Inspiration from Ross Enamait
I never get tired of watching videos of Ross training and getting after it. He merely trains in his garage or outdoors, and yet his strength, endurance, and power is unparalleled by countless individuals who have access to all the "fancy" equipment. Ross receives countless questions from internet warriors (both on his website and in the comments section of his videos), and he almost always responds to each and every inquiry. It cracks me up as he never tires of giving pretty much the same answer every time, when people ask him what motivates him, and how he has become as physically fit as he is.
"Real gains don't come in days or weeks. I've been training for 20+ years. Patience and consistency are perhaps the most important supplements to any routine.....There's nothing special about me. I've just been working hard for a long time." -Ross
People are always looking for the magic formula or silver bullet, be it the latest exercise program, nutrition "secret," or piece of specialty equipment.
Guess what? There isn't one. And I know few people that could prove this better than Ross.
Stick to the basics. Train smart. Work hard. Never back down. Be consistent. Repeat every day for thirty years.
Enjoy the training video above (I also LOVE all the quotes he interspersed throughout the video), and then apply these lessons.
Friday Musings: Butt Jump Roping, Pet Peeves, Star Wars A Cappella, Mentoring, etc.
1. The other day I had programmed some low volume jump roping for one of the girls, Paula, at SAPT. Upon watching her first session, it was quite evident that she was no foreigner to jump roping, so Coach Kelsey looks over at her in passing and and says, "You know, you're pretty good at those." To which Paula responds, "Well, I can also jump rope on my butt. So, using my feet isn't really that big a deal."
Obviously Kelsey and I had to see this stunt for ourselves, and asked her to perform a few reps. Needless to say, she knocked it out of the park, and it was the first time anyone in SAPT ever did anything like this:
2. Chris Romanow once told me, in a joking-but-not-really-joking tone, that the majority of people's goals (moving better, looking better, athletic performance, fat loss, remaining injury free, ruling the world, etc) could be solved by a healthy, regular dose of goblet squats and spidermans.
And the more I coach people and do these things myself, I'm right there with him. My personal contribution to the list would be loaded carries and kettlebell swings.
Do those four movements, multiple times a week and you're set.
3. These need to be posted at every youth sporting event. *Everywhere. I slow clap those that created and posted this sign:
4. A few of my pet peeves, in no particular order:
1. Morning People. More specifically, morning people who insist on talking to you within one hour of your morning awakening.
The morning should be used for three to four things: Enjoying a quality cup of coffee, spending some time on reflection (on what, that is up to you), reading, and perhaps pooping if that's what schedule you're on. Notice that talking is not on the list. Just because you are a morning person doesn't mean that the person that happens to be in the same bedroom/house as you likes to discuss the world's problems first thing in the A.M.
The only exceptions to this rule are A) If you're my wife (I love you, babe), and B) If I wake up past 10AM. People have every right to talk to me if I ever get out of bed that late.
2. When you're (manually) doing dishes and the cup/glass isn't large enough for your hand to reach all the way to the bottom, so you end up standing there, pinching your knuckles and skin into the glass, trying to stretch out your fingers with the sponge to barely reach the bottom.
3. When you're wearing socks and you step in something wet.
4a. People who don't turn right on red. More specifically, when you're driving down a two-lane road, and the person in front of you changes lanes into the right lane before the turn you need to make, but of course the light turns red so they end up blocking you for the next two minutes. Stay in the other lane and be considerate, dang it.
4b. Drivers who don't use their turn signal. I swear you could cut me off in traffic, but if you're using your signal, hey, you're good in my book.
4c. Those who won't get out of the left lane. I don't think I need to explain this any further, do I?
5. Extroverts. Why do you people always need to be around me and talking to me?!? Can't a man get some alone time around here? AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
6. People who squeeze the toothpaste tube in the wrong spot. You know who you are.
7. Overhead kettlebell swings. Wow....just, wow.....please stop.
8. Cracking knuckles. Makes me want to crawl into the fetal position each time I hear it. Never done it, don't plan on it any time soon.
9. When you're at a restaurant, and you finally achieved the perfect water temperate by getting the ice:water ratio just right, and the waiter comes along out of the blue, merrily filling up your glass without asking, completely screwing up everything you've worked so hard for.
10. Country music. 'Nuff said there.
5. I have no idea who this guy is, but can you say awesome? Here he does a a Star Wars themed, four-part a cappella musical tribute set to a few cinematic themes by composer John Williams.
Corey - If you live in the area, I'll give you a free assessment and coaching session for putting this together. Our address is 3831 Pickett Road, Fairfax, Va.
6. Read this article by Jim Wendler:
Here's a quick preview:
Towards the end of my senior year, I finally asked Darren why he never spoke to me during my first year in the weight room. And it was this lesson that I have taken with me in all areas of my life. His answer:
"Because you hadn't earned it. I've written hundreds of programs and helped so many kids and teachers with their training – and almost all of them quit after the first week. I had to see if you were going to stick with it. I had to see if you were serious. I'm not going to waste my time or my energy."
We all have someone like Darren in our lives. Unfortunately, few people are receptive to it or exhibit the will, heart, and resolve to show them that they deserve their attention.
I know because I see it around me daily. I see kids and lifters that ask questions and think they want to be great and strong, but always fall short of the small amount of commitment it takes to prove themselves. Everyone wants a handout rather than earn it. - Jim Wendler
Such awesome words of truth spoken by Jim Wendler here. I'm not sure if it's just me but it seems that the most recent generation seems to feel, for some odd reason, that they're the center of the universe, and that nothing can ever be their fault. If they didn't accomplish something or if they messed something up, there's an obvious excuse, right?
On top of that, I seem to experience more and more conversations with individuals who do wayyy too much talking, and too little listening.Well spoken, Jim.
7. This article is very cool, and definitely worth scrolling through all the pictures.
21 Pictures That Will Restore Your Faith In Humanity
I first learned about "The Bystander Effect" in a sociology course in college, and Tony Gentilcore actually wrote a great, quick piece about it HERE. Learning about such incidents always make my heart drop a bit, and question the general tendency that humans learn toward at times.
Scrolling through the pictures in the linked article definitely helped temper the "cynicism" of humanity that occasionally shrouds my thought processes. Ah, there is hope in the world!
That's all for now, have a great weekend everyone.
*Except for the sporting events of my future kids. **They're obviously the exception and need to open up a big can of you-know-what on their opponents.
**That's a joke***.
***Maybe.
Patterning for Improved Skill Acquisition
A few thoughts I've jotted down in my journal over the past few months that I thought I'd share here...
All of the athletes (yes, all) that walk in our doors at SAPT become, nearly instantaneously, better at their sport simply from performing a correct goblet squat for the first time in their lives. Yes, the loaded carries and hip hinges certainly aid in this phenomenon as well, but for now I'm just talking about squatting.
We personally recommend the majority of the young athletes (ages 13-18) entering SAPT for the first time to begin with just a 2x/week training regimen, and then, if needed and appropriate, they can increase the frequency. But you'd be surprised at how much you can accomplish in just two sessions a week with someone who's brand new to virtuous training methodology.
In the past, Day 1 has been a "squat emphasis" day, where the first main movement they do is a goblet squat. Day 2 will be a "deadlift emphasis" day, where we help them pattern the hip hinge and learn to deadlift with a kettlebell, keeping a neutral spine and using their posterior chain. After they groove the squat or deadlift (depending on the day), they'll then move on to their unilateral work, pushes, pulls, loaded carries, direct glute work, and all that good stuff.
Now there is nothing wrong with this layout, as, after all, it has worked for a myriad individuals and allowed them to become stronger, less prone to injury, and become more of a beast on the playing field.
The thing that had been troubling me though was I felt that, simply put, they weren't squatting enough under our watch. Given the fact that despite the thousands of team conditioning sessions, commercial gym group workouts, and exercise DVD routines they'd undergone, their squats resembled something along the lines of a baby giraffe learning to walk for the first time. I guess their previous instructors were either too ignorant or lazy to teach them good squatting mechanics, but who am I to judge?
And it can take a long time to "undo" the habits developed from thousands of bad squats performed in a life time. And while 1x/week of squatting twenty-five TOTAL reps can certainly do the trick, I've found it even more time-efficient to squat everyone during every single session.
So, if they're training 2x/week, they squat every session, toward the beginning of their workout while they're fresh. If they're training 3x/week, then yep, they squat 3x/week. Patterning it every day until it becomes second nature.
This means that the unilateral work and direct glute training take the back burner, at least until they can execute perfect squats every single time. Good squats will lay the foundation down for everything else in subsequent training cycles.
While squatting 1x/week will work for a 400lbs squatter, everything changes when someone can't hold a 25lb kettlebell and sit back without everything turning very ugly very fast.
I guess all I am saying is that, in order to "reprogram" someone's nervous system and motor control, they need to practice this motor control training frequently and correctly. Nothing too new or revolutionary, but something to consider when you have limited time to work with a young, developing organism.
Friday Musings: TRX Pullup Progressions, Ninja Blenders, a Letter To Men on How To Treat Their Wives, etc.
1. The TRX Pullup Progression is quickly becoming my favorite way of helping women: A) Achieve their first-ever bodyweight pullup B) Groove good pullup technique, as this is difficult to do while hanging from a pullup bar C) Be more awesome in general, and wreak pWnage upon the arrogant-yet-ironically-weak male gym population D) Develop the musculature of the back and arms in the context of a pullup, and receive a decent core stability challenge to boot.
Here is my beautiful wife, Kelsey, demonstrating the movement:
A few things to think about:
i) Careful of slipping into crazy anterior pelvic tilt (butt "sticking out") toward the top. This is actually the most common mistake I see with these, as this exercise creates a surprisingly difficult challenge for the anterior core (depending on how vertical your torso angle is), and those with low back issues will quickly experience pain if they don't brace properly. Tilt your tailbone down toward your ankles, keep the glutes squeezed tight, and brace your abs.
ii) Drive your feet "into the ground" to help propel yourself upward. Do this more than you think you need to in the beginning to help you groove good technique, and as you become stronger, lessen the amount of assistance you draw from your legs.
iii) Be sure to think "shoulders away from your ears" as you pull up to the top, so that you're not shrugging, enforcing aberrant movement patterns, and defeating the entire purpose of the exercise.
iv) Hold at the top for a bit, squeezing your shoulders "back and down" as much as possible.
v) If you tend to really struggle in the pullup department, begin slowly, starting with just 1-3 sets of 4-5 reps. As you get stronger and become more acclimated to the movement, feel free to do as many as 8 sets of 5-8 reps, spread throughout your workout. I've had numerous women do this, with great results to show for it.
Giving credit where credit is due: I did not invent this exercise. I first saw them on Tony Gentilcore's website, in which he gave credit to strength coach Elsbeth Vaino for being the first to share them HERE.
2. Just putting it out there: I love smoothies. I consume anywhere from three to four every day. One of our 11-year-old "Ankle Biter" athletes actually just told me the other day that he has a sneaking suspicion my blood is made out of smoothie from drinking so many of them.
Well, anyway, the other week, my beloved Magic Bullet met his maker. I don't know whether it was poor manufacturing, or the fact that I tested the limits of its lifespan, but nonetheless I had to regrettably say my goodbyes.
With no blender at hand, it didn't take me long before I spiraled into a perpetual state of sweaty palms, memory loss, and hyperventilation into paper bags every five minutes as I was beside myself with what to do for "in between meals."
Well, needless to say, I couldn't let this nonsense continue for any extended period of time, so I ordered (expedited shipping, of course) the Ninja Master Prep Professional Blender.
Let me tell you, this thing ROCKS. For a few reasons:
1) It's called the Ninja. Need there be any other reason for you to purchase it?
2) It doubles as a blender AND food processor/vegetable chopper. Time saved in the kitchen = 30 minutes a day.
3) The motor is pretty freaking strong. I think they used the same one that powers F-22 fighter jets.
4) While I can't prove it yet, I'm pretty sure that Chuck Norris, Gandalf, and Luke Skywalker all use/used this blender for their travels across the world/Middle Earth/galaxies. Now, I know you're sitting there shaking your head, thinking something along the lines of "Now Stevo, all of those figureheads don't need a blender to chop their vegetables and blend their smoothies. Chuck Norris can use his ninja-like hands and the other two guys....well, it's obvious why they wouldn't need a blender."
Don't be silly. Of course they used this blender. Even if they could dice their veggies and fruits using magical powers, why avoid using the Ninja blender if you have the opportunity?
Besides, when you're finished unpacking the blender, your fat cat can make her home inside:
(She totally needs to go Paleo. That, or Intermittent Fasting.)
I think I got a little off track, but the point is, I highly recommend this blender to everyone.
3. Four quotes I recently read from John Romaniello that I wanted to share here:
1. "Read as many books as you can. Reading often makes you more interesting, more intelligent, and though I can’t prove this, I suspect a more useful human being. It also makes you a better writer."
2. "Tipgenerously outrageously. Not because you have a lot of money, or because of the 1% chance a waitress might give you her number; but because at some point this week, some jerk stiffed her, and it ruined her week. You just fixed it. Karma will be kind."
3. "When explain your dietary habits, keep it simple. If you find yourself at a party and you’re 15 minutes into describing the difference between Paleo and Slow Carb, take a breath and stop talking. No one really cares about your endeavor to reset your insulin sensitivity."
4. "Floss your teeth for better fitness. I feel that you need to have the basics down before you start in adding things intended for ‘advanced’ reasons. I have friends who don’t floss but go out of their way to use whitening strips or see a dentist for teeth bleaching. This is stupid, to me—if you just took care of your teeth on a daily basis, you’d have to worry a bit less.In the fitness context, people ignore basic nutritional needs, but try crash diets or supplements; they can’t take the time to foam roll, but want the hottest training strategy.If you can’t make a habit of flossing your teeth, you shouldn’t bother with supplements—likely, you don’t have the basics figured out."
Good stuff, John.
4. Wow, I can't express how many men members of the male species need to read this. It's a letter that Ronald Reagan gave his 26-year-old son, Michael, right before his wedding day. He essentially lays it down for him, puts his Yoda hat on, and tells his son how a man should treat a woman.
I definitely found myself slow clapping for Reagan as I read this:
(^^^ Read Me ^^^)
5. That's it. Hope everyone has an awesome weekend
It's the little things....
It's not uncommon for us coaches at SAPT to receive "thank you's" from our clientele, whether they be through emails, Facebook, or during conversations in our facility. Usually the gratitude will center around something tangible such as an improved vertical jump, faster baseball pitch, lower poptime, reduced bodyfat percentage; or, "intangibles" such as reduced knee pain while running, leaping and bounding, and general sense of improved movement proficiency. We cherish each and every one of these moments, as there are few things more rewarding than seeing our hard-working athletes and clients feel the results of their efforts and tasting the fresh fruits of their labor. However, every now and then we receive something that holds a special place in our hearts, and this past week was no exception. I got so fired up and excited that I had to share it here.
Below is a Facebook message we received from one of our old high school athletes (I changed his name for confidentiality purposes):
"Hey, this is Adam, ive been in your summer program for 2 summers and i just wanted to thank you, you guys know that as recent as last year i couldn't do a single pullup, but by this year i was able to the one ton pull up challenge (weight * number of pullups= 2000lbs) so i did 11, right now i can do as many as 15!! then i did the 3000lbs dip challenge, i did 19 dips for that, and right now i can do almost 30, thanks without your help i would not have been able to any of that! and I'm one of the few people in my school to successfully do both"
Two years ago, I vividly remember when Adam was in here with a large group of athletes. He was very hard-working, but wasn't the strongest of the group, and was struggling like crazy to do pullups even with a fair amount of band assistance.
A couple months into the program, Coach Chris and I spotted him standing up on the 
pullup platform, looking up at the bar. There were no bands attached the apparatus, so it became quickly obvious that he was going to attempt a bodyweight chinup (his program definitely said band-assisted chinups, 3x5), and his body language and facial expression was similar to that of a child about to jump into the deep end of a swimming pool for the first time.
However - after a few moments of standing on the platform, looking at the bar - he turned around and jumped off, confidence wavering and and a slightly defeated look on his face.
Chris acted on this very quickly, and directed his voice over to Adam:
Chris: Adam, were you about to try a bodyweight chinup?
Adam (*looking a bit scared, like he just did something wrong and was about to be pounded by Chris, the 230lb powerlifter*): Umm, maybe....yeah, well I was thinking about it....
Chris: Well then GET BACK UP THERE and go for it dude!!
Adam gets back up on the platform, hesitates for a second, and then goes for it. He gets about one third to halfway up, gets stuck, fights for a while, and then drops down.
*Cue end of short story.......
Anyway, I say this because it was HUGE for me to read the above Facebook message to us, knowing full well where he was at in his training just a couple years ago. To know that he went from not being able to do a single chinup, to being one of the only kids in school to successfully complete that pullup/dip challenge....brought happy tears to my eyes.
People often ask me if my dream job is to work with a professional sports team, and my answer is simple: Absolutely not.
Don't get me wrong, there's something to be said for having the opportunity to train some of the "best of the best"; but, in my personal opinion, working with professional athletes doesn't give near the reward of working with the not-so-genetically gifted individuals.
Professional athletes will typically learn a movement within one set of an exercise, while your typical high schooler may take MONTHS before he or she is even ready to squat or deadlift with a barbell, let alone safely perform plyometrics or movement training drills.....and this can take incredible patience and perseverance from BOTH the athlete and the strength coach. Yet, there's something about this process that continues to allow me to wake up on Monday morning, excited to go into work for the day.
Receiving a message like Adam's, in which he thanks me and the SAPT staff for playing a pivotal role in his accomplishing something great, gives me fulfillment that few other things can provide, and I'm extremely blessed to work with people like him....and hear stories similar to his.....on a weekly basis. I dunno...there's just something that makes me tick from being able to help the people who AREN'T used to "getting it right" the first time, to get from Point A to Point B.
One of the reasons I love SAPT so much is that I do have the opportunity to work with professional athletes, but the majority of my time is spent teaching your average high school kid how to do something great with his or her life, both inside and outside of the weight room. And it's not something I plan to give up anytime soon.
Only Four Exercises? A Confession to Make
I've got a confession to make. But first, I need to briefly touch on something..... You know the 80-20 rule, aka, the Pareto Principle? You know, the phrase which states that, for many events, 80% of the effects stem from 20% of the causes? I've referenced the 80-20 rule in my writings before to hit on the point that, within the sphere of physical training, 80% of your results are going to stem from 20% of the exercises/modalities you choose.
For example, let's say we have Person A and Person B. Both A and B possess identical genes, have the same training history, etc. etc. etc., and we have each of them perform the following workouts:
Person A: Squat --> leave gym Person B: Squat --> romanian deadlift --> lunge --> reverse hyper --> lying leg curl --> leave gym
I'm willing to bet that if you were to compare the results of Person A and Person B, the results of A would be pretty darn close to B. In fact, in some cases, the results of A may be even better than B.
Which leads me to my confession: Many times I will give my athletes and clients new exercises solely for the purpose of keeping things "fun" for them, as opposed to doing it because it's intrinsically necessary for their success in the gym.
"Woah, woah, WOAH there Mr. Reed, shouldn't you always do what is best for your hard-working athletes and clients?" you are probably asking me right now.
Well, in a way, I am giving them what is best for them.
You see, there are a couple little facets of human nature pertinent to this discussion. I like to call one of them "boredom." The other characteristic is something I like to refer to as "always looking for the silver bullet" (not as concise as the first one, but I hope you catch my drift). It's the very reason why the popular fitness magazines continue to sell. Because the editors are smart, understand how to prey on human nature, and know that if they place just the right promises on the cover, then their magazines will fly off the shelves like water during Y2K.
And the strength coach walks a fine line between managing these elements of human nature (i.e. continuing to give the athletes enough variety to keep them interested in their training), and giving the athletes what they need for success (which may be just doing 1-3 exercises per day, albeit manipulating the volume/intensity throughout the training cycle).
If the athletes aren't having fun, they aren't going to want to come back to train. If they don't want to come back to train, then when they do show up to train (because their coach/parent tells them to, or because they do it for the same reason they know homework is good to do), they are going to do so begrudgingly and give a half-hearted effort while in the gym. And then everyone loses out anyway.
It's a similar concept to general fitness enthusiasts. If they don't believe their program is going to give them more sculpted arms, or reduce their body fat, then these things probably won't happen! If they DON'T BELIEVE that they won't reach their goals without constantly doing new exercises, and making things as hard as possible (if it's not hard, it can't work, right???), then they'll be lucky to see their desired results anyway.
This actually reminds me of when we prepared Jason for his selection and assessment with the US Special Forces. After his first wave of training, he approached me and, to his credit, was very honest and blunt and expressed to me his concern about a few things in his programming.
In essence, he doubted that what we were giving him was actually going to get him from Point A to Point B.
I looked at him, and responded with, "If you don't believe in the program we are giving you, then it's not going to work regardless. Trust that what we are providing is going to help you succeed, and you will succeed."
Needless to say, he nodded his head and from that moment on grabbed the bull by the horns throughout the remainder of his training. You can discover the end results of his training by reading his testimonial in the link above.
Anyway, my point in all this is that oftentimes we get so lost by majoring in the minors, that we forget the "bread and butter" of what makes our training a success. For me personally, I've found that by focusing on four exercises at a time give me the best results. And every time I try to add more, it causes me to stray off the straight and narrow path toward my goals. For the past 10 weeks, these four exercises have comprised 95% of my training time:
1) Deadlifts 2) Inverted Rows 3) Sled Pushes 4) 1/2 Kneeling Landmine Presses (perhaps the only "press" variation I've found that has yet to irritate my cranky shoulder)
And you know what? I've continued to get stronger, and I've never felt better.
So I guess I'd revise the Pareto Principle to say that, in the realm of physical training, it's more of a 90-10 rule or, heck, even a 95-5 rule. There are of course exceptions to this, and no I wouldn't have a beginner perform only four exercises per training cycle.
I was kind of all over the place in this one, so let me try to best sum up my points:
1) Less is more. A very small percent of the exercises you choose (assuming you choose them wisely) are going to be responsible for the large majority of your results. 2) Even though #1 is true, sometimes the strength coach has to throw the athletes and clients a bone (or three) to keep them interested/having fun. Training should be fun, and even if my programming is partially motivated by helping those under my watch enjoy training for the sake of training, then I see nothing wrong with this. After all, not everyone gets off to doing inverted rows ten weeks in a row. 3) I'm not saying that one never needs to do direct ab or arm work. Don't be silly. 4) If you don't believe in the program you're doing, then it's not going to work, no matter how "perfect" it is.
