My Vacation Post

I’ll warn you right now that this post doesn’t have an underlying message – sorry about that, but I’m on vacation and just feel proud I remembered to get my post up on time today! In fact, at this moment I’m sitting at the dining room table in our apartment overlooking the golf course at our resort in Phoenix and looking forward to a run and lift after I finish this post. Here are my scattered thoughts related to both training and vacation: I’ll admit Phoenix is hot this time of year, but humidity is the great equalizer. I swear 110 degrees in Phoenix at 30% humidity feels better than 96 degrees and 78% humidity in DC. Check out the photo, I had to document the car reading (the highest we’ve seen it is 124).

I caught the Wimbledon men’s final on Sunday and was struck by the single leg strength and hip mobility Djokovic displayed as he cruised to his first Wimbledon title. It’s really staggering if you think about it. The picture is, clearly, not from Wimbledon, but you get my point.

Yesterday, Ryan and I spent the day driving on the Apache Trail, which wraps around the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix. The most noteworthy part was the 22-miles of off-roading (the Arizona Dept. of Transportation called it “unpaved”) we did in our rented Taurus. It was a lot of fun but that portion alone took us like 90-minutes to get through at 10-20mph. However, the big payoff are two lakes that can only be accessed via this unpaved portion and they are amazing! Well worth any damage the car we don’t own may have sustained.

ApacheLake

As you can imagine the resort’s “fitness center” leaves a lot to be desired. BUT, it does have enough that I’ve already accomplished a couple of great circuits. Afterall, vacations lend themselves to a trifecta of eating, drinking, and sitting – I’m willing to do two of the three and this vacation I’ve chosen eating and drinking. For the rest of the week, I have no intention of letting my training drop off and will simply modify what I have already written for myself. Today will be:

A1 Broad Jump

4x3

A2 Spiderman Stretch

x3

DB Front Squat

5x5

B1 Lateral Stepdown

4x5

B2 3-Point Row

4x5

C1 45 deg Back Ext

3x8

C2 Something for Grip

3x:20

W, T, Y, and I your way to a stronger serve, pitch, or bench press…

Initially, the vast majority of our clientele exhibit less than optimal upper-back strength/stability, and a drastic imbalance between the upper traps and mid/low traps (the upper traps proving to be dominant in this relationship). Considering a large portion of our clientele are overhead athletes, the scenario above provides a perfect recipe for shoulder dysfunction. Desk jockeys and bench press “specialists,” keep reading because you can benefit from the information below as well. One of the many drills we incorporate into our clienteles programming to increase strength and reduce asymmetries in the stabilizing muscles surrounding the shoulder blades is W, T, Y, and I. The clip below was taken from our online database of exercises that we use to coach our distance coaching clientele. Without further ado, I give you the W, T, Y, and I drill:

The drill’s benefit lies in the execution of the movement (what else is new, right?). A couple important coaching cues to note are as follows:

-Perform these drills on a flat-solid surface where one is parallel to the ground. This will ensure the delts and upper traps don’t take over the movement. My preferred surfaces are a bench, or treatment table. You’ll see these drills sometimes performed on stability balls or other unstable surfaces. I’d advise not doing them on these surfaces as it’ll detract from force output and subsequently the conditioning of the upper-back musculature.

-Avoid hyperextension of the lumbar spine (lower back) as this will again limit the effectiveness of the drill.

-Be sure to squeeze the middle of the back (lower and mid trap activation!) when performing these movements. If you feel like you’re shrugging to raise the arms, that’s a sign your upper traps are taking over and you’re now just compounding problems…

-If you’re having a difficult time performing them bilaterally (both arms simultaneously), try performing them one arm at a time.

-Try to relax the neck as much as possible; stare at the ground NOT the wall in front of you.

If you’re an overhead athlete it’s imperative that you address your upper-back through drills such as these. Honestly, your pitching career probably depends on it.

For our bench press “specialists” in the crowd, if you think addressing the retractors and depressors is a waste of your time, enjoy benching 185 the rest of your life…if you’re lucky enough to bench the rest of your life.

And for the desk jockey whose neck and shoulders kill him after a day at work, or weekend golf/tennis match, come see SAPT and we’ll get you right.

To improve your fastball, serve, bench press or just quality of life, give me a clicksee right HERE…

A pocket full of M80’s and Roman Candles…who’s coming with me…

Chris AKA Romo AKA "Put your dishes in the dishwasher, please"

Goal Setting at the 50% Mark

We are now halfway through 2011. Well, actually, tomorrow marks the halfway mark, but I'm preparing you in advance. You can thank me later, no worries. 50% of 2011 is gone, never to return.

How are those New Years Resolutions looking?

If your goal was to lose 30lbs of fat, have you lost 15lbs by now?

If your goal was to add 40lbs to your max squat (or bench, deadlift, weighted chinup, etc.), are you at least 20lbs stronger?

If your goal was to get in 156 workouts this year (that’s just averaging 3 workouts a week), are you on track to complete your 78th workout today?

Or even if your goal was to get in just 104 workouts this year (an average of two workouts a week), are you going in to take charge of your 52nd workout today?

It’s amazing how quickly time passes by. Don’t waste a single moment.

If your goal is fat loss, get back on track NOW. If your goal is muscle gain, start TODAY.

If your goal is to run a Marathon (*injury free*) next year, please don’t wait and try one of those “16-week” training programs (they’re a hulk of B.S., by the way). No one ever became world-class at something in 16-weeks. Begin your movement training, mobility work, dynamic flexibility, core work, energy systems development, strength training, and running training now.

Not sure where to begin, or having trouble holding yourself accountable? Easy. Hire a coach to guide you through the process. After a long day's work, the last thing you probably want is to worry about is knowing whether the workout you’re doing is actually optimal for your desired outcome.

Hiring someone to design the program for you, and walk you through the process, takes all the guesswork out for you. All you need to do is show up. Not to mention, you get to train alongside a group of other like-minded individuals, which will only fast track your progress and make training more enjoyable.

Not sure of the optimal number of sets and reps for a fat loss workout? Uncertain if you’re following the 80-20 rule in order to ensure you’re putting on muscle mass as fast as you could be? Confused as to how to efficiently prepare for your next running event? (Hint: the answer isn’t logging endless miles on the road each week).

Start now. Where are you going to be another six months from now?

It's a simple question: Look at your behaviors. Look at your goals. Do your behaviors match your goals?

But the time is going to pass anyway.

-Steve

4-Weeks to a Stronger Total Body

That’s a short amount of time to make some big gains, I’ll admit. But for much of the population adding a grip strength specialization routine to their regular training program can result in significant gains on all of their lifts. Why is improving grip strength so effective? Basically, grip strength tends to be the “weak link” for recreational lifters and athletes alike and, thus, a lot of extra neural activity is wasted in the direction of controlling the grip musculature that can be more effectively directed towards the large muscle groups (think about the deadlift… what fatigues first? Your legs, your back, or your grip? The last thing you should notice fatiguing is your grip). So, spend a handful of weeks crushing your grip and you should quickly notice the following benefits:

1. For most men, another 3-5 reps squeezed out on pulling movements like body weight pull-ups and for most women, another 1-2 reps. 2. The perception of easier deadlifting and – gasp – even squatting! You heard it hear first, folks, a stronger grip will give you a bigger squat, too! 3. A slight bench press PR… it might show up in the form of a repetition PR or a max PR, I’m not sure. But you’ll get a PR, I promise. Want to test this one out? Set up a bench press with just the bar, for the first 5 repetitions lightly grasp the bar and notice how it feels. Then reset and this time squeeze the bar as if your life depends on it. What do you notice now? Something you already though was easy is now way easier and those nagging issues with shoulders and wrists often clear up like magic.

You’ll even get injury prevention benefits for the elbow and shoulder directly from increased and focused grip training. Plus, if you want to include the numerous injury prevention benefits that will come from increasing load and proficiency on the lifts I noted above, you only have to ask yourself… “How fast can I get some heavy fat bar holds going on?!?” At SAPT, grip training is a regular portion of our programs and can be found in forms both direct and indirect. Here are a few examples of some of our favorite direct grip exercises:

• Farmer’s Walk variations with a towel hold. • Kettlebell or plate pinch (squeeze as if you’re trying to ring water from the iron). • Sledge Leveraging. • Sledge Finger Walks (not for the faint of heart). • Barbell Holds – one of my personal favorites for the rowing team at Mason – just load up a barbell and hold with perfect posture for time.

Consider spicing up your routine and your fast tracking your strength gains by adding in some direct grip work – and for goodness sake, if you know what “straps” are, throw them away!

Suspended Pushup (with a twist) for an Added Challenge + Improved Shoulder Stability

The primary function of the rotator cuff (which many people often miss) is to center the humeral head in the glenoid fossa. In order to accomplish this, the dynamic stabilizers of the shoulder need to be on their "A" game. This is of special consideration when dealing with athletes, as the nature of competition is frequently an "open loop" scenario. See the video below for a pushup variation that incorporates some dynamic stabilization of the shoulder girdle. We named it "Suspended Pushup ISO Hold (with perturbations) into Repetitions."

A couple notes:

1. Having a studly powerlifter give you perturbations during the ISO hold is optional, as the suspension straps inherently provide a stability challenge on their own.
2. This exercise hits multiple birds with one stone. It will give you a tremendous challenge for your core (you're essentially holding a plank position for the entire time), give you a nice stretch for the pecs in the bottom, improve the ability of your rotator cuff to stabilize the humeral head (where your upper arm bone attaches to the shoulder joint), and develop your upper body strength. Sounds like a winner to me.
3. As shown in the video, hold at the bottom for 10-20 seconds, and then move into the desired number of repetitions. Stay TIGHT in the bottom. Everything should be braced. Everything....
4. Using the suspension straps is actually a fairly advanced progression of a pushup (especially if your feet are elevated, as shown). Be sure you master the ground-based pushups first.
5. (Piggybacking off of #2) If you don't have access to suspension straps (or a partner), no problem! Holding a tight isometric at the bottom of a pushup (on the floor), and then moving into repetitions, can make a great way of taking on a new challenge if standard pushups have become a bit easy for you.
6. You increase testosterone levels by 50% if you wear a "Do Work" shirt while performing these.

Just don't tear your shoulder in two....Stevo

SAPT's Top 5 Exercises for New Moms

Happy Birthday Arabella!

I’ve always heard a lot about how hard it is for a new mom to find time to exercise. But, I’m now living it and I’m here to tell you it’s a bunch of hooey. Regardless of time, here are my top 5 best exercises that ALL new moms are already doing in some form or fashion. So why not make them an actual workout?… you’re doing them anyway!

My Top 5 Exercises for New Moms

1. Baby Goblet Squat (Ass to Grass) - I can’t even begin to guess the number of deep squats I’ve done over the last 12 months. This is a legit exercise that allows mom to work on ankle, hip, and thoracic mobility along with quad, hamstring, glute, CORE musculature, and upper back strengthening. Start with just a couple sets of 3-5 reps and work up 10, 15, or even more reps.
2. Stairs – This one’s easy and obvious. That sweet little baby wants to be held all the time and mom wants to finish losing those last few LB’s, so why not take advantage of the situation and do a little low impact cardio on your household’s stair case?
3. Baby Clean and Press – This one is fun for mom and baby and, as is common for all these exercises, occurs naturally. Hold the baby about mid-torso level and hoist her up overhead. This will work on a touch of posterior chain power development and get mom some much needed upper body strength and stability! Stick with just a handful of reps (3-6) for multiple sets.
4. Baby Gate Hip Mobility – If the Ass to Grass Baby Goblet Squats aren’t getting it done for the hip mobility, then inevitably mom will have the benefit of crossing over a baby gate about 3 zillion times a day. I started enjoying improved hip mobility around 7 months when Arabella began crawling and suffered two cracked toenails to prove my hip mobility could, in fact, use improvement. You can’t do to many of these, just try to keep good form (chest up, lift you knee, no hip drop) and enjoy the benefits!
5. Baby Carrier Household Chores – Talk about great for improving general physical preparedness (GPP)! Last summer Arabella and I spent many hours together with her strapped on my chest in the baby carrier while I did everything from dishes to laundry to vacuuming. You quickly learn if your core is strong or not. This one crushes the lower and upper back, in particular, but is excellent for rebuilding stabilization strength in mom’s midsection.

Here are a few more advanced exercises you can give a try if you’re feeling “froggy.” I should note that my baby is not old enough to reliably stay on my back for the plank or push-ups, maybe in a few more months!

1. 1-Arm Baby Cradle Carry + Full Laundry Basket Carry – An advanced technique for the busy mom. Grab baby in one arm and full laundry basket in the opposite arm. This exercise is very similar to some of the Mis-loaded bracing/farmer’s walk variations we do at SAPT. Great for improving core strength and stability!
2. Baby Plank – Use baby’s body weight to increase the difficulty of a standard prone plank.
3. Baby Pushups – Again, using baby’s body weight to increase the difficulty of a push-up. Although we haven’t tried these yet, I’m pretty sure she’ll be having a pretty good time sitting on my back while “the ride” takes her up and down!

I’ll admit when I got the idea for this post it was designed to be “tongue in cheek,” but as I got to thinking about all the ways having a baby challenges new moms physically, I realized that these are some pretty darn good exercises. Not only are they fun, but they are also very productive if you just focus on doing a few things correctly and accumulating a bit of volume.

So to sum up, today is Arabella’s first birthday and I find myself exceptionally happy. I’m completely in love with my daughter and have found that my husband and I truly work well together. I’ve managed to lose all my “baby weight” and even a few more pounds to boot. And the icing on the cake? I’m working less and earning more.

If you know any new moms who might find this post motivational or inspirational, please forward it to them and don’t forget we offer comprehensive distance coaching to help moms all over the country lose those last few baby LB’s!