7 Weeks to 7 Pounds of Lean Mass and 7 Miles Per Hour

Written on October 27, 2011 at 7:43 am, by Eric Cressey

I’ve received a lot of inquiries on whether or not Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look, Feel, and Move Better is an appropriate strength and conditioning program for baseball players.  In fact, I even devoted an entire blog post to it a while back: Show and Go for Baseball Strength and Conditioning.

That said, if you were on the fence, check out this feedback I received from the father of a college pitcher who took a shot on Show and Go this past summer:

“Eric,

“Just wanted to shoot you a breakdown on how my college son took to your Show and Go program with some modifications for baseball specificity. He followed your strength and conditioning program to the “T” and this is where he is after the first seven weeks:

May 16 – Start
Bodyweight: 163lbs
Body fat: 10.0%
Lean mass: 146.68 lbs

July 7 (52 days later)
Bodyweight: 169lbs
Body fat: 9.25%
Lean mass: 153.3 lbs

-Front squat for reps went from 155 lbs to 235 lbs for reps
-Deadlift went from about 205 for reps to 335 for a single
-Dumbbell bench presses for reps went from 55lb dumbbells to 80lb dumbbells

“To me, an untrained eye, it looks like this is great progress and he measurably benefited from it! He looks pretty damn good, too.

“He is about to return for his senior year as a starting left-handed pitcher and plans to continue this workout routine for the entirety of the 16 weeks. We used the Alan Jaeger long toss throwing program and mechanical training from Paul Reddick and Brent Strom and his velocity improved from 78mph to 84-85mph and his breaking stuff are now plus pitches. In my opinion, none of this would have happened your strength training program and mobility drills that allowed him to physically carry his momentum down the bump longer. All-in-all, it was a very productive summer; thanks!”

-Darrell Drake

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Weight Training Programs: Don’t Major in the Minutia

Written on October 23, 2011 at 6:09 pm, by Eric Cressey

Last night, I was on my laptop searching for an old weight training program I’d written up a while back, and I accidentally stumbled upon some written goals of mine from back in 2003.  Based on the “Created on” date in Microsoft Excel, I had written them up in the spring of my senior year of college.

On one hand, I was proud of myself for – at age 22 – knowing enough to write down the goals that I wanted to achieve.  On the other hand, I have to laugh about just how out-of-whack my priorities were.

You see, I’d listed loads of strength, body weight, and body fat percentage goals first and foremost.  In fact, there were 41 rows worth of performance and physique goals; hard to believe that ladies weren’t lining up to date this Type A stallion, huh?  Can you say neurotic?  I was like this guy, but with better eyesight and a decent deadlift.

That’s just self-deprecating humor, though.  What was actually really sad was how distorted my perception of reality really was, as rows 42-46 consisted of the following:

42. Resolve shoulder pain.
43. Get rid of lower back tightness.
44. Get accepted to graduate school.
45. Get a graduate assistantship in research or coaching.
46. Have 3-4 articles published.

At the time, I was coming off a lower back “tweak” while deadlifting, but more problematic was my right shoulder, which hurt so much that it kept me up at night and negatively affected not only my training, but my everyday life.  It was an old tennis injury from high school that just kept getting worse and worse.

Likewise, I hadn’t gotten word on whether or not I’d been accepted to graduate school, so I was up in the air on whether I needed to start looking for jobs for after graduation, or whether I’d end up moving south to enroll at the University of Connecticut.

Finally, I’d just had my first article published, and there was some momentum in place on which I could build a successful writing career.

In other words, I was in pain, unsure about where I’d be living in two months, potentially without a job, and all but ignoring a potentially career-changing opportunity – yet I managed to list 41 performance and physique goals more important than any of these concerns.  Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs was clearly buried under all the bullshit I had convinced myself was important.  They made signs like this for guys like me.

Maybe it was the acceptance phone call from my future advisor at the UCONN; the experience of moving to a new area and being out on my own; interaction with a lot of highly-motivated, career-oriented people and successful athletes; the natural maturation process; or a combination of all these factors, but I got my act together that fall and figured out my priorities.  That fall, I read everything I could get my hands on to get rid of the pain in my shoulder (canceled an impending surgery) and lower back.  I put in 70 hour weeks among classes, volunteering in the varsity weight rooms and human performance lab, and personal training and bartending on the side.  I published my first article at T-Nation and in Men’s Fitness.  In short, I grew the hell up and stopped losing sleep over whether I’d remembered to take my forearm circumference measurements on the third Tuesday of the month.

Some folks might think that this shift in my priorities interfered with my training progress, but in reality, the opposite was true.  In that first year of graduate school, I put over 100 pounds on both my squat and deadlift and 40 pounds on my bench press – and did so pain-free, which made training even more enjoyable.  I learned a ton about the importance of training environment as I lifted around athletes and other coaches in the varsity weight rooms, and even caught the powerlifting bug, competing for the first time in June of 2004.  I even won a few trophies absurdly large trophies that wildly overstated my accomplishments.

In short, when I stopped majoring in the minutia and clearly defined the priorities that were important to me – being pain-free, enjoying training, and seeing it as a means of becoming better in a profession that I loved – a world of opportunities opened up for me.  And, surprisingly, some of the “old” priority goals were easier to attain because I didn’t force them or put as much pressure on myself.

That was almost a decade years ago, and I’ve had to make similar reevaluations of my priorities since that time, from opening a business, to proposing to my wife, to buying a house, to getting a puppy, to hiring employees, to working with charities.  There are some priorities that will always remain for me, though; strength and conditioning has to be fun, and it has to improve my quality of life, not take away from it. These are values that are reflected in the weight training programs that I write, too.

To that end, how have your priorities changed over your training career?  And, how have these changes impacted your progress in the gym?

Related Posts
Weight Training Programs: You Can’t Just Keep Adding
Lifting Weights vs. Corrective Exercise in Strength Training Programs

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Strength Training Program Success: How Dr. P Did at 47 What He Couldn’t Do at 20 or 30

Written on August 15, 2011 at 7:08 am, by Eric Cressey

Last May, my buddy Dave Jack put me in touch with a local chiropractic neurologist, Dr. Peter Percuoco.  I was still somewhat new to Hudson, MA – and “Dr. P” was a resource that Dave thought would be a great addition to our corner.  In his exact words, “Wait until you start to drill down inside this guy’s brain…be prepared to go there, EC!”

Dr. P and I met up the following week, and sure he enough, he more than lived up to Dave’s flattering description – and he’s become an excellent clinical resource for us to this day.

What I didn’t expect to learn, that day, is that he was ready to piss some excellence by becoming a client at Cressey Performance.

Though an accomplished high school and college football quarterback back in the day, Dr. P had – like many folks in the health and human performance industry do – put everyone else’s needs ahead of his own, and it had taken a toll on his body.  He was ready to change that, though – and that’s exactly what he did.

Over the past 10.5 months, Peter has completely changed his body.  In fact, the transformation has been so impressive that we have gotten quite a few of his patients and friends at CP simply because they’ve seen what it’s done to not just his body, but his energy levels, athleticism, and overall quality of life.  I’d argue that Dr. P was already pissing some serious excellence when he first started at CP – but we unleashed a firehose of excellence pissing.  Literally every time I see him, I regret not taking “before” pictures when he first started up.

Transformation aside, Peter confided in me about ten weeks ago that it had been a lifelong goal to bench 315.  He’d tried for years to do it while playing football, and only cracked 300 once – and that was at the age of 30 after years of consistent weight training.  Now 47, he wanted to know if I thought it was a legitimate goal – and if I could help him to get it.

Now, anybody who reads EricCressey.com regularly knows that I love a project – and so we embarked on a bench press specialization after testing his one-repetition maximum at 285 back in early June.  This was Saturday (roughly eight weeks later):

A 30-pound increase in a bench press with no change in body weight in under eight weeks is a serious accomplishment – but doing it at the age of 47 makes you a freakin’ rockstar in my book.

What can you learn from Dr. P’s success?  A lot!  Here are the primary things that come to mind for me when I think about why he finally hit his goal:

1. He made time instead of finding time – We know that Dr. P is going to be at Cressey Performance at 12pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday.  He blocks it off in his schedule at work months in advance.  For a guy who has a wife and two kids, a thriving business, it would be very easy to just find time to get to the gym.  It was important to him, so he made time for it.

2. He recognized that there was always something he could do to get better – From hands-on treatment of patients, strength training, and yard work, Dr. P has somewhat of a chronic golfer’s elbow condition that we’ve worked around on and off during his training at CP.  Many folks would simply skip the gym entirely until something like that resolved – and with a chronic condition like this, it could be months or even years to get symptomatic relief (if you do at all).  Instead, Dr. P and I collaborated on strength training programs and specific strength exercises that would allow him to maintain a training effect without exacerbating his symptoms.  There was no pity party.

3. He didn’t try to ride multiple horses with one saddle – Here’s a shocker: when it came time to make a run at this bench press goal, we wrote up a bench press specialization program geared toward not only increased upper body volume, but a specific attention to his weaknesses. It constantly amazes me how people will state their specific goal, but not change their training program to focus on it.  Specific results come from specific actions, not doing everything under the sun and keeping your fingers crossed.

4. He found what worked best for him – A big mistake I see in up-and-coming lifters is that they try to conform strictly to one training or learning system.  As you can tell from the video editing above, Dr. P’s very technologically inclined – and he used that to his advantage by using video with his iPhone during training to tinker with his strength training technique.  Others might not like video, but they may prefer a specific hand-off person on the bench, a certain kind of music, a specific warm-up protocol, or particular strength exercises to bring up weaknesses.  One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, so you have to put in the time to find the strategies that help you the most.

5. He got in a great environment – During the winter, Dr. P’s training time coincides with our professional baseball guys, and at this time of year, he’s surrounded by a lot stud college athletes.  There’s no choice but to push yourself when you’re surrounded by guys who won’t let each other slack.

6. He told others about his goals - Our entire staff and many of our regular clients knew about Dr. P’s 315 bench press goal.  There’s something to be said for making yourself accountable to a goal by telling those around you about it.  You increase the likelihood that they’ll bring it up, constantly refocusing you on the task at hand – and you also have a built-in support network that will encourage you every step of the way.  A 30-pound bench press increase seems less daunting when you’ve got 30 people pulling for you. Plus, the immediately post-lift celebration (which unfortunately wasn’t caught on camera) becomes all the more epic.

These are just a few examples specific to Dr. P’s case, but there are surely many more success secrets my readers have used to accomplish lifelong goals.  Please share some more ideas in the comments section!

Congratulations, Dr. P!

Need some structure n your strength training program to help you closer to your goals? Check out Show and Go High Performance Training to Look, Feel, and Move Better.

How to Deadlift: Which Variation is Right for You? – Part 2 (Sumo Deadlift)

Written on May 4, 2011 at 8:33 am, by Eric Cressey

In the first installment of this series, I talked about the conventional deadlift and how it’s the most advanced progression in the “deadlift spectrum” for most folks.  Today, our focus will be another great strength exercise: the sumo deadlift.

I like the sumo deadlift quite a bit for those who aren’t quite mobile enough to get all the way down to the bar for conventional deadlifts from the floor.  It’s also grown in popularity among powerlifters over the years because it shortens the distance the bar has to travel and also (as a general rule of thumb) allows lifters to get more out of their deadlift (or squat) suits when pulling.  I find that it’s particularly common among the guys who are built to squat and bench press because of shorter arms and legs but longer torsos because they don’t have to get down so low (via hip flexion and dorsiflexion) to grasp the bar.

By bringing the feet a bit wider (abducting the hips) and turning the toes out a bit (externally rotating the hips), a lot of folks can get to “depth” much easier and ensure that they can pull with a neutral spine.  This is probably one reason why those with more retroverted hips inevitably resort to sumo deadlifts after failing miserably with trying to pull conventional-style; they’re just more comfortable with the hips externally rotated a bit.  So, if you’re someone who always walks with the toes pointed out, there’s a good chance that sumo deadlifts are going to be safer for you than conventional pulling.

That said, when discussing sumo deadlifts, I have just two concerns.

First, I think that they need to be cycled in and out of one’s strength and conditioning program relatively frequently, especially if you use an ultra-wide stance.  Deadlifting sumo-style for more than eight weeks straight is a recipe for hip irritation – especially if you’re someone who is doing a fair amount of squatting in the same strength training programs.  It’s one reason why I prefer a more “moderate” stance width for sumo deadlifts.

Second, the biggest sumo deadlift technique mistake I see is lifters trying to squat the weight up and down.  When the hips start too low – and then the hips and knees extend at the same rate – the knees aren’t extended enough when the bar gets to them.  The only way that the bar can continue its upward path is to either go around the shins (which is accomplished by rounding the back to move the bar away from the body) or get dragged along the shins. If your back hurts or you have blood all over the bar and scabs on your shins, you’re probably doing something wrong.

If conventional-style is the most advanced variation of the deadlift out there, sumo deadlifts are likely the first “regression” down, as they allow you to perform the exercise with less hip and ankle mobility, and they also ensure that the bar is starting a bit closer to the primary axis of rotation (the hips), as the femur is flexed and abducted and not just flexed.

Our next installment – the trap bar deadlift – will wrap this series up.  In the meantime, in case you missed it, enter your name and email below to receive a free 9-minute deadlift technique video.

Show and Go Training Review: The Way to Get Strong!

Written on November 30, 2010 at 6:36 am, by Eric Cressey

There’s been a lot of buzz about my new strength and conditioning program, Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look, Feel, and Move Better, lately.

While this digital resource has been used by folks of all walks of life for everything from fat loss to athletic performance training , in light of an email I received the other day from my buddy, Kevin Neeld, I thought I’d highlight the strength increases aspect of things.  Kevin is director of athletic development at a strength and conditioning facility in Sewell, NJ – and I sent him an advanced copy of Show and Go.  Here’s what he sent me the other day:

“Eric, I wanted to let you know that I put our whole staff on your Show and Go program and the result [after just a month] has been:

Matt Siniscalchi-405 x 5 (Personal Record)

David Lasnier-385×5 (Personal Record)

Kevin Neeld-425 x 5 (Personal Record)

“I also front squatted 285 for 3, which is pretty good for me. Turns out your programs work! I’ve been pumping Show and Go‘s tires a lot around here since you launched it. Hopefully the program is getting the attention it deserves.”

Then, a day later, a few days later, I got another email:

“We just did the front squat 1RM test; here were some results:

David Lasnier – Front Squat (295 – PR)

Kevin Neeld – Front Squat (315 – PR)

“You should also know that David and I both tied/set PRs during our 1-RM bench press test too…but we were both SO sore from the previous upper-body lift that we didn’t even bother shooting film. I think we’ll both beat our previous bests by 10-15lbs in a couple weeks when you have the next 1RM built in.  Thanks!”

So, don’t miss out on the great opportunity to get strong with Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look, Feel, and Move Better.

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How to Select a Weight to Use in a Resistance Training Program

Written on November 11, 2010 at 12:30 am, by Eric Cressey

The question of what weight to use in a resistance training program comes up very commonly not only among beginners, but also intermediate and experienced lifters.  So, when I got this question from a reader recently, it gave me the kick in the pants I needed to cover this in a detailed write-up.

Q: I have a question about how to select weights to use within programs like yours that may fluctuate the sets and reps from week to week.  For example, if it’s 4×3 in week 1, 4×2 in week 2, 4×4 in week 3, and 3×3 in week 4, are there are certain percentages that I can use based off my one-rep max?  This would make it easier to know exactly what weight to use each week.

A: Rather than reinvent the wheel, I’m going to paraphrase a bit from chapter 2 of the Show and Go main guide. Let me preface this explanation by saying that the goal of all my programs – and indeed any good strength and conditioning program – is to get stronger. And, I fully expect you to do so.

Now, if that’s the case, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to select what weight to use based on percentages of one-rep maxes that were taken before the program even began. By the time you get to phases 2, 3, and 4, you aren’t going to have sufficient overload to make optimal progress.

So, to that end, I rarely assign training percentages. All sets should be to one rep shy of failure; basically, go hard but never attempt a rep that you won’t complete on your own. Each session should be somewhat of a test of your new strength as you work up to heavier loads and listen to your body along the way.

As a frame of reference, on your first (main) exercise(s), just work up to your heaviest set of the day (in perfect form, of course), and then find 90% of it. Anything you did above that 90% number “counts” as a set. Anything done before it is a warm-up. So, imagine you had 4 set of 3 reps planned on the bench press, and you worked up to 300 on you heaviest set using the following progression:

Set 1: 45×8
Set 2: 135×5
Set 3: 185×3
Set 4: 225×3
Set 5: 275×3
Set 6: 295×3
Set 7: 300×3

That puts you at three sets (275, 295, and 300) above 90% of your heaviest load for the day (300). So, to get a fourth set in, you just need to get one more set somewhere between 270 (90%) and 300 (100%). By the next week, this 90-100% range may have shifted up by 5-10 pounds, so you have to accommodate it – and prescribing percentages on an old one-rep-max just doesn’t do the job justice.

It really doesn’t matter what rep range is in question – whether you’re doing heavy singles or a 5×5 workout.  You can really apply it to just about every set in every training session when you’re wondering what weight to use.

For more information, check out Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look, Feel, and Move Better.

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Alex Maroko’s Readers: How to Create a Real Strength and Conditioning Program

Written on October 20, 2010 at 5:01 am, by Eric Cressey

Because Alex Maroko is a good buddy of mine, I decided to make this webinar available to you at absolutely no cost. If you want to learn about the thought process behind each strength and conditioning program I write – for athletes that range from baseball players, to basketball stars, to professional boxers, to Olympic bobsledders – then look no further.

If You Read Alex’s Daily Emails, Use His Special Show and Go Half-Off Discount Link Below Today for Big Savings!

Click Here to Learn More About Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look, Feel, and Move Better

Wednesday Randomness: Back in Action!

Written on October 6, 2010 at 9:02 am, by Eric Cressey

1. I’m happy to report that I not only survived our wedding festivities, but that Anna actually said “I do” (actually, “I will”).  Kidding aside, it was – without a doubt – the single best weekend of my life; we had an absolute blast.

2. For those who are wondering, I did, in fact, eat the cake (actually, I ate a lot more than just cake; we had a sweet buffet):

3. Speaking of cakes, my fiancee wife had an extra one made in the shape of a dumbbell with our initials on it.  We’re both bummed that we never had a chance to try a piece, but at least it looked great – and hopefully some people enjoyed their slices.

Enough with the wedding stuff, as these aren’t even the wedding photographers pictures – and you are probably more interested in me talking about lifting heavy stuff and the like!

4. Brian St. Pierre – who happened to be in attendance at the wedding (like that transitional material?) – just had a great article published at T-Nation that I think you’ll really like: 10 Forgotten Muscle Building Foods.

5. A while back, I contributed on an article by Bret Contreras – and it was just published yesterday.  Check it out: The Best Assistance Exercises for the Three Big Powerlifts.  It’s a good one if you are wondering which strength exercises will have the most carryover to squat, bench press, and deadlift.

6. I have an AWESOME interview lined up with Kelly Baggett for later this week.  Kelly and I go back quite a few years, and he’s one of those guys that I always learn something from when we connect.  If you are interested in athletic performance improvements, he is a great guy from whom to learn.  He actually did a interview at this site a while back, if you want to check them out:

Baggett of Tricks: An Interview with Kelly Baggett: Part 1
Baggett of Tricks: An Interview with Kelly Baggett: Part 2

Kelly recently collaborated with Alex Maroko on a product called The Truth About Quickness, and it came out really well.

7. Last, but not least, if you are a Red Sox fan (or any sports fan, for that matter) and didn’t see this on ESPN last night, you missed an awesome hour of television.  I had goosebumps the entire time.

You can find TV listings for its replay HERE.

Sorry for not having any unique “EC content” for you today, but we’re doing all sorts of post-wedding stuff – from unpacking, to writing thank you notes, to

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Scientific Proof: Why So Many People Squat 600lbs on the Internet

Written on July 29, 2010 at 6:30 am, by Eric Cressey

I came across the abstract for this interesting Australian study the other day: Actual versus perceived lifting ability in healthy young men (18-25 years).

Basically, researchers compared what men under the age of 25 SAID they could lift with what they actually COULD lift when tested.  According to the researchers, “One third of subjects were able to accurately self-report their lifting performance, approximately one-third underestimated, and the remaining third overestimated their lifting ability.”

So, out of every three people, we have one person who is pretty even-keeled and honest with himself about his physical abilities.

And, we have another who is either a) intimidated and doesn’t think he can do it or b) lazy and unwilling to “do it.”

Finally,we have everyone’s favorite: the tough guy who talks a big game.  These are the guys who sit behind their keyboards claiming to squat 500 pounds – or bench 400, or throw 95mph fastballs.  However, nobody every witnesses it.  They have big balls on the internet.

How many times have you walked into a commercial gym and seen a 400-pound bench press?  I think I’ve seen it once – and the guy weighed about 330 pounds.

How about a legitimate 600-pound squat?  I’ve never seen it in a commercial gym, only a few times without a squat-suit in hardcore powerlifting gyms, and only twice college weight rooms in my life.

And, I’m certainly not seeing 95mph fastballs at every high school baseball game.  In fact, as I recall reading last year, there are only about eight pitchers in all of Major League Baseball who have consistent 95+mph fastballs.  Maybe the rest of the pros need to spend more time on the internet to be able to throw baseballs faster?

However, go on to any internet forum – whether it’s for lifting or pitching – and you’ll come across all this hidden talent that is yearning to be discovered.  Sorry, folks, but you’re the 1/3 of people I referenced above.  Put up or shut up.  I’d actually say that this 33% figure also applies to baseball fathers; about one in three is CONVINCED that his kid is much better than Junior really is.

Finally, as an interesting little aside, ever wonder why nobody ever lies about their deadlift numbers?

I have to assume that it’s because the deadlift is a pretty “yes or no” exercise.  You either can or can’t pick something heavy up off the floor.  It’s not like a squat or bench press, where you can shorten the range of motion and instantly improve your numbers.

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Crazy Dads and Kids Who Throw Cheddar
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A More Than Satisfied Female Customer

Written on July 16, 2010 at 5:05 am, by Eric Cressey

I have to admit: when I first saw this subject line for an email, my mind was a bit in the gutter!

However, as it turns out, it was an awesome review of the Maximum Strength program from a female exercise enthusiast who had undertaken the program from start to finish.  Check out what she had to say:

“My name is Alison Minton, I’m a 25 year old ‘recreational’ lifter.  I was given your book, Maximum Strength, about 5 months ago by a friend at my gym (who happens to be one of your guniea pigs for your next project).  I just finished the program today and I wanted to share my thoughts with you.  A little background: former avid runner, sidelined by unsuccessful bilateral fasciotomies for compartment syndrome in my lower legs 3 years ago, which lead me to really hit the weights.  My workout routines were getting pretty stale in the last year or so and I was getting frustrated and bored from circuit after circuit of moderately heaving lifting.  I had exhausted everything I knew from years of reading about fitness/running/lifting and realized every female fitness magazine I received was going straight to the trash.   I begged my friend at the gym for help and he gave me your book for guidance.  I’ve since read your and Tony Gentilcore’s blogs religiously!

“I know you have gotten tons of very well deserved feedback by satisfied guys who have read the book/complete the program.  I wanted to write to you because when I was thinking about starting it, I searched high and low for any information about women doing the program, and I found very minimal material in the way of feedback, tips or special considerations (if there even are any).  Even after that, I figured, what the heck, if some random guy at the gym can do this, then so can I!  So, I had my friend help me with packing day and the rest is history!  I absolutely loved the program, stuck to it like glue and got some decent results:

Broad Jump: 72 inches –> 78 inches
Bench Press: 100 lbs –> 115 lbs
3 RM Chin Up: BW + 7.5 lbs –> BW+17.5 lbs
Deadlift: 175 lbs–> 190 lbs
Box Squat: 130 lbs –> 135 lbs

“I would loved to see the DL and squat go up a little more, but I did do a bit more cardio than prescribed (in the form of sprints and technique workouts, mostly) and wonder if that hindered me a bit.  My body composition also changed significantly for the better and my before and after pics totally rocked.

“Just wanted to tell you that as a female ‘lifter’ I loved your program and the ideas/concepts that come out of the CP team blogs.  I would LOVE to see a little more encouragement to all the ladies out there!  It didn’t intimidate me to find minimal feedback regarding women attempting Maximum Strength, but some women need a little more persuasion to get over the apprehension of starting a program in a book geared towards men.

“Definitely looking forwards to your next book/program!  Thanks again!”

-Alison Minton

Click here to purchase your copy of Maximum Strength for just $18.95.