is smash your arm thru the kitchen table. Well I'm here to help.

I've been a professional armwrestler for 20 years now, but it didn't start out all trophies and gold medals. My first 2 years I struggled to just win a single match in the amateur class until I learned the sport specific training needed to become a better armwrestler.

In this article I'm going to give you the 3 basic points you need to work on to get your self ready for an armwrestling match.

Point 1

Hand & Wrist: Yes it's called armwrestling but it should really be called handwrestling since who ever controls the hand and the wrist in the match wins 95% of the time. You need to build up great strength in your hand and wrist so that you can defend against an opponent's move and also enforce your move onto him. Heavy grippers can help some, in armwrestling you need more open hand and flat finger strength. Rolling thunder lifts, Flat finger chins, Dumbball curls and my favorite the metal gyro wristball will not only increase your power but also your holding endurance. I hit hand & wrist training 4-5 times a week and will mix it up to keep the workouts fresh.

Point 2

Pulling: If you go to an armwrestling tournament or maybe watch some matches on YouTube you will notice people calling matches pulls or hear armwrestlers being called pullers. Why?? Well the best basic move in armwrestling is to first pull your opponent's arm back to you before trying to press sideways for the pin. Armwrestling is a leverage sport; gain that advantage and your chances of winning skyrocket. So when getting your grip focus on a nice tight grip, tighten your whole arm so it stays super tight at a 90% angle and then when the ref (or 3rd buddy) says go, yank his arm straight back to you (aim for your nose). If he is not ready for this his arm will open up and you will have a great leverage advantage. At this point you go for the pin and thrust sideways. Can you say winner??

This is a guest post by Body by D-Rock's Derek Peruo - Suspension Training 101. Enjoy.

INTRODUCTION

If you're not using suspension straps in your workout program, you should be. Their portability and functionality make them ideal for home gyms and training while on the road. And while there are numerous variations of the suspension trainer, the most popular has become the TRX Pro from Fitness Anywhere. Setting up the TRX is super easy and its versatility is limitless. This article will break down the basics of setting up the suspension straps and incorporating the movements into your workout program.

WHAT IS TRX?

TRX was developed by Randy Hetrick, a former U.S. Navy SEAL, as a mobile training platform for soldiers on the front lines. The light-weight design of the TRX made it easy to transport, set-up, and break-down, so it could be taken practically anywhere soldiers were stationed. There are several different kinds of suspension trainers, but none seem to have as large a mainstream following as TRX. In response to their customers' demands, a lot of commercial gyms have purchased one or two of these yellow TRX straps for their personal trainers to use with clients and chances are, if your gym doesn't have one, they will soon.

Of course, if your gym doesn't have a set of straps, you can always bring your own and freak out the training staff with your mad skills.

SO WHY WOULD I USE IT?

The TRX (or any suspension trainer for that matter) is designed as a stand-alone piece of workout equipment. You shouldn't need anything beyond the straps and a solid anchor point about 7 feet off the ground (squat racks, door jams and tree limbs all work great for this). By adjusting your sets, reps, tempo, range of motion, and rest periods you can design a program to train practically any facet of physical fitness. Endurance, strength, power and flexibility can all be trained using suspension straps.

Beyond portability, suspension straps also allows you to quickly adjust the difficulty of each exercise simply by changing the angle of your body in relation to the anchor point: If an exercise is too challenging, move your center of gravity closer to the vertical line under the anchor point and widen your base of support ("feet apart"); If an exercise is too easy, move your center of gravity away from the vertical line and make your base of support smaller ("feet together").

HOW DO I USE IT?

Setting up the TRX is stupid simple: Just wrap it around any solid, stable object above your head. There are fancy, specially designed anchor points to do this, but I recommend just using one of the exposed beams in your basement or garage. Once you find an anchor point, drape the main strap over the object and latch the suspension trainer to itself. Do NOT attach the suspension trainer directly to your anchor point using the carabiner; the equipment is not designed to work that way. If you attach it correctly, the straps will look something like this:
Once your anchor point is secure, use the adjustment tabs and cam buckles to increase and decrease the length of the straps according to your needs. Always keep the handles centered on the main loop, and never ever let the handles slide back and forth while supporting weight: This causes friction and will degrade the equipment very quickly.
There are a bazillion exercises you can do with suspension straps, including stretches and balance/coordination drills, and my video below only demonstrates a handful of the more common movement patterns you might encounter. Don't be afraid to experiment and get creative.

Squat / Pistol

These are pretty easy movement patterns, and everyone should be familiar with the proper form. Keep your hips back and really pop them on the way up. Just remember that this movement can cause more shear force on the knees than a traditional barbell squat due to increased quadriceps activation. Limit the range of motion if you have knee trouble, or make damn sure you're activating those glutes!

Glute Bridge

A fantastic alternative to the squat discussed above, glute bridging eliminates most (if not all) quadriceps activation. But they do require a high degree of stability through the core, especially if you're doing a single-leg variation. If you find your hamstrings firing more than your glutes during a bridge, place a resistance band around your knees as you perform the movement, and keep the band taught.

Supine Leg Curl

This is similar to the supine hip extension/leg cure performed with a stability ball, and should dynamically activate the knee flexors (mainly the biceps femoris, semitendinosus and semimembranosus. The popliteus, proximal gastrocnemius, distal sartorius and distal gracillis will also activate). Keep your glutes tight to maintain the proper straight line between your shoulders, hips and knees at all times.

Triple Extension / Sprints

Every sport requires its athletes from time to time to extend fully at the hips, knees and ankles simultaneously. This move is called the triple extension, and is the foundation for effective running, throwing and jumping mechanics. Oftentimes, olympic-style lifts are used to train this movement pattern; but the variations I demonstrate in the video will work just fine. Focus on minimizing ground contact time and getting your knees into your chest as quickly as possible between repetitions.

Plank / Pike / Mountain Climbers / Knee Tucks

It's core work. It's good for you. Do it.

Push-ups

This is my personal favorite. It activates all those little tiny stabilizer muscles you forgot about, and will bring even the biggest guy to his knees (literally). Maintain proper push-up form throughout the movement.

Row / 1-Arm Row

I cannot stress enough the importance of squeezing your shoulder blades together during these movements. It's very easy to cheat and use your biceps to pull yourself up, but doing that will counterproductive to what we're trying to accomplish here. Each repetition should initiate from low between the scapula: maybe T6 or T7 or T8. Initiate the movement too high and you involve the traps more than you should. "Start low, then go."

Dips

Perhaps even more demanding than the push-ups, doing dips on a suspension trainer can quickly become torturous. I recommend them highly.

This is a guest post by New York personal trainer Al Kavadlo - Kipping Pull-ups. Enjoy.

NB : This article first appeared in the 'Articles & Logs' area of the forums.

Sometimes a straight line isn't the fastest way to get from point A to point B.

While Pull-ups are typically performed by going straight up and down, the kipping pull-up creates an arc, rather than a straight line, as a means to quickly propel the body upward.

In sports, there are rarely slow controlled movements like conventional pull-ups; real life activities typically involve using the body as a whole. Kipping pull-ups are an explosive, dynamic exercise, turning the pull-up into more of a full-body exercise as opposed to just working the upper body.

Utilizing the kipping technique for pull-ups usually allows for more total reps, which is why some gym rats have referred to it as "cheating." But I think that's somewhat of a juvenile attitude.

Now don't get me wrong, pull-up contests can be a lot of fun, and it's okay to make stipulations as to what the guidelines of your particular contest are, but it's a shame to write off a great performance tool like the kipping pull-up do to a narrow minded view of proper form.

While strict, controlled pull-ups are fantastic for body-building and strength training, kipping pull-ups are great in the context of high intensity conditioning and circuit training. They get your heart rate up and they allow you to share the workload amongst more muscles, as opposed to just isolating the upper back and arms. I think the best approach is to have room for both of these types of pull-ups in your workout regimen. Variety is what it's all about.

This is a guest post by martial artist and self protection instructor Dean Coulson - Why Conditioning is King. Enjoy.
A lot of people have their own idea about conditioning, the word is pretty generic and as a result conditioning for one person can have a completely different meaning to someone else. Some may class a casual jog as conditioning; however that doesn't ring true to me.

Is cardio conditioning?

From my point of view, when people use the term cardio is it is being referred to as low intensity steady state aerobic (with oxygen) exercise such as running or stationary bike and has no place being called a conditioning program. To me conditioning is an intense anaerobic (without oxygen) training experience and I feel a lot of people are misguided. I thought I would put the record straight.

Bring the Intensity

A conditioning program consisting of high speed and high intensity exercise will certainly keep you fit whilst preserving your strength and mass. It will also make your body more efficient at burning fat by increasing your metabolic rate for up to 36 hours after you have finished your training. The other benefit is that you can complete your conditioning session in less time.

Your A Game

The most important thing you can bring to a conditioning program is you. That is, if there is a lack of effort put in then the program will suck. As the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink; well this holds true here. You can have the best conditioning program in the world, but if you don't show up with your A game and give it all you have got, then you may as well forget it. You get out what you put in, anyone can jog, but how many people can do hill sprints at top speed without keeling over?

Remember - Knowledge is power only if the knowledge is applied.

Motivation

Fatigue makes cowards of us all - Vince Lombardi

Conditioning workouts hurt, there is no getting around it. Lactic acid sets in and then your mind is against you trying anything and everything to make you quit. If you train intensely then you will meet fatigue, fatigue is unavoidable. However, the body can be trained to minimise its effects or at least delay them.

You have got to be motivated to train through fatigue. Intense conditioning will challenge you, but motivation will allow you to achieve your goals through hard physical and mental activity, giving you the ability to push through fatigue.

The body has more potential than most people realise, however conditioning is not just about the physical training; mental training is just as important and that will come about by hard physical effort, pushing through fatigue. Mental conditioning plays a pivotal role if peak physical conditioning is to be realised.

Energy Systems

Were you aware that we have 3 energy systems? Without getting too technical, the 3 energy systems our body uses are:

Aerobic : This is used primarily for steady state cardio, burning calories whilst doing the exercise but very little if any afterwards. Training too much with this system can reduce muscle mass, speed and power (e.g. marathon runners).

Anaerobic : Has 2 energy systems (ATP-PC and Glycolytic). These energy systems are used during high speed/high intensity conditioning.

ATP-PC is stored in the muscles and is the energy system for power. However we only have a finite amount and is quickly used.

Glycolytic : This energy system derives its energy for glycogen stored in the muscles or liver, this is what the body uses during intense exercise once ATP stores have been depleted.

Training in this manner will still provide cardiovascular benefits but will also keep strength gains and well as providing effective fat loss. This is due to the increase in your metabolic rate post exercise, which allows the body to burn calories long after you have finished training.

Having good aerobic fitness is still important, but you do not have to do steady state cardio to achieve it. Anyone who has tried a high intensity program, which uses energy without oxygen will still be breathing heavy afterwards. This is because the body still has to utilise oxygen to help remove lactic acid and replenish energy stores.

A good conditioning program will enhance all three energy systems.

Quality or Quantity

There are times when I see people in a gym on recumbent bikes or stationary bikes for quite literally hours reading magazines. This will get you nowhere, burn very little fat and will not even tax your aerobic capacity and do nothing for your conditioning.

Let's get something straight. You do not need to spend hours in a gym, the maximum time you need to spend conditioning is 30-40 minutes and this can be realised by high intensity conditioning. In fact if you have limited time to train you can fit a ball busting conditioning session in 20 minutes, ever tried to do 20 minutes of burpees straight? I rest my case!

General Physical Preparedness

GPP is the way whereby an athlete can improve his/her work capacity (the amount of work a body can produce) by using a variety of conditioning exercises, designed to improve Aerobic Endurance, Anaerobic Endurance, Recovery, Strength and Coordination. Everyone should aim to improve their GPP, through high intensity conditioning.

The systems

There are several methods that can be used to create a complete all round conditioning program; the following are the ones I primarily use:

Interval Training

Interval training consists of periods of high intensity conditioning with periods of rest or active rest in between as a recovery.

There are several options that lend themselves particularly well to interval training:

• Running
• Punching/kicking a heavy bag
• Skipping rope
• Rowing machine

Rest or active rest could be walking or jogging or jumping jacks, depending on what you are doing.

A punching drill on a heavy bag is a great example of interval training. Plan out 8-12 1 minute rounds with 1 minute rest in between rounds. These 1 minute rounds have to be really taxing and you have to be able to go all out until the minute is up. This is extremely difficult but extremely rewarding.

Circuit Training

Circuit training is a great way to conduct your conditioning routines, it is similar to interval training but can be for time or for repetitions or both. Circuits are performed at a fast pace and can concentrate on upper body, lower body or be combined to provide full body conditioning. There are no rules as to how circuits are constructed. It could be just bodyweight or other modularities can be used including dumbbells, barbells, sandbags, medicine balls, kettlebells, heavy bags, skipping rope etc.

Circuit training is tough and is designed to force you to dig deep and push through fatigue.

Density Training

Simply put, how much of a particular exercise you can do it a defined amount of time. Your goal is to increase the amount of work performed in a time period.

Great examples I use are:

• Pull-ups/chin ups/burpees/push ups in a 10, 15 or 20 minute time limit

Tabata Intervals

An excellent protocol for conditioning, this involves 8 rounds of exercise with 20 seconds of intense activity, followed by 10 seconds of rest.
Tabata Intervals are one of my favourite protocols for an excellent conditioning session. You can either pick one exercise such as squats or pick multiple exercises, performed one after the other.

• 20 seconds of squats, 10 seconds rest x 8 rounds

Or

• 20 seconds push ups, 10 seconds rest
• 20 seconds pull ups, 10 seconds rest
• 20 seconds Burpees, 10 seconds rest
• 20 seconds Squats, 10 seconds rest

Complete this tabata circuit for 8 rounds WITHOUT stopping

Finishers

Finishers are a great way to round off your training, whether it was a strength or conditioning session. They will test your mental toughness and push your physical ability to the limit. From a strength point of view it is a great way to get a conditioning routine in and from a conditioning point of view a great way to teach your body to push through fatigue and increase your GPP.

Farmers walks, tabata intervals, bodyweight or density training are great examples of finishers.

Don't forget strength training

A common mistake a lot of people make is that they view strength and conditioning as two entities. Sure as far as the training goes they are, but they should never be separated. They go hand in hand in my book, on a day when I am not training for strength, I will be conditioning and vice versa.
From a strength point of view, training for conditioning will:

• enhance all three of your energy systems - anaerobic (both ATP-PC & glycolytic) and aerobic
• increase General Physical Preparedness (GPP)
• Help preserve strength and mass

All of these are essential for maintaining good work capacity for strength training. The benefits of this include allowing more intensity and volume to your strength workout, quicker recovery times between sets and between workouts. By having increased recovery allows you to handle bigger workloads.

Of course you still have to train smart and not let the conditioning detract from your strength training if strength is your focus. Getting DOMS for days after a conditioning session will not help your strength training.

I see these all as equal and strive to be as strong and as conditioned as possible. I am not too concerned about bulking up as long as the functional strength is in place.

Everyone has their own goals, but no one should neglect either strength or conditioning.

Have a plan

Always plan your activities and log everything. Improvements can be made easier if you know what you did in your last training session. Lay out a week of activity and stick to it. A typical week for a general strength and conditioning program could consist of the following:

• Monday: Strength Training + finisher
• Tuesday: Conditioning Training
• Wednesday: Strength Training
• Thursday: Conditioning Training
• Friday: Strength Training + finisher
• Saturday: Conditioning Training (or day off)
• Sunday: Rest

The strength training could go Maximal Upper, Lower, Upper and then the following week reverse it so that it is Lower, Upper, Lower.

Another strength-focussed week could be Full Body Strength on Monday, Day Off on Wednesday as recovery and then an Explosive Strength day on the Friday.

The point is is that as long as you have a plan, you can track your progress to make sure you can get the training in and know what you need to do week on week.

I always recommend backing off every 8th week with a program like this to allow your body to recover. This would entail less volume of training.

This is a guest post by freelance writer and BJJ practitioner Yael Grauer - Five Exercises To Build Grip Strength for Jiu Jitsu. Enjoy.
The first time I competed in a jiu jitsu tournament, I managed to get a collar choke sunk in and held onto it for dear life. Although I won my first match due to an advantage point I received from the unsuccessful submission attempt, my forearms were pretty much shot for quite a while. Don't let this happen to you!

First Things First

Before we get into some approaches to building grip strength for jiu
jitsu, I wanted to go over a couple of things. First of all, part of
grip burnout in a jiu jitsu tournament has to do with the lovely
cocktail of fear, adrenaline and technique that isn't exactly
thoughtful. To avoid burning out your grip before you even have a
chance to get started, you might consider not grabbing the gi from the
get-go but working some other type of takedown. Feel free to ignore
this advice if it's not your style (or if you're a judo player), but
if you're a wrestler grabbing the gi from the beginning does little other
than burn your grip and hurt your takedown attempt. You can also have
a light grip or use a no-gi approach where you grip the actual arm
(for example) rather than the gi to avoid killing your forearms before
you even have the chance to get started. Just something to think about
and possibly discuss with your coach and team.

Secondly, make sure you don't go nuts with the grip training. It is
very easy to overtrain, so make sure to either incorporate it as a
small part of your overall strength and conditioning program or, if
you're using a more intense approach, to take two weeks off every
month or so in order to prevent overtraining or injury.

Having said that, here's some approaches to strengthen the grip for jiu jjtsu.

1. Use the gi, son.

Throw a gi over your pullup bar and do some pullups grabbing onto
that. If you're still doing jumping pullups or body rows, use a gi for
those instead. If you didn't bring your gi to the gym, you can use a
towel in a pinch.

2. Fat bars.

Wrap a towel around your bar to make it nice and fat, and kill your
forearms by doing your pull-ups on that. You can also use a fat bar
for your barbell lunges, or fatten up your dumbbells for your one-arm
rows.

3. Another reason to deadlift

One simple way to work your grip strength is by lifting heavy things.
Take the lifting gloves off, use some chalk if necessary and work your
deads.

Over the past six years this site's amassed an enormous amount of content. To help you find the highlights, I'll be taking a wander through the archives from time to time.
This week - The Forgotten Lifts III.

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As you're probably well aware, I absolutely love sampling some of the older, less common exercises on a regular basis.

Some of these are still ideally suited to my training, and get used frequently; others are just fun to challenge yourself with. Whichever way they're used, here are a few more of The Forgotten Lifts :

This is a guest post by freelance writer and BJJ practitioner Yael Grauer - 10 Questions With Greg Everett. Enjoy.
Greg Everett wears many hats. He's the owner and program director of Catalyst Athletics, a gym in Sunnyvale, California. He is the editor-in-chief of the Performance Menu: Journal of Health and Athletic Excellence. And he's the author of what's been called 'the best book available on Olympic weightlifting', Olympic Weightlifting: A Complete Guide for Athletes & Coaches.

Following Scott's lead, I asked Greg 10 questions to dig below the surface.

1. Tell us a bit about yourself. Where did you grow up and how did you develop an interest in Olylifting?

I grew up in the southwest San Francisco Bay Area, which is were my gym is now. I learned the lifts in high school, although not well by any means. I didn't have any real guidance or exposure to actual weightlifters, so to me at that point, they were just some other barbell exercises that I didn't use much.

As soon as I could afford it, which was maybe 15 years old, I bought a power rack, a real bar and as many plates as I could for my garage to upgrade from the junk weights I'd be using for the previous few years. That went with me when I moved to Arizona, Chico and southern California. I still have the rack and plates - not sure what happened to the bar.

So I was always lifting weights, but not weightlifting. I wish I had better exposure to the sport at an earlier age. When I was in Chico, I was given a partnership in NorCal Strength & Conditioning. Finally I had access to bumpers and bars that actually spun a little, and immediately weightlifting became my primary interest although I was still doing conditioning work and training BJJ. Eventually I quit doing anything but lifting.

Shortly thereafter I sold my house, sold my third of the gym to my two partners, and moved to southern California to lift with Mike Burgener. I wanted to take some time without the responsibilities of gym ownership, without having to spend the entire day training clients, and just have a chance to train myself. It was the best decision I've made. I was able to be coached by one of the best out there and be in an environment of serious lifters. Burgener's gym is just a two-car garage at his house with four platforms smashed together, a lot of bars and weights, and a lot of love for the sport. I continued training private clients in the garage and coaching lifters with Burgener, learning as much as I could.

2. When did you decide to focus on coaching instead of just lifting?

Pretty much from day one. I've never been anything more than mediocre as a lifter, and I've always put myself in a position to prioritize others' lifting over my own. I don't mean that to say I'm extraordinarily selfless and charitable; I've just recognized that I can do more as a coach than an athlete. I derive enough satisfaction with my own training whether or not I'm competing, so it's not much of an issue. Fortunately, I think not being a great lifter has made me a better coach because I've had to get creative and think my way through progress.

3. Tell us about the Catalyst Athletics WODs (workouts of the day).

First, I want to acknowledge the shortcomings of an online training program: I can't program specifically for any of the participants, although I do keep an eye on comments and try to adjust accordingly. There are a number of things I do in that program that are specific to this essentially unknown group of athletes based on assumptions I've made about them and their needs. So far it seems to work well - we get a lot of comments and emails about peoples' success.

CrossFit had a daily conditioning workout posted; Mike Burgener had a daily weightlifting workout posted. I just happened to be in a position that people contacted me a lot about combining lifting and conditioning. I initially didn't want to post a daily workout because of the problems inherent with such a thing, but there was enough of a demand and I like programming so I figured I would do it. So the point is that it filled the gap in the existing workouts and provided what is basically a weightlifting program that accommodates a bit of conditioning work for people who want to get stronger, improve their Olympic lifts, and not turn into fat slobs.

4. In addition to being certified as a USAW coach you're also an RKC Kettlebell instructor and of course an NSCA CSCS. Why did you decide to focus primarily on Olylifting?

Weightlifting is the only thing that keeps my interest as a coach and an athlete. In terms of training in general, I like pretty much everything out there, and I like using as many tools as possible. I like interacting with all the different people and learning what they have to teach. It doesn't mean I'm going to do exactly what they do the way they do it, but there's no one you can't learn something from, even if it's what not to do. With regard to actual certifications, I've had all kinds, but they don't mean much. The only ones I maintain are the USAW and CSCS. I don't pursue higher USAW certs because I have no compelling reason to. I'd rather stay in my own gym, coach, train and work - having a different classification on my USAW card doesn't affect what I do, and I have no interest in coaching international teams, so it doesn't matter.

5. Do you think Olylifting is for everybody?

I think weightlifting should be accessible to everyone, but that doesn't mean it's appropriate, beneficial or necessary for everyone. If it's not done well, there are definitely unnecessary injury risks, and that's my biggest concern with the growing popularity of the lifts not matched by growing numbers of competent coaches. In other words, the more people doing the lifts improperly, the greater number of them who will get hurt, and the more we will start hearing that weightlifting causes injury.

This is a guest post by freelance writer and BJJ practitioner Yael Grauer - Gym Marketing Lessons From Your Favorite Sex Shop. Enjoy.
Whether you're a gym owner, a male fitness fanatic wanting to lift weights with your girlfriend, or a fit woman trying to find other ladies to work out with, you might find yourself wondering why are there so few women in the gym. Is it possible that the gym you own or work out at is as repelling to women as the seedy sex shop they wouldn't be caught dead in? And if so, what can you do to turn this around? What marketing strategies can you learn from the non-creepy sex shops that are always, always crowded?

I'm not saying your gym should be filled with half-naked women
sporting novelty items. What I am saying is that you could take a hint
from nice, clean stores which revolutionized the way many women looked
at sex shops and tapped into a whole new market. What separates stores
such as Good Vibrations or Fascinations from the XXX Adult Store even the bravest women won't venture near? Read on.

1. They're clean and well-lit.

Very few women like to shop...or work out... in a dungeon. Granted,
gyms are not always the cleanest of locations. People work out hard.
They sweat. We get that. But seriously, gym owners - clean up your
shit. Your mom doesn't work here. Make sure your bathrooms and
changing works have working locks, soap and toilet paper. Pick up the
pile of sweatshirts on the floor. Clean the floor. Pick up the piles
by the reception desk. And change the light bulbs. And if you're
looking for a gym you hope your lady friend will like, just
remember - an unlit and filthy gym is not attractive to women.

2. Greet every (potential) client or customer.

The problem with the creepy, smelly sex shop is that it attracts
creepy, smelly people. What's the best way to prevent this? Shine a
light on it. This strategy is actually used in convenience stores to
prevent shoplifting. And it has the added benefit of making people
feel welcome. Even if people keep to themselves during their actual
workout, nobody wants to be ignored. Create a pleasant and friendly
environment and you'll build customer loyalty.

3. Something for everyone.

A good sex shop has something that meets the comfort and tolerance
level of a wide variety of of customers. Not looking for hardcore
porn? Massage oil is pretty sweet and innocent. As are Halloween
costumes. Whether someone's looking for bachelorette party favors or
items to stockpile in their dungeon (er, basement), they can find what
they need in the good, well-lit sex shop.

How would this work for your gym? Simple. Make sure your offerings are
acccessible for the diverse needs of your client base. What does this
look like? Dumbbells that start at lower weights. Cardio machines and
even weight machines for people who will not be weaned off of them
quite yet. Kettlebells, TRX systems and bumper plates for your
hardcore clients. And a wide range of classes for all skills and
levels.

We first looked at the idea of donating your used strength-training equipment more than a year ago, and a lot of people shared stories of how they did just that. Thank you all, sincerely.

This time we're taking a look at a few of the other ways of helping out various health & fitness charities; through one-time events, book/DVD/t-shirt purchases and direct financial donations. Let's get started.

Donating Equipment

Last time we looked at several ways of donating your old equipment, books & clothing; ranging from Shoe 4 Africa to the Salvation Army. This time I'd like to add another category, electronic gadgets.

If you're the type of person (and I'm definitely in this group) that loves to listen to some hard-hitting music during a workout, this may be one for you. In my case - and I suspect I'm not alone in this - the tunes come via an iPod which I wear throughout the session. It's a great way to help block out the world around you, and focus on the task at hand.

What happens when you get a new mp3 player, or similar device? Do you slowly build up a collection of things that are just sitting in a drawer?

If that's the case, swing by Gazelle. They'll buy these older devices from you, taking away a lot of the 'will I, won't I' debate each time a new iPod comes out. Great company.

One-Time Events

There are many, many fitness-related fundraising events on the calendar each year. These offer a unique way to donate money, as typically you sponsor one of the athletes or teams involved. Examples include the MS Mud Run, the OXFAM Trailwalker and the Alzheimer's Society Himalayan Trek.

For details of all of these, and many more fitness-related events, head over to the calendar.

Product Purchases

This falls into the category 'help them while you help yourself', and is a superb way to help out a charity or three. Typically the products are books, DVDs or CDs; such as liftStrong.

Good stuff.

This is a guest post by serious grip fiend Jedd Johnson, who has competed in more grip strength contests than anyone in the US, and produced multiple resources on building world class hand strength. He is THE Grip Authority.
Hello. My name is Jedd Johnson. I compete in grip strength competitions and enjoy performing feats of strength.

One of the misconceptions about feats of strength is the level of strength needed for these feats.

While it is true that feats of strength do require strength in order to complete them, there is also a great deal of technique that is involved as well.

There are many people out there who have tried tearing cards only to give up thinking they weren't strong enough just because they could not do it the first time they tried it.

Because feats of strength like card tearing are so beneficial for building strength, getting mentally strong, having fun, and being healthier, it is a shame to have people lose interest after failing the first time.

I failed the first time I tried to tear a deck of cards. In fact, it took me many days of trying before I was ever able to finish off a deck. I talk about this in my Card Tearing eBook.

What I want to do today is let everyone know that it does take some time to adapt to the card tearing learning curve, but you can make that learning curve much shorter by employing a few easy technical tweaks. By making these few technique improvements, tearing a deck of cards can be "within your grasp." Sorry for the bad pun...here are the technique tweaks.

Tweak #1 - Squeeze tight with the fingers

The number one thing that makes it difficult to tear a deck of cards is the outside cards splitting. Once they split it becomes even harder to tear the deck. To prevent this, squeeze as tight as you can with the fingers over the edge of the cards. This keeps the cards pressed together and formed in one unit. This way the outside cards you are gripping won't end up sliding around, and the split on the side of the deck will break all the way through allowing you to attack the deck's weakness.

Tweak #2 - Squeeze your thumb

Many people fail to realize the importance of the thumb in tearing a deck of cards and barely engage it. The thumb can be used to secure the deck of cards in your hands by pressing hard against the side of the deck. The thumb can also be used to wrap over a fingertip or two to increase your crimp grip power on the outside cards.

This is a guest post by Stretch Exercise Eat's Adam Stoffa, perhaps best known as @SEEAdamTrain. Checklists and Complex Problems.

Checklists: A Strategy for Managing the Complex Problem of Improving Physical Performance

During the last century, the world's greatest achievements came from solving complicated problems. For example, splitting the atom and putting a man on the moon, required multiple people and teams with specialized expertise. Unanticipated difficulties were frequent and timing and coordination of the work was critical. However, as experience was gained, we were able to repeat and refine the process, until it was nearly perfect.

Encouraged by our success, we entered an age of specialization. This is no less true in the strength and fitness world, where we now have a panoply of experts from science, medicine, and coaching focused on particular and specialized aspects of exercise, nutrition, and recovery. There are experts, including entire sub-specialties for doctors, physical therapists, kinesiologists, and dietitians and technical experts, who can be certified generally (e.g. CSCS for strength training and conditioning) or specifically (e.g. particular training methods like kettle bells). Professional athletes now assemble teams of experts to help with their training. Amateur athletes and serious exercise enthusiasts have access to physicians, personal trainers, nutrition professionals, and various therapists to help with recovery, not to mention the wealth of information and data that can be pulled from the Internet.

Unlike building a rocket ship, maximizing individual athletic performance includes variable factors that are different every time. These factors differ between athletes and even within the same athlete (training methods change as athletes age, are injured, gain strength, improve skills, etc.). It is this variability that makes training a complex problem.

So, what is a complex problem? Well, complex problems are not simple problems. Simple problems are best managed by following an established set of actions with little or no variation in technique. Think of baking a cake from a mix. If you are careful and follow the instructions, you will successfully bake a cake.

Complicated problems like building a rocket ship and sending it to the moon and back, cannot be accomplished by following a recipe. Complicated problems require multiple people or teams with specialized expertise. Unanticipated difficulties are frequent and timing and coordination of work is critical. But, with complicated problems, you can repeat and refine the process, until it is nearly perfect.

Complex problems, like raising a child, helping a client manage a lawsuit, or maximizing athletic performance include variable factors that are different every time. Expertise as a parent, attorney, or trainer is valuable, but not sufficient to adequately address complex problems, because their outcomes remain highly uncertain.

This does not mean that acceptable outcomes for complex problems cannot be achieved or are merely the result of good fortune. Rather, there are certain strategies that greatly enhance the probability of achieving acceptable outcomes. As our awareness and understanding of complexity improves, it becomes clear that the job of a professional is not just to be an expert in a particularized field, but to become a team member actively engaged in achieving an acceptable outcome.

As an attorney, the most important question that I can ask a client is, "What do you believe is an acceptable outcome?" Notice the term acceptable. Perfect outcomes are not achievable. A client that is hoping for a perfect outcome to a complex problem is sure to be disappointed, as trade-offs become necessary, when responding to unexpected problems.

Determining an acceptable outcome is really a matter of negotiating. On the one hand, there is the wish list that defines a perfect outcome. After clients have brainstormed or told me about everything that they would like to achieve, we put those interests in rank order. Then, we turn and consider competing interests. These often include incompatible goals, conflicting obligations, the interests of other parties, and limits on time and resources (this by no means exhausts the list of potential competing interests). Comparing the two lists helps define an acceptable outcome and determines where efforts can be focused to achieve the greatest results.

When dealing with a complex problem, any plan for achieving an acceptable outcome must include a list of necessary tasks and a plan for maintaining communication. The task list insures that routine steps are not missed. The communication list guarantees that everyone talks through and contributes to resolving the unexpected and hard problems.

Properly formulated task focused checklists are very good at reducing the probability that a key step will be skipped or missed, because they engage the thinking part of the brain. In the field, key steps are not so much consciously skipped, as much as they are missed due to environmental distractions. By creating an agreed upon checklist of action items, you decrease the risk that you, your client, or another member of the team will skip a key step due to distractions. The checklist serves as a cognitive safety net, making it easy to embrace the project at hand, without skipping simple steps.

An example from training might be properly warming up. Everyone knows it's foolish to engage in physical training without warming up first, but with time pressure, competing interests, or environmental stress, this step occasionally gets skipped. The risks associated with skipping this step, are significant. Pulled muscles are a major setback to a training program. When you balance the interests involved, saving a few minutes versus suffering a major setback, the risk associated with skipping this key step is unacceptably high. Therefore, item number 1 on your checklist could be:

1. Complete Warm Up Exercises

Over the years this site's showcased some truly incredible articles from a range of authors looking at a variety of strength training approaches. Although trying to produce any list of favourites is a bit like trying to choose between your own children, I've selected a few that'll help get the ball rolling.

A gathering of articles that will give you an idea of the incredible range of training styles and approaches available. The Magnificent Seven.

Enjoy.

NB : if you like these articles (and I've no doubt that you will), a simple way to show the author appreciation is by voting on it. You'll see links for Digg, Twitter and Facebook next to each one.

This is a guest post by strength & conditioning coach Josh Henkin, who is perhaps best known as the man behind the Ultimate Sandbag - Evolution of Sandbag Training (this is Part II, if you missed Part I, it's here).
So sad, so sad that most of our training is limited to what we are familiar training with. Often ideas are restrained to the capabilities of the equipment we choose to utilize in our training. That is a big reason that I am often saddened seeing how people incorporate sandbag training into their routines.

There are those that like to use sandbags because they are a nice "change of pace" or some other misguided souls use them because they want to be "hardcore". Neither of these reasons are good enough to justify the use of sandbags in one's training programs.

Using any type of training method or tool should be the result of problem solving one's training needs. Whether this is to enhance a specific fitness quality or to help an old injury, or to hit angles and movements that are not possible with other means. In a lot of ways my system was the result of trying to solve these issues in my own training and those of my clients.

Instant Corrections

Too many coaches look at sandbag training as a means to look tough during training. No one ever won anything based upon how they looked while they trained. It is only the result one achieves through their training that is truly meaningful.

I have found sandbags to help in some unexpected ways. For example, athletes and non-athletes alike often struggle to perform a great squat. I am referring to an Olympic style that not only gets you stronger, but mobile as well. All too many times coaches abandon squats or use a lesser variation to get around their weaknesses and flexibility issues. Often this results in injury or lack of transfer.

In order to solve this problem I often recommend implementing bear hug squats for those lifters that have a problem with excessive forward lean. The bear hug squat is a great drill because not only can you load the exercise to appreciable levels, but the counterbalance of the sandbag keeps the lifter far more vertical often curing at least 90% of the lifter's forward lean issues.

By using this position as well, the lifter can go deeper into the squat training more of the hamstrings and glutes. The bear hug has additional value in isometrically training the upper back and arms, two areas that many athletes forget to train in this manner that result in poor performance. In MMA many athletes fatigue after trying to execute an intense choke or submission. Largely this is left untrained in strength and conditioning.

To see how to solve other squatting issues see the video below:

Sandbags additionally can provide a remedy in improving pressing strength and shoulder health. Because of the constant shifting of sandbags, the smaller stabilizers are trained in the shoulder girdle. This means the support of the joint improves over time. Yet, we don't have to neglect performance. Using specific sandbag drills we can teach the body important lessons of stability and building a solid foundation by still training. All too often coaches feel frustrated as they try to find cues that teach lifters these same principles.

This is a guest post by strength & conditioning coach Josh Henkin, who is perhaps best known as the man behind the Ultimate Sandbag. Enjoy.
Results! That is the one thing that all of us care about, whether as a coach, athlete, or fitness enthusiast. This is a large reason that so many people have turned away from the supposed "high-tech" training tools and have sought out some of the time tested training that the strongest humans in the world used. This has given rise to grip training, stones, logs, kettlebells, extreme bodyweight training, and most recently sandbag training.

As a strength coach for the past fifteen years I have found myself in a similar position as many who want to find the fastest ways to strength. This led me down the road of examining many different training methods, and one that has always intrigued me was sandbags.

For years sandbags were used by athletic programs that simply could not afford to supply large amounts of athletes with strength training tools. Tell an athlete they have to lift a sandbag and they already know it is going to be more difficult than a bar or dumbbell, their heads sink as they know they are just flat out hard! Yet, even if something is difficult, it doesn't automatically make it beneficial.

I found it intriguing that sandbags had no definitive system of training. It appears that EVERYTHING from medicine balls, body weight, to kettlebells have a system of training. Having a system is important in developing meaning behind training and exercises, without it things remain random and training is stagnant and without purpose.

Why sandbags? Having competed in team sports for over a decade, and iron sports such as Strongman and Olympic lifting, I found sandbags provided some unique benefits for all types of athletes.

The Bridge into Strongman

Having lifted stones, logs, and lots of odd implements, sandbags still remain one of the most challenging implements to train with because of the constantly shifting load that makes sandbags so difficult. I first used sandbags when access to standard Strongman tools were impossible. It just seemed obvious that sandbags hit the body in a different way than your standard weight room tools, it was as though sandbags hit all our weak links. Then when I actually got to train with Strongman tools and events, nothing compared with the challenge that lifting heavy sandbags provided on the back, hips, arms, legs, and abs...YES, truly the whole body! There seemed to be something there that could be more applicable to people beyond Strongman, but what was it?

Strongman is known for lifting odd objects, but the angles and movements that could be created even go beyond the standard Strongman protocols. One of my greatest disappointments with the renewed excitement of sandbag training is the lack of innovation people are using in their training.

Olympic Lifting Excuses

Hang around strength coaches long enough and you will undoubtedly get into the "should or should not" Olympic lift argument. For those that are typically in the "do not" camp, it is the fact that Olympic lifting is a very specific sport and technique is challenging to pick up. Some coaches are fearful they will spend more time teaching technique than receive the benefit of Olympic lifting.

Sandbags remove that concern as cleaning, jerking, and other Olympic "style" lifts can be performed quite easily so more time is spent training than practicing. Some may argue that kettlebells do the same, however, kettlebells are different as they typically don't hold true to the triple extension that occurs in Olympic lifting which is what makes it such a powerful training tool for athletes. Sandbags do hold true to the triple extension and offer more variety in exercises that can be created that can replicate the unpredictable nature of sport itself. We now can not only perform the standard pulls and explosive exercises but perform them in rotation and other angles that happens in many sports!

This is a guest post by serious grip fiend Jedd Johnson, who has competed in more grip strength contests than anyone in the US, and produced multiple resources on building world class hand strength. He is THE Grip Authority.
There are many benefits to bending steel.

First off, bending steel is extremely fun. Many athletes who take up bending literally become obsessed with it and bend multiple times a week.

Another benefit from bending steel is the physical result of bigger and stronger muscles. Straining against the steel requires a great deal of time under tension which results in increased strength and bigger muscles, especially in the upper and lower arms.

Next, bending increases your mental toughness. While the first couple of times you bend you may fail at a particular attempt, if you resolve to focus mentally and continue to hone your ability to do this, after a short time your mental toughness will enable you to blow past previous plateaus and climb the bending ladder.

Finally, there are certification systems out there that you can strive for and get recognition and your name 'up in lights' for the efforts you put into bending. Unfortunately, jumping right to the steel that you get certified on can leave you highly disappointed and possibly even injured.

This article serves as a guide of how to get started with bending and how to gradually climb the ladder safely and steadily.

TYPES OF STEEL TO BEND

There are a lot of options out there for you to start bending. Getting started can be as easy as heading to the hardware store. This is what you can pick up when you go there to get some beginner level nails to bend

Coiled Nails: Many nails are not straight the whole way down their shaft, but rather have a coiled design to them.

This coil makes the shaft of the nail thinner and less strength is required to bend them, a great option for people starting out with bending.
Ungraded Bolts & Screws: There are many different types of ungraded bolts and screws at hardware stores. Lag screws are one example, pictured here. Take a tape measure with you to the store and look for screws and bolts that are about 6 inches long 1/4 inch in diameter, more or less. These should be good selections for beginning benders.
One thing to take note with bending bolts and screws is that if they are threaded in the middle of the shaft, they will be easier to bend. Try to find un-threaded ones if you can for a more easily predictable bend, other wise you may want to go with a thicker diameter.

This is a guest article by old-time strongman and manufacturer of the world's toughest grip tools, StrongerGrip's Ryan Pitts (@strongergrip). Enjoy.
Old time feats of strength. Card tearing, phone book ripping, nail and steel bending, nail driving, hammer levering and many more that require specialized training and focus both on mental and physical strength. Why are they old time feats? Because those strongmen of past trained a certain way to be able to accomplish these feats. And today you just don't see that many people focused on performing these feats of old. They are not easy and there is a process that takes time to get you from beginner to strongman. Very few want to take this journey let alone have the resolve to stay the course and rise victorious over these inanimate objects that were not meant to be bent, ripped, torn, or overcome. Another feat of strength is jaw lifting, where an object or weight is lifted by attaching the object or weight to an apparatus that is put in your mouth and lifted using jaw strength. I will share with you several ways to train for jaw lifting. What to use, how to train safely, and why it may be useful.

Being a feat of strength, it comes down to specialized training with the goal of lifting a heavy weight/ object with your jaw. Is it safe? Use caution, as with all feats of strength, they are not normal and there is a risk you take when you undergo training for any of them. I'm not a dentist either, so if you lose some teeth in the process, make sure you have your dentists' number handy.

Training

Lets start with training. You must have a strong neck, so even though it's called jaw lifting, you MUST have a strong and conditioned neck to attempt it. Do some 4-directional neck training using a harness, plates, bands, or isometrics. Do them diligently and work your way up to some solid neck strength. Jaw lifting can be added into your neck training, it's simple and not much different than the neck training except that you'll be doing some exercises with a jaw lift device instead of a head harness.

The jaw lifting will put great stress on the back of your neck. So start with a comfortable weight and build up the conditioning and feel of the exercise. In the actual feat you'll be either picking up a weight or object straight off the ground or as I do in shows, swinging someone in a swing that's attached to a special jaw device that I made. Start off with high reps of the neck and jaw work. Then after a period where you feel comfortable with the exercises, you can start using higher weight and lower reps. When you get to the lower reps and heavier weight, use caution and have your body in a very solid position. Make a solid base starting with your feet, hands on your quads and feel the strength from the ground through your arms and transfer to your neck and jaw. Now, use caution with higher reps also and you can use same strength base. Your jaw and neck are not the strongest body parts, so chaining and spreading the tension will help you feel stronger and keep the exercises a bit safer.

This is a guest article by serious fan of physical culture, Logan Christopher. Enjoy.
So you can lift weights? Big deal. So can my grandma. What can you really do?

So you can lift heavy weights? I'm impressed, but your average person doesn't know the difference between 225 and 800 lbs on the squat. They're both beyond his ability and heavy.

I don't want to knock weightlifting, though it may sound like I am. I lift weights and think everyone should too. The benefits are numerous.

But I want to encourage you to do something more. To add in some more skill into the mix. To do things that may inspire the average person to want to do it too.

I'm talking about things like feats of strength, kettlebell juggling, crazy bodyweight feats, hand balancing and acrobatics. Things which I enjoy doing.

Don't think that these are just party tricks either. Although skill may be involved (skill is involved even in basic weightlifting exercises in case you didn't know), they require strength and more. The benefits of many of these skills extend to endurance, coordination, balance, mobility and more. Things that many weightlifters may be lacking.

Don't take my word for it. Legendary Strongman George Jowett wrote back in 1930 on the subject of hand balancing:

No doubt you will have noticed that invariably all hand balancers have splendidly formed arms and each has a firm powerful hand clasp.

I have found that hand balancers on the whole have a more perfectly formed arm - particularly the forearms and wrist- than the weight lifter.

The hand balancer employs the hand and wrist much more than does the lifter of weights and what is more interesting, he employs the arm muscles as well as the grip in many unusual ways- ways not possible to the exercise fans who handle weights only.

No doubt knowledge of this diversified method of development is what makes the mass of European strength athletes so partial to the practice of hand balancing.

The average American strength athlete could practice this valuable pastime of hand balancing more consistently than he does.

True back then and even more so today.

This is a guest article by personal trainer Al Kavadlo. Enjoy.
The one arm push-up is a classic bad-ass feat of strength. Master this one and you'll not only impress your friends at parties, but more importantly, build monstrous strength in the process.

Big muscles are not necessarily the key to performing body-weight feats of strength - you need look no further than my 165 pound frame for evidence of that. The key is core strength and total body control.

It's hard to get a consensus on what counts as the definitive one arm push-up. There are different variations, and like all other feats of strength from the pull-up to the human flag, everyone has their own opinion.

How low can you go?

I like to go low on push-ups and I've even heard of trainers insisting that clients touch their chest to the ground on every rep. Other times I see trainers letting clients get away with only lowering themselves one or two inches. There needs to be a middle ground! You won't benefit much from doing a one inch push-up but many people cannot maintain safe form while going chest to the floor.

I believe that the ideal range in somewhere between 90-110 degrees of flexion as measured along the OUTSIDE of the elbow, depending on the mobility of the individual. If you aren't sure how low you are getting, have someone else watch you. Sometimes it's hard to feel how your body looks when you exercise. People often think they are going lower than they actually are. I know - I was once one of them! In order for me to count a rep in any sort of competitive situation, I would need to see a minimum of 90 degrees of flexion.

Elbow in or out?

There are different ways to position your body when you do a one arm push-up. You can put your feet wide, you can put your feet narrow; you can put your arm out or keep your arm in. Most people will find keeping their legs in a narrower stance to be more of a challenge. Keeping the elbow in can be more difficult for some people as well, as it shifts the emphasis from the chest onto to the front delts and triceps. I don't care which way you do them as long as you maintain control and keep your body straight (or mostly straight, a little rotation is unavoidable).

More than just one arm

A strong midsection helps to get your whole body to work together. You also need to think about your opposite leg; If you are doing a one arm push-up on your right arm, your left leg needs to be engaged and vice versa. I find it best to practice keeping my whole body tight during the entire range of motion.

Dan John notes an interesting idea - 5 exercises, 40 days. A good read.

Thanks to everyone who joined in today's twitterchat with Body by Long's Bill Long (@bill_long1). It really was a fascinating discussion on the many types of pinch training. A few highlights :

• 'some indirect methods include plate curls, anvil pinch lifts, plate pinch lifts, finger walking using a sledge hammer and many more'
• 'pinch lifting will help you lift more weight in the long run'
• 'how would someone who's just getting into grip strength start?'
• 'I don't have a TTK but use some jumper cables with rubber bands on them for direct thumb work'
• 'pinch lifting has carried over in my lifting by increasing my clean and press, deadlifts, bench an more ..got to hold the bar tight.'
• 'you can make a blockweight if you don't have a blob for the same type of movements'

Overall it was a great discussion. As there were a number of questions we didn't get to, the discussion will be continued in a few weeks (date to be confirmed).

In the meantime, here's a bit more information (and video) on the many things we discussed :

• Definitions, and general introduction to pinch training
• Training with Block Weights
• An Introduction to Blobs
• Ryan Johnson's 6 Dime Pinch
• Fattening up bars

Next week we'll be continuing the discussion on shoulder injuries and rehab with The Rotater's Chris Melton. See you there.

Dan pointed me to an interesting piece noting one of Baghdad's many changes over the past 6 years - a sizeable increase in the number of new commercial gyms. Little or no cardio, just plenty of the heavy stuff. Perfect.

This is a guest post by grip afficionado Alfred Page - An Introduction to Blobs. Enjoy.

A Blockweight or 'Blob' as it is commonly known, is a single cut head from a dumbbell. A Blob can come in any size, weight or shape depending on which style of dumbbell it has been cut from. The most common are 'hex' head and the aspirin-shaped cast heads. The original 'Blob' and the idea for a training tool, belongs to Richard Sorin and it is this shape, cut from an old 100lb York cast dumbell, which is used in the GNC Grip Gauntlet.

Training with Blobs can build tremendous total hand and grip strength, with particular emphasis on the often underdeveloped thumb and 'pinch grip'. The idea is simple: Pick the Blob off the floor with one hand.

For my own training, which forms the basis of this article, I use heads from York Legacy Dumbbell, although nearly all of the methods can be applied with most other shapes. These are cast iron and have one fairly flat side and a flared side. I have 5 of these ranging from 12.5kg up to 22.5kg in 2.5kg increments, and before getting them had never touched, or even seen a Blob.

My training

To begin with I trained a brief session almost every day, with a combination of single lifts, timed holds and passing it from hand to hand, or around my body. This daily training soon proved excessive so I eased off to 2 or 3 sessions per week. During this time I was doing little or no gripper work, with is my other main grip interest.

It felt most natural for me to place my 4 fingers on the flared side of the Blob and my thumb on the flat side. I soon realised this was in fact the 'easy' way of lifting them and it was more difficult and thus productive, to attempt all the lifts with my thumb on the flared side. Obviously at first it meant backing down to the smaller weights and building the strength back up and then my goal was always lifting the next weight up in this manner.

Note: Your Pinch strength is ultimately determined by your thumb strength.

Via Mike Nelson's blog : Mike posts a nice piece on Dragon Door which looks at several technique changes which help the kettlebell press. Nice one.

I received an email this morning from someone looking to upgrade a few items from their home gym, and wondering what to do with the old equipment. The short answer - give it away.

How? Glad you asked.


Running Shoes : if you enjoy an occasional run, chances are that you have several pairs of shoes that get infrequent use at best. Rather than let them sit and gather dust, consider giving them to an organisation like Shoe 4 Africa or Soles 4 Souls; where they'll be cleaned up, sorted, and given to runners in the poorer parts of the world.

You get a clean cupboard, they get shoes. Everybody wins.

Clothing : although I'm talking about training clothing here, any clothing can be donated in the same way.

If - like me - you've inadvertently managed to accumulate a swag of workout gear over the years that no longer fits (t-shirts particularly), pass on the older models to places like Cancer Research UK, the Salvation Army or local charity shops.

Equipment : if you've been lifting for a while, there are probably a couple of items that don't get used all that often. Or perhaps you've just managed to land yourself a new rack, and there's a perfectly good one just sitting there.

Whatever the case, there are charities that specifically collect and redistribute this equipment. Of these, the largest is the Fitness4Charity group. Fantastic organisation.

NB : for smaller pieces of equipment and sporting goods, the Salvation Army is a great option.

Books : I've been surrounded by books for as long as I can remember, and an avid collector (and reader) for most of that time. To say I've got a few items in my fitness library is definitely understating things.

Given that, I'm always amazed when people sell their own precious strength-training tomes. Of course, if you're going to be getting rid of these gems in any case, why not donate them to Hands Across the Water, Books 4 Tanzania or your local library, school or gym.

Cressey's superb series on the lower back continues over on T-Nation (part I). A great read.

Thanks to everyone who joined in today's twitterchat with The Rotater's Chris Melton (twitter.com/chrismelton). It really was a fascinating discussion on the many types of shoulder injuries and rehabilitation. A few highlights :

• 'most people that I meet and see are dealing with rotator cuff tears'
• 'lots of factors...too much ego in weightroom, lack of proper core flexibilty, poor progression'
• 'Mine was a result of a ruptured pectoral on the same side. Bench & years of abuse'
• 'I dislocated my shoulder doing a spinning back fist sparring ... it was unpleasant.'
• 'Funny thing, my "serious" shoulder injury (2 years of steady pain) turned out to be a triggerpoint, fixed in 10 minutes. '
• 'adhesive capsulitis is the technical term and it's a mysterious condition, affects twice as many women as men'

Overall it was a great discussion. As there were a number of questions we didn't get to, the discussion will be continued in a few weeks (date to be confirmed).

In the meantime, here's the device that a couple of people mentioned - The Rotater. Brilliant thing.

Looking for a change? Try a few weeks of contrast training. Nick Tumminello explains.

This is a guest post by Body by D-Rock's Derek Peruo - Fix Your Body with a Foam Roller: The Basics. Enjoy.

As strength athletes, we spend much of our training time lifting and moving very heavy weight. These loads place tremendous strain on the body and can lead to tension and improper muscular alignment when performed without proper recovery. I'm sure most of us are aware of just how quickly tight hamstrings (for example) break down proper form on a squat or stone lift! Over time, if the form is not corrected, it's quite possible a serious injury may occur. By applying the techniques discussed below, we can release the tension built-up over time from heavy training and help our bodies prevent injury in the future.

The Science

SMR—Self-Myofascial Release—is the simplest way to use a foam roller. Think of it as “stretching without the stretch”. During SMR, pressure is applied to a muscle causing activation of the Golgi Tendon Organ, which in turn signals muscle spindles to release and relax the muscle being worked on. In addition, SMR also breaks down scar tissue and unsticks muscle fascia as you work your way from one end of the muscle to the other.

While this double-whammy of “stretch” and “massage” makes SMR an amazingly efficient prehab and recovery tool, the best part is that it can be applied to your current training program without too much adjustment. A 10- or 15-minute SMR progression at the end of your current routine can serve as a great cool down after a hard day of lifting.

General Guidelines

• Roll the entire length of the muscle at a comfortable pace.
• Stop on tender spots for 20–30 seconds and apply static pressure, then continue rolling.
• If a muscle is particularly tight or sore, roll it briefly and return to it later for a second or third pass after you roll the other muscle groups.
• Some rolling is better than no rolling at all. If you're pressed for time, select only a few muscle groups to work on and schedule the rest for a later session.
• The more often you roll, the better; but even 2 or 3 sessions per week will lead to improvements.

When I foam roll, I prefer to begin at my calves and work my way up to the neck. Feel free to experiment and find a sequence that works best for your needs and with your program.

The Techniques

Calves

Sit with your calves on top of the roller. Use your arms to lift your butt off the ground, placing pressure on the calves. Locking the knees straight puts more emphasis on the gastrocnemius; unlocking the knees puts more emphasis on the soleus and achilles tendon.

Rolling onto the inner and outer calves will work the peroneals muscles. To increase the pressure, stack one leg on top of the other.

Hamstrings

Sit with your hamstrings on top of the roller. Lift your butt off the ground and place pressure on the hamstrings. Lifting your feet off the ground and/or rolling one hamstring at a time will increase the pressure on the muscles.

IT Band and Glute Medius

Turn so the side of your thigh is resting on top of the roller. Place the foot of the opposite leg on the ground in front of you and use your arms to control the pressure. Be sure not to turn too far on to the front or back of the thigh. To increase the pressure, lift the foot of the working leg off the ground.

To work the gluteus medius, place the side of your hip socket onto the foam roller. Make sure you don't lean too far forward or back. Lift the foot of the working leg of the ground to increase pressure.

Quads, TFL and Adductors

Turn so the front of your thighs are resting on top of the foam roller. Lift your feet off the ground and/or roll one leg at a time to increase the pressure. Be sure to work both the vastus medialis and vastus lateralis by adjusting the angle of your thigh.

Working one leg at a time, place the front of your thigh on top of the roller. Rock forward and back until you feel pressure right on the hip socket. Use your arms and feet to adjust the pressure.

To work the adductors, lie face down with the roller parallel to your body. Flex one hip and place your inner thigh onto the roller.

Glute Max

To work the glute max, sit with your hands and feet on the floor and your butt resting on the foam roller. Be cautious not to bruise your tail bone as you roll along the length of the muscle. Shifting your weight onto one butt cheek will increase the pressure in that glute.

To hit the piriformis, bring the ankle of the working leg onto the knee of the supporting leg, lifting that butt cheek off the foam roller. Adjust the pressure by shifting weight on and off the supporting hand and foot.

Thanks to everyone who joined in today's twitterchat with the Gym Junkies (twitter.com/gymjunkies). It really was a fascinating discussion on their Shredded for Summer campaign; a few highlights :

• 'how extreme is calorie reduction in the #gjshred diet? If you cut back drastically, does the body go into "starvation" mode?'
• 'Clients get the deadlift on day one. I scale weight appropriately; broomstick if needed. But they get it day one.'
• 'mostly to limit carbs, get them to eat real food! Muscle building and strength diets were different for obv reasons'
• 'No doubt, if you're gonna kip, you need a bar. I had a rack custom made just for kipping.'
• 'grain based carbs slow fat loss my experience shows. I hate to count calories. Eat those veggies with reckless abandon.'
• 'Diet is priority one. But intensity is a close second. My workouts were short, but brutal.'

Overall it was a great discussion. Next week we're chatting with The Rotater's Chris Melton (twitter.com/chrismelton) on shoulder injuries and rehabilitation. If you've ever experienced shoulder pain, make sure you don't miss this one.

See you there.

Eric Cressey kicks off what promises to be a great series on lower back pain - its many forms and causes. Definitely one to check out.

Via the Dragon Door forums : over at Begin to Dig, MC takes a look at the idea of Movement Screens; and why the site of pain is not necessarily the source. A good read.

I love suspension training - particularly when travelling. John Berardi discusses a great program using the TRX - the Infamous TRX Workout. Good fun.

Been training for a few years? Chad Waterbury notes 5 basic rules for continuing to make gains as a more experienced lifter. A good read.

This is a guest post by StrongerGrip's Ryan Pitts - Dynamic Weight Swinging. Enjoy.

I love anything that helps make me stronger, healthier, more flexible, efficient and a better person. What? Yeah, that's right, a better person. Anyone who trains and does it with focus and a purpose knows that there are many more benefits than just the physical. You get to know your limitations, then blast through them. Doing this over and over definitely carries over into our daily lives. Alright, enough of that.

Dynamic Weight Swinging, why it's one of the most beneficial things you can do for improving your performance. Kettlebells, Clubs, Maces; these are not your traditional weightlifting implements, but soon they will be the norm. Here's a little example of how kettlebells and the side effects of using them helped me with the Highland Games.

It was early 2000's. Whenever the last Tactical Strength Challenge was held in Chicago. Great time. I remember it was my wedding anniversary (can't remember what one) but I got Pavel on video wishing my lovely wife a happy anniversary. She wasn't as thrilled as I thought she'd be. It was a great time, I got a close second. This was when the events were weighted pull-ups, weighted pistols and snatch for reps. So the following year I was getting ready to return to Chicago and take first. Well it was cancelled. I heard about the Highland Games competition on the same day.

I'm constantly surrounded by strength-training memorabilia (particularly that of old-time Strongmen/Strongwomen from 1870 - present), so when Rory Hickman offered to design a twitter background (which you can see here), it was logical to display several of them on there.

Here are just a few of the many athletes and strength feats depicted :

• Doug Hepburn

  Balancing a 145lb man atop a 205lb bar.
  
  

• Ed Zercher

  A lift which is rarely seen these days - the Unsupported Leg Press..
  
  

• Herbert 'HE' Mann

  An spot of odd-object lifting.
  
  

• Steve Reeves

  A challenging deadlift variation.
  
  

• Ian 'Mac' Batchelor

  A man who made card tearing look ridiculously easy.
  
  

Incidentally, if you're looking to have an image created for your own twitter profile page, drop Rory a note. Superb work.

Thanks to everyone who joined in today's twitterchat with Swager Strength's Drew Kuespert (twitter.com/swagerstrength). It really was a fascinating discussion on a variety of strongman equipment and training techniques; a few highlights :

• 'velocity is a missing ingredient in most strength athletes' programs.'
• 'CFT is pre-fatiguing the body before lifting & still being able to perform at a high level in a constant state of fatigue.'
• 'The Velocity Swiper is about pure speed whereas the Battling Ropes to build strength endurance.'
• 'This material makes the exercise much more intense and cutting-edge, building more whip-like speed.'
• 'The whole body gets hit, especially the core. Your legs have to work overtime to stabilize the body.'
• 'Yes, the usual mix for high reps. Jon just started lifting logs in November and he's hooked.'

Overall it was a great discussion. Next week we're chatting with Fight Geek (twitter.com/thefightgeek) about 'Backyard Posse Training' - the innovative use of home-made equipment at The Pound. See you there.

This is a guest post by CrossFit Gulf Coast's Frank DiMeo - Fine-Tuning the Vertical Bar Path. Enjoy.

I don't know how many of you have been frustrated trying to get the maximum vertical acceleration during an explosive lift, only to have the bar travel way too far in front of you.

This has been something I've been working on lately, and have gotten a lot of help from two things:

1. Greg Everett's excellent book, "Olympic Weightlifting"
2. a good video camera

First, you've got to be brutally honest with yourself, before you can do so with others. Be humble enough to see what you are messing up, no matter how much you want to be different than what you see in the video. It is what it is, period! 
It might be shocking to get a really close look at your own technique, or lack of, on the video. Remember, smashing the video camera won't improve your lifts any, and it could expensive!

Seriously, though, set up the camera where you can get a good side view of your lifts. Hit a few reps, and come back and review them.

One thing you might see the bar hitting your quadriceps on the second pull, and being knocked forward. If you're doing this wrong hard enough, your sore quads might give you a hint. Probably, you don't even realize you're doing it. The slightest collision can disrupt a rapidly-accelerating bar's path.

With the bar looping out to the front, other aspects of the lift are deteriorating too. On a clean, it may cause the bar to be received too far forward, being supported by the arms instead of the deltoids, and the lift can fail. On a snatch, it can make it that much more difficult to complete the third pull.

Bryan Krahn takes great look at the CrossFit approach, from the fun side of a Level 1 certification seminar. Very interesting indeed.

Although the headline will undoubtedly elicit a harsh comment or three, this is excellent advice for anyone looking to get 'in shape'. Over to John Berardi.

This is a guest post from the 'World’s Strongest Librarian' Josh Hanagarne - Two Specialists, Two Opinions. Enjoy.

Last November, I sustained a mild rotator cuff injury that worsened before I realized what it was. It was diagnosed by a physical therapist that had treated me earlier for a knee issue, with great success. The results were so good that when I injured my shoulder, I went back to the clinic and requested the same PT. Long story short, after a month-long layoff from all exercise but rotator cuff work, I made no progress. I had taken all the necessary steps, but hadn't gotten anywhere.

Last weekend at the Tactical Strength Challenge in Grand Junction, Colorado, the man (another highly regarded PT) who hosted the event took a look at me and asked what my PT had advised me to do. He then advised that I cease doing everything the other had prescribed, and gave me a bunch of different exercises and stretches to work on.

On the one hand, I was thrilled to have new options to try, since tried-and-true wasn't working. On the other hand, I was confused and a little worried that two professionals could have such different opinions. People disagree: it isn’t news. They disagree across all disciplines about every subject under the sun. If determined enough, they will continue to disagree no matter how much evidence to the contrary is presented. In fairness, most doctors do recommend "getting a second opinion". But what if the second opinion turns into a third, and so on? How do we without those fancy diplomas know who to depend on, and when to quit listening?

I've made a lot of progress after following the recommendations of the second PT. What does this mean? If the first PT was wrong, why was he wrong? If the second PT also proves to be wrong, what then? I'm afraid that if I ask you what your experiences have been, you'll have similar stories, but I'm going to ask.

If you are injured or sick, hopefully you seek medical advice when appropriate. Doctors are the experts and should be the first ones to advise you, if not the only ones. They have the knowledge, the tools, and the prescription pads. Specialists have paid their dues and you should be able to go to them with confidence, expecting that they know what they're talking about. You don't ask a baker to shoe your horses and you don't ask a blacksmith to do the etching on your fine china. Specialists have specialties. We go to them because they don't have to guess the way we do...right?

Specialist 1: “In my professional opinion, that arm will be just fine.”

Specialist 2: “In my professional opinion, we're going to have to
cut that arm off...with a rusty AXE!”

Who would you rather see?

Over at EFS, Josh Henkin takes a look at core training - beginning with a great exercise, the Power Wheel Hand Walk. Good fun.

This is a guest post by Personal Trainer Justin Andrushko - Band Suspended Weight - Not Just for Bench. Enjoy.

You may have heard of the “Crazy Bell” bench press exercise made popular by Louie Simmons of Westside-Barbell with the use of a bamboo bar. Instead of having the weight slide onto the barbell like a typical bench press exercise, the weight is suspended by bands; this suspended weight bench press method is excellent for training stability in the upper body and shoulders. The weight bounces creating pull in different parts of the motion making for a very challenging exercise. The bamboo bar has a higher modulus of elasticity than the standard Olympic bar, meaning it has a greater flex to it, which causes the bar to be more challenging to stabilize through the range of motion required for the exercise. Now that you understand what the “Crazy Bell” bench press is and how it works, I would like to introduce you to a range of exercises for the lower body that this same method can be applied to. There is no reason that this excellent stability method cannot be transferred to the lower body as long as it is done properly with safe technique. As you can see pictured below, this method does not require expensive kettle bells or fancy bamboo bars; it can be performed with standard plates and barbells.



Intermediate Lifts

I have intermediate athletes perform both the Zercher Squat and Zercher Good Morning from pins or a “racked position” to give them stability at the bottom of the lift. It may be difficult for an intermediate athlete to perform these lifts safely with the band suspended weight through the full range of motion without putting their knees and/or back at risk of injury, as an intermediate athlete may not be able to maintain proper technique though the full range of motion.

Zercher Squat from pins


This exercise is excellent for building core strength in an athlete. I found that performing this exercise forced me to engage my core more than I normally would have when I rigged up the weight using red bands and 35-pound plates, which provided minimal bounce. I used this exercise on my dynamic lower body day for three sets of ten. I also feel it would make a good supplemental exercise during a max effort lower body workout, to focus on the core and to give the legs a little extra work after performing a max effort lift. I experienced the effects of the exercise immediately after I racked the bar and felt swelling throughout my entire core. The next day I felt minimal soreness in my legs, however, I definitely felt the benefit in my core. This is an excellent supplemental exercise for core training on a leg day.

Zercher Good Morning from Pins


I had similar results to the Zercher Squat from pins with this exercise. The weight I used did not have an overwhelming amount of bounce to it – 35-pound plates with red bands. However, it did create enough instability to engage my core more than without the band suspended weight. I performed the exercise for three sets of ten as a supplemental exercise for my core and posterior chain on my dynamic leg day.

As the Kettlebell Clean's the foundation of so many exercises, it's important to get it right. Terrence Thomas shares a great way to do exactly that.

If this is a familiar sight, Adam's look at the Top 5 Mobility Exercises For Desk Jockeys may be just what you need. Nice one.

This is a guest post from the 'World’s Strongest Librarian' Josh Hanagarne - Life and Death at the Library; part of the free ebook 'How to Get Stronger at Work While Your Boss Isn't Looking'. Enjoy.

One morning at work I found myself dangling upside down from the library's meeting room door, my face turning purple and my arms disintegrating beneath me. I couldn't scream for help—I was there early and alone. And maybe I wouldn't have screamed— there are things managers shouldn't be seen doing, like a disastrous attempt at a handstand pushup.

Very few people can do a handstand pushup right away, but almost anyone can work up to them. Progressions typically involve doing a handstand against a wall multiple times a day, holding for time, and doing partial reps until you're finally strong enough to do one.

Most of my sessions would be at work and I'd use the meeting room for privacy.

So that first morning I kicked up against the metal double doors, held, did some inch-deep presses, and lowered under control...except I didn't move. I couldn't get back to the ground. I'd worn my Doc Marten boots that day and that stupid loop on my boots caught the upper hinge of the door.

This is a guest post by CrossFit Gulf Coast's Frank DiMeo - An Overview of Velocity Training. Enjoy.

Now that a few days have elapsed since I was introduced to velocity training, the first step in learning the Battling Ropes system, some things are more clear.

Many people, like myself, might be more familiar with terms like endurance, intervals, intensity, etc, but this is different from all of those.

John Brookfield, the creator of this system, uses the mental picture of a hummingbird flapping its wings so fast they seem to be a blur; but the point is, they can do it for quite a while.

Some large birds, like eagles, spend much of their time with their wings in a fixed position, just gliding along. The hummingbird is at the other end of the spectrum.

I don't claim to be a world-class CrossFit athlete, however, at age 58 I can do a decent job on the "workout of the day". When John gave us each a few simple tests with his ropes, it was borderline humiliation.

It was hard to believe that this could be so difficult; it reminded me of when I first tried CrossFit several years ago. Why could I not handle this very well?

John graciously explained that this was the common experience of many, many people he had tested during their training with him. Developing "pure output" is his main goal with this part of his rope training. After reading many of the testimonials on his website from notable coaches and athletes, I was somewhat relieved. Yet I was also intrigued with the whole idea.

CrossFit has shown me many of my weak points over the years, which I am grateful for; I have been able to work on those areas to develop them into strengths. I can see the process continuing with this. After about two months of training, I am seeing some measureable improvements.

I have introduced the ropes to all my athletes/clients, with incredibly positive feedback (after they get over the shock, of course). Now we use the ropes for all types of purposes, from a great warm-up to an entire workout by themselves. John's in-depth knowledge of training was evident in his program design. He showed how we could scale the rope training to accommodate any fitness level by using various angles, distances, etc.

This is a guest post by No Limits' Jeff Wilson - Training for the One Finger Lift. Enjoy.

With certain feats comes the assurance of pain - not the usual type of soreness that's customary with having gone a little overboard on the reps and sets from a traditional workout, but pain that occurs throughout the movement as a result of cuts, blisters, bruising and lord knows what else.

In preparing for pulling a decent number on the one finger lift I knew that I was going to be in for a bit of agony along the way. In training for something like the one finger lift, just as in training for something like barehanded bending, you have to expect and accept the fact that some of your workouts are going to be at least a little unpleasant.

A lot of people would probably question that fact that someone would aspire to a goal that they new was going to cause them some pain and that could potentially cause some serious injury, but those who have a passion for performing these feats of strength understand that it's a matter of testing not only your physical limits - but your mental limits as well.

Despite the fact that you know going into any workout that you could potentially cause yourself harm on a minor or major level doesn't mean that you should just throw caution to the wind though, these types of feats require very carefully planned preparation and a very keen understanding of your body. You not only need strong, developed muscles but all means of support (ligaments and tendons) must be strong and prepared to handle the force that you'll be putting on them as well. Because of this you can't necessarily follow a natural progression as you would with a routine designed to increase your bench press or squat max because it may take the tendons in your hand and wrist longer to recover than it would your chest, back or leg muscles. You'll have to learn the difference between residual soreness that will amount to nothing and the pain that means you need to take an extra day off if you want to stave off injury. This type of feat requires slow, smart and controlled progression to get the best results while staying at as close to one hundred percent as possible.

When my obsession with one finger lifting began just a short time back, I mentioned my intentions to grip legend David Horne via his online grip community and David cautioned me to take great care in attempting lifts of this variety. David, who has managed some astounding numbers on similar lifts, had suffered a nasty injury while performing a one finger lift with the little finger resulting in the need for emergency medical attention. If I hadn't had the advice of an incredible athlete to help me along the way, I believe that there is a very strong chance that my progression thus far may have been halted by injury. With the knowledge I took from this brief conversation, and the decades of personal experience I had in traditional strength training, here is how I got started on working toward a bigger one finger lift.

This is a guest post from Synergy Athletics' Joe Hashey - 5 Ways to Maximize Your Workout. Enjoy.

Most of here are not professional lifters. We have many obligations such as family and a career to fill our schedule. This means that when you step into the gym, you must get the most out of your limited time!

Every person that lifts or performs other workouts has made mistakes along the way. One of the biggest errors is wasting time. Before you know it, the lifting session is over. Here are five tips to maximize your time spent in the gym.

Workout Maximizers

1. Have a Plan.

   "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." My mother used to use that phrase to explain to me the importance of lesson planning as I was in graduate school. The concept applies to the gym as well. You should know your workout plan before you touch a weight, a sled, a treadmill, or anything else.

2. Monitor Rest Periods.

   In order to achieve your goals, you should be aware of a proper rest period. Also, the rest period should vary according to your objectives. Not only will this save you time, but it will make your workout more effective.

3. Include Compound Lifts.

   If you want to maximize your time gym, it makes sense to work multiple muscle groups simultaneously. Free weight lifts like the squat, dead lift, overhead press and bench press are all excellent choices.

Abel Bodies' Scott Abel takes a great look at his own approach to training - for bodybuilders, football players, MMA fighters - anyone at all. A great read.

This is a guest post by grip fanatic Bill Long - Road to Recovery : Contrast Baths. Enjoy.

If you’re in sports long enough you will eventually become injured in some way, shape, or form. A common treatment for sports injuries, such as a sprained ankle, is contrast baths, other wise termed Hydrotherapy. All of us has seen those big silver tubs in the locker room of our gyms or training areas and wondered what they really were for. Well there is a use for them and it will help you whether you’re injured or not.

Contrast baths are used from high school level athletes to the professional level. They can help reduce the pain caused from a heavy session in the gym or a hard practice on the mat. Some athletes prefer using the contrast bath before they train to get the blood flowing while some prefer to use it after. Either way can work for you. Here is how.

Fill two tubs, one filled with hot water and the other filled with cold water. The temperature of the tubs should be about 55F/13C for the cold and for the hot tub make it as hot as you can handle. Now get into the cold water first and flex your muscles slowly and rotate your joints in small movements as best you can in the tub. Do this for 2 minutes. Then get out of the cold tub, transfer to the hot tub and do the same as before. But for only a time period of 30 seconds. Rotate back and forth for a total of 15 minutes ending in the cold tub. If you do not have access to these big tubs you can always do this at your home. Of course you need two tubs to do this technique but if you want to recover quicker you will do it.

How do you make Prowler workouts a little more challenging? Jim Wendler explains.

Over on Staley Training, John A. Peck takes a look at a great (though somewhat uncommon, surprisingly) exercise - the one-handed Dumbbell Snatch. Good fun.

Thanks to everyone who joined in today's twitterchat with Jedd 'Napalm' Johnson (twitter.com/JeddJohnson). It really was a fascinating discussion on card tearing; a few highlights :

• 'When I tear choke & peel, the deck tears from the BOTTOM. Not sure why. Any advice?'
• 'really take notice of it. when you know you have a really good straight seem, then it is time to make sure...'
• 'have you tried setting up a double deck pull, josh?'
• 'a great collection. he just posted some stuff on the gb'
• 'i am wondering about this. you should give it a try. i have never seen a lady do it, but it would be cool!'
• 'joe musselwhite fashioned a better version out of cable pulls'
• 'In the manual you describe different progression techniques which one is your personal favorite to gain progress?'

Overall it was a great discussion. Next week we're chatting with Josh Hanagarne about Training in the Workplace. See you there.

Alwyn Cosgrove has a superb outlook on the fitness industry, as this interview over on T-Nation clearly shows. A great read.

This is a guest post from Synergy Athletics' John Frieser - The Power of Hindsight. Enjoy.

“Hindsight is 20-20.” This is a common adage that we have all heard at one point or another during our lifetime. I assume that we all believe that it is true, but have we really thought how we can use this reality to our advantage as athletes, trainers, and coaches? I’ll never forget the many pieces of advice that my mentors have given me over the years and how much I wish I would’ve used their experiences to help myself along the way, especially when I was in high school and college. I’ll never forget my high school basketball coach telling me not to get too involved with a serious girlfriend while in high school because he said I would change a lot throughout the years and it would make college much more difficult because of the distance. Of course, as a “know-it-all, things will be different for me” eighteen year old, I didn’t listen even though my coach had been speaking from experience. Instead, I kept the serious relationship and took on the challenges of managing a long distance arrangement while trying to maintain a high average at a prestigious academic school and playing Division 1 athletics. The result? A painful break-up shortly after college and a lot of lost time that I’ll never get back; time spent at home during many weekends to see her when I could have been having fun with my teammates, becoming a better football player, and or getting more involved on campus. I’m not saying that just because it happens to one person, that it’ll absolutely happen the same way again to the next. I’m merely asserting that there are odds in play in certain situations and most likely, an outcome can be predicted with a high percentage of certainty. Will you at least consider the “most likely” outcome and make decisions accordingly? I’m not going to tell you that you should or shouldn’t, but at least hear me out and maybe there is something in here that can help you make the most out of your experience.

Now that I’m no longer playing sports and have moved on to the other side of the “teacher-student” and “coach-athlete” relationships, I am constantly faced with the realization that, although I accomplished much during my prime years, there are many things that I could have done better to not only increase the quality of my play and school experience, but perhaps even to have taken my playing career further than it was. Don’t get me wrong. I am grateful for everything that I have been through and feel fortunate to have played among some of the best in the business, but the perfectionist in me always analyzes the past and wonders if I could’ve been even better. I always ask myself the same questions. How could I have been better? What lessons do I want to use in my own coaching today? What advice can I give so others can use my mistakes to their advantage? Having always wanted to help others, I’ve provided seven lessons that I’ve learned along the way that I feel are very important to anybody in this business, whether an athlete and/or a coach.

1. Be your own advocate

   
   Just because someone has an expensive education or has this certification or that license doesn’t mean that they are always right. Be diligent and ask questions. We always hear this in respect to medical doctors. How many times have we heard “get a second opinion”? When I was in college, I tore the extensor tendon in my right middle finger, creating a “hammer finger” effect. After having it looked at by the team doctor, he wanted to operate on it immediately, which would have secured months of pain and rehab for me to get it back to normal. When I told a close family member about the recommendation, he was skeptical and immediately set me up with a hand specialist in Syracuse. He told me to see the specialist first before agreeing to any invasive procedures because he was sure there was another option. The result? The specialist put my finger in a rigid brace for three months after the season and the tendon healed by itself. I was amazed. How could that be? Wasn’t my team doctor looking out for my best interest? Well, I’ll let you form your own opinion. The same can happen in the strength & conditioning field. You should respect the trainer for his/her interest in your improvement, but make sure you ask questions so that you know what’s being done to your body and your career. Don’t take anything for granted.

2. Insist on addressing your weaknesses

   Everyone has weaknesses, even the most advanced among us. If you think about it, the only thing keeping us from reaching our maximum potential is the distance between where our weakness has us right now and what our individual bodies are actually capable of achieving. In a team situation, especially in football, it is impossible for the strength & conditioning staff to make an individualized workout for everyone because of the sheer size of the program. I know this was really difficult at my school because the strength & conditioning staff was responsible for over 20 different sports teams, male and female. In these situations, try to make an appointment if possible and discuss the issues that you’ve noticed during your workouts. You know your body better than anyone so don’t avoid the situation. Every day you don’t inquire about how to improve your weaknesses is one more day that you have to live with it. Ask how you can make slight alterations in your workout to best suit your needs. Going to see a professional in a private sector setting would also be beneficial, especially if they can test you appropriately and help you identify problem areas.

   Of course, I have an example from my own experience. When I was preparing for my NFL pro-day (mini-combines done on a college by college basis), I started to notice that my knees were grinding and were extremely uncomfortable. However, being a hardworking kid and having little knowledge of what was causing my problem, I kept plugging along, assuming it would eventually just go away. I was wrong. This problem plagued me during training camp in Houston and during my NFL Europe experience. My knees were often sore and sometimes swollen, causing constant discomfort. When I came back home from Berlin, I finally had enough. I went to see a physical therapist/CSCS friend of mine that offered to treat me. After a short consultation, he told me that I didn’t have a knee problem but that I had weak hips and a muscular imbalance problem because of an imbalanced strength program. My hips were extremely weak compared to my quads and hamstrings and my IT band was so tight that it was actually pulling my knee cap out of the natural groove, towards the outside of my thighs at a slight angle. By the time I received this diagnosis and was able to treat it with proper stretching and corrective exercises, it was too late for me to fully take advantage of it. I wasn’t able to get back into an NFL camp after that. Knowing what I know now, I wish I would’ve spent some extra money, even if it meant working a side job, to work one-on-one with someone who could train me personally, rather than through a one-size fits all approach. It still kills me a little today because now I’m in the best shape of my life and my knees feel great when it could’ve been that way when it really mattered. I’m not saying that I would’ve made it in the pros in this situation because, realistically, I know what was stacked against me as a no name, small college player, but you never know as it is a “game of inches”.

3. Rest & recover…actively

   Rest and recovery are essential to making gains and maintaining a high level of play. One of the biggest mistakes that I made while playing was always resting inactively. I remember being in the Texans’ training camp and going through the famous “dog days of summer”, which couldn’t have been more true in Houston where daily August temperatures are well over 100 degrees. I remember going through the grind of days that began at 6 am and ended at 11 pm which included two practices, weight training, endless team/position meetings, training room appointments if needed, and playbook studying. Every day, my body felt exhausted. I was pushing it to the limit. Every chance I got, whether it was the two hour break after lunch or on a day off, I slept to try to get my energy back. Although important for recovery, I wish I would’ve been disciplined enough to help my body heal actively as well. Even after I slept, I still felt energy-less, despite eating and drinking fluids constantly, and sore. I wish I had taken the time to do the things I do now to “work out the kinks”. First, I wish I brought a foam roller and lacrosse ball to go through my active release routine before/after practices and again before going to be at night. Second, instead of using the pool facility as a wading area on down time, I would have gone through some dynamic movements (lunges, squats, etc.) to maintain range of motion in muscles that were tightening with each passing day. Third, I would have used contrast showering more (alternating bouts of warm and cold water) to stimulate the recovery process even more. Overall, I think it’s easy to become inactive when trying to get ready for the next session of intense physical exertion but it is important to fight that urge. Get the eight plus hours of sleep that you need every night and become active in your recovery during the day. Your discipline will no doubt help your body feel better when you need to ask a lot of it.

4. Train your mind

   
   As much as a well tuned body can do for us, having a finely focused mind is much more important. Josh Hewitt wrote a great article on the “Psychology of Strength” which is definitely a great resource. In any competitive situation, there are going to be ups and downs, successes and failures. How we prepare ourselves for those ebbs and flows of every day life will directly impact how we perform. Reflecting back, this was one area that I failed to achieve my potential, causing delayed reactions once certain situations popped up. One of the most important practices is to visualize various situations in your mind, both positive and negative, and practice your emotional reactions to them. If you can establish your mindset first and practice your reactions visually, you’ll be so much farther ahead. When the pressure is on, you don’t want your body going into a nervous shock but rather enter into a heightened sense of awareness that you’ve experienced over and over in your mind. Also, try to train and practice in a highly competitive and pressure filled environment so you can acclimate yourself properly. Own the pressure, don’t let it own you.

   In addition, as much as we try to keep it from happening, sometimes our thoughts betray us and try to bring doubt into our minds. This is the basis of the “fear of failure” phenomenon, where we try to keep from failing rather than working towards achieving the goal. I know I’ve experienced this in my life and the reality is that it handicaps you until you learn to change your mentality. I remember walking onto the field and thoughts like “what if I drop the ball?” or “what if I miss a block?” would find their way into my mind. What I found was, when I had these thoughts, usually the unwanted outcome occurred. Why? Was it because I was a bad player and didn’t belong on the field? No. It was because that was the mental cue that I was giving my body. Our minds are powerful. If we train our minds to expect to make the big play and to want that challenge, we will probably do just that. Does it guarantee a win? Of course not, but it allows you to compete without regret.

   As a quick demonstration, ask yourself if you have ever been in this situation. Looking back, I played my best football after I had been smacked in the mouth once or when something else really pissed me off. When this happened, I almost felt like I was in the zone and that I could dominate my opponent on any given play. Was it because I had all of sudden ascertained football ability at that moment? No. I finally stopped thinking and starting playing without mental distraction. My body was finally able to perform those tasks that it had always been able to do. It was just a matter of unlocking my ability and keeping my mind from getting in the way. It’s a beautiful thing when you achieve that focus, that feeling that you can handle anything. There is no doubt that there is a critical psychology behind sport performance.

5. Find someone better than you

   This is one is self explanatory but nonetheless important. Find someone better than you and who knows more than you. Train with them if you can and pick their brain. Know everything they know. Sure, they may be a freak of nature in some cases, but it takes more than that to be a success so find out how they’ve got to be where they are now. While in Houston, I had the pleasure of getting to know Mark Bruener, a NFL veteran of thirteen plus years and one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met. Although he possessed many natural gifts, it couldn’t have been the whole story. There are guys bigger, faster, stronger, and more athletic than him at his position but the majority haven’t even touched the success and longevity that he has enjoyed as a professional. How can that be? Simple. His dedication to his craft was second to none. He was a master technician and he practiced perfectly. I remember picking his brain any way I could to try to learn what he knew and how much it helped me. He would show me proper hand placement and footwork which are critical, especially at the highest levels. My only regret is that I didn’t ask more or try to train with him and other veterans in the gym. I could’ve learned so much more not only as a player, but as a future coach as well. Don’t let opportunities pass you by. Be proactive and a life long learner. Grab any bit of information that you can get your hands on.

Over on EliteFTS, Mike Westerdal briefly notes the value of A.R.T. for those times when an injury is holding you back. Nice one.

Over on T-Nation, Erick Minor shares the 'Omnibus Method' approach to training - a solid blend of variety and structure. Sounds great.

This is a guest post by USAJungleGym's Daniel Lapic - Outdoor Fitness: Log Flippin'. Enjoy.

I used to think that Ren and Stimpy were the only ones crazy enough to like their "Log". Heck, if anyone would have asked me a few years ago what I thought of using a log for getting fit I would have told them they were nuts! But now, I absolutely love them. Why? Because of a few reasons, let me explain.

First and foremost, logs are free. That's right, I said FREE. (Who doesn’t want something that’s free?!) Logs can be found abundantly in woods and forests and cut to one's own specifications. If the woods or a forest is not an option for some, then scouting for telephone poles new or used is a great alternative. Three of the logs I currently use were all taken from a huge long section of telephone pole that was treated. I stumbled upon it accidentally and it was great find.

Secondly, the workouts that can be done with a log are awesome. Haul it, squat it, carry it, press it, FLIP IT! No matter which exercises are performed they're all tremendous strength builders, hands down.

Thirdly, utilizing an alternative method/object, (i.e. the log) to get fit provides a great opportunity to bring about new mental and physical stimuli, not to mention a lot of fun!

One of my favorite exercises to do with a log is flip it end over end. Somewhat similar to a tire flip, the Log Flip incorporates most of the same muscle groups, (i.e. hamstrings, glutes, lower back, arms, traps, entire core, shoulders) and can be performed in place or over a distance. The weight and size of the log is dependent upon the user. I have three logs that vary in weight; 160lb, 135lb and 100lb respectively with a forth on the way that weighs 250lb+.

This is a guest post from the man who redefined neck strength, professional Strongman Mike 'The Machine' Bruce - The Human Rack Lift. Enjoy.

Many of you reading this might be thinking "What in the world is a Human Rack Lift"? This is a very fair question and I will do my best to answer it for you. But first we must take a few steps back to my beginning and it all starts in The Rack.

Around 2002 I became very familiar with a piece of equipement that is often found way in the back of most commercial gyms. On the rare occasion you find the piece being used it will usually be some young noob performing barbell curls with 10# on each side.

For a true Iron-head like myself I find this very disturbing and fight the urge of picking the noob up and moving him down to the curl machines where he belongs.

This piece is called the Power Rack and it is all you need to get as BIG and STRONG as you yearn for.

On this rack you can perform Squats, Chin-ups, Shrugs, Heavy Floor Presses, Shoulder work, Heavy Rowing, Dips, Everything you need to forge yourself into a piece of Steel.

And then there is the exercise that has become synonomous with myself:

The Partial Rack Pull.

There are different ways to do this exercise but the version I prefer and that I'm known for is pulling the bar at a height just above the knees.

To do this take a measuring tape and measure 24" from the floor to the bar. This is the height that I pulled 1,500# from @ a 202# bodyweight in Florida at the Strongerman compound. If the height is correct when you step up to the bar it will sit right above your knees.

I use lifting straps when going this heavy from APT prowrist straps.

This is not an instructional on how to rack pull but rather, how I came to picking up humans instead of weight. To learn about rack pulling you can find some great articles on the web or go to my website www.mikethemachine.com and watch my promo video.

So just how did I start lifting Human beings?

When I speak and perform I would always finish my program with a 1,000# rack pull. It was actually 1,043# when all was said and done.

The problem with this was that as I became a better speaker and more bookings came in I was faced a problem. How in the heck am I going to transport 24-45# plates to different places?

I had to do something as this was a very original feat and the crowds loved it. My manager the great Dennis Rogers suggested why don't you lift people?

I was like Yes, Great idea! But how? So we started throwing around some ideas. I called my friend Mark Strickland and told him about the whole idea. Mark being the creative genius that he is wrote up some plans that day.

The next morning he called me and said he wants to show me something. That morning he gave me this paper with my exact vision of what I wanted. After much thanks and praise to Mark I then had to think ok, who can make this for me?

That is when I called my brother in iron Ryan Pitts from www.strongergrip.com I explained on the phone what the idea was and then sent him out the plans.

PRESTO!!! A few months later I had my Human Rack piece in my hands and ready to go.

Now I had a way to still do my 1,000# lift and needed no extra weight, I could use people from the audience to pick up.

Charles Staley notes a very interesting point - that your beliefs about training (such as 'pain means you're working hard') will have a big impact on your results. Definitely something to think about.

This is a guest post by No Limits' Jeff Wilson - Unusual Goals Require Unusual Measures. Enjoy.

I’ve been involved in some aspect of sports and fitness for almost my entire life - baseball, soccer, boxing and ultimately strength sports and I have always been a huge proponent of sport/activity specific training in order to achieve the best results. If I wanted to improve my fielding I took ground balls; improving my footwork for soccer meant dribbling drills and upping my deadlift max meant - you guessed it, more deadlifting. Of course there were always supplemental movements incorporated into any stage of my training, but for the most part that’s how I treated them - as supplements to the most important movement(s).

When my focus on training took a turn just under a year ago to grip and old school feats of strength I initially assumed that my training would take the same course as it always had. I would focus on a goal and perform the core movements required to get better at and achieve that goal. Well any of you out there who specifically train with focus on these particular feats probably already know that this isn’t always the best course to follow regarding some feats of strength.

With power lifting and bodybuilding there is and endless array of plans and formulas based on years and years of research by top performing athletes and coaches that have good track records of proven results. If you want to get a single lift, or your power lifting total, up you can try: Westside, 5 X 5’s, 3 X 3’s, Buckeye, Smolov, linear periodization, etc, etc, etc. You’ll be able to easily find spreadsheets that you can punch your current max and your goal into and the numbers that you’ll use to attain your goal will automatically be generated for you - like a road map to your success.

With some grip activities and feats of strength similar modalities of training as described above can be implemented because there is a natural progression towards the ultimate goal. Closing hand grippers is one example of this - CoC, Beef Builder, Heavy Grips etc all have low, medium, difficult (and darn near impossible) grippers that you can work your way through - knowing what your next step will be along the way.

With certain feats of strength though, it’s not so cut and dried. The formulas simply don’t exist, and with certain feats there is no build up to the eventual completion and very little in the way of track-able progression to tell you how close you are to actually achieving your goal. One of my recent goals was to crush a full soda can - this is one of those feats that there is no training information on, that there is no gradual progression toward and that there is no way of knowing when you’re ready. Admittedly, much of my plan was founded through trial and error, but here is how I achieved that goal...

This is a guest post by strength coach Doug Fioranelli - Six Simple and Effective Kettlebell Exercises for Athletes. Enjoy.

I am a RKC kettlebell instructor and though I have grown fond of using kettlebells I do not use them solely for my training or the training of my athletes. For some certified kettlebell instructors that is considered sacrilegious, however I feel being a good trainer it is not about using primarily one training tool or program, nor is it wise to mix everything you can into a program with no rhyme or reason.

When training athletes I rationalize which kettlebell movements are useful if they meet three criteria:

• The exercise is easy to learn
• The exercise can’t be replicated better with another exercise variation
• The exercise enhances the movements and energy systems we are trying to train

As you will see, all of the following exercises fit these criteria. All are fairly simple to learn so they do not detract too much from the time of the training session. All of these exercises, I feel, are best done with kettlebells rather than any other training equipment out there. These exercises can be implemented in a variety of ways within the varying scheme of sets and repetitions; therefore they can be manipulated to fit the movements and energy system(s) trained.

Deadlift to Goblet Squat

This is a relatively simple exercise that can be used to teach proper deadlift mechanics by driving from the hips and completing with a good snap at the top. I use this exercise a lot at the beginning of a workout to get the hips mobile and to prime the body for training. You will notice that it can be very challenging on the conditioning level, especially if you got for high reps.

Adding Dan John’s Goblet Squat into it makes the exercise a bit more challenging because it requires more coordination and stability from the abdominal muscles to keep you from pulling forward.

Keep the kettlebell between the knees and feet, look up to keep a flat back, drive your hips upward. At the top of the deadlift pull the kettlebell up slightly and catch in the Goblet position and then go into a front squat. At the top of the squat drop the kettlebell back down to the low position and begin the deadlift again.

2-Arm Swings with Catch (Variations)

When the athlete can perform 2-arm swings proficiently then it is time mix in some fun along with speed, coordination and grip training. This is a great exercise for martial artists, wrestlers, and boxers who need to have quick hands.

At the top of the swing where the arms are extended simply let go of the bell and “regrab” it without having it pull you forward. When this becomes easy try touching your chest then quickly grabbing the bell, or tapping the handle as many times as you can with alternating hands.

1-Arm Alternating Swings

This swing variation is a great exercise for building up explosive power, conditioning, and grip strength. By switching hands you establish a great rhythm for the movement with your hip snap, which is important when doing conditioning training. Switching hands requires the grip to work more to catch and [slightly] decelerate the kettlebell on the downswing. By alternating arms one can truly train their conditioning because one arm is resting while the other is performing the movement, so high repetition sets are achievable.
At the top of the 1-arm swing where the arm is extended meet the handle with your free hand to allow for a simple switch.

This is a guest post by strength trainer Jordan Vezina - Perfect Technique Through Pain Compliance. Enjoy.
This isn’t really an article so much as a re-telling of how I arrived at a certain point.

Sunday March 15th I attended an RKC II Preparation Course held by Master RKC Mark Reifkind in Palo Alto, CA. I arrived at 9am and we started progressing through the various techniques we would be expected to be proficient in when we go to RKC II in Minnesota in June. First we hit the pull up. People always seem to think the pull up is so simple. Maybe that’s why few people can do an appreciable number of them, or with any significant weight. I learned much and we moved on to the Hard-Style Jerk. I cleaned up two 20 kg. bells (relatively light for me) and proceeded to demonstrate my technique. This could potentially be a little tricky as I’ve been doing GS jerks for quite a while and would have to re-wire my technique.

Pop.

?

It was a fast onset of pain, the kind of pain that immediately makes you break into a cold sweat. Of course I proceeded to do another rep, and then opted to put the bells down. We decided I had gone into flexion during a jerk and possibly rotated slightly. Lifting my hands above my head hurt.

Of course I wasn’t going to just sit down.

Of course.

This caused me to arrive at the conclusion that spinal flexion with weight overhead was the enemy. I could continue through the rest of the techniques, but I had to be perfect. I could feel it any time I went into flexion, or loaded incorrectly. When I got sloppy and shifted the load from my hips to my back, I paid for it.

This really came in to play during the military press portion. Many bells must be pressed overhead. The slightest compromise in technique would be punished. Pain compliance was in full effect. As a result, my presses improved 100%. Shoulder down in the socket. Not just down in the socket but pressing into the socket and shoving my whole body into the floor. I was pressing myself away from the bell for the first time, and felt the presses more in my abs than my shoulders.

Note how the muscles in my forearm stand out as I crush the handle to dust.

Everything else improved by leaps and bound as well. Windmills, Pistols, Bent Press, etc. Pain is a strong motivator, and sometimes pain is good.

Via The Adventure Blog : warming up there? If you're planning a bit of time outdoors, take a look at these 'unknown' trails on the Backpacker Magazine site. Shamefully, I've only tested myself on two of them.

Over at T-Nation, Tony Gentilcore takes an interesting look at a few commonly-forgotten training elements. Of particular note - the idea of 'Implementing Fillers'; increasing strength overall rather than obsessing over minor injuries. Good stuff.

The Principle of Overcompensation? Spheres of Load? Simon Perreault explains all in Periodization, Part I. Good stuff.

This is a guest post from Synergy Athletics' John Frieser - Maintaining the Balance. Enjoy.

An elite athlete must have a number of physical and mental abilities in order to dominate the competition. One of these abilities is balance. Although it is obvious that balance, in the physical sense, greatly contributes to success on the playing field, achieving a general “life balance” is just as critical. Usually the same drive that allows us to push ourselves and compete day in day out also pushes us to take on many activities, jobs and responsibilities at once.

At some point in our lives, we’ve all taken part in the juggling act that is life and have felt overwhelmed by it. We always demand more of ourselves. We compete. We are “doers”. We achieve and we do it all, not because our parents, friends, coaches, or teachers want us to, but because we can’t live without the challenge or the feeling of trying something new. Since we are overachievers, we must also be mindful of how easy it is to overload ourselves with too many activities and focus too much attention on one or two tasks. One of the best pieces of advice that I have ever received revolves around this exact topic; balance. The advice was that no matter what was going on in life, you MUST always maintain the 5 Fs to create a healthy balance. The 5 Fs are as follows:

FAITH – No matter what your beliefs are, make sure you satisfy your needs for a spiritual life whether it’s attending service, discussing your beliefs with loved ones, praying alone, or simply taking some quiet time for yourself to reflect on the day. Although often times faith is associated with religion, it doesn’t necessarily have to be experienced in that manner.

FAMILY – Never, under any circumstances, neglect your family. They are the most important people in your life. They are why you are here and why you have the opportunities you have. Always be respectful and show them the love they deserve.

FRIENDS – After family, your friends are the second most important support structure for your life. Make sure you set aside time to just “hang out” and enjoy yourself. All work and no play makes us very boring people.

FITNESS – Of course, a well balanced, healthy life can not be lived without exercise. This is where strength & conditioning and sports come into play. Whether a child or an adult, novice or expert, this is an absolute must. It’s also key in helping us burn off some of the frustrations that other parts of our lives bring into the mix. I’ve never worked out and not felt better afterwards. Unfortunately, this is often the first activity that is sacrificed in an overloaded schedule.

FOOD – Sometimes when we are busy, we forget to eat and eat healthy. If you are working hard at your job, at school, on the field and in the weight room, you need to fuel your body for success. If you are expending a lot of energy, you need to ingest healthy sources of fuel and get them in at the right time. Like my college coach used to tell us, “your body is a machine, like a new sports car”. If you want it to give you the best performance, you need to feed it the premium grade fuel, not the cheap stuff that will just get you by. As athletes, we must aim to eat 5 – 6 small meals a day, with each meal containing protein, carbohydrates, and fats in order to sustain our level of activity and remain mentally sharp. I can’t tell you how many times that I’ve become so involved in a task that I’m doing at work that I forget to eat. By the time I realize that I haven’t had food in me for four or five hours, it’s already too late. I feel famished, weaker, and less focused.

Jedd takes a brief look at one of the many fantastic areas of the Arnold, the GNC Grip Gauntlet. Good stuff.

This is a guest post from the 'World’s Strongest Librarian' Josh Hanagarne - Jungles, 12 Steppers, and UFOs: Join the Online Strength Community! Enjoy.

The competition to survive in the world's rain forests and jungles is brutal. The animals are all killing each other, quicksand sucks up everything and everyone that missteps, while the billions of insects supply various fevers and diseases to anything they can get a hold of, not to mention all the sickening humidity. A friend who slogged through a stretch of Ecuadorian rainforest told me it was "like living in someone's hot underwear". Not even the trees are spared from the competition. The most powerful, tallest trees are also the oldest, because they get the most light. Close to the ground are the weak and the small trees, stunted in their growth and following whatever trajectories the giants dictate. They can't reach the sun, so they go nowhere.



Light, physical or abstract, is typically associated with enlightenment, but you could choke the whole world with all the metaphors and similes out there about light, some sappier than others. "Light is knowledge", "Light is good", "Light is nice", "Light is a purring kitten" (I'm sure it's out there somewhere) etc. And then you can make all sorts of other leaps. "Light is knowledge, and knowledge is power, so light is also power" etc. There's plenty of fancy wordplay out there that I won't add any more to.



Back to the trees: those stronger trees survive by depriving the weaker trees of something they need. This is the opposite of what my (limited) experience in the online strength community has been. The biggest and the strongest have typically proven the most generous to me, with both their time and talents. Results are what we want, and we gravitate to those who have had the best results. These mighty few usually have stories about their own mentors. Mentors/teachers/coaches are essentially people who offer to sponsor (sometimes for an hourly fee) your success.

Now, I'm going to assume that, even if you're not addicted to something, you know someone who is/was/will be. You can't fight an addiction without a system, something like the popular 12 step programs. The 12 step model forms a system of constant encouragement and self-scrutiny. I'm taking a look at the classified ads in Salt Lake City right now--whatever's ailin' you, anonymous or not, we've got you covered:

Overeaters, undereaters, UFO abductees, Religion, Atheism, gout, alcoholics, narcotics, low self-esteem, (too) high self-esteem, oversexed, cutters, panic attacks, grief, depression and so on...



I'm happy these programs exist and that people benefit from them. One of the first things many of them do is assign each member a sponsor. You contact your sponsor to talk you down from the ledge. They support you when you want a drink, a donut, you feel the panic attack coming on, or your stomach flips as you see the whirling lights of that UFO descending again. Your sponsor checks up on you, encourages you, and hopefully slaps some sense into you during the weak moments.

Maybe you don't need that person. I've heard plenty of people say that they love strength training because you do it alone. I'm the same, I also know that I'm more productive when I'm in touch with someone who shares my goals, or at least knows them.

Getting involved in a few of the online forums has been, for me, like instantly having a million sponsors. There's a way to reach out to some of the strongest people in the world and pick their brains. A lot of them also prove to be the coolest people out there, people you'd want to know under any circumstances. There is a group to celebrate your achieved goals with. Every day people I've never met contact me to ask how my shoulder rehab is coming. It's exciting and humbling and fun. So you're strong. Would you turn down a chance to be stronger? I suspect not, and that's why you find these strooooong people hanging around the forums--they haven't decided they know it all yet. Maybe it’s not the “light” of overwrought poets and professors, but I believe the strong of any discipline all feed off the same energy.

This is a guest post by strength coach Matthew Potak - Another 30 Days Without Weights. Enjoy.
In my first article on bodyweight training titled 30 days without weights, I spoke about the many benefits of using bodyweight training during a training phase. After the article was published I started to get questions from many athletes regarding this type of training. Most of the questions were asked about keeping your strength. Many athletes feared that by not lifting weights they would get smaller and weaker, in their current sport. My response to certain athletes varied. In the end I told all of them that if they did difficult bodyweight exercises, with intensity, they would still maintain or even improve their strength levels. Here's how.

The key is to do bodyweight exercises that are difficult.

Don't just do a bunch of pushups and situps to failure. Doing this will get you weaker. You have to try things that you can't or almost can't do. Instead of trying to do a bunch of pushups try to do a one arm pushup or pushups with your feet elevated. Or you can try to do a handstand pushup. Below are some examples of how to keep your upper body strong using difficult bodyweight movements.

Upper Body Movements Without Weights

Beginner	Intermediate	Advanced
Pushups	Pushups ( Feet elevated)	Handstand Pushups
Pullups (assistance)	Pullups (No Help)	Pullups (One Arm)
Dips (assistance)	Dips (No Help)	Gironda Dips
Pushups	Hindu Pushups	Dive Bomber Pushups
Chinups (assistance)	Chinups (No help)	One arm Chins
Pushups with Clap	Pushups (Double Clap)	Pushups (Triple Clap)

Lower Body Movements Without Weights

Beginner	Intermediate	Advanced
B/W Squats (parallel)	B/W Squats ATG	Squat Jumps (get depth)
Lunges	Pistols	One Legged Squat
Lunges	Split Squat Jumps	Side Split Squat Jumps
Hip Ext	One Leg Hip Ext	Glute Ham Raise

This is a guest post from Synergy Athletics' Joe Hashey - Social Networking Sites – A Strength Coach’s Best Friend. Enjoy.

I am one of those strength coaches that really enjoys interacting and learning from others. There are some seriously powerful (AND FREE) tools out there that can connect you with some of the top trainers. Over the last few months, I have concentrated on a few social mediums that have boosted my knowledge base, added big numbers to my website, and put me in touch with some serious trainers.

Facebook.

When I was in college, I refused to sign up for Facebook. I thought it was one of those things that my friends were wasting their time on, and I didn’t see a use for it. However, my friend Jim Smith over at the Diesel Crew mentioned that I should start a Facebook account to network with other trainers. I’ve been on Facebook now for just over a month. I have met some great people, had some intelligent discussions, and started my own group for Bull Strength (now over 775 members strong). In terms of my website, Synergy Athletics, Facebook has become the #2 referring source and has contributed to my 25% traffic increase this month!

Advice regarding Facebook: Build trust by conducting intelligent discussions. Comment on other people’s statuses, make friends, and talk training. There are a lot of worthwhile groups to join. Do not get on there and start pushing your own stuff right away!

Twitter

Twitter is a social networking and micro-blogging site that allows its members to send and receive updates (known as tweets). Tweets are written up to 140 characters in length and posted. It’s like a combination of text-messaging and blogging. You can even have an ongoing dialogue with a group of followers. This week I joined Straight to the Bar’s Scott Bird (and everyone else who chimed in) for a discussion on “Bull Strength”.

Advice regarding Twitter: As with everything else, content is king. Make pertinent and respectful tweets. Also, there are a lot of helpful applications to look into. Mr. Tweet can help you find followers and get followed yourself. Wondering how you are doing? Check out Twitter Grader. All you have to do is put in your twitter name, in my account it is “jhashey,” and Twitter Grader will analyze your account and give you a number grade. They also have a website and Facebook grader.

Over at Movement Effects, Jason Stewart takes a brief look at a fascinating aspect (and potential benefit) of training - the EPOC Effect. Very interesting.

In his latest newsletter, Eric Cressey offers a few suggestions for alleviating an all-too-common problem :

Recently, I’ve noticed that I’ve lost a lot of mobility/flexibility that means I can’t squat with my hands close in and with a high bar like I used to, I now have to go low bar and hands almost at the collars.

Good stuff.

This is a guest post by personal trainer Max Shank - The Hardest Thing. Enjoy.

All training comes down to progression and goals. For example; “I want to squat 500lbs.” A definite goal and a way to make it happen (Squat more). That’s the easy part. You go to the gym, hit your sets as hard as you can, and you go home. Life is good. But what happens when one day you start to get a slight pinch in your left knee? You finish all your sets with some mild discomfort and when you’re done, you feel just fine. You come back the next training session and the pain is the same and you chalk it up to not warming up well enough. When you leave, the pain subsides. Then one day that same knee pain prevents you from finishing all your sets. You come back the next time to squat and stop after your first warm-up from extreme pain when squatting.

What have you done?

You pushed it, you were stupid and as they say, “It’s your fault.” Dan John has a great saying; “Squatting doesn’t hurt your knees, the way you squat hurts your knees.” I’m using squatting as an example because in my experience it is more uncommon to see a properly performed bodyweight squat—let alone with a load on your back— than to meet someone who has completed a marathon.

Now is the moment of truth; do you push through the injury and hope it fixes itself? Or do you take some action through inaction?

For a lifter, the hardest thing to do is take some weight off the bar, or in extreme cases, not train. The hardest thing is to stop your heavy training. I’m here to set you straight and tell you that you have to think big picture.

Over at EFS, Mike Robertson sticks up for an exercise that's been taking a bit of heat lately - the Bench Press. Nice one.

This is a guest post by fitness-obsessed Girlwith Noname - Gym Etiquette : The Ladies' Section. Enjoy.

Hey guys!! When you go to the gym and see ladies in the “big boy” free-weight area, does it frustrate you? Do you feel like maybe we’re just in your way at the best of times? Do you wish the ladies would just “go to their own area” to work out?

Let me tell you, guys… if you could see what equipment they give us in the ladies area, you’d understand why we hang out with you instead of heading into our own “special section”. The equipment is REALLY lacking for anything really heavy or serious. Our dumbbells are all little and pink and plastic, we have lots of machines for spot reducing our hips and abs (which we all know is not possible, right?). I’ve never once seen a barbell in the ladies section.

This is a guest post from the 'World’s Strongest Librarian' Josh Hanagarne - Small Victories. Enjoy.

Two things have shaped my thinking for this article: My philosophy of life, and my weird neurological disorder. My philosophy of life: “Don’t make anyone’s day worse, including your own” is much easier to explain than my strange case of Tourette’s Syndrome.

Ask most people what they know about TS and they most likely picture Deuce Bigalow or another film that portrays Tourette’s as that disease that makes people shout obscenities uncontrollably. But that’s Hollywood TS. Even with cases as severe as mine, this symptom is incredibly rare, less than 1% of what are already considered “extreme” cases.

Some really quick background—TS is a neurological disorder that typically either makes people move involuntarily, or make noises involuntarily. Imagine the worst you’ve ever needed to sneeze—now pretend that feeling is always there, but it’s not trying to make you sneeze, it’s…well, it varies wildly and anything goes. My symptoms might remind you of the Tasmanian Devil, which I can live with—much more respectable than Deuce Bigalow. When things are at their worst, I yell, twitch, jerk my limbs around, scratch myself, punch myself, slobber, pant…and on and on and on. My brief fantasies of military service ended when I realized that nobody would want me hiding next to them. I couldn’t ever even play hide and seek. One day four years ago I screamed so hard every 2-3 seconds that I got a hernia. I’ve also bitten through my lips and tongue more than once. A year ago I dislocated my thumb during a movie, just by wiggling it around too hard. Boo-hoo.

It sounds weird. It is weird. With all the amazing functions and limitless potential of the body and brain, there are just as many things that can get screwy along the way. And so I’ve struggled with this bizarre disorder for the last 10 years. It beat me down more than I’d like to admit. I was often unable to leave my house. I was too disruptive in public and too embarrassed. The years stretched out ahead of me in my mind, and I had little hope that I’d reach any of the goals I’d set for my life.

Then some small things changed. I want to be clear that nothing that follows is meant to be self-congratulatory. It’s just the way that things happened. My father set me in motion and in retrospect, the rest seems inevitable.

I got into lifting. No particular reason, other than my dad did it and said it might give me some “small victories”. A way to feel like I was in control. I was surprised by how quickly I came to enjoy my brief, modest workouts, and soon felt like something was wrong on days that I couldn’t lift. My numbers were nothing special and still aren’t, but it was the ritual of progress that mattered.

One thing led to another, and pretty soon I had discovered Dragon Door and the grip world. My house filled up with kettle bells. I began to spend lots of time worrying about how to strengthen my hands, of all things. And a funny thing happened…little by little, my passion for strength training took the place of the misery I’d let my disorder cause me. For ten years I had watched my body do whatever it wanted. And now, like an out-of-body experience, I saw myself putting that body through its paces during some wonderful, brutal workouts. I could suddenly look at myself and say: “You do whatever I tell you to, now shut up and get to it.”

These primitive self-help sessions led to a discipline that has crept into everything I do, and much of what I am. By day I’m a humble librarian. My profession is not known for its physical might. If you ever do think of a library, chances are you picture a little old lady shushing the taxpayers in between her bun readjustments.

But in my office you’d see a bunch of kettle bells, some sledge hammers, a mess of chest expander bands, a pinch block from Strongergrip, a bunch of metal objects at various stages of being bent, and of course, stacks and stacks of books. The Diesel Crew bending manual also has a permanent spot on my PC’s desktop.

This is a guest post from CST Head Coach Adam Steer - Back To The Future : The Power Of Bodyweight Exercise. Enjoy.

Variety is the spice of life. We all have our favorite tools, our preferred methods, and our go-to exercises. But if we continually bang away at the same thing, without mixing it up a bit, our training will eventually get stale, at best, or lose its effectiveness, at worst. There are many ways to mix things up, but one of the most fun and eye opening is the use of bodyweight exercises.

Unfortunately, bodyweight training hasn’t received its due in the past. Many believed it boring –– lacking in choice and options. Others didn’t feel it provided adequate challenge. Well, that’s all changing. The secrets of ancient physical cultures are converging with the ingenuity of cutting-edge coaches to deliver captivating programs using only the trainee’s body weight to garner impressive results. And with the economic uncertainty of our times, bodyweight and other low cost training options are growing in appeal.

Age-old Inspiration

If we look to the past for inspiration, we can tap into rich traditions such as the Iranian Pahlavani and the physical cultures of the Indian peninsula. Even yoga, before becoming diluted and filtered for the West, was rife with examples of strong and wiry practitioners using the resistance of gravity on their own bodies to build incredible physical prowess. And much closer to home, strongmen of the early 20th century were huge proponents of bodyweight training and published dedicated tracts on the subject such as The York Hand Balancing Course.

Today, the treasures of the past are being resuscitated and imbibed with new life by innovators such as Scott Sonnon, founder of the Circular Strength Training® system. Anyone who has ever tried his FlowFit® program or any of the exercises from his Body-Flow™ collection know that these are not milquetoast exercise options.

Examples of great bodyweight movements are all around us

More modern day options are available through the study of athletes such as gymnasts, acrobats and even break dancers. The extent to which these athletes can control and manipulate their own mass in space is an inspiring feat. But beyond their jaw dropping skill and strength, they are also a deep well of training ideas for anyone interested in using bodyweight exercises in their training.

Building off such solid examples, we can create programs for many different goals. In fact, the new Bodyweight Exercise Revolution introduces five turn-key programs for fat loss, strength, hypertrophy, longevity and general athleticism.

Bodyweight Circuit Training

In order to explore the power of bodyweight training, let’s take a look at one of its most versatile uses, high intensity circuit training. By putting a bodyweight circuit together which taps into the range of high intensity exercise, we can use it for purposes such as fat loss or cardiovascular conditioning. This makes for an appealing alternative to conventional interval training, which can become tedious.

It can also be an excellent option for space and time efficient exercise when you are on the road or in the middle of a particularly busy period in your life. A small space in you hotel room, office or bedroom will suffice to receive the benefits of a hard-hitting conditioning session.

The ways you can set up your circuits are almost limitless. Here, we’ll borrow a protocol I learned from Scott Sonnon during a TacFit session in Bellingham, Washington. You’ll have three minutes per round. Each round starts at the top of the three minutes. So you’ll have to get in all your repetitions and rest within that timeframe. The faster you go, the more rest you’ll have.

I suggest you start with a thorough warm-up of joint mobility and movement prep. I use the Intu-Flow joint health and mobility program, along with a selection of movements from the Body-Flow library and some easy but sophisticated routines with my Mini Clubbells®. This gets the joints lubricated, the body temperature up, and the muscles all firing properly.

This is a guest post by personal trainer Jason Kirby. - The Bodyweight Aficionado's Guide to Gear. Enjoy.

Ok so lets face it, the bodyweight crowd out there doesn't really need to purchase any equipment that couldn't either be made or found, but presuming you're one of those people who wants all the latest and greatest gear, or just someone looking to add a few more tools to the toolbox and try something new. Here are a few pieces of equipment definitely worth looking into, and can add almost an unlimited amount of ideas and variation to your training regime.

So skipping the obvious tools like gloves, belts, straps, ipods, and nonsense of that nature lets choose to look at some of the best ideas out there that require little space, a small budget, and a bit of creativity. Going in no particular order I will give the pros and cons of some of the best equipment I have found out there, broken up into categories.

Suspension Equipment

This comes in all shapes and sizes but there are about 3 really decent pieces of equipment and after trying them all I will have to put my vote on two of them. TRX Suspension Trainer- this is essentially a webbing system with some foam hand grips, and foot cradles that can be hung on almost anything sturdy enough to hold you, and an optional doorway mount can be purchased if you have no choices left but your door.

Pros: The sky is the limit with this piece and while not everything that can be done with this is difficult you can make up your own exercises or opt to intertwine the straps together and go from two grips to just one. The difference can be huge. I will say that bulgarian split squats, leg curls, flys, power pulls, and t's are personal favorites that can be made more or less challenging depending on the angle you are standing or leaning.

Cons: The price is a bit high for a piece of webbing and all the claims about it being created by a Navy Seal are extremely annoying. If you need ideas you can purchase DVD's, posters, or a virtual trainer, but again you are paying way more than you should be.

Elite Rings- this brings us to the next nifty piece and that is a set of gymnastic rings. Simple and effective, they come in two colors, red and black, and can be hung in similar nature as the TRX although I recommend using something like a truss, pull up bar, power rack, or cable crossover station.

Pros: if you think bodyweight training isn't difficult try holding an iron cross or doing a one arm chin (OAC). The rings add an element of instability that just can't be replicated with free weights. Looking to shore on some size to your shoulders, chest, and back, then flys, push ups, dips, chin ups, and even levers can do just that.

Cons- while not as expensive as the TRX these are not cheap given their simple nature, they are also a bit harder to set up if you're indoors and do not have a sturdy object to attach them too.

Jungle Gym- this is essentially a cheaper version of the TRX and an affordable alternative too. Virtually all of the same exercises can be used as well.

Pros- its almost half the price and is even lighter and more portable.

Cons- with price reflects quality, these things aren't as sturdy or as comfortable, but hey, who said exercising had to be comfortable.

Regeneration Tools

There are as many variations as the foam roller, myo ball or massage stick as there are colors in a paint store, but keeping it simple there are a few brands that are worth delving into. The beauty of self-myofascial release is that apart from the speedy recovery time in between workouts, it also loosens up scar tissue, connective tissue, and kneads the muscles, sort of like a sport massage, except its' just you. Foam Roller- K.I.S.S. Keep it Simple Stupid! You don't need anything fancy, but what you buy is what you get. I prefer Perform Better's PB Elite Molded Foam rollers, since they last much longer and are a bit stiffer.

Pros- They feel great, they loosen up sore areas, can help with thoracic mobility and they can be used for additional balance training.

Cons- For a piece of foam they aren't that cheap, but unless you want to buy a 6 inch PVC pipe which can be much less forgiving, or go the tennis ball route this is not a bad choice at all.

Myo Ball- essentially a mini, foam, gel, or air ball that may or may not have spikes that does essentially the same job as a foam roller. I like Perform Better's Spikey Ball.

Pros- the spikes get you even deeper, and feel amazing on tired feet.

Cons- the small ball takes longer to get your whole body.

Massage Stick- I've used tons of these things and I prefer Perform Better's Tiger Tail or the Core Performance STS Bar. They essentially both do the same thing but the STS bar can be attached to elastic band or a cable pulley and used for torso training.

Pros- the stick is much more portable than the previous tools, and can hit places that the ball and roller just plain can't.

Cons- couldn't really think of any, this isn't really necessary, if money is an issue stick with the foam roller.

Ready to give Olympic Weightlifting a shot? Brian Carson shares a basic routine. Nice one.

Dr Michael Yessis makes an interesting observation - bending from the hips (rather than the waist) is a learned skill. One of the best exercises to help with this? The Barbell Good Morning.

In his latest newsletter, Eric Cressey takes a brief look at his medicine ball workouts. Some interesting ideas in there.

This is a guest post by strength & conditioning coach Josh Hewett. - What Really Works? Effective Strength Training Principles. Enjoy.

It seems like the debates over effective resistance training program design will never end. Throughout my career as a trainer I have studied and implemented countless strength and hypertrophy regimens. What always intrigued me was that so many of these programs promote what appeared to be completely antagonistic training philosophies! One guru will insist that only high volume training is ideal for muscle growth, while another expert declares that low volume, high intensity training is the key. Other routines were so convoluted that you would spend more time contemplating the complex variations therein than actually training! This is called “analysis paralysis”.

What became apparent, however, was that despite all of the conflicting information, the most effective programs typically share common elements and principles. Rather than focusing on the different theories, it will serve you better to look at the big picture: the fundamentals. The intention of this article is to present the most effective training principles in a simple and clear fashion. If you design your next program based on these basic concepts, you will get results. When it comes to training for size and strength, this is “What Really Works”:

1. Use Progressive Overload

   This is the most basic and one of the most important principles. Muscles grow bigger and stronger as they adapt to stress. Therefore, you need to progressively overload your muscles each week either by lifting moderately more weight, exerting more force, or performing more repetitions with the same weight. This is why it is so important to record your progress and write down your training goals.

2. Use compound, multi-joint, free weight exercises:

   Basic, big pushing and pulling movements such as variations of the deadlift, squat, lunge, power clean, overhead press, chest press, row and pull-up involve more muscles, larger muscle groups, more resistance and greater Neuro-Muscular Activation (NMA) than isolation movements. Generally, the more of your body you involve in the exercise and move through space, the greater the NMA. By this reasoning, a heavy weighted dip would be more productive than a heavy decline press, and pull-ups are superior to pull downs, for example. These exercises not only produce greater increases in size and strength in a shorter period of time, but they also stimulate the production of higher levels of growth hormone in your body. In addition, by training destabilized (free weights vs. machines) you are involving more of your small intrinsic muscles.

3. Use Ground Based Exercises

   This idea ties in with the above principle. When possible, choose to train in a standing or ground based position rather than seated or lying. This alone will make the exercise much more functional, and more challenging! Compare the seated overhead press to a standing military press; or seated rows to bent-over barbell rows. There is also typically a greater involvement of your core muscles with ground based exercises.

4. Train your CORE

   Some define their core as only their abdominals; I look at the “core” musculature as your entire midsection, including your abs (rectus abs, tranverse abs, obliques), spinal erector muscles (quadratus lumborum, longissimus, spinalis, multifidus, iliocostalis), and glutes. Considering this, you should incorporate exercises to target each of these main areas. I recommend starting your workout with some core isometrics, to activate these muscles in order to facilitate a stronger workout and prevent injury. The basics are the plank, the side plank, the bridge, and the lying back extension. Then I finish each workout with a different isotonic core exercise. Of course, if you are using the big, multi-joint exercises I suggested above, your core muscles are being challenged during the rest of your workout as well. By using functional, free weight, ground based, compound movements, you are involving your entire midsection to a huge extent. I also strongly advise against using any belts, wraps or straps during most of your regular training, as this can decrease the involvement of the important core stabilizers. These training accessories should be reserved for maximum lift attempts and competition, unless otherwise indicated for specific injuries.

5. Train with Balance

   I have written entire articles on the topic of ‘balance’: balancing rest and training; training different energy systems in balance; having balance in your life. It is an important subject, not to be overlooked. For now, let’s look at the following aspects of balance:

   Include stability training & unilateral (single leg, arm) movements
   Incorporate some exercises that force you to balance on one leg or stabilize a weight with one arm, such as step ups, lunges, single arm press, etc. Working with odd objects such as kegs or sandbags also create a greater demand on your stabilizers and place a new stress on your body, leading to new results. These types of movements will increase the strength of your weaker side and develop your proprioceptive ability.
   
   Balance the volume of training for (and the strength of) agonist and antagonist (opposing) muscle groups

   This is an important principle for increasing strength, size, NMA, and preventing injuries. Basically, you want to balance the workload on both your pushing and pulling movements. The force and speed you can generate in a press or a throw is largely affected by the ability of the antagonist muscles to eccentrically stabilize the joint. If you cannot control deceleration, you can’t accelerate to your full potential.
   Research has also demonstrated that one can recuperate faster by performing a set for an antagonist muscle group between sets. This is known as Push-Pull Supersets, such as super-setting rows and chest presses, or pull-ups and overhead presses. It has been shown to maintain strength between sets, as well as stimulate hypertrophy.
   Work on Your Muscular Imbalances

   Muscle tension and joint pain is often due to compensation for joint instability or weakness in another muscle. This is where isolation exercises come into play. You need to train your weak links in isolation before you can incorporate them into a movement pattern. Otherwise, your dominant muscles will continue to compensate, leading to further muscular imbalances. Prime examples of common weak links are the posterior deltoids, external rotator cuff, lower trapezius, glute medius, vastus medialus, and often some core muscles.

   Having said that, it is my opinion that in most cases it is a waste of time to perform an entire workout using only isolation exercises for small muscle groups (unless you are in a prehab / rehabilitation program). For example, a one hour workout just for “arms” is completely impractical. Each workout should stimulate a majority of target muscle groups with fewer exercises. Think of training movements, not muscles.

   “Functional training” (integrated exercise) will only reinforce compensatory patterns if the weak links are not first identified and eliminated.”
— Greg Roskopf, MA, founder Muscle Activation Techniques

6. Incorporate Strongman Implement Training

   Strongman training and odd object lifting is great for improving a trainee’s General Physical Preparedness (GPP) and stimulating new neural muscular recruitment patterns. Exercises such as sled dragging, farmers walk, keg pressing, thick bar lifts and sandbag carries increase the use of muscles that may not be challenged with a barbell alone. There is also a huge stimulus placed on your ‘core’ musculature and your smaller joint stabilizers with this type of training. In fact, strongman training ties in directly with most of the principles listed above (#2,3,4 & 5)! It involves compound, functional, ground based movements that strengthen your core and build balance. Strongman training is a fun and effective way to make your workout more productive, and is easy to incorporate into your regular training program. Give it a shot.

7. Incorporate Speed and Explosiveness Training:

   To maximize your strength potential you need to develop more ‘powerful’ muscles as well. In order to generate more power you will need to incorporate speed training into your program, in addition to pure strength training. (Power equals Force X Speed). Activities such as plyometric drills, sprint training, sled dragging, and Olympic Weightlifting type exercises are very effective. This also helps to prepare your body for the unexpected dynamic stresses that can occur in daily life and competition. A great strength coach once said, “Life is Ballistic. Train for it.”

8. Use a Method of Periodization

   For long term progress you will benefit from following some method of program periodization. A very general definition of periodization is that it is a training scheme with planned phases of varied intensity, volume, speed, and exercise selection, etc. The popular Western method is known as linear periodization, which divides the different aspects of strength training into separate phases over time, but it has many limitations. Conjugated periodization is a very effective method with shorter phases, wherein you train many aspects of strength (such as max strength and dynamic strength) during the same weekly program. This is the method used by Louie Simmons at Westside Barbell Club. There are other variations (such as pendulum training), but I will not embark on a lengthy explanation at this point. However, I do encourage you to study periodization and adopt a method that makes sense to you.

This is a guest post by grip fanatic Bill Long - How to Prevent Shin Splints. Enjoy.

All athletes at some point have had shin splints (medial tibial stress syndrome), especially high school athletes. When you run, hike, or walk for a long distance, your shins become tight. They can become so tight in fact that you think your legs are going to snap in half. While there can be some complications if you do not treat them properly, you can treat them without stopping your training. The pain you feel on your shin bone which is the tibia bone is simply caused by over training the muscle tissue surrounding the bone. At first you will notice pain or tightness in your shin which may go away once you stop running or exercising. People who typically get shin splints are those who just started a running program and/or those who have flat feet and whom feet pronate inward while running causing the “shin splints”.


First of all, you need to make sure you have the proper footwear when starting any type of running program. There are specialty stores where they will put you on a treadmill and have you run to see what your “gap” looks like while looking to see if you are running properly. To prevent shin splints you can do a few things. During your warm-up prior to your workout, walk for 50ft and back on your heels. When you’re done with your workout while stretching, do it again. Once you are accustomed to doing this, you can add resistance. You can do this with a buddy or with a dumbbell. Attach a jump stretch band to the DB or have your buddy hold the band and sit on the floor with your legs stretched out all the way; wrap the bands around your feet; then flex your foot back towards you. Hold for a second and take it back to about a 45 degree angle and continue this for 5-8 reps. This will make your shins much stronger and your legs more resistant to injury. This will benefit your weight training while also strengthening your legs. Since you do calf raises, you should do shin flexes or toe raises. When training your quads you do the opposite motion by training your hamstrings, why not start training your shins.

Over at T-Nation Dan John takes a great look at complexes. Simple idea, very effective.

This is a guest post from 'Unbreakable' Adam T Glass - The Investments VI: Injecting Purposeful Variety. Enjoy.

In this installment of the investments, I want to cover several drills I enjoy using. These are purposeful variety drills. Many successful strength coaches today caution against trainees using random variety just for the sake of variety, and I very much agree with that mentality. I want to draw light on three drills that are easy to plug in to your program that will produce great results in both athletic development and overall body power.

Enter the Thick Handled Hammer Curl

Hammer curls are a popular drill for many people working to add more size to their arms. I would like to present a simple variation that makes the hammer curl a great drill for grip strength and wrist power. By using a 2” to 2 and ½” handle, you will have to engage the grip and wrist for a superior total arm drill. This is very simple to use, and productive. I prefer to use the Strongergrip “Gripbell dumbbell” for this drill, the 3.5” ball makes the drill very challenging even with light weights. I personally prefer using heavier weights for lower reps to tax the thumb, but this drill can be used with a variety of programs from low rep to high rep. Do not allow the plates to touch the hand or wrist, allowing the weight to “lean” on the hand will reduce the leverage effect upon the arm. Maximize the disadvantage of the thick handle for new strength gains. You can make a fat handled bell by simply wrapping duct tape around the handle of a standard DB until you reach the desired thickness.

Enter the pistol squat

I am sure you have seen videos of it on the web. Maybe you know someone who can do one or two. Maybe this drill just plain freaks you out. The pistol squat is the real deal in athletic leg power, coordination and grace. The people who have spent a lot of time with this have built outstanding strength in the legs and hips. I think the best pistol squatter in the world is Steve Cotter, who is able to pistol two 32kg bells, and most impressively leap from the floor at bottom position to a table top with ease (video). The drill is difficult to learn, but in the process of learning it you will gain much skill in the areas of tension and body control. There are two resources for the pistol squat which are invaluable if you want this strength. Pavel offers the “Naked Warrior” Book and DVD and Steve’s “Mastering the Pistol” DVD. I cannot think of one sport where mastery of the pistol would not help.

This is a guest post by strength & conditioning coach Josh Hewett - Get Mental! The Psychology of Strength. Enjoy.

“True strength comes from within”.

We’ve all heard similar sayings. Most successful athletes know that their mentality plays a strong role in their performance. Many recreational athletes and trainees also realize on some level that their thoughts and moods affect their workouts. But very few actually dedicate sufficient time to their Mental Conditioning (to “train their brain”). The fact is that the mind (especially the subconscious mind) actually has INCREDIBLE power that many don’t acknowledge. Our mind has the ability to make us stronger, more muscular, more athletic, more powerful, even wealthier and happier! Sound unbelievable? As this article will explain, your inner world creates your outer world.

The intention of this article is to share some of the basics of exercise and sport psychology and to illustrate the importance of our thoughts and emotions relative to our physical goals. I will also describe some simple techniques that you can use regularly to improve you performance. This information is directed to those readers who are already participating in a regular bodybuilding or strength training program and are motivated to achieve greater results.

The truth is that it’s our mind that determines what results we will achieve. The process goes something like this: Your thoughts and beliefs lead to your emotions, which in turn lead to your actions, which cause your results. Unfortunately, most of us put up our own psychological barriers that interfere with our performance and limit our success. The four-minute mile was a famous example of a psychological barrier. For years runners were apparently not able to run a mile in under four minutes, although many came close. That led to the common belief that this was physically impossible. Incredibly, within a year and a half after Roger Bannister’s famous breakthrough, 16 other athletes accomplished it! It wasn’t because these athletes were suddenly training harder. They were no longer limited by their beliefs once Bannister had demonstrated what was possible.

What I’m saying is that with a bit of mental conditioning you can expect far superior results from your training, and in many cases it’s all that’s holding you back.

The four basic principles of mental conditioning are as follows:

1. Set SMARTER Goals.
2. Create a strong, clear mental picture of these goals using Visualization and Imagery training.
3. Reinforce these ideas often using Affirmations.
4. Maintain a positive focus on your objectives and employ interventions such as negative thought-stopping techniques.

The field of exercise and sport psychology is significantly more involved than this, but these principles provide a great starting point for developing a mental training program.

Setting SMARTER Goals

Studies have shown that appropriate goal setting leads to performance enhancement, with moderate to strong effects. To remember the key principles of effective goal setting, think SMARTER; your goals should be:

• Specific – indicate precisely what is to be done. Avoid vague alternatives

• Measurable – you should be able to quantify your goal
• Action-Oriented – develop concrete plan of actions required to move toward your goals
• Realistic – start with moderately difficult goals, rather than too easy or difficult to reach
• Time-Constrained – set specific time limits for both short term and long term goals
• Evaluated – record and monitor your progress regularly
• Reversible – in cases of injury, or failure to achieve a difficult goal, reset goals as needed

Take some time right now to write down your short term goals as well as your long term “dream” goals (the ones that may seem a long way off and harder to achieve). Writing your goals down is the basis of a contract with yourself. It also helps to publicly acknowledge your goals.

Short-term or daily goals are the most important because they provide a focus for our training in each and every session. Past research on elite athletes found that setting daily training goals was one factor that distinguished the successful performers from the less successful.

Many have also found it useful to write a 'Mission Statement' for themselves, which summarizes their basic goals and primary objectives in their life.

Relaxation and Visualization

Scientific research has shown the use of Visualization (or Imagery) to be an important adjunct to physical training. This is why world-class, elite level athletes and coaches use imagery techniques regularly. In fact, past studies have demonstrated that athletes using visualization dramatically improved their performance by comparison with those who didn’t.

With clear and vivid visualization training, certain parts of our brain can be stimulated to illicit small neuromuscular signals and specific hormonal changes that can lead to real physical changes in your body and your performance. In addition, we can reprogram our subconscious mind to develop stronger neural “connections” that will reinforce those positive thoughts and beliefs that empower us to achieve our goals.

For visualization / imagery training to be most effective you need to be in a relaxed state with as few distractions as possible. The following simple Progressive Relaxation exercise will help achieve this.

Progressive Relaxation:

1. Choose a quiet, relaxing place where you won't be interrupted.
2. Before you start, do a few gentle stretching exercises to relieve muscular tension.
3. Make yourself comfortable, either sitting or lying down. Close your eyes.
4. Start to breathe slowly and deeply, in a calm and effortless way.
5. Gently tense, and then relax, each part of your body, starting with your feet and working your way up to your face and head.
6. As you focus on each area, count backwards from 10 to 1, relaxing more deeply with each number. Think of warmth, heaviness and relaxation.
7. Push distracting thoughts to the back of your mind; imagine them floating away with each breath.
8. Don't try to relax; simply let go of the tension in your muscles & let them become relaxed on their own.
9. Let your mind go empty. Some people find it helpful to visualize a calm, peaceful place such as a garden or meadow.
10. Stay like this for about 15 to 20 minutes, and do your visualizations (see below). Then take some deep breaths and open your eyes, but stay sitting or lying for a few moments before you get up.

While you are in this relaxed state it is a perfect time to practice visualization training for a few minutes. This is an important part of your mental conditioning program. The key points to remember when practicing your creative visualization are as follows:

1. Your imagery should be as vivid and clear as possible.
2. Always visualize positive and controllable scenarios.
3. Try to imagine in real time: the visualization of an experience should last as long as the actual event (eg: 1 minute). Often we imagine events more quickly than we actually experience them. Model your imagery in “real time”.
4. Visualize both the process of achieving your goal, as well as the positive outcome.

Here are a few simple suggestions of visualizations you can do, to get you started:

• See yourself getting up in the morning and being really excited about your goals. See yourself so excited you can't stay in bed any longer.
• Mentally rehearse your training drills, picturing perfect performance in real time.
• Imagine in vivid detail how much faster, stronger, more muscular, more powerful, more athletic you are becoming and how smoothly your body responds.
• Visualize how successful you will be in competition or training. Visualize your self as a warrior, with unlimited energy. See yourself as unbeatable.
• Imagine that you have already achieved these goals you have. How does it feel? What do you see? What would you be hearing? Picture every detail as if it’s real.

This promises to be a great series - The Science of Sport takes a look at Exercise and Aging. Why do some people keep on running quickly as they age, while others don't?

This is a guest post by kettlebell afficionado Anthony - Kettlebell Training for Muscle and Cardio Development. Enjoy.
Although there are benefits from repeatedly lifting heavy weights in the gym, it can eventually become tiresome. Sometimes a strength and conditioning program needs to be changed – if only to provide a temporary break from the ‘norm’. Kettle bells offer a refreshing alternative. Sure, they don’t develop pure strength, but they can provide improved conditioning, particularly as an aerobic workout can be incorporated into a kettle bell routine.

I developed my own program, which combined short sprints (20m) with kettle bell exercises. These exercises could focus on specific muscle groups, e.g. hammer curl, tricep extension, etc., but could also include compound exercises (those that require the use of more than one muscle group (e.g. Turkish get Up, French walk, rolling squat, pullover and snatch, etc). Even finding various ways of throwing the kettle bells keeps the routine interesting.

All of my routines are performed outside, which allows a more varied program. The confines of a gym, or your own garage, have their benefits, but can limit the exercises you can perform. And not only will you find your workouts interesting, so will people who happen to walk by!

Keith Norris notes a few interesting links - including a recent discussion on Super Human Radio with Ron Kosloff - on the Iron Guru, Vince Gironda. The original paleo bodybuilder.

Over at the Sports Training Blog Michael Yessis brings out part II of a very interesting series (part I here) - Did They See What Saw? The value of video when learning a new skill or exercise technique.

Ready to increase your work capacity? Matt “Wiggy” Wiggins explains how to do just that.

Octogen's Don Stevenson takes a great look at a couple of ways to quickly make your kettlebell workouts more challenging [24kb, .pdf]. Nice one.

Mike Boyle takes a very interesting look at several of the common (particularly in Powerlifting circles) exercises and variations which have moved in and out of his routines over the years. A good read.

Via the Power by Pavel newsletter : how's your Planche progressing - painfully slow? Phil Jelinowski has a couple of ideas.

Scott Sonnon takes a look at just one aspect of mobility - power generation. A good read.

How do you test your ab strength? Nick Tumminello has a couple of ideas.

Warning : the tests are harder than they look. Enjoy.

This is a very interesting question, tackled by Daniel Roose together with the help of coaches Jon Sanderson, John Hark, Cameron Davidson and Andrew Kingsley. A good read.

This is a guest post by fitness-obsessed Girlwith Noname - Visualization : The Vision Wall. Enjoy.
Goal setting. Its important, when you’re trying to work towards something, to make sure you’ve defined your goal(s) pretty specifically. Otherwise, how will you know when you get there?

One really great way of defining your goals is to write them down. I’m personally a bit more visual and not much for making notes and lists, so I decided to put together a Vision Wall for myself.

When I first started my journey, I knew I wanted to get into ‘really good shape’ and ‘lose some weight’ but those aren’t really very specific goals. So after giving it some serious thought, I defined my goal to specifically be: I WANT TO SEE MY ABS. Hence, the Vision Wall is comprised mostly of pictures of fitness models and other women with fantastic abs. I didn’t feel the need to see their faces, its their abs I’m concentrating on. So, sorry girls!! I’m afraid you have go to headless to be on my Vision Wall!

What's a Mechanical Drop Set? Glad you asked.

This article is from Caleb Lee's superb ebook 'Double Your Gains 3-5 Strength Training' (free) - Strength Training 101 — Get Strong, Build Muscle, Lose Fat. Enjoy.

Strength training and physical conditioning is one of the most respected and oldest disciplines around.

The approach is simple. Start where you are and gradually increase
your strength. Strength is mainly a SKILL. So like any skill the more
you practice it the better you become. Instead of thinking of your
strength training days as “workouts” think of them as “practices” and you’ll make better gains.

Also, strength is mainly a function of your Central Nervous System (CNS). You’re basically teaching your central nervous system to contract your muscles harder, in effect “be stronger” to perform at higher and higher levels of strength (as you put them under this pressure through the process of progressive overload). Keep reading to discover more about strength training…

Strength Training - What is it?

Strength training is using exercise and physical conditioning to increase your strength. When it comes to what strength is there are 4 key types:

• Absolute Strength. This is how much strength you can display irrespective of anything else. Period, bottom line. Strongmen, powerlifters and heavy Olympic lifters are examples of this.
• Relative Strength. Is being strong, increasing your absolute strength but striving to keep a low bodyweight–basically increasing your strength without increasing your weight. So you are very strong “relative” to how much you weigh. Most athletes would benefit from focusing on this.
• Speed Strength. Also called “explosive strength” is the type of strength defined by “strength per unit of time” basically how fast or explosively you can display your strength. It’s needed in almost every sport and olympic lifters are generally the most explosively strong people around.
• Strength Endurance. Is the ability to be as strong as possible, as long as possible. You can be strong, but for how long? Can you lift a sub-maximal weight many times? Being able to do high reps on the bench press with your bodyweight… or 500 bodyweight squats is an example of strength endurance, athletes also need this.

Why you Should Strength Train.

Strength training will help you in virtually every area of your life. Here’s a partial list of the benefits.

• Muscle Building. Strength training builds muscle — basically your body will grow more muscle to adapt to the demands you place on it through strength training. It’s a by-product of increasing your strength.
• Fat Loss. Muscle mass will burn more calories whether you’re actively working out, sitting on the couch or sleeping. More muscle mass thus increases your metabolism, which leads to fat loss. Men can get 10% body fat year round (six pack ab levels) by strength training and women can do the same (but at 15-20%).
• Good for your health. You’ll not only strengthen your muscles, but also :
  • Strengthen your joints
  • Get more bone strength
  • Get more endurance and stamina
  • Increase your work capacity
  • Increase your testosterone levels
  • Lower cholesterol and get good blood pressure
  • Get better sleep
• Builds Discipline. Strength training builds discipline by teaching you to have a goal and continually work towards it. You achieve success over time–you can use this same principle to achieve anything else in life you want.

Strength Training Methods.

There’s different ways to build strength, here’s a couple:

• Bodyweight Exercises. Master your own bodyweight first. Pushups, pullups, situps, squats, etc are the best place to start. You move your body around in real life, so it makes sense to get good at moving it around during exercise.
• Weight Training. Using free weights, barbell training specifically. You can build a massive amount of strength, muscle and achieve great fat loss with just a simple Olympic Barbell and weights. Compound exercises like Squats, Deadlifts, Presses, etc build the most strength the fastest.
• Kettlebells. Are a unique way to strength train because they’re unique weights. It’s basically a heavy weight off-center, it builds “off-balance” strength and is good for your stabilizer muscles this way. Also, you can get just two of these things and work out virtually your whole body (like barbells, they’re ideal for home training).

Jim pointed me to Nick Tumminello's latest piece on T-Nation - Joint-Friendly Training. Perfect timing.

Along with just over 21 million people, today I'll be out celebrating everything that is Australia Day. In the meantime, check out a few of the articles which have already appeared this year :

• Resolutions and Goal Setting (Joe Hashey)
• Why I Love To Weight Train (Girlwith Noname)
• Is Chocolate the Ultimate Testosterone Booster? (Sam Cox)
• The Investments Part V : Impervious Shoulders ('Unbreakable' Adam T Glass)
• Outdoor Fitness: ‘Why it’s Good’ (Dan Lapic)
• Advanced Circuit Training Techniques (Parth Shah)
• Lovable Leucine (Sam Cox)
• Push-Up Variations (Vic Magary)
• Recovery for the Tactical Athlete (Bill Long)
• Blast from the Past : Burpee Variations (Scott Bird)

Enjoy.

This is a guest post by grip fanatic Bill Long - Recovery for the Tactical Athlete. Enjoy.

One of the most important yet overlooked aspects of training and building athletes is the recovery phase. Many times, coaches/trainers will put all the time in the world to make a program for their athletes but fail to put recovery into the program. They seem to forget that it takes time and the proper nutrients to make any gains in their progress.

Your recovery plan should include the right nutrients in your diet and the right amount of fluids. As for the nutrients, you want to make sure you eat at least 2 servings of fatty fish a week. This ensures you get the Omega-3 into your body to help circulate the blood and take away many other benefits that this vitamin offers. If you don't like fish, you can always eat some walnuts throughout the week. Next is Vitamin A. You need this vitamin to promote proper immune function and cellular growth and development. Also needed is Vitamin C to help with strength and flexibility of your tendons and ligaments. Lastly you must drink lots of water. You should consume about a gallon of water a day to help your muscles recover and to hydrate your body from the abuse you put it through day to day. These are just a few nutrients you need to promote recovery of your muscles and immune system. There are many more to consider which could be an entire article in itself. These are the basics you need!

Now some people like to think you can not train on your day off. This is sometimes true since different body types can handle different loads. But in general, you can still train on your day "off". Things I like to do with my athletes are some high rep work with light weights or even some body weight work. How many reps? I go anywhere from 20 to 50 reps. Yes 50 reps sometimes make its way in there. Then I also like to do some conditioning work on these days since a lot of the time is focused in the gym. This can be anything from battling ropes for time to sled dragging.

Sled dragging is a fun and innovative way to get your athlete to keep training even when he thinks his body can't take any more. You can pull a sled with a rope around your hips for distance/time or you can do push/pulls were you grab the rope as if your in the bottom of the bench press position but standing and push the rope out in front of you pulling the sled closer to you. Then you take a step forward and do it all over again. Using a sled will build some serious total body strength. You can do all gym exercises with a sled! There are more exercises and explanations of this type of training in The Ultimate Sled Dragging Manual which you can find on my blog. This manual is written by Smitty & Jedd of the Diesel Crew. It really shows you how to use sled dragging to promote recovery work or a workout that you can add into your program.

There are other methods to aid in recovery as well such as foam rolling and contrast baths to rid the waste products that have moved into the area during training. To foam roll your quadriceps for example simply lay the foam on the ground and lay on top of the foam with one leg on the foam and the other off to the side. Then pull yourself forwards and backwards with your upper body. You can hit your quad at different angles to. You can also apply this to all muscles in your body. Throw in a tennis ball for those hard to reach muscles and do the same thing. If you have the equipment to take contrast baths for your whole body, great! Fill one up with hot water (as hot as you can handle) and fill the other up with cold water (shoot for 55 degrees). Sit in one tub for about one minute and thirty seconds then swap to the cold tub. While in the tub slowly contract your muscles as you would in a lifting movement. You do not have to "flex" just do the movement. Do this for about 15 min total time. You will notice a big difference in the amount of time it takes for your body to recover.

This is a guest post from Gym Junkies' Vic Magary - Push-Up Variations. Enjoy.

From middle school gym class to elite military units, the push up is well known as an exercise for developing the muscles of the chest, shoulders, and arms. Throw a little variety on the movement, and you have exercises for training explosiveness, balance, flexibility, and core stability. The push up is scalable for any fitness level, is completely portable, and is a welcome addition to almost any fitness regimen.

Scalable for all fitness levels: Beginners can start with the push up from the knees or with hands elevated on an object such a chair. For the extremely unconditioned, the hands can even be placed on a wall. Those looking for a challenge beyond the standard push up can move to the push up with the feet elevated, the dive bomber push up, or any of the one-arm push up varieties. For the ultimate push up test of strength, balance, and core stability, try the one-arm one-leg push up!

Ultimate convenience: You can't beat body-weight exercises for convenience. The push up requires no equipment and can be done with minimal floor space. I even know a guy who used to do push ups in a Starbucks bathroom!

This is a guest post from Shah Training's Parth Shah - Advanced Circuit Training Techniques. Enjoy.


If you've feel you've tapped out the full features of circuit training, think again. Here are some advanced techniques that you can employ in your training:



Alternating Circuits - Set up two or more circuits within a given workout, and alternate between the circuits, just as you would perform a superset. This works great for upper/lower body training. Here is a sample workout:



Circuit One:

• Bench Press
• Bent Over Row
• Shoulder Press


Circuit Two:

• Deadlift
• Dumbbell Overhead Squat, Right Hand
• Dumbbell Overhead Squat, Left Hand


Perform Circuit One, rest 1-2 minutes, then tackle Circuit Two. Rest 1-2 minutes then go back to Circuit One.



Rest-Pause Circuits - Rest-Pause is when you use extremely heavy weights and perform 2-3 repetitions with short rest periods. I'm not going to ask you to use your 2-3 rep maximum. But use reasonably heavier weights then you use during your normal circuit workout. Here is a sample workout:



Circuit:

• Bench Press, 3×3, 15 seconds rest between each set
• Bent Over Row, 3×3, 15 seconds rest between each set
• Shoulder Press, 3×3, 15 seconds rest between each set


Complete all the repetitions (3×3) for each exercise before moving onto the next. Rest 1-2 minutes at the end of each circuit.

This is a guest post by USAJungleGym's Daniel Lapic - Outdoor Fitness: ‘Why it’s Good’. Enjoy.
Taking into perspective the fitness world as a whole, it would be suffice to say that most people workout and exercise indoors. Safe from the elements and believing that as long as there exists weights and weight machines to use at their disposal their fitness needs can be met. While this maybe the only option of fitness some have, most, however, have the opportunity to seek fitness in the outdoors; within the elements.

The amount of research and literature on the advantages of outdoor fitness is astounding. The fact that many people prefer to exercise indoors to the outdoors is astounding as well. While there has been a surge in the number of exercise programs and businesses over the last decade that promote outdoor fitness, there still remain the stigmas or should they be labeled excuses when it comes down to it. “It’s too hard to workout outside”, “too cold to run today”, “oh, there’s snow on the ground, better stay inside” or “what do I use for weights if I am outside?” are just some of the quotes that come out in regards to outdoor fitness. There hasn’t been a big enough shift yet for more people to embrace the outdoor experience, but it's coming. Here are just a few points that are worth considering:

1. “One major benefit to outdoor training”, says Cedric Bryant, PhD, chief exercise physiologist of the American Council on Exercise. “is that it tends to be more engaging and mentally stimulating due to the changing scenery and terrain — not to mention the mood boost that comes from being outside in the sunshine.”
2. Exercising on a natural surface imparts tremendous benefit to your musculoskeletal system. Working out on a surface that is perfectly flat like pavement can in the long run cause a relative weakening of joints, tendon, ligaments and small muscle groups. (Metabolic Effect)
3. In order to continue to improve musculoskeletal health, exercising on uneven or natural terrain like grass fields, trails, hills, and other obstacles should be utilized. (Metabolic Effect)
4. Outdoor exercise bolsters your immune system — studies show that moderate exercisers get 20 to 30 percent fewer colds than non-exercisers do. 
(Mayo Clinic)
5. John Castellani, an exercise physiologist at the Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine states, “It turns out that even though cold can be frightening, more people are injured exercising in the heat than exercising in the cold”.
6. “There are some very real psychological and physiological benefits to balancing your exercise routine between indoor and outdoor environments”- Kate Larsen, PCC, certified and licensed wellness and business coach.

Over at EFS, Eric Cressey brings out part two of his The Truth About Impingement series (part I here) - looking at the differences between the internal and external varieties. A good read.

Zac Cohn's been putting together a series called 'This Is How I Play', and the latest instalment includes a particularly creative game. PDQM is based on quadrupedal movement, combining PDQ with QM tag. Sounds great.

This is a guest post from 'Unbreakable' Adam T Glass - The Investments Part V : Impervious Shoulders. Enjoy.

The shoulder is a complex joint; a ball and socket with a net work of connective tissues and muscles stretched across all sides to give 360 degrees of movement. This degree of freedom of movement means the shoulder is vulnerable to many types of injury at a variety of angles.

I got my first taste of a shoulder injury at age 15. As a foolish teenager, I had no idea what so ever in the weight room. I simply emulated the strong looking men in the gym; picking up weights, pressing weights, throwing weights around. I was told over and over by my Uncle- “leave the machines alone, they are not for young guys” but I did not heed that priceless advice. One day while messing around on a smith machine, I failed to pay attention to the fact the bench was cross angled to the bar off-set, when I went for a sloppy bench press I felt a strange pain in my left shoulder. Two days later I was unable to lift my arm past my waist level without pain and weakness.

Fast forward a decade. I had spent 3 years preparing for the workloads. Years of shoulder work, back work, rotational, and static positioning. I held a thick mule shoe tightly to my left hip. I set my beer on the table and leaned over to my right. I shoved down hard, the shoe moved, and so did my shoulder. I stood up, shook out my arm, and finished off the shoe. The guys around the table said “good job…”

They should have said “good job there lazy guy, instead of standing up to start it, you just tore your deltoid and rotator cuff!”

So a bad decision cost me 4 months of training with my left arm.

This article is not to teach you how to avoid injuries. I am not the best guy to tell you how to do that. Instead I am going to teach you how to bounce back when you do screw up. My shoulder was tore across the front deltoid with a minor tear in the rotator cuff. My health care provider told me no lifting, no steel bending, nothing for 6 months. After several months of self rehab and professional chiropractic work, I am back to bending horseshoes and military pressing with no pain or discomfort.

• Part I : If you believe you’re injured see a competent medical professional. Do not wait. I know you think you're tough - waiting to make it worse is not being a tough guy its being a fool. Your doctor’s diagnosis enables you to better able to work to correct the problem.
• Part II : Figure out what the pain free or minimal rest position is. I found my worst pain was when I laid down for bed flat on my back. Sleeping flat on my back brought out the worst pain in minutes. I had to adapt by stuffing some padding under my left side and got used to sleeping in a very weird position. WHY do I mention this - because all the rehab and corrective work in the world can be shot right out of the sky if you’re hurting yourself every time you go to bed.
• Part III : I am a big fan of Icy-hot and related heat/cooling creams and lotions. I do not have a Finnish sauna or dry heat room, but I think access to one would have sped up my recovery. Heat and cold treatments are very productive. There are hundreds of products ranging from ice packs shaped for the shoulder to heating shirts. Work with what you have and once again consult your doctor for recommendations.
• Part IV : The Drills. First thought on the drills - I am bullish on the Get Up. I think more people need to work with it. I believe all of the work on the get up is what allows me to quickly progress with my other training, and more importantly prepared me for a rapid recovery. So do Get Ups! See previous installments of The Investments (listed below) for a more detailed look at the Turkish Get Up.

ENTER THE RKC ARM BAR

The RKC Arm Bar is a top movement for shoulder health, stability, mobility, and flexibility. Wow, all the fun buzz words thrown on this one simple drill. A Kettlebell, sandbag, or creative use of a stretch band is needed; because the weight must remain behind the hand for the productive effect as you turn. See the below video for tips from yours truly.

Some pointers to add in - here take your time. I can completely roll my working side hip in to the floor comfortably now, but it was not always so easy. The best advice for stretching with this movement comes from Pavel Tsatsouline - pry in to position. I shall demonstrate this in the video.

Eric Cressey takes a brief look at the role of insulin. Very interesting read.

This is a guest post by fitness-obsessed Girlwith Noname - What Weight Training Can NOT Do For You. Enjoy.

When I frequent my gym, I never go into the ladies area. I find it just a bit TOO ‘lady-like’ with its little pink dumbbells and petite machines designed for light lifting, not to mention the ubiquitous and ridiculous ‘hip toner’ machine.

When I visited my gym a couple of days ago, out of curiousity I wandered through the ladies area just to see if anything had changed in there lately. Sadly, I discovered that nothing has changed since I wandered through there a few years ago. They still have the tiny dumbbells and there was that ‘hip toner’ machine STILL!!! It is this machine in particular that got me thinking about what strength training / weight training can and cannot do for you, me and everyone else!

That ‘hip toner’ machine reminds me of a huge misperception out there in the world of fitness that a lot of people have about “Spot Reducing”.

First of all, let me tell you flat out: SPOT REDUCING IS A MYTH! If you have extra fat on your hips, doing a million reps on that ‘hip toner’ machine will NEVER reduce the fat on your hips. If you have excess flab on your abs, you can do a TRILLION crunches, sit-ups and leg lifts but it will never reduce the fat on your abdominal area. What it WILL do is build up the muscle under the fat in those areas. Therefore, you are actually working towards making an area you are trying to reduce BIGGER!! This is completely counterintuitive to your goal of reduction.

This is a guest post from Fearless Training's Sam Cox - Is Chocolate the Ultimate Testosterone booster? Enjoy.

Chocolate is the most eaten food in the world, but, if one is trying to get healthy or lose some body fat, one of the most forbidden.

I’m not talking about that Hershey bar at Wal-Mart. I’m talkin real, raw, unadulterated cacao ( ku-cow). The real McCoy, the thing that Hershey bar started as. It’s not what you think. Ill tell you why…

First off, if you’re reading this and you one of those hardcore guys who think that guys should eat only meat and potatoes to get strong, you need to get a brain and keep reading. Getting strong, putting on muscle, increasing your endurance is much easier when your hormones are in balance, and the right nutrients are present.

You see, cacao is actually in the nut family. Nuts are naturally high in minerals and cacao is no exception. It’s long known that magnesium is very beneficial for increasing test levels, especially when taken at night. Raw cacao happens to be the number one food in the world in magnesium. Higher test levels, obviously means stronger muscles, though not necessarily bigger. Few know that magnesium is also the number one mineral that your heart utilizes. More magnesium=stronger heart. Stronger heart=better endurance, work capacity, and recovery time, stronger organs and better overall health. The dark brown nut has lots of good fats as well. Fats are necessary for the integrity of cellular structures, integrity of the nervous systems and the eyes. These fats are also a vital role in supplying your body with cholesterol, the one thing that your body needs to produce steroid hormones, testosterone, DHT, etc. Good stuff so far? Its gets better. Cacao also contains arganine, and we all know what that does right? Increased size of EVERYTHING. Other significant amino acids, tryptophan, it also contains dopamine, the feel good stuff. It gets better.

Cacao happens to be the number one food in the world in antioxidant concentration. On the ORAC scale, its number one at over 13,000, 30 times what green tea has, 20 times what red wine has. What do antioxidants do? They protect your cells from any damage. They feed your immune system, without an immune system you can not recover from your training.

Looking for a simple way to keep the chest and shoulders healthy? Eric Cressey updates the doorway stretch.

In the latest Question of Strength Charles Poliquin looks at Rhythm Squats, Muscle Porn and Music. Good stuff.

This is a guest post by fitness-obsessed Girlwith Noname - Why I Love To Weight Train. Enjoy.

I love to weight train. Some people that ‘don’t understand’ ask me why… Why do I love to weight train as (one of my many modes of) exercise? I think women mostly ask this question because they tend to avoid that mode of exercise like the plague for fear of becoming too pumped up or manly looking. I tend to turn inward when someone tells me these things and have a little chuckle to myself (I’ve tried the route of informing them of the truth in the past only to be shot down and shut up, so have kind of given up imposing the truth on non-believers who have decided that’s their truth). I think a lot of women also think that the activity itself of lifting heavy things in a sweaty gym is not a lady-like thing to be doing, or if they do decide to lift weights should be using the petite equipment in the “ladies area” at the very most. I personally LOVE to weight train, lift heavy things and push and test myself and my limits. If I do happen to be doing it at the gym (which isn’t often, as I do most of my training in my home set-up), I avoid the ladies area (it makes me a little nuts because its far too delicate for me with its little pink plastic dumbbells and weird machines to target just your thighs) and stay with the big boys in the free-weights section.

I find that weight training does many things for me from the physical, right through to the mental and emotional.

First of all, I love a challenge, especially a physical one. I’m a very Type-A personality and if I can’t do something 100% I really don’t want to do it at all, so when I weight train, I go as hard as I can. I find a lot of internal personal satisfaction from going hard, being good at it and having the body to back that up.

While I am doing the actual training, I don’t think anyone can argue with what endorphins do for you mentally, but I also get some truly great physical sensations that I’ve become addicted to as well. That tight feeling my skin gets when experiencing the ‘pump’ is a major rush for me. Nothing is better than feeling like your muscles are going to rip out of your skin! There’s also the “burn” I feel while