The Respect Ladies Deserve

Happy hump-day all, it's a busy season and then not so much for me. My schedule is pretty much like a roller coaster in terms of number of sessions being trained. I slowly get more and more people on my schedule and then BOOM my numbers drop like a bad habit. Not the worst thing though, gives me a chance to take some personal time and spend it with my family. Something I feel I do not get to do enough of, but it's just how this life goes sometimes.

Today I would like to talk about my experiences with the female gender in the world of strength and conditioning and that proverbial wall that gets thrown up the first time you hand them a weight heavier than their purse. First, a story that goes well with this, I feel. A few months back Catherine and I decided that it would be good for our sanity if I was no longer writing her programs and responsible for her training, it's just one of those things that can be hard for a couple in this line of work. I took it into my hands on where she was going to train, because if I wasn't training her I was sure as hell making sure some asshat wasn't writing her programs and coaching her. She's training at a pretty good place in Hudson Mass now, maybe some of you have heard of it. OK to the point, when doing her initial consult (yeah she was nice enough to let me sit in on it) one of the first goals she gave was she wants to deadlift 300 lbs, I'm pretty sure the coach had to restrain himself from jumping out of his chair in excitement. His eyes did bug out a bit, so I noticed, can't say I blame him.

"Well why is that so damn exciting?" Because it is so damn tough to kick the freakin wall down that females tend to put up when it comes to lifting weights. I know it's been said before but there's nothing I've heard more from this particular brand of lifters than "oh but I don't want to get bulky" my thought becomes....bruh.....really? For Catherine's coach not have to take that step of getting over the notion of lifting gets you bulky, I'd have a hard time containing myself, just a bit too.

Ladies it's been said before, but I'm going to say it again, lifting does NOT make you bulky. There are 100 other things that will, lifting is not one of them. I respect the hell out of you ladies that have gotten beyond this whole mindset because there are so many still stuck on it. With that said there are more and more getting beyond it thanks to some fantastic female strength coaches out there (many of which I wouldn't go toe to toe with). I know there's many a judgment passed on you by other females (for that matter meatheaded males) wondering why you do the things you do. They then comment on how good you look, you try to get them into it for their own good, and then that hand goes up because they don't want to look bulky.  It's also not going to instantly turn you into a fitness model, honestly folks those cover girls are paying people a truck load to help them look like that for 1 or 2 days, and then go back to being a semi-normal human.

I do also understand that you ladies can not train the same as men, but you can still do many of the same things the guys do. Catherine likes to call it playing with the big boys, and she can, many of my friends and clients (former and current) can and they are a great example of ladies that have broken the notion. It makes me jump a little high each time I can knock this wall down with a female, every time a female gets beyond this notion an angel gets it's wings. As I said, the training is quite different in certain areas, different mechanical disadvantages come with the way females are put together, but it doesn't take the surgeon general to figure out how to train around these.

OK before some of you push that send button and get on my case, if you want go to the gym and enjoy your cardio, yoga, pilates, jiu jitsu or break dance fighting, GO NUTS. Really any coach that doesn't have their head completely shoved up in it will tell it's fine to do those things, IF it's not the only modality you use. Believe me just lifting doesn't do you a ton of favors unless you're a lifting athlete, which I'm not, I'm on the other end of the spectrum where I just hate cardio, but I do it. Accept the fact that doing your little quarter squat to dumbbell curl with your 5 lbs. and 10 lbs. weights isn't going to cut it. The sooner you can accept that, the sooner you will see those results you're striving for. Final note, for every time you ladies use the word toned improperly, a puppy gets kicked, so for the love of puppies and all things that are lovable, just don't.

The moral of this, if you go to a trainer and he doesn't just have you do planks and walk on the treadmill for 45 mins, then embrace it. Assuming he's good with technique and coaching you up, embrace it. The barbell will not make your waist line jump out 10 inches I promise.

That's it for today folks, go out there and get after it!

A Few Tips to the Aspiring

So can someone please tell me where the crap November went, we're already in the last 3rd of the month? Seriously I only just looked at the date for today just now and did a double take. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays so that is the silver lining for me at least.

I've done a post already about surviving the trials of being a trainer when you first start out. I figured I could probably offer a little bit more through my experiences in the last year or so, mostly consisting of mistakes or things I could have done better. Might not be the best advice but hopefully I can save 1 soul from losing their bananas.

1. Workaholics be warned- I would not consider myself a workaholic, but I'm not a bum either so I do believe I work hard. There is such thing as working too much, in this field especially. I've made the mistake in the last year+ trying to train too many clients, I know it sounds bass-ackwards right? I would train upwards of 40 hours a week, some days I'd jam in up to 6 hours straight of training, dumb. Yeah I know you can do YOUR job for 6 hours straight, but having to keep my energy levels up, stay locked in for 5-6 clients and a group class so no one gets hurts isn't quite a walk in the park.

Staying with that, when you're a trainer and have an open schedule like I do, and train 35-40+ hours a week you hardly have time for yourself and others in your life. Mostly because you aren't just away from home for just those 35-40 hours, you still have to hang around 30 minutes to an hour, waiting for the next client which can just be a drain. I am and was lucky enough to live close enough to my facility, that I could jet home and chill for a bit, not so much for others. Down time is key here because if you are constantly wound up and stressed the hell out there will be exactly 0 people that will want to be around you, I promise, and that's not great for business.

I acknowledge that I've stated before beggars can not be choosers, yeah congratulations you remember. When you get to the point where you aren't a beggar and have not been for some time, you can probably afford to be a bit pickier and save some sanity. My buddy Mike gave me this advice after he saw me just grind myself into the floor, 30 hours is solid, 35 should be the max for my own health and also because the programming turns to trash, no one wins there.

2. Schedule smarter-A couple things to try to avoid as far as your scheduling goes, I'm saying try, it won't always happen, just make it happen less frequently. If you know for a fact you have a session that will end later than 7 PM try not to kill yourself with a a handful of clients starting at 6 AM the next morning. Your sleep will SUFFER and then it turns into a slippery slope. Another thing I would reconsider is how many sessions in a row you train. I'm usually ready to exhale after about 4 hours in a row so I try to stay away from that.

It's OK to say no to clients, they'll understand, and if they don't well tough shit. I've acquired myself quite the solid base of regular clients so I usually have a pretty good idea of where my breaks will lie and where I absolutely don't want someone to schedule me. I will say the front desk staff at my facility does me many solids by keeping me out of the 'too many in a row' situation and letting me have my breathing room when I need it. My schedule isn't as fat as it once was, but I know my limits and usually have a good idea of what I'm dealing with when my check comes.

Hopefully the above helps someone out there keep their brain in order so they don't hate the world. May not apply to everyone, but I just hope it saves a few lifeforms from falling over.

That's all I got today kiddos, go out there and get after it!

Our Trip

I've been wanting to post this, but with a busy schedule upon my return and a lovely little migraine that greeted me on top of it I've had hard time getting time to sit long enough at the computer to write this.

 2 weeks ago to the day we got on a plane to California, my first trip into the pacific time zone. I will certainly say I'm making sure this is not my last either. This trip to Cali entailed a wedding, Catherine's brother's to be exact. All in all I'm not sure the whole thing could have gone down better, I'm sure there was obvious good planning before hand and hard work in the days leading up to the wedding, but I'd say it went off without a hitch. My body had a little fun adjusting to the first major time change it had experienced, but that's another story. I met some great people who only added to my great first California experience.

Our trial training facility

Of course while we were there we had to get a little training in, so we visited a local commercial gym. I think I've said this before but for whatever reason when we go to gym's outside of Boston I'm just shocked at the atrocity of the things people consider exercise (not that Boston's any better). The gym itself was enormous and like many commercial gyms their cardio and group exercise class areas dominated most of the real estate. There were a total of 2 squat racks and I'd say probably 4 or 5 different bench's, not counting the benches for the dumbbell area. I was slightly impressed that they had a landmine, although not sure many knew how to use it. Moral of the story when it came time after our pre-workout tasks and warm-up, Catherine and I didn't have much of a struggle securing our equipment.

In all seriousness I'm not that cocky of a person and I could have trained circles around pretty much every trainer I saw. There was 1 guy that commented on the great things that Catherine and I were doing for our workouts. I said thanks, then in my head I thought, why didn't I see you do any of them when you were training your client? I guess we all can't be perfect.

I'll stop with the negatives now, so the day before the wedding the family held an even at a park overlooking the ocean, I know rough venue right? Honestly they considered the weather you see below to be not so good? My response....are you kidding me? I'm wearing shorts and a t-shirt and not worried about catching a cold or pneumonia...and it's October, wanna trade with us in New England. Actually I'm pretty sure that following Sunday was our first little bite of winter, barf.

OK so back to it, at the park they had one of the local food trucks waiting for us, freakin awesome. I had heard nothing but good things about this food. I was given a ticket so I could order, I got the steak sandwich, it was fantabulous, they also had the sign posted I have below, which lead me to believe that these were quality ingredients they were using. My taste buds told me that the ingredients were in fact good quality.

Tamarindo Food Truck

Great bit of wisdom

Yes for you ladies that may be wondering what the actual wedding venue looked like I posted a couple below.

All in all it was a great trip and I look forward to going back and putting my feet in the Pacific once again. Final note, a congratulations to Catherine's brother Chris and his new wife Kelsey on a beautiful wedding and wish them many happy years to come.

That's all I got for this day guys, go out there and get after it!

Nothing Special

Happy Tuesday to all of you folks. This week should endure less whining about a certain New England team that had been poo pooed on quite a bit in the court of public opinion. I'm sure New England will still find a thing or 2 to gripe about, oh well. I do have a gripe of my own to voice and my thoughts on all the crappy trainers and coaches out there.

Let's start with this simple fact, I AM NOTHING SPECIAL, at least as far as a talent or smarts stand point goes. I'm not dumb, although the knocking around of my face has probably shaken loose a few brain cells now and again. I've simply kept my nose to the grind stone and worked hard to get what I have, which isn't so bad, I have a boat load of clients that I enjoy working with and am working with one of the top Division 1 schools in the New England. Knowing what I have and knowing I didn't do anything that took something getting bit by a radioactive spider to get here. That said it makes my blood boil just a bit when I see people just put in nearly 0 effort....or no effort in some cases. Yeah I've had some great help around me, but really all it takes is some freakin effort.

I've had a couple people approach me about being a trainer or coach and say something to the effect of "Oh you just get to hang out in the gym all day." This was my initial thought when I got into this world, but I found out real quick it takes a ton of effort. While it is great that I get to hang out in athletic pants and a t-shirt for most of my day, the coaches and trainers that I know that are very good at what they do, are some of the hardest working people I've ever met. To these people that make this comment I usually try to find a short way to tell them what it takes to not just be a hobby trainer/coach. It usually comes down to saying, if you're not prepared to give mind, body and soul to make this a career and a life, then I strongly urge you to reconsider.

Final thought on this is to simply love and care. Love what you do, if you don't love this job and world, then waking up at 4-4:30 AM is going to get progressively tougher and tougher. Care about those that you are working with and those that you are training/coaching. It is very cliché but at the facility in Brookline we try to make it a tight knit group and act as a family. BU S+C is the same way and it makes my job and rolling out of bed at the crack-ass of dawn, that much easier....coffee helps too.

That's all I've got for today guys, go out there and get after it!

Morning People...

Yeah I wasn't one really when I first got going into this grind that is my career/job, but I've slowly become one...sort of. OK truth is it's a struggle for me until I get to either BU or Brookline, and if there's a ton of things to slow down my morning routine, I'm potentially doomed to wait for an extra 30 min for my brain to come out of slumber. Usually though when I walk through the door I can turn it on, if not at least I usually have a few minutes to do so before I need to be sharp and pay attention. I'm sure there are some of you that have had to adjust to schedules that require you to get up at the butt crack of dawn with the rest of us coaching and training folk. I've discovered a few things that have helped me make the transition from sleep to work easier. I have pretty much 0 scientific basis to back this up, but if you want you can prove me right or wrong, also I may have sniped 1 of these ideas from someone else. 

1. GO TO BED: OK this might sound like me being a jerk but seriously get your butt to bed. Going to sleep at midnight and waking up at 4:30 AM will not do you or your morning any favors. Believe me I've had to do it before. When you struggle to keep your eyes open it doesn't mean stay up for an extra hour to continue binge watching that show on Netflix.

2. Caffeine: Yeah some of us aren't super human and can't just wake up as perky as Richard flippin Simmons. I'm not saying get an extra large coffee with 10 sugars and a truck load of cream in it with caramel swirl and whip cream on top either (was that enough overkill there?). Get up and have a cup of black coffee, if you need a spoon of sugar it won't kill you and if black coffee gives you the creepy crawlies then use organic heavy whipping cream, great little addition for those going low carb as well. For those that want to eat me alive for all the chemicals that are in the big brand coffees have a read of this and give that some thought. 

I will have one of these!

3. GET UP: Yeah again another one that sounds like I'm being captain obvious, thank you very much at your service right here. Seriously though when you're alarm goes off if you hit snooze and try to sleep for another 10 minutes it will take you longer to perk up and come to. When that thing goes off start rolling, even if you end up flat on the floor face down, you'll feel better without the extra 10 minutes I promise.

4. Water: I could go a couple different directions honestly, but something as simple as the splash of water on your face will help, if you're a person that showers in the morning then you've got this step covered.

5. Silence...maybe not so much: I know many people looooove their piece and quiet the same way I looove lifting things up and putting them down, but maybe a little stimulus for the brain is good. I personally will either throw on Spotify on my phone or get my dose of Sports Center for the day when I wake up. Even if you want to turn on something as mind numbing like Teen Mom it'll probably at least get some of the CNS firing.

Hopefully some of these tricks help you get moving in the AM, and hopefully I didn't make a complete ass of myself here today. Have a good day all, go out and get after it!

Wait Who's That Guy?

Sorry guys I've gone AWOL lately, but I really haven't had much time to myself. Here's a little insight on what's going on before we get to talking about more training type things. The internship is in full swing and it hit me like a punch in the face. My CNS was so fried from my new schedule that my own training was taking a huge hit. I love lifting heavy, but lifting heavy didn't love me for about the first 10 days in September. Monday I get up, go to the Brookline facility, amscray around noon, get to BU around 12:30, hang there for the better part of 6 hours and then odds on I'm heading back to the Brookline facility for a couple more sessions. Oh yeah and I do this on Wednesday as well. Tuesday I'm up and head straight to BU, finish around mid day there and go to Brookline for the night, rinse and repeat for Thursday as well. Friday's are way easier, Brookline, meeting at BU and DONE. Needless to say, and Catherine can confirm this, I pretty much get home and fall down at night. The things you do to get better and get ahead in the world, good news is I do enjoy being at BU a ton, and my limited schedule in Brookline almost makes it more exclusive so the clients I train are the ones I look forward to training...mostly.

How I feel when I get home lately

In the meanwhile on my hiatus I turned 28, if you didn't consider 27 late 20's, well I'm there now. No I'm not bitching that I'm old, although sometimes I like to just because I can and I have moments that make me feel so. Example; I was working with a couple teams last night and they could not name songs that were playing that I remembered from middle school, then I realized I'm getting old(er). I had thought about doing a 28 things list, but instead I'm going to limit it to a few brief things, just so I don't have my mind explode first time writing in a month and a half.


1. K.I.S.S.-So often I've heard (about) coaches adding all of these crazy exercises that can fix your pelvic tilt, realign your ankles, stop your indigestion and cure cancer all in one....yeah not today bub. I'm all for corrective work provided it doesn't eat 30 minutes of your workout and cut out more important shit, like getting stronger and faster. I try to keep it between 2-4 corrective/activation exercises before the work out, how many is dependent on the person's issues. After that I might mix in a few more if I know they are or have been struggling with certain movements.

2. Be yourself-I honestly have really tried to make sure I keep a hold of this one no matter who I'm working with or where I'm working. This really applies to the private sector of training/coaching. No matter who's name is on the building the trainee will keep coming back if they like YOU, no one else. People appreciate when you are being genuine and actually interested in their well being, they'll keep coming back because of that. To be honest if I'm training someone that doesn't want to come back I let it go because it wasn't meant to be and they wouldn't enjoy it which makes my job hell.

3. Pick appropriate exercises- Yeah I love deadlifts, squats and chin-ups just as much as the next guy, but the 92 year old guy with balance issues is going to have different priorities than the former college cheerleader or the woman that just gave birth to twins. I haven't seen it all but the commercial gym setting leaves you with a pretty good understanding because you'd be hard pressed to say you expected the guy with an intellectual disability and vision impairments to be able to drag a sled with 200 lbs on it any distance, let alone 25 yards. Yeah didn't think so, so don't assume, everyone needs to squat or that everyone needs to go easy for that matter.

That's all for today folks, go out there and get after it!

Last of the Mohicans

Well the last domino has fallen here in Brookline. We've had the final person that was in the same school of thought as me when I first got hired here, leave the company. When I got hired here in the first month I gravitated towards a certain group of trainers, desk staff members and a pilates instructor. This certainly gave me a good comfort zone for when I came to work every day for about a year. Let's all remember that a year is a long time to have very little turn over in a commercial gym. 

It started really, last April, the first domino fell when my friend Kristen got a job with Northeastern. Next was my friend Shayne, she got her dream job as a college softball coach. Then came my buddy Rob who got a job as a ticket price analyst (sweet job). Next was Mr.Anderson himself heading for Ohio to see about a girl. My friend Joel gets to see Giselle on a weekly basis at his new job. Next my old roommate Luis went to get himself in the real world with a "big person job" as we call it. My friend Kayley got exactly what she was looking for at a YMCA in Connecticut. The last tile finally fell last week when my friend Shelley left the company to pursue further education down in Texas. 

This has left me as the last one to carry the torch, as they say. I won't even be in this facility that much because I am, of course, interning with BU Strength and Conditioning this fall, which I really can not wait to start, no offense to my clients in Brookline. I realize I've turned on the waaambulance here but hey I'm sure most of you have dealt with this somehow before, this is my way of dealing with it.

Now I've gotten use to getting outside of my comfort zone with my training, I'm well aware it's the only way you get better. Doesn't mean I like being outside of my comfort zone when I work, DAMNIT. One of the departed did give me this piece of advice for my remaining time here; Try not to worry about what everyone else around you is doing, just continue to do your job better than everyone, grow as a professional and good things will happen for you. For now that is the plan until something comes along where I can get into either a college strength and conditioning facility or a private one (not a commercial gym).

Please everyone don't get me wrong, I was very happy when I landed here in Brookline, my commute was cut down to a fraction of what I had before. I was suddenly that much closer to Boston and I was in a much nicer facility, no offense Hudson, total upgrade overall. As I've stated before though, I am ready for a new challenge from those that are much smarter than me. I simply can't get that challenge around here though, so I've made the search elsewhere. The new crew will take some getting use to, maybe at some point we can get some of the mojo back.

That's my bit today guys, go out there and get after it!

Schwing

HUMP DAY. OK sorry I won't go into that stuff, just had to get that out of my system. I wanted to hit on a topic that honestly has started to drive me nuts, more so lately. Today I want to touch on the little Russian cannonball with the handle on it, oh yeah the Kettlebell, to be specific the Kettlebell Swing. Please crossfitters note I am not hating on crossfit (I actually think there's a ton of good in it). Just hear me out on this and then you can virtually punch me in the face after. With the recent popularity of crossfit the swing has become a more popular exercise, and I love the swing...except I like the Russian swing, not the American swing. "Oh shit Jarrod's a commie bastard" no I'm not, trust me there's many a people that want as little as possible to do with Russia at this point in the world, I'm one of them and this an exception.

Listen I'm not THAT against going over head with a kettlebell swing, I'm not crazy about it, but I'm not dead set against it. The problem is pretty much everyone I see doing it SHOULDN'T be going over head. Over head movements, for any coach/trainer worth their salt, is something that should be earned. Yeah I like overhead pressing and other movements as such. I believe they are movements that you need the right mobility and stability in your shoulders and thoracic spine to do. Below here is a check list to go over to see if you should even attempt an American KB swing, assuming you've mastered the Russian KB swing.

-Lay on the floor on your back.

-Knees bent feet flat on the floor

-Pull your belly button to the floor

-Keep your arms straight raise them out in front of you so your fingers are pointing to the ceiling

-Then mover your arms over head trying to put your thumbs on the ground above your head, keep the arms straight

Now if your lower back (lumbar spine) arches or you simply can not touch the floor, do not even consider doing an American swing, please.

Another great way to check if you're good to go on overhead movement is to do the Shoulder Mobility screen from the FMS. The general belief is that you need at LEAST a 2 on this to be able to do most over head movements.

With all that said I prefer the Russian swing simply because everyone can do it without risking a major shoulder injury, assuming technique is on point. Let's expand on the technique talk a bit. The other major issue I have with the American swing is most can't get the Russian KB swing technique right. It's like taking someone that can't drive a sedan and saying here try to drive this 18 wheeler.

Hey you American KB swingers, yeah you read the list below please:

-Neutral spine

- Squeeze the glutes

-Be explosive

-HINGE don't squat

-Brace the core

-Lats tight

-Bell at chest height

Reading the list above, if your brain went, "hmm never heard/done that" then you absolutely need to stick with the Russian swing. I personally will 99.9% of the time stick with the Russian swing with my clients. I'm not comfortable with the American swing so I'm not going to use it unless someone holds a gun to my head. There are plenty of other over head movements to train with that I'm far more comfortable with. There's also something about having a 16 kg object that's on a pivot over my head (or a client's/athlete's head) that I'm just not that comfortable with.

That's all I got for you today folks, take a swing, go out there and get after it!

Perform Better Summit; What I Learned and What Stood Out

A couple weekends ago I had a great chance to go down to Providence and attend the annual Perform Better Summit at the Rhode Island convention center. While the weekend didn't get off the to greatest start (found out my hotel reservations were non-existant, oops), but it recovered quickly with the first hands-on section of the day I attended and only got better.

The Highlights

Hands down the highlight for me was hearing, seeing and meeting the man the myth the legend Dan John. Dan had both a lecture and then a hands on session he did later on that day. Dan really makes things super duper simple so a drunk monkey can understand them. In not so many words, SHUT UP AND DO IT. That's pretty much how he gets it done. Now granted he's not completely blind to the fact that soft tissue work and mobility are needed, but he's more about focusing on the core task at hand, then breaking it down if it's needed.

I'll be honest I did have another person I was going to hear speak instead of attending Dan's hands-on that went with this. I reconsidered after I finish his lecture because I really was blown away by how he made everything just fall into place. I said to hell with the other person, wont name names, and went to the hands-on instead. On top of all this he was more than happy to stay after both sessions and answer questions, shake hands and just converse in general with everyone that attended. Side note I shook his hand my hand suddenly felt like that of a 5 year old's. I may be wrong, but he he is probably one of the most approachable high profile figures in this business.

Now just so you don't think I just blindly follow a single person's methods and call it good, there was 1 thing I couldn't get behind with Dan, his view on single leg work. He's not a giant believer in it, but to his credit we did do some single leg drills in the hand-on session, for the most part he doesn't value single leg exercises too highly. It's his opinion and he's entitled to it, and it's not the word of god. I don't value single leg work to the point where I find it to be the work of guardian angles either like certain strength coaches out there, but I find my body, and the bodies' of my clients, feel better when there is some good loaded single leg work mixed in there. I did still pick up his book Never Let Go so that's going to keep my readings a little busier.

There were 2 other people I got the chance to hear speak that I have wanted, I mean REALLY wanted to, those were Charlie Weingroff and Eric Cressey. Weingroff's sessions was titled I Lift Heavy Things and Put Them Down, so if you've met me for 5 minutes you know I heard/read the name of this one and sprang up like I'd been hit by lightning. Yeah I was down for that. He reminded us all that there are about 1000 ways to skin the fitness cat as it were, and he would argue his was best when done right. He had a few good cues and some tools to put in the tool box for deadlifts and overhead presses. In all honesty though, whichever way your way is for getting patterns like these hammered down, make sure you execute it to the best of your ability and you own it. 

Cressey was definitely a little more technical than my brain is adapted to processing. The session (or for that matter the whole seminar) was a bit like trying to drink from a fire hose. You get what you can and try not to worry to much about the stuff you missed. Eric's expertise on the shoulder and scapula movement gave me a few tools and tricks to help those of my clients with shoulder pain and issues. Again as the case was with Dan John I hadn't originally planned to attend both Eric's lecture and hands on, but I made an audible and figured this is probably an area I could afford to improve in so I'll get what I can. Learned some new drills and new things to look for so couldn't ask for more than that really. Eric was also really good about answering questions and shaking hands after his sessions so I gotta give him his props for that.

Things That Stood Out

There was certainly some other interesting things that stood out for me, most of them, not exactly positive in this case. The biggest thing was Saturday morning they had a very large spread for breakfast and with all these fitness experts and everyone well informed on the things we probably SHOULD be eating (notice the heavy emphasis) what did they put out? Bagels and Muffins, now I know eggs and bacon probably isn't practical, and I am certainly not one to completely snark at these items because I've indulged plenty. All that considered you would think they could have come up with something a little more, appropriate shall we say? Even if the convention center had limited options, surely someone could have used their noodle to make this better, luckily I'd already had mine so as much as I wanted to partake I didn't need to.

Next item of note isn't something that totally shocked me because I have experienced this in reading many articles and books, it was just a different experience because I heard it in person with my own ears. There was quite a bit of contraindications, such as one speaker being a spine expert telling us not to round our spines during any exercises (in layman's terms) and another speaker demonstrating a series of exercises that he believes you need to flex your spine. 

Things like this is where I use my super brain power (or not so much) and have to decided when and where this information is applied to. The answer when it comes to the things that pop up in this field is almost always a it depends because if you just blindly apply things you pick up, you're probably going to get an athlete or a client hurt. Use that 3 1/2 pound organ between your ears before applying stuff you learn at a big seminar like this and you'll be better off.

Overall the experience was great, I saw a lot of people that I've worked with in the past and it was great to rub elbows with some of the absolute best in the business. Have a good day everyone go out there and get after it!

The Next Chapter...The BU Chapter

Well last Thursday started a new part of my life. For the rest of this summer on Thursday morning I will be scarce at the Brookline facility because I will be doing observation hours at Agganis Arena. Yeah I'm sorry if you feel like I've failed you, all you Maine grads and faithful Black Bear hockey fans. I am working with what some might call, the enemy. While I am still a fan of the alma-mater hockey program I know this is going to be a great chance for me to learn from some of best in the area.

"The Ugly" Maine fans will get it

The plan is to do some observation hours this summer and then get a little more hands on come this fall. I am very excited to work with the athletes at BU and know I can only get better. I decided to take this on this past winter after my colleague and friend Mike left Brookline to pursue other ventures. Once that happened it pretty much put me to the top of the food chain, a place I feel personally I am not ready to be at. While it is cool to be THAT person many come to you with questions and for advice about programming and technique. At this point there's no one for me to really draw from on a personal level. I had this issue before at the first facility and made the move to Brookline, this internship is the move I'm making now.

Some of you may recall I've had a chance to see this world once before, at Maine with their strength and conditioning department. That's now 3 years ago since I left that position, doesn't seem that long ago, but it was. I remember a good bit of what I learned in those months, but 3 years is plenty of time to have lot's of valuable information leave my memory. Also more recently some of you probably recall that I have stepped away from my rugby playing to have my time taken up by something important to my career, if you haven't figured it out, this is that something I spoke of.

It's amazing that in one day I already have things popping into my head with thoughts of "oh yeah I remember when we did that at in Orono" so I can't wait to see what else is rekindled along with all the new things I will learn. That's all I got today guys, go out and get after it.

Put the Pad Down and Squat

Happy Spring everyone! Yes today is about, and I'll say it again, PUT THE PAD DOWN AND SQUAT. We had someone come up and complain about the fact that we were missing a certain piece of foam and they couldn't possibly squat without it because it hurt. I really had to try to find words to say to this person that didn't make me sound like a complete ass. Trouble was the words I kept coming back to were suck it up buttercup. That really would not have gone well so I had to just zip it. Seriously though folks there are few pieces of fabric that I would much prefer to use for kindling than the squat bar pad.

BURN THIS ON SITE

I'll tell you first that I used it very early when I first started lifting, but I was also making 2 mistakes at that point, at least 2 I can remember. I was putting the bar way too high, up on the base of my cervical spine. The other thing was I had this piece of crap wrapped around the bar. It doesn't do anyone any favors folks so just don't even bother getting one if you can help it.

Why am I telling you this? Well there's a couple reason, let me lay them out for you. Center of gravity plays a huge part in doing weight lifting, and you wanna keep that weight as near that spot as possible. Otherwise you're changing the leverage on your squat. It may not mess with you at lower weights, but it will when you start piling on the big wheels.

I know your back is a little sore from the bar being where is should be, your body will adapt, just like it did the first time you did deadlifts or chin-ups. Your hands built a callas and then it didn't hurt as bad, same rule applies. While you are at it you can get off the bench press and do some heavy rows (pulls) to build some muscle in that upper back for the bar to sit on. You will only hate life more if you continue to do heavy squats with this pad.

The only reason I can actually think of that's good to have one of these is when doing barbell hip bridges to keep the weight from absolutely crushing your hips (or other things). I found a way around that with an airex pad, which works better and won't thin out under the heavy weight. Yeah it's about 65-75 bucks but it's worth it because I found way more uses for that than I can a squat pad. At the end of the day, just start without a pad, keep the bar fairly low and squat until you walk funny.

That's all I got for today folks, go out there and get after it!

No Snatch For You

About a month ago I went ahead and took a course through USA Weighlifting on cleans and snatches in Westborough Mass. The course is usually rand by a coach of USAW's choosing and someone that has a higher certification from USAW as well. The coach of this one in particular I've heard mixed reviews about, won't really get that into it. I will say she probably tried to make herself sound smarter than needed, but just wanted to use some of these bigger terms to impress those that didn't have a Exercise Science background of any sorts. That's all I'll get into about the coach, this isn't a rant day for me.

There were a ton of cross-fitters (either coaches or just people that worked out at cross-fit facilities) that were there to take the course. Which always gives me hope that cross-fit is wising up and only getting better and better. Unfortunately you do still have people like a few cheesebrains that come in and think because they've watched cross-fit, or the olympics, and maybe dabbled in a couple classes that they can clean and snatch, it's scary shit.

I got it, I got it...nope don't got it

The lifts that are taught at these courses/seminars are cleans, snatches and jerks. How does one learn these in a crash course like this weekend long seminar? Well probably best thing is to just do the lifts with critique from others that do more than dabble in it and that's what we did. Having not done any real olympic lifting recently I forgot how exhausting these lifts can make you. Loved every second of doing them, made me want to jump back into it once I'm done with my rugby season.

The lifts we learned could all benefit both general population clients and athletes, depending on who they are. I'm willing to bet the risks outweigh the benefits for most of them. When it comes to a commercial gym setting it applies 2 fold, usually cautioning even more on the careful side of things. I have had some of my clients, as well as others, ask me about cleans and snatches, what the heck they are. Every time I'm happy to explain to them what they are and all the rave about them, they usually feel a big let down when I inform them it's not for them at the time. Let's be real if an athlete who is focused on nothing but sports, lifting and some schoolwork doesn't have the ability to just jump into these lifts, clients that have real jobs and live lives will be less likely to do so.

I've seen so many people that look like the joker here and it just makes my body crumble for them. At least he knew he screwed up before he hurt himself.

The key to being able to do olympic lifting really isn't a mystery for a coach/trainer that is well versed in them with half a brain. It's the same for being able to do any exercise, progress and regress as necessary. Do you have the shoulder mobility to go overhead without your shoulder collapsing into you (or out of you)? No? Then you probably won't being doing snatches or jerks today. Don't get me wrong if I feel a client is capable, and there are some, then yeah let's jump into a bit. There are some that think I'm painstakingly slow with progressing them, to them I reply sarcastically, you're welcome. Others couldn't give a damn, which is for obvious reasons way easier on me.

Don't progress athletes/clients for the simply sake of progressing, if the athlete isn't efficient with their initial progression whether it's a front squat or a triple extension pull, don't just move them to power cleans or full cleans because it's 4-6 weeks later. Progress them when they're ready to your satisfaction, not because they THINK they're ready.

Overall for the experience I did learn a few things that I hadn't known before like a hook grip (gasp I know). Put a couple more tools in the tool box for me. I had never really done a split-jerk before, probably will have to work on it more on my own (I can almost promise you it will not appear in any of my clients programming for awhile if ever). Figured out my mobility is definitely eons better (with still more room to grow), and now I have the damn piece of paper that says yes I can teach olympic lifts. Advice for those looking of taking the course, it's good learning for those in this industry, but unless you are going to at least use olympic lifts for yourself, it may not be worth the 500 bills to take.

That's all for today kids, sorry I haven't been on here much, just go out there and get after it!

Hanging Them Up

Another month down and another month with only 1 post written, whoops. I'm really batting 1000 with this thing lately. I am sorry about the absence folks and I'm sorry to say that my first post in 5 weeks will have almost absolutely nothing to do with fitness or strength and conditioning. It's also going be a little bit sad or gloomy as well so hopefully I don't bring you down too much. I'm posting this here so I don't have to tell the same thing 500 times over.

I've had a lot of mixed emotions about this subject and the thought slowly started to creep in my head this past fall after I started considering interning with a major sporting team the end of last summer. In case you haven't figured it out and are sitting there going what the hell is guy talking about?

I'm hanging up my rugby boots at the end of this spring season.

At the very least I will for awhile, if it's not for good. Like I said there are a ton of emotions going through my head, have been since I learned it was inevitable that's going to happen this spring. I'm extremely sad that I have to give up this sport that I enjoy so much. It's brought me many great friends and it also brought me to the city I now call home. Without moving to Boston I would never have landed where I am here in Brookline, therefore I would probably be pretty behind schedule on where I want to be in my career because let's face it, I might get to the same end point in Maine, it would just take longer.

From the moment I started playing for my Under-19 (aka High School) team in Portland I determined that this was the sport I wanted to invest my body into. As a lineman in high school football, the second I got my hands on a rugby ball and was told to run with it, I was hooked. Believe me just because you carry the ball in rugby doesn't mean you get a ton of glory.

I love this sport and the moments it has produced for me. Moments like standing toe to toe on your own goal-line, fighting for 15 minutes to keep your opponent out, then finally turning the tables and putting one in the bank yourself. Moments like standing in the middle of a mud pit that once was a field in a monsoon, puddles deep enough for guys to drown in the bottom of rucks. Yeah it's crazy shit but it's times like that I remember this is where I want to be on a Saturday.

Head coach of Cal Berkley rugby Jack Clarke deemed rugby in this country similar to a junk yard dog. They usually aren't looking for anything special, just to be treated with a bit of respect. As a rugger you fight and scrap for anything that you can get. Late night practices, sometimes sub-par facilities, but you make due and something about that drew me to it. I'm really not sure why that is, but I just am.

The next question is more than likely WHY? Well the other thing I've told myself all along is that I will not retire as one of those players that needs to have his sorry ass carried off of the field every league match he plays because he keeps getting hurt. I'm not at that point yet and I probably won't be even if a I played a couple more years, but this is only one factor into the why.

The other factor into the why is come this fall my time is about to become a rare commodity. Unfortunately there's this thing called REALITY in the world and when you need to cut something out, and your choices are; your job, something that's going to help with your job, maybe lead to a better one and possibly a path to your desired career, and something you do for fun on the side. Take a guess at which one of those items is on the block to get axed.

For lack of a better term, it really SUCKS a big one to have to put the gear into storage. Yeah it's important to have fun in life, but I've let rugby take the reigns over my career for awhile now, with the chance I have in front of me, rugby has to take a back seat for awhile. Rugby will still live in my blood and will never leave my head. There will be times that I have that itch and I'm going to be pissed I don't have a way to scratch it good. I'm sure I'm going to be pissed at myself, when the itch comes, that I'm no longer pulling on a jersey. At some point I have no doubt that I will look to coach rugby, most likely either college or high school, I feel I can have an impact on more lives that way.

The clubs I've played for since my U-19 have been nothing but great for me. I made great friends through all 3 clubs and seen a fair bit of success. My last year of U-19 we lost 1 game and took home our New England championship for our division. At UMaine we made it all the way to the national sweet 16 in our division, we were the only public school to make it that far that year. In Boston we play in the highest division possible, going toe to toe with the best teams in the country, New England teams simply want to be (or beat) Boston because they know what we are capable of. I would not change which clubs I've played for and I hope I can pay them back down the road for all the lessons they have taught me and all the good memories I've made through them.

For this final season if you are in the Boston area and can make it to one of the local games I would really appreciate the effort for showing up. I've got the match schedule posted below for this spring. Anyone that has issues figuring out where a field is, e-mail me and let me know. The season commences this weekend against New York Athletic Club down in New York, but the home opener is next weekend for us, should be a good one too.

Finally a big thanks is owed to many for helping me along with this sport and supporting me throughout.

1st and foremost is my mom Sharon- She did not want to sign that waiver saying I could play for the pigs, but she did it any way because she knew it was rugby or nothing for those coming springs. She supports me with closed eyes at all the matches she's attended. Even went to Orlando when we made the sweet 16 in college. She has been the biggest supporter while quietly, sometimes not so much, protesting.

2nd definitely goes to my U19 coach Rocco Frenzilli- The man does wonders as a high school coach. Just think of it this way, you have to take, what is often, 15 or so adolescents that have probably never seen this sport, and turn them into players with 2 practices a week for a month or so. He does a damn good job doing so and his players all come back to the club to pay him a visit after they've graduated high school. I owe him pretty much everything when it comes to rugby.

3rd our college advisor/coach George Criner, behind the scenes he worked with me when I was having my issues with my courses in college. Even though we were an intercollegiate sport it wasn't like the varsity sports where, for the most part, you had someone kicking you in the ass 2 steps behind you to get your work done. We never checked on people's grades or their attendance to classes, probably something I could have used my first couple years. Yeah you have your parents hawking at you, but really are they there paying attention to your every move and really double checking? They try but no, George took that role after I figured out I kind of needed that person to help me graduate.

4th on the list is my current teammate, former college teammate, and former housemate Tony P. Tony quietly, as part of a Maine Alumini team at a tournament, mentioned if you wanna keep playing high quality rugby, then get to Boston and link up with BRFC. The following year after taking some time off I landed a job in Massachusetts and found my way to my first training with the boys, the rest as they say is history.

5th is a good friend, former co-worker and a great mentor of mine Mike Anderson. Mike is all but solely responsible for getting me to another level to be able to even compete on Boston RFC, pretty much acting as my strength coach. My mobility has gone from that of a picnic table to, well we'll call it a folding table for now, not perfect, but much better. To Mr. Anderson I give a good and loud THANKS and I'll see you when you and Kels come for the Marathon hopefully.

6th and certainly not lastly is the better half of me Catherine. She has supported me in the time we've been together 100% and fully with this sport. Some days it wears on us both pretty heavily. When I was having a bad run, some days she had to deal with me not being at my happiest, wasn't fair to her, but it's just the facts. There were trips and incidents that if I didn't have her to help I would have been severely screwed, ie a night when I was at the hospital until 2:30 AM getting 20 stitches in my face, or taking me to hospital in New York when I needed 9 more to be put in the other side of my face. Yup she's been my rock when it comes to this and she will continue to be no matter what endeavor I choose to shoot for next. Thank you hun, no more hospital visits hopefully.

Date

Competition

A -side

B -side

Location

3/29/2014 D1 at NYAC at NYAC Travers Island, NY 4/5/2014 D1 at Mystic at Mystic Malden, MA 4/12/2014 D1 Middlesex Middlesex Harvard 4/19/2014 D1  at Old Blue at Bayonne NJ Columbia Univ. /Bayonne, NJ 4/26/2014 D1 Crossover Life TBA Harvard 5/3/2014 make-up date possible games 5/10/2014 NERFU NERFU Cup NERFU Cup Newport, RI 5/17/2014 D1 National Elite 8   5/24/2014 5/31/2014   D1 National D1 Finals

Really Just 2 Years Already?

This is a little late in getting posted, but the end of January (30th) marked 2 whole years I've been into this industry. I do remember my first client that morning in Hudson, a 9  AM (or 9:30 AM) client that I am still friends with to this very day. She was there to get ready for her wedding. Damnit if she didn't get to all but 1 session while I was training her for those 8 months I was in Hudson. Yeah it was short lived before I moved to the facility in Brookline. It seems so long ago, but at the same time holy shit the time seems to have gone quickly.

Today I am giving a not too detailed list of 24 things I've learned for the 24 months I've been at this. This was tough, I kind of overlapped some.

1. If you're not getting better you're getting worse: This job has so much you can learn, even some of the best out there don't know it all. The industry is constantly evolving, if you don't keep up you'll get left in the dust.

2. Beggars can not be choosers: My first job I trained any and all comers. From 20 somethings  trying to stay ahead of the obesity epidemic to a mid 50's guy with 2 new knees and a new hip. It didn't matter, I trained them because I needed clients to pay the bills, didn't have time to pick and choose.

3. Diversity is education: As mentioned I trained a big diverse list of clients and it helped me learn quickly, simply because if I didn't learn how to train them and get them better I was going to hurt them. That would make me an asshole.

4. You don't know it all: Again similar lines, I left Hudson for Brookline and quickly realized, I didn't know shit, I was the top trainer at my place in Hudson, trust me it's not saying much, knew I had plenty to learn, but my eyes opened real quick when I moved. Get a good network of people that are going to help you grow. Physical therapists can be a big help if you know one you trust, don't lose that connection.

5. Be humble or you will get humbled: I was humbled quickly in the industry when I moved away from home to get my start. Granted it was only 2 hours, but a switch from Portland to Boston was a big change. I've been taught from a young age to just bring the lunch pale to work and work hard, it will get you places. I've seen what happens to those that don't, I'll take what I got thank you.

6. No one wants a fat trainer: I've stated before, if you can't drink the same kool aid you're shoveling down your clients throats, there's an issue. Refer to my Double F K posting.

7. Don't program for your own workouts: I did my own programming for a few months when I first moved to Massachusetts, big mistake. Had someone else start writing my programming last October/November and discovered I had the mobility of a table. That got fixed quickly, thanks Anderson.

8. This industry has no sympathy: Empty schedule? No clients? Time to start pounding the pavement and find some. Can't be choosy like I said, can't be pouting in the corner either because no one is going have sympathy for you and all of a sudden want to work with you.

9. NO CURLS IN THE SQUAT RACK: 'Nuff said

10. Your clients value your programming: They are there for your advice and your programming, make sure it's quality because they are probably going to take it as THE word to follow.

11. Making mistakes happens: You're programming will have flaws almost always, especially early on, just be cautious and use you're brain. 70 year old woman with osteo and a brand spankin new hip probably shouldn't do deadlifts right out of the gates. At the same token a 25 year old guy that's been an athlete all his life probably needs something more challenging than a body squat (maybe not).

12. Learn how to cook, quickly: Time to learn how to do your own cooking, if you're good at it then you can be efficient in the morning and make your breakfast and lunch at the same time. Other option would be to do it all on a weekend day like Sunday during football or Saturday morning watching rugby (there ya go Ben). Eating out is ok now and again, but it gets expensive and it's not always quality.

13. Make sure you got some extra bucks: When the food your brought is all gone you're going to be dying if you have 3 hours of sessions left and you have no more fuel to put in the tank.

14. DEADLIFTS RULE: Done

15. You don't have to be the fat kid: OK learned this one much longer time ago, but I have seen some of my clients drop hefty pounds to get away from being the fat kid. I was the resident fat kid folks, I know the pain, I'm with ya.

16. The Deload is your friend: Trust me just embrace it when it comes because you'll be pissed if you don't and you burn out.

17. The meathead hour is a good time to make friends: That really crappy time when every piece of equipment is taken in the gym can produce friends or at the very least a connection to something better. Think about how much you need to stand around, talk to someone.

18. Boston is damn strong: It wasn't 9/11 or Pearl Harbor, but the Marathon attack last year still sucked and we've bounced back down here and I still remember where I was when I heard about it. I know people that are still feeling the effects of it, but we press on.

19. 24 is alot to come up with/remember: I'm actually having to think about this shit.

20. Anyone can do anything they want with one thing...decication: I'm pretty sure this applies to pretty much every walk of life.

21. Recovery recovery recovery: Stems back to number 16 but still worth making the list. It is king and key to being able to turn around and do multiple workouts in a week, eat and sleep, eat and sleep.

22. That whole-wheat bagel is not your friend: I'll come out and let you in on it, when I was in my last years of school right up until last year I was having a bagel every morning for breakfast. I found out that that's not an optimal breakfast. Learned my lesson though...BACON!

23. Clients don't need to do 90% lifts: Most of my clients aren't nearly advanced enough in their training to being doing 90% max lifts, let alone 100% max lifts. I've "maxed out" clients but certainly not absolute max. You can get great results with lighter loads, seen it happen, I promise.

24. Certainly not least, you need a DAMN GOOD supporting cast: Like I said this is the best for last for me. You need it all, family, coworkers, coworkers that become your friends, mentors and it helps to have a better half to go home to and help keep you calm...or sane. Thanks to all for keeping me together for the last 2 years.

Have a good one guys, go out there and get after it!