It's time for another live Q&A here at EricCressey.com! I figured that it's a great time to do this, as I'm currently snowed in! This is the view of my mailbox right now, in fact:
To get your questions answered, just post your inquiry in the comments section below, and I'll approve it and then reply.
My only rule is that your question must be limited to five sentences or less. I'll answer the first 25 that are posted, so please don't bother posting questions if you come to this post days, weeks, or months after it was originally posted.
With that said, head on down to the comments section below and ask away!
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Thanks to Greg Robins, here are this week's tips to make your nutrition strength and conditioning programs a bit more awesome.
1. Position your free hand in the correct place during unilateral upper body movements.
2. Improve exercise form by cueing spinal flexion, when appropriate.
In the following video I demonstrate a few exercises where spinal flexion is actually a good cue to keep people in better positions during the movement. It seems counter-intuitive, so what’s the deal?
First off, individuals may start of in a more extended posture. This is often the case with athletes, or really any active individuals. Therefore, cueing flexion brings you closer to neutral. This is something to which Eric devoted a lot of attention in Functional Stability Training.
As someone who is pretty extended, I often find that the appropriate positioning of my spine actually feels rounded over, or flexed. In reality, I am just less extended than usual. Try it out for yourself, and possibly try to grab a quick video so you can relate what you’re feeling to what it actually looks like. I think you will be surprised.
Second, certain exercises fit this description: They are inherently harder to execute without driving through back extension. Additionally, they are not loaded in such a way that erring on the side of being a little flexed is dangerous. With these movements, starting a bit flexed is helping, not hurting.
Third, many people who struggle with “anti-extension” exercises are simply unable to understand what should be kicking in to keep them in the right position. Taking these folks into a position of slight flexion helps them learn to use the abdominals. Before you knock it, try it out. You will find this cue gets most people to neutral, and in the cases where they remain slightly flexed you can gradually teach them to even out.
3. Pull through the floor when performing board and floor press variations.
Great benchers all have one thing in common: they use their lats well in their bench press technique. Using the lats to bench is tough to conceptualize, and even tougher to actualize when training. It was always a major issue for me, and held me back quite a bit. One great way to learn how to engage the lats is with the board press and floor press. When done the way I explain in this video you will be able to get some feed back on the “pulling” sensation you are looking for when lowering the bar. Give it a try!
4. Convert some of your favorite oils into sprays for cooking.
Most of us use oils to coat pans and dishes when cooking. One easy thing you can do to save a few calories, and dollars, is make spray bottles with your oils. It’s fairly easy to find BPA free spray bottles, or you can invest in a Misto, which is a cool little gadget too. I generally use a 3-to-1 ratio of the oil and water in my sprays and that seems to work well. You will notice right away that as little as 6oz of olive oil when converted to a spray bottle will last a LONG time! This means you save money and eliminate unnoticed calories from your diet. Too easy!
5. Consider this blueprint for being a good training partner.
I am lucky that over the past few years, I have had some really solid training partners. When you have a good team, you are always better than you could be alone. Unfortunately, my own schedule and location, has made it tough to keep a training partner around who is on the same page as me with their training. That aside, it got me thinking about what makes a great training partner. Give this a look and see where you can step your game.
Be consistent. Nothing is more important to your success in the gym, and nothing is more important to your training partner. SHOW UP, all the time.
Shut up and train. We all have better days than others, and your training partner doesn’t need to be dragged into some pity party you are hosting.
Coach more. Yelling things like “up!” is a giant waste of your training partner’s time. Unless he or she tends to forget which direction the bar is supposed to move, then take stock in learning what helps them. Talk technique with them, and yell out things that will make or break their lift
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Elite Training Mentorship - In this month's update, I contributed an in-service on scapulohumeral rhythm as well as a few articles and exercise demonstrations. There's also some great stuff from Vaughn Bethell and Tyler English, so check it out!
5 Keys to a Productive Bullpen Session - CP athlete Chad Rodgers wrote up this great blog that should be a "must-read" for all up-and-coming pitchers. Chad shares what he learned in the professional ranks after being drafted out of high school.
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At Cressey Sports Performance, we manage a ton of baseball players throughout the year. In doing so, we often notice trends - both good and bad - that emerge in the things they start applying on their own. Here are three warm-up mistakes I commonly see players making before they pick up a ball to throw:
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We all know that folks don't tend to do well in terms of health, movement quality, or performance when they spend their entire lives in the sagittal plane. They aren't as well prepared for life's surprises (e.g., slipping on the ice) or life's challenges (beer league softball fly balls to the gap). They often lack adductor length and have poor hip rotation, and compensate with injurious movement compensation strategies at the knee and lower back. This knowledge gave rise to a central tenet of the functional training era: multi-planar training.
Unfortunately, it's just just as simple as telling folks to train in all three planes, as there is a progression one must go through to stay healthy while reaping the benefits of these new exercises. I thought I'd outline my start-to-finish progression strategy.
1. Single-leg Exercises
To the naked eye, lunges, split squats, and step-ups are sagittal plane exercises. However, what you have to appreciate is that while you're training in the sagittal plane, you're actually doing a lot of stabilization in the frontal and transverse planes. It's important that you master these drills in the sagittal plane before you start experimenting with strength work in the frontal and transverse planes.
Progressions from basic dumbbell-at-the-side movements would be to raise the center of mass by using barbells or holding weights overhead. You could also wrap a band around the lower thigh and pull the knee into adduction and internal rotation to increase the challenge in the frontal and transverse planes.
2. Alternating Lateral Lunge with Overhead Reach
At the most basic level, you can work unloaded lateral lunge variations into your warm-up. They might be in place, or alternating. As soon as folks can handle them, though, I like to progress to including an overhead reach in order to challenge anterior core stability and raise the center of mass up away from the base of support a bit. This also gives folks a chance to work on their shoulder mobility and scapulohumeral rhythm.
For more variety on the warm-up front, check out the Assess and Correct DVD set; there are over 75 drills in there to take your mobility to a new level.
3. Plate-Loaded Slideboard Lateral Lunge
I like this as a starter progression because the plate out in front serves as a great counterbalance to allow folks to work on their hip hinge. Plus, there isn't a big deceleration challenge on the leg that's going through the most abduction range of motion; rather, the load is predominantly on the fixed leg, which is resisting excessive adduction (knee in).
Worthy of note: I never load this beyond 10 pounds, as folks tend to become kyphotic if the counterbalance is too heavy. You're better off loading with #3...
3. Dumbbell or Kettlebell Goblet Slideboard Lateral Lunge
By keeping the weight closer to the axis of rotation (hips) and minimizing the load the arms have to take on, we can load this up a bit without unfavorable compensations.
4. 1-arm Kettlebell Slideboard Lateral Lunges
This exercise builds on our previous example by adding an element of rotary stability. You'd hold it in the rack position (or go bottoms-up, if you want variety and an increased stability challenge at the shoulder girdle). I've tried this with the KB held on both sides, and it's a trivial difference in terms of the challenge created - so you can just use rotate them for variety.
5. Dumbbell (or Kettlebell) Goblet Lateral Lunge
You can load this sucker up pretty well once you're good at it. Just be cognizant of not getting too rounded over at the upper back.
6. In-Place Lateral Lunge with Band Overload
This is variation that we've just started implementing. The band increases eccentric overload in the frontal (and, to a lesser degree, transverse) plane, effectively pulling you "into" the hip. You have to fight against excessive adduction and internal rotation, and then "get out" of the hip against resistance. This is something every athlete encounters, whether it's in rotational power development or basic change-of-direction work.
As an added bonus, using a band actually provides an accommodating resistance scenario. Assuming the partner stays in the same position throughout the drill, the tension on the band is lightest when you're the weakest, and it's more challenging where you're stronger.
7. Side Sled Drags
Side sled drags are a great option for integrating some work outside the sagittal plane for folks who either a) aren't coordinated enough for lateral lunge variations or b) have some knee or hip issues that don't handle deceleration stress well. As you can see, the exercise is pretty much purely concentric. We'll usually use it as a third exercise on a lower body strength training day - and as you can see, it can offer some metabolic conditioning benefits as well.
Keep in mind that these are just strength development progressions; we use a different collection of exercises for training power in comparable positions. In our more advanced athletes, these drills will take place toward the end of a lower body training session - after we've already trained for strength in the sagittal plane, where we can load folks up better. That said, if an individual is new to lateral lunge variations, you may want to introduce them early on in the strength training session when they're fresh.
Have some fun with these exercise variations; I think you'll find them to be challenging in ways you haven't previously experienced. And, the soreness you'll experience will be all the proof you need!
If you need more direction in how to apply them in your strength and conditioning programs, be sure to check out The High Performance Handbook; they're included in all four phases of the programs.
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Courtesy of Greg Robins, here are this week's tips to make your nutrition strength and conditioning programs a bit more awesome.
1. Try some back extension isometric holds on the glute-ham raise.
2. Invest in a PVC dowel for your training.
Too often people break the bank to buy flashy gym equipment in their efforts to get results. Even more disappointing is the mass amounts of money gym owners spend on this equipment to lure people in. If you have visited CP before, then you probably noticed that we do just fine without a ton of flashy equipment. The truth is that you can meet all your goals with very little equipment. The missing ingredient is often YOU; the accessories don’t need to be fancy. For example, a PVC dowel will run you less than a few bucks!
So what can you do with this sucker? Take a look at this video where I will break down a sequence movements in less than three minutes that will have tremendous benefits to your health and fitness. In addition to these drills, a PVC dowel is something everyone should have at their disposal when teaching newcomers basic barbell lifts. It is a much better option (due to its weight) than starting off with an unloaded bar.
3. Consider breaking the mold when setting up intervals for fat loss.
If you ask most people how to set up rest to work intervals in a fat loss geared program, a common answer would be as follows: Beginners will need a ratio where they work less than they rest, and more advanced trainees will need the opposite. In many cases, this may be true. Surely people with longer training histories will be better conditioned. I want to challenge the norm in this scenario.
Often times, I try to see where I can pull principals from the more “Strength and Conditioning” side of the spectrum and apply them to the general population. You see, I am in a unique spot where I wear two hats: both programming for many athletes and for adult boot camp classes. There is a saying in the S&C community that goes: “It’s much easier to get someone who is fast in shape, than it is to make someone who is in shape, fast.” Without getting into too much detail, here is how we can use this concept to alter our interval set up.
Many times the general fitness trainee will not understand or have the ability to push himself. Furthermore, he won’t be capable of very high outputs. Therefore, setting up an interval scheme where the work interval is 1/3 or more of the rest interval will be less productive in my experience than something closer to even or less. Yes, you can make the argument that we would be training completely different energy systems, but I can assure you that following an inverted approach to the norm will get you better results. So how would this break down?
Beginners: Work equal or more than they rest: this way they move more, work harder, and build work capacity. Their outputs are generally low and they need a base of “conditioning.” Moving more will be more productive for fat loss at this time.
Advanced: Work less than they rest: at this point they’re capable of higher outputs and you will get better efforts each work interval when you allow them to recover. Fostering better quality work intervals will be more productive for fat loss at this time.
Intermediate: A combination of both: switch the intervals from a more “advanced” set up to a more “beginner” template during the same training session. Additionally, place an emphasis on coaching them to work harder in short work interval scenarios.
Obviously this doesn’t pan out for every population, and can’t be viewed as a rule of thumb, by any means. For those of you running group classes, or wondering how to set up your own training, this approach will work very well.
4. Try these two great eccentric-less “pulling” conditioning options.
In past posts, I have talked about the benefits of using exercise choices that are eccentric-less. They are especially useful on “off” days where you may be performing supplemental conditioning work. Unfortunately, many of the staple exercise choices (e.g., med ball throws and sled pushes) would be considered “pushes.” Here are two ways I incorporate pulling variations into my conditioning workouts while minimizing eccentric stress.
5. Use coconut butter as a binder when making low carb protein bars.
If you have attempted to make non-bake protein bars, then I know you have struggled with two big problems. One, the binders for which they call - honey, agave nectar, etc. - for are high in carbohydrates. Two, they don't bind well! Often, they lose their shape and mostly fall apart.
Recently, I stumbled upon a great solution. Here's the short story. I start every day off with a short fast. When I break the fast, I tend to begin the day with a healthy fat, fish oil, greens powder, and vitamin D. For the longest time, my fat of choice was coconut oil. Lately, I have been using coconut butter instead. It tastes better, and I like the consistency. In the morning, I will warm up the jar, mix the butter and separated oil back together and place two TBSP in a tiny tupperware container. By the time I go to eat it, the butter has fully hardened, and I can pop it out of the tupperware and eat it like a piece of white chocolate (which is also awesome!). This led me to try the following and it works great!
a. Place 3TBSP of coconut butter (warm and liquified) into a "mini bread" or protein bar sized dish (you can make one from tin foil if needed).
b. Mix in a little bit of protein powder and some finely chopped nuts.
c. Place in fridge until hardened
d. Unwrap, and EAT!
It's seriously that easy. You can add things like oats, berries, cocoa nibs, etc. The coconut butter binder works perfectly as long as you keep the bars in a cool dry place.
On a related note, if you're looking for additional protein bar recipes, I'd strongly recommend you check out Anabolic Cooking by Dave Ruel; he has several that are fantastic.
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