The Deload It's a Love/Hate Thing

Bit of a break in the posts, my apologies again, it should be more consistent the next few months because sadly rugby is over. I'm not going to lie this was an absolutely brutal season on my body. The lack of consistency in games for me was what beat me up the most, my body would be use to getting thrown all over and then it would have a week or 2 off and have to be use to it all over again. In the end it was a triumphant one as we took home the New England Championship for Division 1. Hands down, so I've heard, best match I played was the championship game for the trophy. The idea is to peak at the end of the season right? I guess that worked out. We lost this past Sunday in our national playoffs so unless you're one of those crazies that play 7's in the summer then it's time to hit the links and get back in the gym.

Just the Prize Along fo the Ride

This sets up a pretty good segway into the topic of today, THE Deload. I feel like I could/should put dreaded in front of it because so many people hate it, but then again if you're like me you welcome it. To start, what is a deload some are probably wondering, I'll be happy enough to answer it to the best of my ability.

Essentially a delaod is a week built into a strength program to make sure that you don't take that turn from awesome to fail while you are in your training, some actually choose to completely take the week off because they are so destroyed from their training, it's ok now and again. This is the reason I say I could have put dreaded in front of the word deload because many hammerheads out there don't like it when you tell them to back off for a week. Then some of them go balls to the walls through it and beat themselves up any way, then they get hurt a week or so later, jokes on you fool! I actually saw this first hand up at Maine during my internship with the atheltic department. The coaches would try to dial back their training for a week and then I would catch some of these dopes in the campus recreation center trying to do their own thing. Then they wondered why they couldn't hit their target weights for the max testing, in a word....IDIOTS!

As I said a deload is so you don't collapse on the lifting platform and then your results go into the sewer, great! I'm going to try to put this in some pretty plain english, because I'm not a scientific genius by any regards, so I won't try to be, so simply your body can only handle so much at once. Countless training injuries occur from overworking your body and when you're body can no longer handle the stress it gives in and you hear a pop during a squat and oops there goes your MCL, hopefully not.

Yes the overload principle says you are suppose to overload your body, but that's just so much at a time so you can recover and get stronger. You wouldn't pack on 50 pounds to your 5 rep max, or 5 RM, and expect not to get injured on that following attempt (example current 5 RM=250, shooting for a 5 RM of 300, hopefully that made sense). Noooo you wouldn't, and if you did and you were one of my trainees or athletes I'd tell you to sit in the corner and think about what you just tried to do, ok kidding....half kidding. Should you be able to pull that off without hitting other maxes along the way, 1 I hate you and 2 hop in the phone booth and put on the super suit because there's some bad shit that could use your help. Seriously though that is simply asking for an injury and so would be not doing a deload.

How You'll Feel if You Hurt Yourself

Some of us bust our ass for those weeks prior to the deload week so when it gets there we are dropping to our knees and praying to the barbell gods that we can dial it back for the week. The best part is you are still getting stronger in that week, double whammy! Here's a secret for those that dread the deload week, you can still go heavy, but just back off the sets and reps. The big key for having a successful deload week is the volume that you do. In plain terms, volume is the actual number of reps you do.

Yeah Maine Hockey!

Just so we have a couple of examples to go over, if say you like doing 5 sets for your main lifts, then by all means do 5 sets, just dial down the reps from say 5 to 3 or 2. Now then if you would prefer to do the sets of 5 ok great then limit the number of sets to 3 or 2 even. As I said before you can make these sets easy as pie or you can go heavy, just be sure you can do it with good form. The accessory work is something you should probably dial back too, yeah it's not the main focus of your workouts, but it can still take you beyond those limits.

Hope I made sense today, any questions or concerns shoot them my way guys. Have a good one and get after it today!

Certs and Upgrading Your BS Meter

God I love this time of year, playoff hockey is in full swing with games on every night, everyone has just a tic more energy and I can go to rugby without bundling up. Trust me even on the days and nights you think it's going to be warm at practice it's not. They say for attending a rugby match take the temperature they are calling for/that it is outside, minus 10 to 15 degrees to that temperature and that determines your attire.

Recently I've been looking to add certifications to my name so I could better myself, but that's not to say that just because I have X Strength certification or Y training certification that I will be better with just the letters that come with it. I have to take the knowledge that is given to me in these courses and apply them. The certification I hold is probably one of the tougher ones to gain, mostly because you need a 4 year degree to get it. For the most part though they all equate to the same thing, maybe the only one (that I can think of at least) that's a little different is the CES (Corrective Exercise Specialist) from NASM.

Now then just because I have such certification it does not make me the cats ass automatically, it gives me a tiny bit of credibility and I belong to the NSCA through it now, but that's about all it gained me. I know people that have the same certification and to say the very least, they are absolute idiots. Some people get certifications and don't even use them or just do it to get letters next to their name. Let's put it this way, if I see letters next to your name in an e-mail or resume, like RKC (for Kettlebells) and your demonstration of a swing is shit, which you can bet your ass I would absolutely test if you were claiming to have such cert and interviewing for my company, then you now look worse than if you had never put the letters there in the first place. Sorry really long winded there.

My buddy Mike has a, what some would call, basic certification, ACE (American Counsel of Exercise), and the guy is pretty smart and is probably the best one we got here. He's smarter than me and what's-more the bastard knows it, JERK! The reason being is Mike makes himself better every day however he can, I try to do the same and any trainer worth a damn should as well.

There are ways to detect the trainers that are just out to grab your money and actually could hurt you, either way a couple things or words to amp your allergy to bullshit.

-TONING: There are few things that make me want to take a long walk off a short cliff quite like this word when I hear it. People please look up what the word actually means in a scientific article. Don't get too crazy but not something by Tracy Anderson or Jillian Michaels, THERE IS NO SUCH THING. Not in the terms you are probably thinking of at least. The more operative word or term you are looking for most likely is to firm up or drop body fat.

-BOSU (anything): I absolutely hate this damn thing, I'd rather suck on a lemon with a pulled tooth than use this thing. It got forced down my throat early in my career but then I wised the hell up. This thing has got minimal use for most of my clients. Especially when it comes to doing squats on this bastard, the risk far out weighs the reward, much like squats on a stability ball. Look below at the videos and you tell me which is going to get better results.....Done? Yeah I rest my case. Needless to say if your trainer tries to pull this thing out in the first few sessions to wow you, call BS on them and tell them no thanks.

-CURLS AND KICKBACKS: Yeah I want big arms too and I know you do too, but biceps curls and triceps kick backs are not going to give you the results you want. Maybe they will become something that you see in your programing for an off day or easy day, but you can bet the fuck not anywhere near the first few months you train with me. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I'd rather be honest with you than be Burt Wonderstone and try to take your money for nothing.

-FAT BURNING ZONE: IT DOES NOT EXIST! End of story folks. You know what burns the crap out of fat? Lean muscle tissue, not some fictitious zone that you hear about on the Chew or some other crap day time tv show.

I think that will do it now, hope todays post helps you when it comes time for you to start working with a trainer or other health professional. Go out there and get after it today folks!

No Way, That Doesn't Work?

Hello and yes I am alive, some may have thought otherwise even though it's only been maybe a couple weeks...but that's fine I'm here now. The weather is finally warm and I'm sure all of us here in the northeast dropped to our knees and sang hallelujah when they called for 60's all of this week and last weekend. I am just glad that I can now enjoy my 3-4 months of no snow for sure. We all know that there are 3 seasons in New England really, winter, celebrating winter's end and getting the hell ready for the shit to hit the fan again. I'll take option B as long as I possibly can.

Today I wanted get back on the blog track with a quick little blurb on routines and no not all of them work, there is no magic bullet and yes you need to pick up something heavier than your purse. I'm going to preface this with while I believe strength training is the best way to get yourself fit and lean like many of you want, doing something, above all else is still better than collecting bed sores on your couch.

It seems lately I've offended people by putting a big hole in their routines, I usually try to do it gently, but some people just don't quite get it through their thick skull. After that happens I usually put it on pretty thick and they are all of a sudden offended like I just kicked their dog or something. Sorry but the truth hurts sometimes guys.

Just so it's not a question, in my opinion, if you are gonna burn the hour plus at the gym that it takes you to do your workout (or at home...yikes) then why the hell don't you do something that's going to be more productive than picking up pink dumbbells, or worse P90X. Some of you know that I honestly would rather do some unmentionable things to a set of P90X discs than actually bother to put it in my DVD player. No kidding you feel more fit, you did 90 plus minutes of exercise every day for 90 days, the issues I have is A) the second you stop doing most of those exercises the benefits do too, B) you are probably going to just want to curl up in the fetal position and cry if you haven't yet because that is brutal stuff for your body, and C) what's the next progression after that 90 days??? Gotta keep going or your going to go back where you started in no time.

Heavy resistance training lasts forever, it's not an over night thing, they do call it WORKING out for a reason folks, it actually takes work. Ladies if you are wondering why the pounds are not coming off and you eat like crap and do garbage exercises like bosu squats, single leg band rows with a band that's thinner than the width of your pinky and dumbbell curls or kickbacks with pink weights, time to change.

Pick something up folks, as stupid as the guy in that commercial sounded, he got it right. Don't worry you're not going to end up looking as big of a hulk as he is. Trust me guys try to get that big and we still can't get it done that quickly. The big "lunk" was doing this shit for years and for a much longer time than you would need to get to your goals. 

Committing to a program for you ladies would most likely result in you looking closer to Hope Solo or Alex Morgan, again not over night, but in time and what's wrong with that? Being athletic is sexy, if a guy has a problem with a girl looking athletic and picking heavy shit up, either 1) he's a big ninny and is not confident in himself, or 2) he just has a different taste. There are 2 things you see in pretty much every athletic girl, a butt (which all guys love, don't kid yourself) and they're usually pretty firmed up like most of you want to be.

What's the moral of this story? Lift something heavy(er than your purse), squat to depth (and if you can't do some mobility until you can) chin-up to your sternum and eat right. Plain and simple guys, theirs no smoke screen here. Sorry just turned into a bit of a rant, but just get tired of listening to people that are astounded that they need to actually change. Change sucks but it is necessary in life and it's inevitable. Tired of seeing crappy trainers trying to play tricks on their clients to get their money also, but that's another rant for a rainy day.

Have a good day everyone, go out and get after it, Happy May Day all.

BOSTON UNITE!

"You watch the videos of the carnage and there are people running TOWARDS the destruction to help out. ... This is a giant planet and we're lucky to live on it but there are prices and penalties incurred for the daily miracle of existence. One of them is, every once in awhile, the wiring of a tiny sliver of the species gets snarled and they're pointed towards darkness.

But the vast majority stands against that darkness and, like white blood cells attacking a virus, they dilute and weaken and eventually wash away the evil doers and, more importantly, the damage they wreak. This is beyond religion or creed or nation. We would not be here if humanity were inherently evil. We'd have eaten ourselves alive long ago.

So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, "The good outnumber you, and we always will."

Above is the passage by Patton Oswalt, a very funny comedian that has shown that he's not just good at words to make you laugh. It was originally posted on Facebook  but since has gone more viral than that, I figured I probably wasn't going to beat it in this post so I'd give the best foot forward here.

To state it, I'm OK (clearly) and was not bodily hurt nor was Catherine. Nobody directly in my life has been hurt in the events of yesterday. To those that have been impacted directly or even indirectly I send you my thoughts and prayers. I will come out and say I myself am rattled, but at the same time I am also inspired by those first responders yesterday. We've heard some great heroing tales and I know there will be many more, deservedly so. Those stories can inspire us to be stronger people and make us better.

I was not born here and only moved here last January, but I am a Bostonian in my heart. Growing up in Maine Boston wasn't all too far away and I still felt it to be a part of me, now I call this my home. Those of you that have had your faith in humanity put into question, please just look all over the media and social networking sites to see the support that Boston is getting. I saw the picture above and it was the first thing that brought a good smile to my face, besides when Catherine walked through the doors here at the club, her work place is above Copley Mall, LITERALLY RIGHT THERE. One of her coworkers wasn't more than throwing distance from one of the blasts and the kid was quite shaken. Made me super happy to see her walking through the doors and I was put a little at ease even before that when I heard she had bumped into one of my teammates on her way here and he took care of her while she walked her, thanks Ben!

Despite all of this senseless, mindless, pointless lunacy, I know it will bring us to be stronger and keep those we hold close, tight to us, in mind and body, and be sure to tell the ones we care about we love them. Stand together everyone, this shit can not stray us, it's tough to get past, but this is a damn tough town and it can be done. I am, hell we are, forever Boston and damn proud of it!

Take care today folks, be safe and if you are with someone you care about right now, tell them so.

Just STOP, Trust Me

Who wants some more snow? Yeah I didn't think there would be too many hands raised for that one. Even if you are someone that enjoys the mountains and spring skiing, let's keep it in the mountains shall we? It's April so time for some warmer weather so I can stop packing gloves and a winter hat in my bag when I get on the train for work.

I'm a little disappointed in Monday night's NCAA Basketball Championships results as well. Anyone that's read this blog for longer than 2 days should know I am a big Michigan fan. As big of a fan I am, my heart sank pretty deep Monday, but life goes on, and apparently so does half of Michigan's starting lineup to the NBA. The great games that were from that weekend did get marred by evidence of some pretty shit coaching at Rutgers. Those of you that have been under a rock, Rutgers basketball got waist deep in shit because of a coach that couldn't contain his tantrums or his language. All leading him to ball hurling and f-bomb dropping his way to a termination, and more dominoes fell. Sometimes coaches just try a little too hard to get through and well, it back fires clearly.

The same can happen when coaching clients and athletes with exercises. Trainers and coaches, especially relatively new ones, can care a bit too much and over coach someone on an exercise. I speak from experience because I am absolutely guilty of doing this. I've learned to just take a breath and concentrate on the main points and move from there. I can give them every little detail or focus on the big picture and get the shittner done.

When coaching someone on one of the core exercises, ie squats, deadlifts, puhsups and so on, don't be a technique freak. People in general can only handle so much information at one time, once they hit that point they are now tuning you out. Big problem lies therein obviously once a client has tuned you out you've lost them and they will take some winning back over, whether it's in an hour or a month you're gonna have to put some work in to get them back to listening to you. Avoid sounding like Charlie Brown's teacher and focus on the main points that you need accomplished, if you still aren't feeling too good about how it's going, take a step back. I know some of you are thinking it's only for their safety, well if they switch off their listening, and they really start to mess up, they can't hear you and will hurt themselves anyway...hopefully that just made sense.

Some people are different and can inhale every bit of information like Fat Bastard inhales chicken, and not have panic attack or not get lost which is great, go nuts. I lean towards the simpler side, and if I know they can handle more then I'll give it to them. One thing I've found helpful is to have a solid base of progressions and regressions, with this tool in the kit I don't stand there and brain fart my way through the session. I said fart hehehe, OK not the point, being able to have an effective backup plan if things start to go wrong when learning new stuff can be the difference between losing a session and keeping things on track. Every so often, just STOP, inhale, relax and focus on the big picture and get to the small details later on.

That's all I got today folks, any questions, comments or suggestions let me know. Have a good weekend all, go out there and get after it!

Double F-K

Writing this post today in hopes that I can inspire someone out there that is or even formally was in the situation I once was in. I got myself out of that hole when it eventually became a determent to my rugby performance and starting and progressing my career.

Double F-K or FFK is former fat kid, yeah no one likes to hear it but I was exactly that, the fat kid. Of course my family and friends always did their best to affirm the "you're not fat you're just a big guy" thought. All moms think their kid is beautiful, whether or not it's true. Cartman probably put it the best, but even still I knew better. The weight went up badly and down to points where it wasn't too bad. Eventually after taking a year off from rugby because of issues where my body, mostly my knees, was just going to give in on itself, I hit my low point. I was a very large guy trying to get into the fitness industry, but no one is going to take that sort of advice from a fat guy with no strength and the mobility of an M1 Abrams.

Along came UMaine's Strength and Conditioning department, probably not too highly heralded as an athletics school, except for hockey and an OK football team every so often. What they gave me was more than a start, they really have given me my career. Otherwise I was not convincing anyone of anything fitness wise. Coach Dan Nichol and the staff got me to make a commitment to myself and to the lifestyle. My weight dropped 50 lbs in a few months and I kept it off, on top of my mobility getting better, yes it was worse than before I entered into the mobility special program. Overall I'm damn glad that I got my act together because this process of getting to be a name in this industry would have more difficult 10 fold had I not.

Moral of this quick blurb today is that you do not have to be the fat kid if you don't want to be. I've been there and it sucks, I also know though that it won't happen over night. Those of you out there that think you are just going to buy a 6 pack of sessions from your trainer, skip a couple sessions, never come in outside of that 1 session a week and then never have to stick to it again, ummm rethink? Unless you are doing lypo (not wise unless you have actually reached that point) you won't see 50, 30 or even 20 lbs come off that fast, in most cases at least.

That's all today folks, more coming this week, go out there today and get after it!

Mobility Mondays

As my roommate put it, it's a national holiday for those that compete in athletics or do a heavy lift on the weekends. This to some is better known as a recovery day, certainly something I am in desperate need of today after about 60 minutes of rugby. Being out of training and matches for 2 week certainly takes an effect on you in a bad way. Suffice to say that my everything has hurt the last couple days. Done whining onto why I do recovery days and why they are important.

-You're body won't hate you: This is pretty much the top reason I do recovery days either in season or when I'm a midst a tough off-season regiment. Going through a recovery day will help get rid of the soreness that you feel all over.

-An off-day and still doing something: Recovery days give your muscles a chance to recover, because remember now kids your muscles don't actually grow and get bigger when you workout, they do it when you're recovering. You are in fact making little tiny micro tears, so it need s chance to recover. At the same time I'm not a giant fan of complete rest with exception of Sunday, if I can help it at least. Some days you just need it, but be honest with yourself.

-You don't want to be overtrained: This over laps a bit with the first 2 I just listed but I really wanted to hit on it. Simply put you're body can not handle being pushed 7 days a week 365 days a year or you will crash and burn and then get hurt. Even if you are Superman you are going to need some non resistance training days and some complete rest days.

Below is what I usually do for a recovery day or similar:

I usually spend plentiful time foam rolling, you should too, EVERYONE should. On days like this I spend about a minute per part per side. Even if it's not super sore give it that full minute and you may well find a tender spot you wouldn't have before.

A1) Bench T-Spine Extension: 3x8
A2) Side Lying Open Book: 3x8/
A3) Quadraped T-Spine Extension/Rotation: 3x6/
B1) Dowel OHS against wall: 2x8
B2) Knee Break Ankle Mob: 2x8/
B3) Couch Stretch: 2x30s/

As you can see really not too complicated, some upper and some lower, hope this helped someone out there today. Have a good day all and get after it today...even if it's just mobility.