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5 Ways to Swing a Kettlebell

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The kettlebell is literally the most underutilized tool in most commercial gyms. Many places have dozens of them, while other gyms have a shitty plastic one collecting spiderwebs in the corner.

Some gyms have none. Others have only kettlebells, and do all of their fitness related activities with that tool.

Still, very few people utilize its plethora of benefits to fitness. Below are some variations of this exercise which falls into the hip hinge family of fundamental human movement patterns.

The kettlebell swing is a way to train powerful hip extension, conditioning, and a silky smooth hip hinge pattern.

In my years of both training and coaching in a public gym setting, I have never seen a proper swing. I’ve seen folks who squat the swing, bend the swing, and do all kinds of other things in an attempt to swing, but never a true kettlebell swing.

The kb swing is an explosive hip drive with minimal knee bend and maximal hip bend. This is very similar to the deadlift, only faster, and with less load.

Here are 5 ways to train this incredible movement.

 

The Kettlebell Swing with a reset

 

 

This is the primary way I prefer to teach the swing right off the bat, when I feel a student can benefit from the kettlebell swing. The reset tends to teach how to create force out the hinge position from scratch. By stopping the momentum after each rep, you can feel the tension of the hinge longer, and hold a proper position out front to ensure proper bell path. Give these a try if you are just starting out, need to work on single rep explosion, or need to relearn the proper mechanics of the swing.

 

Kettlebell Swing vs. a Band

 

 

This is one of my favorites for a few reasons. The band adds significant resistance on the way to the top, so you have to recruit more power from your hips to achieve a good lockout position. The second reason I like the band around the bell is that from the top position, the band promotes a better hinge. If you try to squat it, the band will go slack, and will feel very awkward when trying to move back to lockout.

 

Single Arm Kettlebell Swing vs. Band

 

 

This is a nice progressions up from the double arm kb swing vs. band seen above this video. Anytime we are forced to generate more power from lower in the body, we put a premium on form and execution of the exercise. Since only one hand is guiding the kettlebell, it is essential that you explode out of the hinge position with fury and intent. The band will resist the top half of the movement before lockout, demanding that you accelerate to the top.

 

Single Arm Kettlebell Swing with a Hand Switch

 

 

This one involves a bit more coordination, but it’s a great way to challenge your athleticism as well as proper kettlebell path with a single arm. In any kettlebell swing variation, the arms are involved minimally. The more you can use the power of your posterior chain to drive out of the hinged position, the more efficient you’ll be. The transition at the top should be relatively easy, as the kettelbell should basically be floating and ready for you to catch it and sit back into your loaded position.

 

Double Kettlebell Swing

 

 

If you want to load up the swing, while getting into a sumo like deadlift stance, this kettlebell swing variation is for you. I’d never have anyone jump right into double kettlebell swings without mastering the single bell swing, just as I would have anyone swing the kettlebell without showing proficiency in the hinge and deadlift patterns first. This is a progression, and can be great at working on power development and work capacity from a sumo deadlift stance.

These are some of the more fun and challenging ways I enjoy swinging the kettlebell, along with programming them into strength and conditioning programs for clients.

If you have any questions, or wish to learn more, email us at showmestrength@gmail.com, or find us on our facebook, twitter, and instagram

Ruthless Introspection: How to Get What You Want

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Bridgewater Associates is one of, if not, the most successful hedge funds of the last quarter century.

One could argue that the output is simply a manifestation of putting the smartest people from the best schools in the world and having them synthesize data until you have a robust enough model that is too good to fail.

But as an partner at Bain Capital told my close friend while he was interviewing, “Smart lines up around the door, what makes you different?”

And anecdotally, every hedge fund I work with on a daily basis has people from the likes of Harvard, Stanford, and Princeton. These guys are oft wicked smart but mediocre in output.

Why then is Bridgewater so successful and why should we care?

Looking past the veracity of their investment model, one could very well find the answer in the ethos of the firm and it’s founder, Ray Dalio:

“Hyper-realism, a notion that brutal honesty, no matter how uncomfortable, yields the best results.”

Ruthless introspection if you will.

At Bridgewater, everything you do will be dissected and scrutinized to ensure progress and improvement. Even if you are Ray Dalio, how you think will be put under a microscope.

There is no place for sugarcoating the truth and concern for self-esteem at Bridgewater; it’s aim for objective truth, however cold and painful, is what has made it the Titan it is today.

Rid Yourself of Your Ego

What makes the ethos of Ray Dalio stand out is that we are an egocentric species. Everything we do and think is driven out of the core of self-preservation.

Think about it.

Imagine for a second that you are by all accounts a loser. Does it make sense from an evolutionary perspective to operate within this framework as your modus operandi? Will your genes survive if you are just realistic with yourself?

Unlikely.

Our default setting is the false pretense that whatever negative events happen in our life emanate from forces completely outside our control.

These are not rare occurrences. We are self-driven. We are gene-driven.

And that is why the vast majority of us remain mediocre. Our minds are too coddled to see why we have stagnated and failed to progress.

Why Have I Failed?

I’ll take myself for example.

If I refrained and kept my deconstruction to myself, this post would be nothing more than word vomit without substance.

It is time we become comfortable with uncomfortable truths whether they are made public like at Bridgewater or they remain confined to the inner depths of our psyche.

To continue to harp on Dalio (he’s a billionaire, you should probably listen),

“There is nothing to fear from truth…being truthful is essential to being an independent thinker and obtaining greater understanding of what is right.”

Show Me Strength

I’ve “wanted” for a long time for this platform to be a big-time player in the online fitness world.

In an industry dominated by superficial bullshit and bio-hacks, I truly believe Chad and I offer a unique voice and knowledge from living and breathing everything training and nutrition over the last decade or so. We’ve failed a lot on our journey of perpetual self-improvement but kept going.

Onward and upward.

That is what this is all about after all.

Abs and bench press totals are fleeting, hallow joys. But the process of self-improvement, constantly bettering You Inc., that’s the secret sauce. That is what keeps people coming back for more after the quest for vanity has long been abolished.

To Chad’s credit, he’s crushed it.

He’s gotten all of Southwest Florida incredibly diesel. Don’t believe me? Check out our instagram feed and observe what he’s done with women who love getting strong and transforming themselves and their bodies. He got featured on Dan John’s email list. The Dan John. These are all big things, all integral steps that have significantly advanced Show Me Strength forward.

Me?

4 articles in the past 18 months. Even worse is that I have about 25 half-written but “shame” has overtaken my mindset and I haven’t finished.

Mindset

I’m naturally an introvert. Some who have gotten to know me over the years may think otherwise but outward manifestations may never reflect what is true.

As any introvert knows, we can be pretty damn good at the whole ruthless introspection thing. The voices in our head rarely, if ever, lie dormant and at times they can take you to hallow depths in your mind.

As Milton said, “The mind is its own place and in itself can make a heaven of hell and a hell of heaven.”

While introspection has been paramount to my growth as an individual, one needs balance.

Dissecting and critiquing yourself is not an optimal state to live in and as I’ve written here, at times it’s been quite the struggle.

Read: How To Improve Your Mental State: Movement is Medicine

But what have I done to quell the storm?

I’ve trained maybe three times in the past 3 months despite knowing that aerobic exercise and training are nature’s anti-depressant. Those who know me may think that’s a typo – it is not.

I read the best mindset book on the market – Gorilla Mindset – but have I ruthlessly applied the exercises in my life? Not nearly enough.

You get the idea.

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To Get What We Want

We all have our wants and our desires but so few of us get to where we want to be.

As Charlie Munger said,

“to get what you want you have to deserve what you want. The world is not yet a crazy enough place to reward undeserving people.”

Many may quickly dismiss Ray Dalio because they’re the ones who are different. They acquiesce that ruthless introspection may be a useful tool but only for those who haven’t been dealt as shitty a deck as they. These people are victims. They always have been.

Do not let your hubris cloud the objectivity of your life.

What you find may be bleak.

If progress and improvement, and not just it’s romantic ideal, is what you truly desire, then ruthless introspection must become your new modus operandi.

Find out what you want in life. Not what you would prefer, what you want.

Take being rich.

If you say you want to be rich and you punch out at 5 everyday to go Netflix it up at home, you simply like the idea of being rich.

Those that are serious would assess want they want and then ask the hard questions as to why you haven’t accomplished it yet. Operative word being YOU, not what others have done to get in your way.

You saw how I deconstructed myself. Be ruthless in your assessment.

Charlie Munger, the man Warren Buffett calls the smartest person alive, stresses the need to view and observe the world through mental models.

For those willing to confront themselves, embrace pain, and trudge forward to accomplishing something significant with their lives, adopting ruthless introspection is non-negotiable.

What you’ll find on your journey is that you can never trade what you want most for what you want in the moment.

The Hip Hinge : From Zero to Hero (Part 3)

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In part one and two of this series, I took you through the beginning progressions of how I like to train the hip hinge. As a refresher, we know that the hinge at the hips is maximal hip bend, minimal knee bend, and is arguably the most important concept to master in the family of fundamental human movements.

Yes, the squat, the push, the pull, the loaded carry, and intelligent core drills are huge parts of a good strength and conditioning program, but the hip hinge seems to have the largest benefit to one’s athleticism, physique, and health. When learned and applied appropriately, it opens windows to become stronger/more powerful, and infinitely more capable to do awesome stuff.

Below we continue on to the barbell. I only begin using the bar with students who have shown adequate proficiency with the beginner and intermediate phases of the hip hinge, and have built appropriate strength & work capacity to handle the loading/reps.

Below are some of my favorite moves for those who are ready for this type of work.

Elevated Landmine Deadlift

I have to thank my good friend Ben Bruno for popularizing the versatility of landmine exercise variations. There is no question that you can get a super legit full body training session with just a corner, a bar, and a plate or two. There’s not a muscle group you can’t target with this simple set up. (<–check this shit out)

Anyways, here is a great way to load up the weight without putting too much demand on the intricate technique of the conventional and sumo deadlift variations which you will see below. The landmine deadlift, when elevated, is a great way to learn this pattern if you have some mobility restrictions holding you back from moving some weight around properly.

For setup, position the bar right between your feet, and hinge back just as you would to get the kettlebell or dumbbell from the floor. Refer back to part one and two if you missed how to perform those movements.

Here, you’ll want either interlock you fingers, or have the dominant hand scooped underneath with your other hand overlapping. This is an excellent exercise to load up heavy without the repercussions of stress from heavy conventional/sumo/trap bar deadlifts.

Landmine Deadlift From Floor

When you’ve gained the appropriate mobility and strength in the elevated landmine deadlift, its time to move on to the floor. As with any of the deadlift and hinge variations, I insist on going barefoot or picking up a pair of minimalist shoes like the New Balance minimus, Nike free, or Chuck Taylor’s. Those shoes will get rid of heel support that will target too much quad, and we want hamstring and glutes to be the big players in the hinge. Again, this is a great variation to load up heavy, even for relative newbies. Check out Kate Upton, who is being trained by my friend Ben Bruno. She kills the landmine deadlift here. Below is just me doing them (super boring lol).

Landmine Deadlift + Romainan Deadlift

This exercise is fantastic for two reasons. First it will really hammer home how to hinge the hips back properly from the floor and from the standing position. Second, if you’re legs, more specifically your hamstrings, aren’t shaking and burning by the end of a set, you’re probably doing them wrong. After a set of 10 with just 25lbs, I was able to feel a solid burn in the posterior chain. Pick the bar up like a landmine deadlift, then come halfway down with a more pronounced hinge (even less knee bend). Basically this is 1 and a half reps, which means more posterior chain work. That’s never a bad thing.

Sumo Deadlift 

The sumo deadlift can be awesome for those of us who are either tall, or lack proper hip mobility to get into a locked in conventional stance. If you are comfortable and proficient with both, then I suggest developing and hammering both from time to time. The sumo variation is more stressful on the hips, but can be an awesome exercise for developing posterior chain strength due to the ability to hold a neutral spine under load much easier than the conventional deadlift. I insisit on using this variation before the conventional deadlift due to the demand that the narrow stance puts on form. If you’re advanced in both already, be sure to use both for your programming (not necessarily at the same time).

Conventional Deadlift

Here is the most advanced deadlift variation. Due to the narrow stance, you don’t have the luxury of hip external rotation to drop you into an easy setup. You’ll be forced to get super tight in the upper spine to achieve enough stiffness for a strong and safe pull. Of course we can elevate this movement just like any of the other deadlift variations, but it will still be the most challenging on the ankle, hip, and upper back mobility – much more so than the sumo, landmine or trap bar variations. Give this a shot if you feel strong and mobile enough to drop into an appropriate position, and keep it for the reps and load you need to make progress.

Single Leg Barbell Romanian Deadlift 

In my opinion, the single leg barbell RDL is the most challenging hinge patten out there. Of course a heavy conventional or sumo pull is tough, and so are heavy single leg hip thrusts which are hip hinges in their own right, but the balance, focus, stability, and mobility required to do just one set with the bar is astounding. I give this to only my most advanced clients because it is just that damn hard. If you lose stiffness at all in the lats and upper body, you’ll roll forward and put your lumbar spine at risk. It requires an obvious proficiency at the hinge, but also the ability to balance on one leg and remain stable on it for an entire set. If you need to, you can reset your stance by tapping down your foot in between reps. Start with your feet a little more narrow than shoulder width, and really reach back with the leg going back. The top of your foot should be the path that the bar tracks to on the eccentric portion of the movement. I also like to make sure I reset my shoulders back and strive hard to keep them there for the entire rep.

 

Try these exercises out if you’ve gotten the hang of the kettlebell and dumbbell variations I showed you in part one and two.

The hip hinge is something I encourage just about everyone to learn, as its positive carryover to real life is exponential.  In case you missed my last blog, here was an excerpt from it, and legendary strength coach, Dan John’s kind words on about the article.

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It’s no secret that everyone should learn how to do a variation of the hip hinge and deadlift. It’s clear that there are just too many positives to ignore, however, you need to be sure you progress it properly to achieve maximum results while staying and remaining healthy.

If you have any further questions on the subject, shoot us an email at showmestrength@gmail.com or leave a comment and we will be happy to answer.

Until then, happy deadlifting!

 

Do You Deserve It: The Ugly Truth About Getting the Body You Want

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Wolf urine.

I can buy that on Amazon and it can be on my doorstep in two days.

Now I’m not sure I could find some good use for some wolf urine but before you write me off like some kind of weirdo, stay with me for a second.

It’s Tuesday night and I’m sitting in a Harvard Square Starbucks.

I’m surrounded and through some weird osmosis probably inspired by the level of weirdness and hipster that only a place around my great institution could provide.

While wolf urine could be a hipster staple (I won’t judge), it is not the point of my thought experiment.

Rather, it is to illustrate just how much is available to us at the click of a button. Forget ipods, flat screen TVs, and girlfriends, I can buy fucking wolf urine on the line from the biggest on the line retailer.

Anything and everything is available to me at a moment’s notice.

It’s one of the benefits of living in the age of consumerism where we are sold something every minute every day of our lives.

The problem with the age of consumerism is that we are not just sold goods, we are sold ideas too – many of which feed our primitive brain that wants success now.

Need evidence for the short-term wiring of our brains?

Salt, sugar, fat.

Beyond tasting awesome, those are the foods our brains are programmed to seek out and devour because they provide high short-term survival value.

We’re Sold False Ideas

The effects of food are evident in the obesity epidemic and America’s growing waistline but the short-term reach extends past food. Think about the recent best sellers in business and entrepreneurship.

The 4 Hour Work Week and The Lean Startup come to mind. Selling the notion of efficiency is fine but it’s the idea framed within the title that prompts me to reflect – work less, outsource, and build systems so you can sloth around on a beach all day sipping pina coladas.

Will Durant, one of the great thinkers of our time, said, “A nation is born stoic and dies epicurean.”

As a society, we’ve become obsessed with getting more out of doing less.

With the advancement of science and the rise of charlatans like Dave Asprey, bio-hacking is the next logical cultural progression.  But should it be able to displace the virtues that breath life into great achievement?

Have we not become exactly what Durant has said would destroy us?

A nation fixated on the fulfillment of pleasure, whose identity has forgotten what it means to be stoic in the face of accomplishing something meaningful – in this instance, maximizing our health.

In the attempt to satisfy our epicurean ethos, we’ve been sold an idea – the wrong one – about health and our body.

From New York Times’ Bestsellers about dropping 17 lbs in 10 days to Dr. Oz promoting raspberry ketones as the next fat loss cure, in the age of consumerism, we’ve been programmed to buy a lie.

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Not Exactly War & Peace

Smart marketers have capitalized on the realization that humans are addicted to the dopamine rush that comes with being sold short-term success plans.

We feel good when we go on 10-day juice cleanses or when we type in our credit card information to buy the latest weight loss cure that’s reached the top of the bestseller charts. We see a means to a short-term reward, and we’re all in.

Our default instinct as humans is to run from pain and to pleasure.

Why do we fail in maximizing our health and getting the body you want?

Because we’ve been using a lottery approach to try and be successful.

Every time we try the latest cleanse or buy the book full of skewed science and superfluous claims, we’re taking another spin of the wheel hoping for the right combination of numbers to pop up.

We wake up everyday hoping that we came across the latest secret to solve our health quandary while not having other areas of our lives suffer.

People in our consumer driven society are more likely to buy the new turbo fat burner Starbucks sells alongside their pumpkin spice latte than they are to put in the blood, sweat, and tears necessary to make necessary changes.

We are continually offered the mirage of health at the click of a button and most of us take it every single time.

A New Approach

The age of consumerism isn’t going anywhere and lamenting upon the uphill battle that we encounter on a daily basis in order to achieve our health goals is a tireless exercise that does not need to be further expounded upon.

The cards are stacked against us, now what?

Charlie Munger, self-made billionaire whom Bill Gates and Warren Buffet have called the smartest man alive, said, “To get what you want, you have to deserve what you want? The world is not enough a crazy enough place to reward undeserving people.”

Everyone wants. To want is to be human. We all want the granite abs, Schwarzenegger biceps, and the ability to fit into college skinny jeans for the ladies out there.

But do you deserve it?

To lose 100 lbs, you have to deserve to lose 100 lbs.

If you want a better body, stand naked tomorrow morning in the mirror. What do you see? This isn’t an exercise to lower your self-esteem or to guilt you to take action.

No, be objective.  Give yourself an honest assessment.

What you see doesn’t reflect failing to know the ins and outs of carb cycling, the sensationalized demonization of saturated fats, or the knowledge base to perform metabolic resistance training.

There are a million workout programs out there.  There are even more diet plans.

They all will work.

Quick aside on the nutrition front, have you attempted to master the basics first?

Have you been limiting processed foods?  Keeping the sugar overload and fried food at bay?  How often do you exercise and/or train?

This isn’t rocket science.  It’s not even about the science.  Bad science has gotten tons and tons of people ripped over the years.

Do the Work

There is a caveat of course.

The truth is if you haven’t showed up everyday and put in the work, any work, you haven’t tried yet.  You may want to look like the guy on the cover of Men’s Fitness, but you don’t deserve anything yet.

Get off TNation and bodybuilding.com.  Get off Show Me Strength.  If you’ve visited a fitness site more than half a dozen times, you know more than enough.

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Wake up.  Fail.  Show up again tomorrow, fail.  Improvement isn’t linear.

If you’re not failing everyday, you’re not trying.

This isn’t about being efficient.  Our whole lives have been hacked with shortcuts; it’s time to take the circuitous route.

The one filled with pain, suffering, and failure.  The one that’ll take a lot of blood, sweat, guts, and tears to overcome.

The one that will build a process that’ll feed a lifetime of success.

Pain today or the pain of regret tomorrow.  Either way, there is no avoiding pain.

Do all of that and a year from now when you stand bare before yourself, what will you see?

Someone who has earned what they wanted.

P.S. Chad and I wrote a book on overcoming fear.  It could change your life.  Get your copy here.   

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Rookie Mistakes in Spring Training

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The time is here. For a baseball fanatic this is the greatest time of the year, and the only month that will be filled only with promise and positivity.

The regular season, by nature is a roller coaster marathon ride that only the resilient survive, both fan and player.

In my eight seasons of professional baseball, I attended seven spring trainings. In each of them, I had just a bit more knowledge from the previous season to use to my advantage. I relied heavily on my failures to fuel how I would approach each new season.

The first taste of spring practice elicits emotion unlike any other. Players are eager as ever to show off their efforts of the offseason and prove themselves alongside the organization’s elite.

With spring training, however, comes a large window for athletes to misstep. This time of year is also the most riddled with injury, and for reasons beyond offseason preparation (although that’s a huge factor).

Below are three of the biggest mistakes baseball players make in spring training and spring practices. I offer solutions to these issues as always.

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Mistake #1 – Too many players try to “be the hero” or make the team on day one

For young players in their first spring training or even veterans trying to secure a job, the first few weeks on the field can take a toll on the body if you’re not careful. If you think about it, athletes are going from the comforts of their own gym, own home, and own field, most likely throwing and practicing in comfortable shorts and t -shirts…to then all of a sudden being thrust into one of the most competitive and cutthroat months of training in professional sports.

Usually, for pitchers, a 30-50 pitch bullpen will be thrown in the first couple of days. I don’t care how much training you do in the offseason, the adrenaline won’t compare to throwing in front of your employer and the decision makers of your career. Too many guys will try to impress the instructors, front office, and fellow peers, which is all normal, but it will set you back if you wind up too sore or fatigued.

The same goes for position players. You, like the pitchers, should have busted your ass in the offseason to be capable of handling the physical demands of the spring, but you still need to be careful to not overdo it on the swings, the throwing, and fielding. Keep a good tempo, don’t blow out your arm, and don’t be someone you’re not. You don’t make the team on day one.

Solution – For pitchers, follow these three tips.

#1 – Don’t do anything more than what your off-season throwing program conditioned you for. For instance, if you have worked up to 200 feet in long toss, don’t move it out to 300 just because it looks impressive or you feel good. Have a plan and stick to it.

#2 – In your bullpens, keep your off-season preparation in mind. If you haven’t spun many breaking balls, don’t go out and show off by trying to rip a bunch of breakers off. Take it easy, take your sweet time, and work on one thing. Get a feel for the dirt, the spikes, and being outside. Focus on throwing a bunch of strikes.

#3 – In conditioning and the weight room, stick to a routine that will keep you fresh. Now is not the time to set personal records. It’s a time to stay explosive, refine what you did in the off-season, and continue getting better, not worse. Too many times, testosterone kicks in, and makes it tempting to show off in front of your teammates and buddies. Now’s not the time, guys. Being sore and tight is the worst thing you can be in spring training besides sidelined from injury. If you try to be the hero, you might just end up sitting on the sidelines or even worse, jobless.

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Mistake #2 – Players deviate from their plan because of peer pressure, coaching pressure, or added competitive factors

Often times young or inexperienced players fall into different spring training traps. The biggest one comes from their peers and competition. Every other player at your position is your competition.

It’s only natural to try and out do the other guy in drills, conditioning, and other practice, however staying healthy is the absolute most important thing.

If you’re constantly worried about impressing and showing off, injury is bound to happen. Even though there quite possibly is job security on the line, it’s paramount that you are at your best for game time. While the coaches might be pleased to see the ball jump out of your hand in the bullpen or rocket off your bat in the cages, it doesn’t matter until you get in the game and on the field against opponents.

Solution – Focus hard on suppressing the desire to show off or give more effort than is normal for you. In all the drills, conditioning, and other activities, focus on execution. Don’t be temped to do extra work just for the hell of it.

Do what needs to be done, work on your weaknesses, and have a game plan before you get to the field. Ask yourself, “What can I get better at today?”

Also, take inventory on how you feel. If you’re run down a bit, take the necessary measures to warm-up and recover. Make sure you’re getting your rest, and show up to the field ready to perform.

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Mistake #3 – The players physical preparation doesn’t match up to off-season

This is without question the biggest cause of injury in spring training or pre-season practices. Obviously, it is optimal to take complete advantage of every day in the off season to improve your body and game. The team expects you to show up in better condition than the previous season, and expects you to be free of injury.

With this being said, the weight training, conditioning, pre-hab, and recovery strategies should NOT do a complete 180 when you get to camp. If you haven’t squatted in the off-season, don’t go and squat just because your buddies are. Be very clear with the coaches and trainers about what you’ve done in the offseason, and be sure not to push it past the ideal volume point. Remember, it’s about feeling good, not showing off.

The same goes for the training room stuff. Don’t make it habit to hang out in there. If you weren’t doing a bunch of shoulder exercises, don’t start crushing those just because everyone else is. Do what make’s YOU perform at high level, and that’s it. More is the enemy in spring training. Optimal for you is the aim.

Solution – Cover all your bases to make sure you aren’t doing anything that will make your body hate you. Keep it a goal to maintain your mobility, strength, and conditioning levels, but don’t shoot to make gains anywhere unless it’s needed.

For instance, you might need to get your aerobic capacity up a bit, but don’t do it at a cost for on field performance. If running 20 sprints will get your conditioning level up, but hinder your body on the field, don’t do it. I understand that coaches will be in charge of telling you what to do, but auto regulate your own intensity and effort to keep your body feeling as fresh as possible.

Make sure also that you are eating just as well as the offseason, or at least to the best of your ability. Sometimes you’ll be on the field for hours on end, so the time at the hotel or away from the field is crucial for recovery and keeping the calories at the right level.

One of the worst things you can do is drastically change your body weight set point and lose performance. Wherever you feel best bodyweight wise, do whatever it takes to stay there.

These strategies are so crucial to keep in mind as you enter spring training or practice. I hope that you have prepared hard in the offseason, and continue to refine things in the spring.

This is NOT the time to try and get into shape.

It’s time to ramp slowly into game ready, season form. The only thing that matters is that you are healthy, feeling good, and performing at your best. The rest is eyewash. Cut out all the extra nonsense, and do whatever it takes to feel good everyday. For everyone, it’s completely different.

Remember, you don’t make the team on day one.

Good luck.

If any of you need guidance this spring, or this season, we are available to help. Learn more here

 

The Hip Hinge : From Zero to Hero (Part 2)

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In part 1 of this series, I began showing how I take ultra beginners through hip hinging, and deadlift patterns.

The article was very well received in the fitness community, and is successfully helping you guys/girls, whether coaches or gym goers, learn how to safely progress and master the deadlift pattern. That is the ultimate goal of this series.

I am adamant in my belief that learning the hip hinge pattern can open up a huge window to accommodate and propel any goal into overdrive “gains” mode.

World renowned strength coach, Dan John also agrees. He quoted me in his recent newsletter, and was kind enough to share and promote part one of this series.

This excerpt below is from Dan’s “Wandering Weights” newsletter. This is the most informative and value filled email list I am part of. I highly recommend joining for free –> here <–

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In the videos and descriptions in this article, I will go over some intermediate progressions of the hinge, and show you how I like to train the movement prior to moving on to the barbell.

Again, for beginners, take a look at the fist part of this series here to hammer home the basics, groove a safe/strong pattern, and differentiate the deadlift from the squat.

Without further ado, phase two of hinge progressions.

The Double Kettlebell vs. Band

Very similar to the single kettlebell deadlift vs. bands, this is just a heavier version that mimics the upper body tension as well as grip that is most closely associated with the barbell. Again, to refresh your memory, we use the band to force the hip hinge back to its proper maximum hip bend. This strategy is extremely useful for people who are having a difficult time deciphering the adjustments between the squat and deadlift patterning.

 

The Double Kettlebell Hovering Deadlift 

I love this variation of the deadlift for two types of people. The first is the population of beginner or intermediate lifters who are a bit slow off the floor. If you don’t have an explosive drive off the floor with lightish kettle bells, it might be a good idea to add the pause at shin level on the way off the floor, and on the way down. The second type of person I enjoy using this variation with is the guy or girl who is having trouble maintaining stiffness in the lats and upper back. This exercise with the added pause requires you to fight gravity a bit more, and stay strong through the brief stop.

The Assisted Single Leg Romanian Deadlift 

This is an exercise that is truly difficult to both teach, and execute without assistance. Many times I’ll see people deadlifting their bodyweight and more, but struggle mightily when it comes time to do single leg work. By simply using the opposite hand against the wall for touch, not something to pull on, it gives the brain a green light to focus on the task and exercise at hand. I would certainly suggest going super light to start, and groove the proper pattern. You should be reaching with the leg and not the arm on this one, and striving to keep the upper back locked in without rolling the low back.

The Kettlebell Swing

I have most of my students become proficient at the kettlebell swing well before heavy barbell deadlifting. I truly believe that the art of the swing teaches powerful hip explosion that is necessary for locking out the deadlift with heavier weight. A swing is not a squat. A swing is, at it’s finest, a pure, explosive hinge that you should feel in the hamstrings, glutes, abs, lungs, and heart. Too many people use their arms and low back, when in reality neither should be working very hard at all. The top position should mimic a plank like contraction, and I don’t really suggest or teach it above the head crossfit style. When this exercise is learned with some proficiency, it is one of the greatest tools we can use for conditioning and fat loss alike.

The Elevated Trap Bar Deadlift

When all systems are a go, and you are moving heavy kettlebells in both hands fast and explosively, it might be time to move onto the trap bar. I like the trap bar for several reasons, but the biggest is that the starting position is easier, and more comfortable to get into for beginners. The grip is on the side of your body instead of the front, allowing an easier, more accessible way to gain stiffness in the lats and upper back without rolling into flexion. I usually suggest elevating this one for awhile before moving to the floor to teach proper setup and execution, just to gain a comfort level and appreciation for how to perform the trap bar deadlift.

 

This is the second phase of teaching the hip hinge I use with my clients. As with any exercise, I never progress it until it looks clean, smooth, and efficient.

Yes, barbell work can be some of the most rewarding, bang for your buck training in the world, but the goal is to make certain you are more than ready for it before trying to be the hero. Mastering the hinge at a lower level will pay off down the road.

It will set you up for when the time comes to move significant weight off the floor, and ensure you’re using the right muscles to improve you’re entire body safely.

If you haven’t checked out the first installment of the series, it’s here.

Stay tuned for an even more advanced progressions in part 3. If you have questions, leave them in the comments below, or shoot us an email at showmestrength@gmail.com

How to Improve Your Mental State: Movement is Medicine

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December was a dark month.

I didn’t train once; and by train, I should really clarify what I mean. Us fitness snobs love to differentiate between working out and training because it inflates our elitist muscles. No. I didn’t do fitness once. No sweat, no movement.

To understand why that matters, let’s take a quick detour for some context.

Harvard is a place of many things: brilliant students and faculty, equally impressive student-athletes, a famous statue covered covertly in urine, (don’t rub his foot), and a breadth of history that is hard to comprehend.

What you don’t usually find are the stereotypical meatheads – the dudes closely resembling the “I pick things up and put them down” Planet Fitness cavemen, or our beloved patron saint of serial hydration, who obnoxiously carries around a Poland Springs galloon jug in fear of going 30 minutes without a voluminously clear piss. Cause gains.

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Funny thing is, to my friends, and everyone else that knew me at Harvard and still know me today, I’m sure I was associated with all those clichés at one point or another. I was shirtless way too often at parties, would read Mike Robertson’s Bulletproof Knees through class while proudly lugging around my galloon jug, consumed more training books than actual assigned literature, and definitely spent more time in the weight room than a classroom. In case you think I’m kidding…my nickname on the baseball team was Meat.

So yes, I liked lifting weights, but my relationship with the Iron transcended the superficial vanity-chasing process of “getting jacked”. I had found an outlet and a tangible metaphor for my struggles in life. When pain and disappointment came my way, it was a means to violently express myself and divulge all my anguish. It was my panacea and a beacon light to keep me on the right course when the seas got rough.

And then, this December, it was gone.

In truth, I can’t tell you how many times I set my alarm for 5:00 am to finally break the streak and give myself some positive momentum only to find myself a slave to the comfort of the snooze button until I had to finally, begrudgingly, get moving to work.

Pharmaceutical aids, brain drugs if you will, utilized for studying and passing licensing exams, left me with minimally functioning dopamine and androgen receptors. Otherwise not a big deal except dopamine and testosterone (androgen) are the very things that make you want to do things, like take over the world, have sex, work hard.

I had none.

The aftermath was a vast hole of psychological torment, utter mediocrity, and depression that penetrated like a cemented dagger.

Since the dawn of our species millennia ago, we have always been products of our environment. Make it known, however, there is a stark difference between proactively shaping one’s environment and being a passive victim.

I had become a self-inflicted victim to my environment and circumstances, and had morphed into something I always promised myself I wouldn’t be – another zombie cog in the corporate America machine. The Walking Dead isn’t just another television show, divorced from reality. Want proof? Go stand and observe the lifeless souls boarding the train heading into any city on a Monday morning.

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We like to preach habits and gradual shifts of behavior as the appropriate means to create lasting change but not this time. I needed to mount a full physiological and psychological assault on the forces that had been shaping my precipitous demise. I needed to bump my rider, shake the elephant and get a entirely new path (a reference for all the Switch fans out there). Whatever jargon you want to use, I needed to get moving.

Reading a passage of Gorilla Mindset by Mike Cernovich (get this book) served as my kick in the ass. To understand why, see below:

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To dismiss Mr. Maybe, I needed action. I needed to rewire my brain and my habits to create a physiological cascade of fucking awesomeness.

I needed to move.

So I made a commitment (because I hate resolutions) to move everyday in 2016. Every single day I would do some sort of physical activity – including but not limited to lifting weights, running, and playing quidditch.

Why?

Because, to quote Dr. Spencer Nadolsky, movement is medicine.

It’s only fitting that I recently finished reading Born to Run and then immediately started to reread The Story of the Human Body.

Both phenomenal books that share a central thesis: we are who we are because we evolved to run.

Let that soak in for a second.

We evolved brains that have allowed us to essentially take over the world because of our ability to run.

Movement is in our DNA. It is so intimately woven into the fabric of who we are that to take it away, to divorce ourselves from our innate passion, is a recipe for catastrophic disaster.

Look around you and see the results of the largest failed experiment in human history.

Chris McDougall, author of Born to Run, argues our health problems have manifested because we’ve stopped becoming a running people. While the issues are far more nuanced than that, our lack of movement has played a vital role in our demise.

The rates of obesity are exponentially increasing. We die predominately from diseases of opulence and modernity – heart disease, cancer, and diabetes, and staggering amounts of people suffer from depression.

This isn’t normal.

Our biology does not dictate these ends to be inevitable. Death, yes; but diseases of modernity are not fixed manifestations of our DNA at work.

Ido Portal has lead a movement revolution. Not abs or biceps. Movement.

Movement is medicine. It is who you were and it is who you can be again.

Words cannot begin to express the profound difference I have experienced over the last month or so.

Sure, I look better but ultimately that doesn’t matter. The vanity of aesthetics doesn’t matter. Anyone who has gotten in great shape knows it can be a hollow feeling at the end if you solely derive meaning from your looks. Process, not outcome.

My acute depressive state has dissipated. I’ve had worse in magnitude and duration but my mindset and mood have never been greater. Each day, I wake up with my soul ablaze about the potential of the day, a new opportunity to tackle, and any other Elite Daily cliché that you want to throw in there.

I no longer board the train on autopilot amidst the other zombies in corporate America. Instead, my eyes have been opened to the disconnect we experience as humans when we distance ourselves from who we are as a people born to move.

This isn’t some magical placebo effect either.

This is science.

Things change when you exercise – neurotransmitters in your brain (dopamine and serotonin) get up-regulated, stress is reduced, and testosterone elevation are just some of the underlying mechanics of why we experience such a profound sense of well-being when we get back to the basics. Something so simple. So innate.

I challenge you to join me. Move every single day for the rest of the year. Find something you enjoy, whether that be running, yoga, sex, P90X, it really does not matter.

For the time being, forget the aesthetics. The vanity. Commit to moving. It can be 10 minutes or two hours.

I guarantee if you take it upon yourself to undergo this simple change, in a matter of weeks you won’t recognize that person in the mirror. You’ll look better, feel better, and you’ll no longer be a zombie come the Monday morning “grind.”

Because movement is medicine.

P.S. I read every message I get at showmestrength@gmail.com.  I’d love to hear about how you’ve overcome adversity in your past and what you’ve done to keep moving forward.

The Hip Hinge : From Zero to Hero (Part 1)

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Correctly watching a student progress through the hip hinge gives me more pride and joy than any other of the fundamental movement patterns.

Why? Well, when performed well, this move can open up a whole new window of opportunity for just about any physical goal a human could have.

Want to get stronger? Correctly hinging from the hips will allow you to perform a deadlift with power and precision.

Want to look better naked? All of the exercises that use the hip hinge will open up the doors to create a backside that will quite simply make people jealous.

You want to lose fat? Using your hips to access some of the bigger compound lifts will challenge your body in ways you never thought possible, consequently building lean muscle and eviscerating stubborn body fat.

Ah, you want to be a better athlete? Every explosive, strong, and dynamic athlete has a powerful hinge. They have either built it up from years of good training, or get into the position organically from good body awareness, good natural movement, and of course genes. Just look at what most sports require performance wise, and you’ll notice explosive hips and posterior chain as a huge component.

But you may be asking what a hip hinge actually is…Here, we take a look at the fundamental human movements which include the following..

Squat Patterns <- More about that here <-

Hip Hinge Patterns

Upper Extremity Press Patterns

Upper Extremity Pull Patterns

Single Leg Knee and Single Leg Hip Dominant Patterns

Loaded Carry Variations 

Regardless of someone’s goal, the majority of my clients will be taught to master and progress through these fundamental movements that every human will need during their lifetime. Obviously, if it’s a main goal to get a better ass, we will be doing a shit ton of hinging (minimal knee bend…maximal hip bend = minimal quad involvement…maximal hamstring and glute involvement) 

Arguably, the hinge has the most potential for health, strength, and physique goals due to it’s overall impact on the body, and it’s transfer of increased athleticism to the rest of one’s training program.

Below, I will show you 8 ways that I teach people to unlock their potential in the hip hinge right at the very beginning of their training life. Each exercise can be a great tool for beginners who will absolutely see world of benefit from the very novice variations of fundamental movements, as well as advanced athletes and weight lifters who need to refresh the intricacies and fundamentals of their deadlift patterns.

The Hip Hinge with a Stick

This is one of the very first tools I use with clients who have simply never properly hinged or tend to “get squatty” with their deadlift variations. Assuming you or your students have good shoulder mobility, grab a dowel rod or broom stick put it behind your back like so. Have one hand on top, right behind your neck, and one hand underneath at the small of your low back and keep the as much of the rod in contact with your body. I usually use hands on cues at the knees to keep them soft, and assist by pushing folks to sit those hips back until the hamstrings are taught and sometimes shaking.

The bow and arrow analogy works well for the audible as well as visual learner. Tell them to imagine the hips as the bow string getting pulled back and the feet, knees, shoulders, and head as the stable part of the bow. Pull the string (hips) as far back as tension allows then powerfully snap to neutral.

The Wall Hinge with a Kettlebell

As soon as I see that someone has a firm understanding of what a hip hinge is, what it feels like without load, and observe a clean, safe move, I begin adding load in a non-risky area. This is the stage right before picking stuff up off the floor. Before getting there, I like turning the kettlebell upside down and putting a bit more pressure on the hamstrings this way. A good cue is to tell someone to use the handle around the belt buckle area to force the hips back towards the wall. Step a foot and a half away from the wall and use the handle to force the glutes back to tap it. Once again, fire the hips (bow string) to hard squeezed glutes in the top position. The top position on all these exercises should mimic a plank with the abs and glutes both locked in to form a neutral spine.

The Dumbbell Deadlift with Shoulder Peeling 

The dumbbell is a tool I have found to be a better teacher for super beginners and the deadlift, more so than the kettlebell. The reason is due to where the hands are placed. By placing the hands on the side of the dumbbell as opposed to the kettlebell handle, beginner clients have an easier time gaining stiffness in the upper back to promote a safer, stronger hinge. Also, by “peeling” the shoulders back in a separate movement at the bottom, we teach beginners in the deadlift to engage their lats appropriately every time. You can use this strategy with the kettlebell, just keep in mind that it is slightly tougher to “peel” and get into a proper position. As with any pull from the floor, don’t be afraid to elevate the load to ensure proper positioning at all times. It is non negotiable to allow students to pick things off the floor in an unsafe manner. A great cue for the peeling part is to imagine someone walking up behind you and tickling your armpits. Protect them by pulling those lats down and back.

The Paused Barbell Romanian Deadlift (RDL)

With nearly everyone I coach, I employ a pause at the max tension point of this exercise. The benefits are just too great not to stop for a second. By adding a short pause, we can really teach tension in the lats, and feel what it means to sit the hips back properly for maximum hamstring tension. The barbell itself is a good enough load as a teaching tool once you or your student has a good understanding of grooving the hinge at a good tempo. With all of these exercises, it’s important to stress control on the way down (eccentric) and explosion and power on the way up (concentric). Another key point here is to never add load unless you can keep optimal tension. If it’s too heavy, and you lose it by rolling the shoulders, you put your spine in a compromised position, therefore ruining chances at great, powerful hinge. Check out the video below for proper set up and tempo.

The Cable Pull Through

This exercise is an excellent teacher, and one that many beginnerish clients can do usually right off the bat. Many times the initial tendency when teaching or learning the hip hinge is to squat it down a bit too much, consequently limiting the potential of hamstring, glute, and overall posterior chain recruitment. With the rope between the legs pulled out from the cable machine, the force back, similar in nature to band resisted kettlebell deadlifts is enough to feel the “ah ha” moment and get to the tension point of the hinge. Simply relax the arms (still keep armpits back tight), reach back through the legs with a neutral spine, and fire through the heels up to a hard squeezed finish position. Just as in the video below, you must walk the weight off the cable stack, which should be set at the bottom (rope). Pick an appropriate load you can control as always. At the top try and make your two glutes into one as highly sought after coach, Matthew Ibrahim, (the mastermind behind Movement Resilience) would like to say.

The Kettlebell Deadlift vs. Band 

If you or a client continue to have trouble deciphering between the squat and deadlift, this exercise might be a perfect fit. With the external force of the band adding pressure to the hips, one is more inclined to sit back into an appropriate deadlift pattern. A squat is a squat, and a deadlift is a deadlift. While there is some hinging during a squat, it is not to the degree of a deadlift or pull from the floor of any kind. During this move, set the band at about hip height, then get in and move out so the band is taught, but not pulling you too much. Work on the standard kettlebell deadlift pattern with this band assistance as show below.

The Kettlebell Hovering Deadlift

This exercise is another great teacher of tension. I prescribe this for my students who have a bit of weakness and tend to fall straight to the floor from the top position with poor control, or for people who are a bit slow off the floor. By stopping around mid shin I get to teach three things. 1.) This is a neutral spine. This is what a neutral spine feels like. Adding this stop lets this information sit in and digest into a person’s brain for future reference. 2.) Here is what tension in the hamstrings should feel like. This is where powerful athleticism is generated from, and this is how a badass backside is created. 3.) This is what locked in lats and upper back stiffness should feel like. If the shoulders drift, chances are you’ll feel it in the low back, which is not ideal at all. All in all, keeping the neutral spine, the hips back with soft knees, and upper back locked down and back with a pause can create a more speedy process of a beginner learning the hinge and getting a stronger, healthier pull from the ground.

The Double Kettlebell Deadlift

The double kettlebell deadlift is usually the last progression I use before moving clients to the barbell or trap bar (usually trap bar before barbell). For me, using a pair of 35-50lb kettlbells properly for 6-10 reps is a good enough indication of strength and hinge competency for me to graduate strength and conditioning students onto the hex bar and/or barbell. To perform this you must have a grasp on sitting back into the hinge, staying ultra tight in the upper back, and possess enough strength to drive relatively fast off the floor. It usually will take a few weeks to a few months of dedicated strength work to get to a point where you’ll get brand new weightlifters to this point where the barbell work from the floor is in the conversation.

 

It’s no secret that I love teaching this movement. I truly believe the family of hip hinge movements have the greatest return on investment as an exercise selection amongst all the fundamental human movement patterns.

If you’re a beginner, try a few of these movements out and see how you progress. Remember that the hinge isn’t a squat. If you want to learn about the squat, check this out.

Also, if you’re well past these movements and are a veteran of the iron game, this read wasn’t a waste…it might be wise to use a few of these patterns from time to time to practice bracing, and even warming and ramping up before getting to your barbell work.

In installment two, I will take you even further down the progression continuum, and show you the intermediate and advanced stages of properly executed hip hinge and deadlift work.

Stay tuned!

 

11 Ways to Goblet Squat

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I am of the belief that no one, and I mean NO ONE is above the goblet squat. No one is too strong, too mobile, too in shape, or too advanced to grab a dumbbell or kettlebell and drop into the goblet squat.

Just about everyone I see as a personal training client will either perform goblet squat variations throughout their programming, or show me what they have for this movement as an assessment tool.

I even have my super advanced clients give me a few of these from time to time in a conditioning scenario so I can really see whats going on in their comfort zone of squatting.

The goblet squat showcases a plethora of information from a student to a teacher.

World renowned strength and conditioning coach, Dan John has been largely responsible for popularizing this fundamental movement pattern with load for people all along the spectrum of fitness and strength levels of advancement.

A couple of his most popular media publications on the topic can be found —-> here <— and —> here

But why the goblet squat??

Why not put the barbell on your back and just get down and dirty?

I agree that the family of barbell squat variation has it’s place, but when we look at the continuum of progressions and regressions in regards to the squat, the goblet squat reigns supreme as the largest bang for you buck for the majority fitness enthusiasts. I assess that too many people keep breaking down technique of the back and front squat when in reality, very few actual people are fit or confident enough to step under the bar at their local gym on their own.

My squat continuum is as follows for my students…

But before that, its important that I note each of them has a firm grasp of a proper squat before the even look at a barbell, and as I grow as a coach, I am more and more inclined to make people insanely good at the goblet squat before showing them how to approach and use the bar.

My Squat Continuum 

NOVICE SQUAT VARIATIONS <—> Bodyweight Assisted Squat to elevation with Partner <—> TRX assisted squat <—> goblet squat variations with dumbbell, kettlebell, or small plate <—> offset and double kettlebell variations <—> zercher squat variation <—> front squat variations <—> back squat variations <—> ADVANCED SQUAT VARIATIONS

This is just the continuum that works for me, and I find it effective for most people with general goals of moving, looking, and feeling better. Some people are more well equipped and thrive with different loading strategies, but the goblet squat sits right in the middle and can cover more ground up and down the continuum of regression and progression.

Why is it so versatile?

1.) Loading it with a kettlebell or dumbbell doesn’t require the upper extremity mobility and strength that the back and front squat require. Therefore, just about anyone can start with one of the following variations and find success and training effect.

2.) By default, it locks in the anterior core, creating a spine thats closer to neutral and abs that mimic a more plank like engagement.

3.) It doesn’t require elite motion in the ankles, hips, and knees to get into proper position.

4.) Regressing back to a simpler variation or progressing to a more advanced technique in the goblet squat are easy changes to make happen.

5.) All you need for the basic goblet squat is a kettlebell or dumbbell.

6.) If the traditional barbell squat variations hurt or intimidate you, we can often get similar training effects from the goblet squat.

The real bottom line is that the squat is a fundamental human movement pattern that everyone who is born will need almost everyday throughout their lifetime. We use the squat to sit down, stand up, retrieve something from the ground, put something back on the ground, and effectively move through life.

It is my belief that we all should work on our squat patterning in some capacity nearly every single day to improve the quality of our lives.

The goblet squat truly is the most versatile way for the majority of this earth’s population to both strengthen this everyday movement that we need, and ensure we have the movement and stability to perform those everyday tasks throughout our lifetime.

Below are 11 ways you can goblet squat, with video demonstrations that provide optimal technique.

11 WAYS TO GOBLET SQUAT

1.) The Traditional Dumbbell Goblet Squat – Many times when a client comes to me without any history of pain, and appears to have a relatively decent level of fitness and strength, I will have them drop into a regular old dumbbell goblet squat with a lightish dumbbell. This shows me so much. I can see what their aptitude is for a good squat, as well as see joint restrictions and strength deficiencies. This squat here can be put into just about anyone’s strength and conditioning program and deliver a training effect. This video here displays the basic dumbell goblet squat which can be loaded as heavy as you can carry in this position with good posture. This means absolutely no leaning back into extension because it’s too heavy. Adjust reps and sets according to you goals and needs.

2.) The Paused Goblet Squat – I use this squat with many students who can definitely get into position, but need more strength and control throughout the entirety of the squat. When talking about owning your squat and not letting it get away from you in the hole, there’s arguably no better way to improve this deficiency than the paused squat. You can add in pauses anywhere from 1 to 10 seconds and get a solid result, but it’s important to identify your ideal depth before pausing, I suggest holding tension around parallel as shown in the video below.

3.) The Horizontal Kettlebell Goblet Squat – I found this techinique while experimenting with a client who had a pretty beat up wrist from golf. This woman was a competitive athlete, but didn’t quite have any true need whatsoever that warranted moving on to the barbell. She did however need to squat in some capacity to keep moving well and gain strength in her lower body. Every single way to hold on to the dumbbell hurt her wrist except this grip which she accidentally tried while moving the bell around. We didn’t have any sandbags, weighted vests, barbells, or medicine balls to load up the squat which she was prepared for, but this grip worked wonders. The bottom of the kettlebell rests against the sternum area, and the grip resembles a safety squat bar. Give it a try if you have a cranky wrist or just want to mix it up with the kettlebell placement.

4.) The Sideways Goblet Squat With Band – This has become a big hit with my female training population as I constantly strive to provide the biggest bang for their buck in terms of glute activation and development. By adding the band around the top of the feet for the lateral step, you immediately get the glute medius (outside part of the glutes) fired up before dropping into the hole of the goblet squat. If you do 5 or 6 steps and squats each way, you’ve got yourself a solid set of goblet squats with added ass engagement. Make sure the band is both not too strong where you can’t get into your optimal squat stance, but also not too light where it feels like a rubber band and doesn’t require any strength to get a step in.

5.) The Goblet Elevator Squat – This is an absolutely evil way to make the goblet squat harder and ensure constant tension throughout the movement. I tell my students to go up and down “3 floors” on the elevator. This means drop down into the bottom of the squat, come up a few inches to the first floor, then back to the “ground floor” or bottom of the squat again, up again close to the top…but not quite…then back to the bottom…then all the way back to the top or lock out position. That is one rep. Between 5-8 reps is plenty for this killer. I took this variation from Ben Bruno, who I think did this with front squats like the beast that he is.

6.) The Goblet Squat With Band Around Shins – Putting the band here is a wonderful teacher. I agree that the cue of screwing the feet outwardly into the floor and pushing the knees out can be useful for some folks, but putting another piece of equipment in the mix to add resistance against the internal caving of the knees can turn on those glutes and put you in a better situation to grove the squat pattern with optimal positioning. I will do this with folks who have a difficult time identifying what a good, strong squat should feel like, and for those struggling to drop the goblet squat optimally between the thighs without knees caving in. Those who have weak external hip rotators can benefit with this variation when they are ready.

7.) Goblet Squat with Slow Eccentric Control – The eccentric focus of the squat has gotten all of the attention recently and deservedly so. Great coaches around the world are sick and tired of athletes of all kinds loading up the bar without owning every inch of their depth into the hole of the squat. Think crossfit athletes with an ass that falls to the ground 2x speed after half a squat. Cal Dietz and the whole triphasic crew has done a absolutely fantastic job at breaking down the importance of eccentric variability in regards to athletic development. I strongly encourage you to check that shit out if becoming a more explosive athlete is what you’re in to. Either way, for strength gain, kinesthetic awareness, hypertrophy gains, and overall squat development, give these bad boys a try.

8.) The Kettlebell Goblet Squat With Lowering – This exercise was one that I stole from one of my former strength coaches, Tony Gentilcore.  I love the two part component of this exercise, and I admittedly didn’t give it enough credit until I implemented them into my programming for a month. Once you really slow this exercise down, a couple of amazing things happen. For starters, you get to hang out at the bottom of your perfectly executed squat for a little while. This provides a ton of benefit in and of itself, but then you throw in the controlled kettlebell lowering, and your abs start working overtime. In a very similar fashion to the pulse, you put the weight further away from you center, forcing your whole body to resist the weight pulling you off line.

9.) The Kettlebell Goblet Squat With Pulse – This is an exercise that can be performed with either a light kettlebell or a 2.5-10lb plate. This is a fantastic variation that tends to be a perfect warmup or pre-work squat variation to prep for bigger loads. The stop at the bottom allows you to begin getting comfortable staying down there, in addition to owning the other variable, which is moving the load away from the body. Basically you are planking and squatting at the same time. What more could you want to get you want out of your pre-squat routine? I love programming this in for folks who aren’t natural squatters, but have the awareness, the stability, and the mobility to get down in this position after getting their body temp ramped up. Throw these in if you need more anterior core stability or want to feel yourself own that bottom position even more.

10.) The Goblet Squat to a Box – This is another excellent teaching tool to program into you or your clients beoginner progarams to identify appropriate depth. Often times you’ll have situations where you or your student has the capability to achieve and perform proper squats, yet the lack the body awareness to understand where they should start owning the bottom portion. A box around parallel will add that often needed external component to make you comfortable understanding where “ideal” is for you. Everyone is a tad different, but around parallel is a good place to start with the goblet squat to the box.

11.) The Stability Ball Goblet Squat – This was another movement that came out of the necessity for adaptation in a client that was weak and lacked the strength/body awareness to achieve proper squat depth. This variation has become a valuable tool for me in coaching the elderly and sedentary population who have father time and gravity working against their strength/mobility, and also present neurological perceived threat which stops them from moving into this depth just out of the blue. I love loading this variation with beginners who are almost ready for the elevated goblet box squat, but need to overcome some neurological hurdles to become comfortable with lower and lower depth. The stability ball provides a cushion and a failsafe component that tends to provide an extra push back up into the concentric portion of the exercise. For this reason, I give this to beginner clients who are new to exercise or have limitations that prevent optimal motion to perform the squat.

There we have it. The goblet squat displayed in 11 different ways. If you have any questions, ask us in the comments section below.

Also,

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Aerobic Specificity For Baseball by Pat Davidson

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Part 1: Baseball Physical Preparation: Oxidative Fitness for Baseball by Pat Davidson

Many high level baseball players report feeling winded during the game in the early season.

When the lights go on and things matter, those initial games can feel like it’s the first time you’ve ever played baseball, even for high level players. Reducing this sensation would lead to a greater sense of control and comfort for baseball players during the initial part of the season and may translate over to improved performance.

With this concept in mind, this article will focus on some practical training recommendations that baseball players can use to prepare for the first games of the season towards the tail end of the pre-season preparation phase.

Specificity Demands

Baseball is a tricky game to make general statements about because of the specific demand differences associated with outfielders, infielders, catchers, and pitchers. Even within the infield itself, the demands faced by a middle infielder are highly different from that of a first baseman.

Despite this, there are general demands and abilities that are shared amongst all players. Acceleration, deceleration, changing direction, and throwing are the actions shared by all players on the field, as is hitting, with the exception of American League pitchers.

The ability to perform the locomotion associated actions of baseball, batting, and throwing are all triplanar activities that require one side of the body to perform the reciprocal activities of the other side of the body. When you run, one side of the lower body has to engage in stance (ground contact) while the other side goes through swing. When you throw, one arm reaches forward during the initial portion of the action while the other side cocks.

The more different the left side of your body can behave from the right side of your body during these actions, the more optimal the biomechanics associated with the sporting action.

The only way you can get the two sides of the body to behave drastically different from one another is through possessing a pelvis and rib cage that can move optimally through all three planes and dissociate from each other as well. When the pelvis can move independently from the rib cage and vice versa, and each is capable of moving in any direction, the biomechanical foundation for baseball sporting actions is set, and easy power from the athlete with minimal joint stress can be displayed.

Being able to perform these baseball specific actions repeatedly comes down to fitness levels of the athlete. Fitness levels are largely associated with the baseball player being able to possess a robust phosphagenic and aerobic system, specifically in the tissues associated with powering baseball movements.

Why Aerobic Specificity Matters

One of the foundational studies in exercise physiology came from Dr. McArdle at Queens College.

McArdle tested the aerobic fitness levels of people on a treadmill. He then had the subjects train in a pool with, “vigorous swimming.” After weeks of swim training, McArdle put the subjects back on the treadmill and found no improvement in running fitness. McArdle concluded that you must train the running muscles in the action of running to see an improvement in running fitness.

The subjects in this study demonstrated the central adaptations associated with aerobic fitness improvements. Blood volume and ventricular chamber size both increased, demonstrating that the subjects could pump out more blood to the body during exercise, but the ability to perform the specific task of running was unaltered because the muscles never made any changes. This study helped physiologists come to the conclusion that specificity is a guiding principle of training, and that without training exactly the actions that you’re required to do in your sport, no transfer of training to improved performance can be witnessed.

We need to appreciate that nothing except baseball practice can truly prepare you for baseball, but we also may be able to better prepare athletes for baseball practice through weight room oriented training.

Training is divided into two primary categories, which are general and specific. Specific training is playing the sport or practicing the sport you are involved in. General training is everything else. What we need to keep in mind is that these categories exist on a continuum, and that some general training methods live more towards the specific side of the graph than others.

Factors related to how close towards the specific side of the graph general training parameters methods exist in include the following:

  1. Energy system primarily focused on
  2. Muscles recruited
  3. Force vectors of the muscles
  4. Type of muscular action.

The more similar we can make these four variables to what will take place on the diamond, the more specific the general training can be.

Physiological Demands of Baseball

Baseball is a sport where the athlete relies on the phosphagen system to power the actions of batting, throwing, and sprinting that takes place during the game.

Following each burst of baseball activity, the athlete recovers and replenishes the substrates of the phosphagen system (ATP and Creatine Phosphate (CP)) via the aerobic system. The phosphagen system is a local energy system. The muscles that power swinging a bat break down ATP to power the action. Following the swing, ATP has to be reassembled so that it can be used as the energy currency to power the next swing. The phosphagen system and the aerobic system are the primary means by which the baseball player replenishes the ATP pool. The phosphagen system takes the phosphate from the creatine phosphate molecule and donates it to ADP to return it to its state as ATP. After creatine phosphate donates its phosphate to ADP, it must reaquire a new phosphate to be able to perform this action again. The free creatine travels to the mitochondria to pick up a new phosphate.

Mitochondrial density is associated with greater aerobic fitness. Possessing more mitochondria makes it easier for creatine to acquire new phosphate molecules to continue to power movements. Significant efforts, such as sprinting for over 5 seconds (which can take place after hitting a double or triple, or being involved in a run-down) can really cut into your creatine phosphate stores, and it takes several minutes to fully restock this system. The aerobic system is geared to perform this task. Training methods have to feature repeated phosphagen bursts as well as aerobic protocols to ensure that both of these systems are fit enough to continually supply the baseball player for 9 innings on the field.

Training Modalities

Muscles that move the rib cage and pelvis in the sagittal, frontal, and transverse planes simultaneously must be trained to prepare the specific muscles for baseball. The most common modalities used in training that accomplish this are running, throwing, and striking tasks. This means you’re probably going to have to do a lot of things involving repeat sprints, shuttle runs, plyometrics, med ball throws, and things like cable chops to attack baseball specific force vectors in your training as you move towards the season.

Baseball is a sport where the athlete uses all out efforts that are rhythmic and fluid in the game.

Teaching the athlete to display relaxation and rhythmicity while creating tremendous force production during these drills is paramount. Tensing and muscling up in your strategy will not prepare the athlete particularly well.

I would recommend using drop offs as the guide for determining how many sets to use. If you are doing repeat sprints of short distances, make sure the athlete is able to run at 95% of best speed. When the athlete cannot complete the distance in that time, they are done for the day. The goal should be to build up the number of repeat efforts the athlete can do with proper rest as you approach the season.

On days where the athlete is unable to demonstrate explosive efforts that are at or within 95% of their absolute best, rhythmic aerobic protocols should be used to both build the aerobic system and to facilitate recovery for the next explosive training session.

Use of the Omegawave, which can display, “windows of trainability” can help guide the coach on what days to employ explosive training and what days to back off and use aerobic methods.

Baseball is a sport where the athlete relies on ballistic muscle actions and the myotatic stretch reflex to power movements.

Ballistic movements are ones where agonist muscles create an initial burst phase to propel the body or object through space. After the burst phase, the antagonists break the limb as it approaches end range. Finally, as the movement is ending, the agonist muscle clamps the joint to finish the movement.

Ballistic muscle actions are distinct compared to non-ballistic actions. You must train in a ballistic manner to improve this muscle action.

Therefore the athlete must launch themselves off the ground, or launch objects through space to target this activity. Sprinting, jumping, and throwing will accomplish this ballistic element of training. The myotatic stretch reflex is a physiological phenomenon that increases the force production of a movement by what takes place after a muscle is pre-loaded with a stretch prior to firing it for propulsive purposes. Winding up and cocking provide a stretch before throwing and batting. Preparatory steps provide a stretch prior to sprinting or changing direction. Most baseball actions in some way involve this myotatic stretch reflex prior to the effort that will power the intended movement.

Stretch reflex activities are distinct from non-stretch reflex activities. There is no transfer of training from one to the other. There needs to be some bounce involved in the movements that baseball players are doing in training. Baseball is a sport where athletes rely on preparatory actions in the field and the base path to get a good jump, and where the body coils before it unleashes a devastating uncoiling to throw or hit.

The bounce and the coil are critical components to be able to feature in training prior to the season.

Good training is associated with good lifting, jumping, throwing, and running. Everybody does these things in training for the most part.

The thing that distinguishes the best from everybody else is the biomechanics used in training, and the way in which a good coach targets specific energy systems.

The little things matter when it comes to biomechanics. Good coaches know how to cue everything so that proper reciprocal actions and differentiation occur in baseball players during training. Without good cueing and biomechanics, the vectors will not be right to provide transfer of training and proper muscular recruitment.

Good coaches also know how to use proper work to rest ratios, how to increase workload over time, and how to train the right qualities on the right days. These are in depth topics that cannot be encapsulated in one article that spans 2,000 words. Getting to the heart of these matters takes many articles. The fundamental underlying premises must be elucidated first to spawn the next question regarding the small details pointed out to be important.

In this article, the most important concept to appreciate is that specificity is king. Specificity is a multi-dimensional, Cerebus like beast with energy systems, specific muscles, muscle actions, and directionality of muscular force production serving as its primary heads.

The art of coaching is the application of these specific principles to the individual athlete standing in front of you on a day to day basis. This art is the equivalent of hitting a moving target, which is essentially the essence of baseball. Breaking down the swing is something that takes minimal time to acquire as a skill, but a lifetime to master for the elite coach. The same could be said for the physical preparation for the athlete.

Long story long…there will certainly be more to come in this discussion. I hope this article has piqued your interest for more.

Now Read: Aerobic Work for Strength Athletes by Pat Davidson

About the Author : 

Pat Davidson is the current Director of Training Methodology at Peak Performance in New York City. He has a PhD in Exercise Physiology and is a competitive strongman in the 175 pound class who has finished in the top 10 at the North American Strongman (NAS) National Championships and has competed for the Amateur World Championships at the Arnold Classic in previous years. Pat has coached many strongman athletes, including multiple NAS National Champions in the 2014 calendar year. Pat bases his training methodology on his interpretation of block program design, and he relies on information from the Postural Restoration Institute (PRI) to guide him in his understanding of biomechanics and the strategies he utilizes to keep athletes feeling healthy and happy. You can contact Pat at pdpdavidson@gmail.com, as well as check out his awesome strength and conditioning program, MASS by clicking the link or picture here.

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