Archive for the ‘Training Articles’ Category
The Importance of Technique
We always preach form at the gym when performing the more serious lifts like deadlifts, hang cleans, push press and squats among others.
The obvious and number one reason for this is safety. If your form is correct then you greatly minimize your chance of injuring yourself, it’s pretty obvious
However, form is not just important for beginners learning the technique of the mechanics. Form is HUGELY important for folks who already have it down and want to make serious, serious gains.
To illustrate the difference of good form vs. bad form I am showing you two videos of my and Pritz’s workout yesterday.
Video #1: Fail
You will see in this video I took the bar off the rack and kind of stuttered. Honestly, the weight was heavier than I thought it was and I immediately took on a defeatist attitude. The bar got in my head, I lost confidence and I did not create enough hip drive on the initial dip. Secondly, I did not drive myself under the bar as I pressed it overhead. See if you can find both of those spots on this miss.
Video #2: Hit
I decided to rest for three minutes and then try it again correcting the mistakes that I knew I made. On the second go around, I took the bar off the rack much faster with no hesitation, dipped my hips back and then drove them forward while driving myself underneath the bar on the press. It might take a trained eye to see it but watch how there is no hesitation when I get the weight. It’s grab and go.
I understand this might be a boring post for some but I wanted to hammer home the point that form is hugely important regardless of your fitness level. If you are beginner, it is vital so that you perform it safely and without injury and if you are bit further along the training curve it becomes even more important so that you can continue to make progress.
Wednesday Pullin’
just some quick videos of some big time Wednesday deadlift accomplishments.
Brandon Flora pulling 415# three times.
Jandy Marie pulling 225# three times! She was going for a 1-rep max and ended up just rolling through it three times! We need to even out that arm strength, though. Haha.
We also had a bunch of other folks made some great strides including three first timers make the jump to plates (instead of just the bar).
Great start to the week, let’s keep it up.
“Know Your Limitations”
How do you view that statement?
Personally, fucking hate this saying. What does that mean? ”You are only capable of X so never try Y” is how I read that.
There’s nothing that frustrates me more as a coach than when I am unable to get someone there “mentally”. When I know for a certain fact that someone can accomplish a physical act but lacks the certain mental fortitude to get it done.
Maybe it’s a 400# deadlift, a 50″ box jump or something really exceptional like that. However, more often than not it’s something as simple as putting plates on a barbell for the first time for squats, or getting a timid first timer to attack pull-ups rather than fear them.
Most people have tenacity within them, it just needs to be ripped out.
That’s where we come in, and when I can’t get them to cross over it sucks.
What I really consider my job to be is a facilitator. Provide the environment and confidence members need to get to their goals. That’s it. Coach along the way but for the most part stay out of people’s way unless they need technique correction or safety reminders.
So. What do you think of when you someone says, “know your limitations”. Are you a “that’s what I can’t do” or “that’s what I CAN” kind of person?
We like to rearrange the mind’s circuity, flip that on its head and get people thinking, “this is my limit and I’m going to bust past it”. Right down to the last member regardless of fitness level.
These people certainly “knew their limitations”, huh.
Robbie Davis 55″ Box Jump (Gym Record)
Jason Weber later tied this in the evening after he saw Robbie got it! Nothing like friendly competition amongst members and friends to elevate your efforts.
Tori Faught 36″ Box Jump
Alex Vekich first TWO Pull-Ups!
Yash Norhashemi 355# Deadlift
This one was especially proud for me since Yash was a weightlifting novice on day 1 and set a goal for himself to deadlift 225#. Oops. Looks like it’s 355# and counting instead.
If you don’t have confidence in your abilities you risk stagnation and training purgatory. Believe in yourself, “know your limitations” but do not be imprisoned by them. Pushing yourself is how you reach genetic potential. That’s it.
Elyse Paulson into Maximus Club!
Member #1 into the Maximus Club
First things first. We have the highest of recognition to hand out to one of our members this morning as Elyse Paulson beceoms the first member into the Maximus Club! This is incredibly, incredibly impressive because it is not just a strength accomplishment or a cardio accomplishment. It includes achieving a lean body composition, an unbelievable amount of strength to go with it and also the ability to maintain pace over the long haul.
Here are the requirements for the Maximus Club (men/women).
- Deadlift 200% of body weight
- Push Press 120% / 90%
- Hang Clean 110% / 90%
- Sub 10-min “Ring of Fire”
- Sub 17-min “600″
- Box Jump 58″ / 36″
It’s made to be extremely difficult to enter. I understand that. Here’s what Elyse has pulled off since training at Performance360.
- 206% Deadlift (275#, women’s record)
- 125# Push Press (93%, women’s record)
- 120# Hang Clean (90%, women’s record)
- 9:47 “Ring of Fire” (gym record)
- 15:32 “600″ (gym record)
- 38″ Box Jump (women’s record)
Aside from working her butt off, Elyse is one of the nicest people you’ll ever talk to and amazingly humble so please congratulate her when you see her at the gym.
We have some members who are close including John Blackburn, Brandon Flora, Tori Faught and Alex Vekich.
A Simple Equation
We just threw up a facebook post about the results for ‘Beat the Soft’ through the first three weeks and we’ll reiterate here.
- Average strength increase for men = 19%
- Average strength increase for women = 41% (think about that)
- Average fat loss for women = 4 pounds
That’s a loss of four pounds and a strength increase of 41% despite mass being removed from frames.
How is this working?
We are removing wasteful mass and keeping lean body mass. LBM is responsible for everything healthy in our bodies (strength, metabolism, cell reproduction and good old fashioned vein appearance).
It’s simple.
Lift Heavy Weight Slowly + Body Weight Movement Weight Quickly =
Fat Down + Strength Up
(Think heavy deadlift into jogs or heavy squats into pushups, etc).
We are targeting our TypeII fibers in this type of training. TypeII are the ‘go’ muscles that get it done and keep you lean.
It’s the ability to knock out consecutive pull-ups after the demands of something like a deadlift or squat that changes both our bodies’ composition and physical capability.
Embrace the Weights
Top of the morning to ya, mullets. Today’s blog post has a couple of different items, primarily ‘Beat the Soft’ standings and some cool member videos for both recognition but also education.
We tallied the first two weeks of Beat the Soft and here’s the leaderboard! We still need to complete the second round of weigh-ins today and tomorrow but everything else is current. We love how many women have embraced the strength component of the competition.
You’ll notice that not a woman has put on a SINGLE POUND even though average strength increase is up 40%. In fact, every woman in the strength competition has lost weight. Embrace the weights ladies…embrace the weights.
Strength
(M) – Chris Sieberkrob, up 36%
(F) – Chrissy Perrenoud, up 76%
Fat Loss
(M) – Robbie Davis, 3#
(F) – Jess Eystad, 8#
Fat Loss %
Will be calculated after weigh-ins this week.
The races are close so check the leader board next time you are in the gym.
Attempting PRs Safely
Yesterday was an outstanding day at the gym from an accomplishment perspective. We had the following folks accomplish personal bests in deadlifts.
- Brandon Flora, 435#
- Dave Laut, 385#
- Yash Norhashemi, 355#
- Dan Punaro, 355#
- Elyse Paulson, 275#
- Alan Lavenda, 315# x 3
- Chrissy Perrenoud, 135# x 3
- Andrea O’Donnell, 145# x 3
- Danielle Maceranka, 125# x 3
- Jon Mesic, 255# x 3
- Chris Sieberkrob, 255# x 3
- Cameron Fous, 255# x 3
- Rachelle Rulenz, 145# x 3
- Jandy Vernon, 215# x 3
- Heather Dentz, 135# x 3
That’s 15 people all make huge leaps forward. Take a look at those folks next time you are in the gym. They are all among the leanest and and most physically capable in the gym, or at least working towards it.
What makes me most proud as part of ownership and Director of Training is that to the last man/woman, every PR was achieved safely and with proper technique.
Here are three different exercises with notes on what you want to look for.
DEADLIFT
Chin is down and eyes are straight forward the duration of the lift. He does not hyperextend his neck for even a second by looking upwards.
Same thing. Chin down, looking at the floor and the only straight ahead as the lift progresses. Only very slight rounding of the back (which is bound to happen when you are at a max weight). Full hip extension. Large smile post accomplishment.
HANG CLEAN
Chin is down, looking at the floor in front of me. No wasted movement in getting the weight to my chest. Rather than standing tall with it, I’ve dropped underneath the weight and then pushed with my legs turning this into a total body exercise as a 1R max is intended. No jerking with the back.
PUSH PRESS
Chin straight ahead. A max push press is only achieved with sufficient forward hip drive and dropping underneath the bar as it passes overhead. There is no truly isolation exercise, not even for halves of the body. The legs always help the torso in heavy, compound movements.
That’s a wrap. While every exercise is different anatomically they all have mechanical similarities.
Keep up the outstanding work as a gym to get better.
Life Lessons from Henry Rollins
I’m a big fan of old school punk rock and came across this Henry Rollins (of Black Flag) quote the other day and freaking loved it.
The iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told you’re a god or a total bastard. The iron will always kick you the real deal. The iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black, I have found the iron to be my best friend. It never runs out on me, never freaks out. Friends come and go but 200 pounds is always going to be 200 pounds.”
Little meat headed? Sure, but there is some serious truth to the use of training as therapy or solace from the daily grind. I think we can all related to it on some form or another.
100# Turkish Get-Up
There is not a better exercise to test and assess one’s total body strength, coordination and stability in one motion than the Turkish Get-Up. It’s an incredibly primal exercise. You are laying on the floor with heavy weight, and then standing up with it. No machines or bells and whistles. You versus gravity.
But Wait, I Thought…
Since first starting to train a few years ago, I’ve been asked that question probably two dozen times preceding what someone thought was a concrete ‘fitness principle’.
“But wait, I thought that weights make you bulky?”
“But wait, I thought that circuit training makes you weak?”
“But wait, I thought that athletic movements are just for athletes?”
“But wait, I thought you can’t lose xx lbs that quickly without crash dieting?”
I had the exact same preconceived notions before I learned better. They are legitimate inquiries in which it is our job as fitness professionals to answer. The problem is, there are a lot of ‘fitness professionals’ handing out crappy advice and over the years that crappy advice can manifest into one big crappy myth.
These are a few of the many fitness myths that we’ll address today using a few Performance360 members as tangible evidence in “But wait, I thought…”
“…that weights make women bulky.”
Debunked by: Jacquelyn Molino, Kristen Petersen, Nikki Hass
By far and away the biggest question that I get from women as they are simply TERRIFIED that weights will make them suddenly look like these ladies. I even wrote an entire article debunking this fear but it’s always worth hammering the point home many times over because most people need continued evidence to ease a legitimate fear. I know that I need visual evidence many times over before an opinion of mine is reversed. I’m hard-headed.
I’ll start by giving you a handful of women at the gym who are great examples as to how certain types of circuit weight training not only WON’T make you bulky, but will actually make you leaner and substantially stronger.
Jacquelyn trains three times per week, always does weight training and frankly can lift some pretty heavy weight for her frame. Does this look like something who is bulky?
Nikki trains at roughly the same frequency and does squats, deadlifts, kettlebell swings, the works…all of those exercises that only powerlifters and athletes should do, right?
Why is it that both women are leaner, more toned and stronger if all weight training makes you bulky? How could this possibly be happening?
Nikki look bulky?
The reason? High-speed, low-weight compound movements like squats, deadlifts, cleans, presses and pull-ups are fantastic for the leaning and toning process because they work so many different muscles at once, and because of the targeted muscle fiber type they also have an enormous impact on your strength without increasing size of the muscle.
You simply move at way too fast of a pace in circuit-style training to ever get bulky as a female.
Kristen finishing a #155 squat...she look bulky?
“…that circuit training turns guys into weaklings.”
Debunked by: Brandon Flora, Jason Weber, Sean Mackin
Here’s Jason pulling #405 x 3 (started at #275)
Here’s Brandon pulling #415 x 1 (started at #240)
I am particularly tickled by this one given the type of guys that usually make this accusation. It’s usually a guy who may or may not have gel in their hair when training. They might potentially superset their workout with a pre or post-tanning salon trip. Generally a high probability they are plain fat and almost a complete guarantee they are nowhere near the word “strong”.
Sean Mackin #225 front squat for reps
In all seriousness, the knock on circuit training is that you lift weights at too fast a pace to increase your strength. Traditional strength training calls for very long rest periods and sessions generally lasting a full hour. It allows for greater nervous system recovery up to three minutes between heavy sets and calls for a very high volume of sets completed (often up to eight or nine).
I have used those training methods and seen excellent results with them. One of the strength figures I look up to, Eric Cressey, uses this approach and he knows more in his pinky than I do in my brain.
However, just because one method is effective doesn’t mean it has dibs across the entire industry. If you can get strength gains while also leaning out (which traditional strength training doesn’t achieve), then I say, ‘let’s freaking do THAT.’
I’m 168 pounds and at my best could pull 365, nothing earth shattering but supportive of the notion you don’t have to get huge or spend an insane amount of time in the gym to increase strength. There’s a certain demographic of guys that would call me something along the lines of ‘skinny punk’ and say I have no business teaching strength, but I’d love to see flat-brim Steve who does 17 variations of bicep curls get his ass on the platform and put his strength to the test.
Typically don't know shit about strength training.
“…that only athletes should do plyometric work.”
Debunked by: Emilie Krajan
Emilie is not a current or former athlete but she has achieved a very high level of strength, aerobic conditioning and body composition for herself. She is maybe 5’3″ and can be seen here jumping up on a 36″ plyo box (a gym record). She isn’t training for a sporting event or anything close. She just wants to be lean, strong and in good shape and that’s exactly what she has accomplished through a variety of training that happens to include plyometric work.
A lot of places would say that only advanced individuals can do plyometric work. The standard adage is that you should have at least a few months of proper baseline training underneath you before you start launching your body places. While I certainly would never argue with the reasoning of building up to more advanced work, I simply don’t believe certain plyometric implements to be that advanced.
It stands to reason that most athletes are in pretty good shape, right? Excluding this guy, most team sport athletes are in peak physical condition. So why wouldn’t the rest of us at least try and mildly emulate their diet and training?
For one, because they often train six hours a day and no one in their right mind would do that casually or for fun, but that doesn’t mean for 30 minutes a day a few days you week you can’t incorporate some of what they do to your own program, right?
Wouldn’t it be effective?
You don’t have to start out jumping on 40″ plyo boxes out of the gate. You can do some light cone hops or perhaps some 12″ box jumps. The reality is that jumping and throwing things requires your muscle fibers to fire in a much different demand than traditional or even advanced lifting. It’s a great compliment and excellent training for typeII muscle fiber (the precise fiber type that creates the defined look and is responsible for high performance).
“…that you can only lose 20 pounds fast by crash dieting.”
Debunked by: Too many to list
- Danny Scott: down 25 pounds in 6 weeks
- Jason Weber: down 20 pounds in 9 weeks
- Dee Nipper: down 23 pounds in 9 weeks
- Carol Parma: down 20 pounds in 9 weeks
- Chris Cisek: down 8 pounds in 13 days
- Valerie Henry: down 8 pounds in 21 days
What separates this from some ass backwards cleanse garbage? These are folks who have stripped pure fat from their body while maintaining and even gaining lean muscle, strength and conditioning. BIG difference than stripping muscle and feeling like complete crap.
These are real people getting excellent results. If you belong to P360, pat ‘em on the back next time you see them and if you’re not sold on the results then I invite you to come to a class on me and talk to them yourself.
I have overheard many, many trainers tell clients that it’s going to reasonably take three or four months to lose 15 pounds.
Um, WHAT?!
Traditional belief says you can lose about a pound or two per week and still ‘be healthy’.
Uhhh, you know what’s ‘being healthy?’ NOT having 20 pounds of excess fat on you. So I say, let’s go ahead and get that off you lickity split, mmkayyy?
Proper training with a committment to carbohydrate-timed/inulin-controlled diet is going to shed fat. And quickly. If you’re circuit training and watching your carbohydrate intake then weight is going to fly off at a pace you didn’t think was actually possible, while also seeing your strength go through the roof.
“Those people just put that weight right back on, right?”
FAAAAAALSE!
You know who puts weight back on?
Fat people who crash diet and don’t exercise, not people who bust their ass four times a week and maintain a healthy nutritional lifestyle choices rather than some stupid ‘diet’ that Kim Kardashian might have done.
The real nitty gritty of circuit training’s dominance in the fat loss world can best be explained by afterburn effect.
Consider this scientific analysis.
Tremblay A, Simoneau JA, Bouchard C.
Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism.
Metabolism. 1994 Jul;43(7):814-8
The group measured circuit training against standard steady-paced cardio over 15 weeks and concluded that the subjects on circuit training experienced nine times greater fat loss than their ‘cardio’ counterparts. This is largely attributed to the fact that your body continues to burn calories at an increased rate for up to 48 hours after a circuit training session, known as afterburn.
Traditional resistance and steady-paced cardio only provide an hour or two of afterburn.
“…that intense circuit training is a 20-something’s game”
Debunked by: Rick Dengler, Dee Nipper, Carol Parma
You know, I used to be guilty of thinking this one. When I first started out training clients three years ago I was uneasy about throwing a person over the age of 50 into a challenging, dynamic circuit.
That fear changed after I started working with Mick Dapcevic who was actually my very first male client. He was 40 and got after it, and it really opened up my eyes to age and performance not always correlating.
Well, my wig’s been blown clean off since by the men and women of P360.
Dee Nipper, 52 - #115 deadlift x 10
“Age is just a number.”
It’s one of those cliches in which I firmly believe. If you think old, you’ll feel and act old and your body will follow suit. But if you continue to unleash your body and let it work in the primal ways it’s used to, it will reward you with excellent results, health and strength into the second half of your life.
- Rick Dengler, age +45 – #95 hang cleans x 10
Carol Parma, +50 - plate pushups
Conclusion
While this is certainly a small sample size of folks, the main takeaway is that you don’t have to blindly listen to traditional fitness principles and accept them as rule. Tradition is largely driven by middle-of-the-road actions whose nature is not to create a significant disturbance in the standard quo.
Sometimes, it’s up to you to shake the foundations and get outside the norm if you want to create exceptional results for yourself.
-DT
The Importance of Mobility
You wouldn’t drop a ton of loot on a Ferrari and then drive it all year without an oil change, right?
Well, your body is the same way. Every now and again you need a tune-up, check under the head, double check the breaks and make sure everything is in order. Better stated, you need to be preventative so you don’t run your car (or body) into the ground.
Today’s workout is a very important one in that it focuses primarily on mobility. Mobility? Yep. Mobility, and it’s quite a bit different from traditional flexibility.
Let me explain.
- Flexibility = static stretching (being able to hold a position in a static, non-moving position by lengthening the working muscle).
- Mobility = dynamic flexibility (being able to move with greater range of motion)
Flexibility
Flexibility is great and certainly beneficial but it’s limited in that it just works muscular flexibility. ASide from loosening your glutes and hamstrings, there is not much athletic merit to static flexibility, meaning it is not going to drastically improve your performance or keep you as healthy as having ‘mobility’.
Some of the best athletes in the world have terrible flexibility but first class mobility.
Mobility
Here’s why we should set aside time for mobility.
- It works to create more flexible and stable joints.
- It develops resilient ligaments which decrease your chance of serious injury (whether it’s in the gym, playing beach volleyball, skiing, surfing, snowboarding, out stumbling around PB…whatever it is you do for fun)
- It allows us to perform better in the gym (better performance = better results)
- It facilitates better posture.
We put every single one of our athletes through in-depth mobility exercises, but it’s also great for non-athletes who also just enjoy a good kick in the ass a few days a week (most people reading this).
So, we’re taking one of our mobility workouts that our college and pro athletes perform and putting our Daily Challenge classes through it. Don’t let the lack of serious sweat fool you, this workout is as important as any that we’ll do.
It’s any gym’s responsibility to make sure its members are healthy, and putting nothing but heavy lifting on the menu all day every day is not the way to do that. You need to step back, take a breathe and re-tune your body every now and again.
Enjoy my newly nimble friends!
-DT