SAPT Blog Gems of 2011
With it being the Friday before the New Year, I thought this would make a good time to share some of the most popular blog posts I wrote during 2011. I thought it would make a great way for some of our newer readership to catch some things they may have missed, give our "veteran" followers some reminders of things they may have read a while ago, and hey, not gonna lie, it makes for an easy day of blog content on my end! 2011 saw substantial growth for SAPTstrength, and I honestly cannot thank you all enough for your support. This was also the first year I made a effort to write consistently, totaling roughly 150 blog posts (along with a few additional articles for websites).
It amazes me to see the readership of this site growing weekly, and it really does humble me to know that many of you out there enjoy the coaches+writers of this site (Sarah, Chris, and myself), and think that we, to put it scientifically: don't suck.
That being said, let's get to the list. Happy New Year everyone, and we look forward to 2012 with you all!
Warrior, The Resistance, Mobility, and Happy Birthday Baggins
You know, it's so funny, sometimes the posts I put together last-minute, on a whim, and in a "holycrapIcan'tthinkofanythingtowritesoletmediscussLordoftheRings" mindset, are the ones that receive the most traffic. This one topped the list, and it wasn't even really about training! Geeze people, comon'! Stop being so hard to please.
I don't know if it's because I talked about Lord of the Rings or discussed the epicness of Tom Hardy's traps, but apparently this one hit home with you all.
26 Things I've Learned: Training Edition
Okay, now for some that are actually training related. Here I recap - via 26 short bullet points - several "ah ha" moments I've had since entering the strength and conditioning industry. This one trimmed the fat and gave the "quick and dirty" for anything ranging from improving one's results in the gym to program design.
A Few Things I've Learned: "Life" Edition
It honestly surprised me how much traffic this one received, as I wasn't anticipating this post being that big of a hit. Here I put on my sage hat (at least as much as possible for me to do so) and give some quick bullet points on anything from behavior economics to yellow traffic lights.
You know what they say about discussions with in-laws at the dinner table: Avoid the topics of politics, religion, and......CrossFit. Just kidding (kinda), but it does seem that people tend to fall on vastly different ends of the spectrum when it comes to CrossFit. It's as if it's an either-or topic...black and white, if you will: Either it's so evil worse than Satan himself, or it's so good it has saved you from congestive heart failure.
In this post, I do my best to look at it from an objective point of view. Is it for elite athletes? General fitness enthusiasts? Are ALL affiliates awful facilities that (quote) "do nothing but injure people?" Click the link to see for yourself.
To Overhead Press or Not to Overhead Press
The overhead press is a hot topic of debate among doctors and strength coaches alike. See this Q & A for a quick run down on if the overhead press is the right exercise for you.
And now, here are two great ones from Sarah and Chris:
A Little Bit About Knee Injuries - Sarah Walls
Here Sarah does a great job breaking down the what, why, and how-to-prevent of knee injuries. Notice that one of her main points is to "get those glutes firing!" I can't tell you how many times I'm working with a female with a knee injury/pain and have her doing glute work when she looks at me, and (*cue sassy voice*):
"Um, I don't want my BUTT to get any bigger...."
Well, do you want your knee pain to increase in magnitude, too?? Get those glutes workin' girl! Your butt circumference won't increase in an unfavorable way, I promise.
Our Take on "Sport Specific" - Chris Romanow
Last, but certainly not least, is an excellent short blurb by Chris on sport specific training. I can't tell you how many times I'm asked by a well-intentioned parent on why I'm not having their child perform X exercise since it is "sport specific." Should you do band-resisted running if you're a sprinter? Is it really necessary to have a soccer player squat, since it doesn't look like a very "sport specific" drill? See his points on the link above.
**That's all for now. Feel free to chime in below for any topics you'd like to see covered in 2012!**
9 Days Until Your New Year's Resolutions...
Good morning, everyone! I hope you all have successfully avoided the long checkout lines, pepper-spraying loons, Wal-Mart stampedes and the cologne doused department stores (nausiating, right?). I've already written down what it is I'm thankful for to share at next years Thanksgiving dinner...internet shopping.
So, incase you weren't counting there are only about 9 days until for the eighth year in a row you'll committ to "getting back into it" and losing that spare tire. By the way, did you read this...
Don't let this year blend into your other failed attempts. Contact us today and request a free consultation so we may earn your trust, and demonstrate to you that we posses something that the "other guys" don't.
A protein shake and veggies for Santa and those deer,
Chris
Remember Why You're Here
The other day, one of our baseball guys was deadlifting and, upon finishing his second work set, turns to me and asks if he can put another ten pounds on the bar. Given that his form was less-than-impeccable, I gave him a simple "No." In fact, I wanted him to take it down ten to twenty pounds, as it was his lumbar spine that was buckling (I wouldn't have been as concerned if it was something like failing to keep his neck packed or forgetting to finish the movement with his glutes). He immediately became exceedingly frustrated and started rambling about how he felt like he wasn't as strong as he thought he should be, and that he ought to move UP, not down, for his next deadlift set, how he felt it had been too long since he improved in his squat and deadlift, yadda yadda yadda.
I asked him: "Well, how have you been playing on the baseball field?"
He replies: "I've hit more home runs, my 60-yard dash time improved, and my movement, positioning, and throwing from home plate has become way better as compared to last year." (note: he's a catcher)
I then reminded him that he had averaged only one training session every 7-10 days over the past six months at SAPT (due to in-season baseball and then traveling the country playing on various club/select teams), so he was not only fortunate to have maintained his strength levels in the weight room but also - and more importantly - his markers of sport performance had IMPROVED.
I concluded with: "Don't you think this is a pretty darn good indicator that we have accomplished what you came to SAPT for in the first place?"
Our goal with him was not to put up huge lifting numbers, but to help him become a better baseball player. Does squatting, deadlifting, performing single-leg work, and movement training help us get there? Absolutely, but there's a point where we can't force bad form just for the sake of hitting a weightlifting PR that day. Not to mention, we each get only one spine. Yes, just one. It's not worth destroying it over a 10-lb deadlift personal best.
Now, this athlete is pretty accomplished (committed to a Division 1 program and was one of only two players in the entire Northern Va region to be named to the Nationals roster for the Area Code Games), so I couldn't blame him for wanting to succeed in every endeavor he put himself into. But it reminded me of something I heard from Jim Wendler when he was talking about strength training the football team under him:
"We're chasing wins, not numbers."
So simple and profound. So often we get caught up in the minutia that we forget what our primary goal was in the first place. We can't see the forest for the trees, so to speak.
Don't forget to keep the primary goal, the goal.
- If your goal is sport performance, remember that it's not the end goal to have a gigantic bench press or squat. - If your goal is fat loss, why are you obsessed about your strength levels not being what they used to be? - If your goal is maximal strength development, should you really be performing three to four conditioning sessions a week so that, heaven forbid, your "work capacity" slightly diminishes?
Heck, I remember during the Fall of 2009 I was following a program specifically designed to improve my squat, bench, and deadlift numbers. Yet, I was also performing these insane conditioning sessions multiple days per week (see video below), and wondering why my numbers were stalling!
Note: Yes, if I could go back in time, I'd give myself a quick scissor kick to the face.
My mentality in 2009 reminded me of a football player we're currently working with. He's about 170lbs soaking wet, and has been musing that he can't seem to put on any weight. But when we give him some very practical suggestions on adding some size he responds with, "Well, I also want to keep myself looking good, too."
(Dude, don't worry, your six-pack isn't going to go anywhere if you pack on some size in order to open up a can on the football field).
It's tempting to chase multiple qualities at one time, but I've found that the body responds better to sticking to ONE goal at a time, as opposed to trying tackle everything at once. In other words, it would be better for you attack fat loss, HARD, for one to two months, and then go back to your standard strength-oriented program afterward than it would for you to try and accomplish both (fat loss and setting lifting PRs) at the exact same time.
So, to conclude, remember why you're in the gym in the first place. The big picture, so to speak; and allow that to dictate your choices. Don't miss the forest for the trees.
Avoid Fatigue, Improve Your Sleep, & Manage Body Weight
By being aware of two things – 1. That your body has a pH, and, 2. That you should be striving to achieve pH balance – will help your body to avoid and manage stress more effectively while helping you to stay full of energy, have restful nights sleep, and manage your weight.When an acidic environment is sustained in the body (via diet and external stressors), health is affected as deep as the cellular level. Once this becomes the “norm” for your body, daily fatigue will exist. And because an acidic environment is a stressor in and of itself, cortisol levels will then rise and that will impair sleep patterns… so, now you’re fatigued from a poor diet and can’t even get a good night’s sleep. And if all this weren’t enough reasons to make a change, here’s the long-term bad news: acidic diets/bodily environments play a huge roll in America’s obesity problem AND will basically open the door and usher in disease into your body!
What should you do to improve your body’s pH profile? Take a look at this chart and start eating lots of foods from the alkaline-forming columns while making an effort to minimize/reduce/balance-out the acid-forming columns.
Highly Alkaline-Forming
Alkaline-Forming
Neutral
Slightly Acid-Forming
Highly Acid-Forming
Asparagus
Squash
Flax seed
Adzuki beans
Commercial breakfast cereal
Beets
Sweet potatoes
Hemp seed
Black beans
Pasta
Bell peppers
Amaranth
White chia seed
Black-eyed peas
Refined wheat flour
Broccoli
Buckwheat
Coconut oil
Chickpeas
White rice
Carrots
Millet
Macadamia nuts
Lentils
Beef
Cauliflower
Quinoa
Walnuts
Pumpkin seeds
Pork
Celery
Wild rice
Buckwheat flour
Sunflower seeds
Poultry
Chicory
Sesame
Agave Nectar
Brown rice
Shellfish
Cucumbers
Apples
Dried Herbs
Oats
Butter
Dill
Avocados
Miso paste
Spelt
Cheese (all types)
Dulse
Bananas
Spices
Chickpea flour
Cream
Green beans
Berries
Hemp flour
Milk, pasteurized
Leeks
Cantaloupe
Cold-water fish
Artificial sweeteners
Mixed Greens
Cherries
Venison
White sugar
Onion
Dates, Figs
Wild game
Candy
Parsley
Grapes
Milk, raw, unprocessed
Coffee
Peas
Nectarines
Synthetic multivitamins
Margarine
Sea Vegetables
Oranges
Peanuts (roasted)
Zucchini
Peaches
Prescription drugs
Stevia
Pears
Soft drinks
Gingerroot
Persimmons
Soy protein isolate
Green tea
Pineapple
Whey protein isolate
Fresh herbs
Pomegranates
Rooibos
Flax Oil
Yerba mate
Hemp Oil
Pumpkin Seeds
Almonds
Coconut
Peaches
I’ll leave you with a bit of – as a professor of mine always said – “Cocktail Trivia” - Did you know that it is impossible for cancer to form in an alkaline environment? Think about it.
This is a call to arms against New Year’s resolutions!
Ready to freak-out…New Year’s resolutions are right around the corner!!! Did you just break-out in a cold sweat? Did you just un-tuck your shirt to more seamlessly blend the muffin top into your lower extremities? Are you slowly moving towards your snack drawer to dispose of the various half-eaten processed delicacies stroon about…ya, I’m on to you. Folks, this is a call to arms against preventing what you really want for yourself; to once again have a waistline; finally beat your friend “Svelte Jerry” in your weekend tennis match, and not worry about your knee exploding in the process; to not live in fear of your annual check-up.
My friends, climb aboard the SAPT rowboat, and like GW crossing the Delaware, we’re gonna sneak-up and ambush our opposition...failed New Year Resolutions, no more. Don’t wait for the bleating attempts by surrounding commercial gyms to wrangle you into some membership you’ll never use, because at that point it’ll be too late (I’m a poet and didn’t even know it).
HEALTHY HABITS MUST BEGIN NOW. Trust me, it’s the only way you’ll be able to curb, and defeat, your unhealthy infatuation with snickerdoodles, the little cookies with Hershey kisses on top, and the latest “housewives” series? You know why, because GOING COLD TURKEY ON JANURARY 1ST DOESN’T WORK!
What you need is plan, something to guide you through the season of endless fruit cakes. Perhaps something like an SAPT individualized training program? You need some motivation, and a sense of accountability. Perhaps the knowledgeable SAPT staff and encouraging-positive room dynamic created by our semi-private training model would do the trick? What you need is a reason to have only a small slice of cheesecake instead of the entire pan? Perhaps knowing that the SAPT Prowler (our weight sled) is in your metabolic finisher tomorrow and you’d rather not taint our pristine turf with bits of graham crack crust and heavy cream (too far (?)…probably)? Perhaps viewing the incredible physical transformation of SAPT’ee lifer, Ron Reed, in the video below will stoke your fire:
Ladies, and gents, the solution is simple, set yourself up for success by enrolling in one of our adult training structures. We understand that change is difficult, but as it’s been proven to us time and time again, with a little help and guidance, SAPT’ees can accomplish some pretty amazing things. Let us help you.
Cue “Rocky” soundtrack,
Chris
