The Best of 2011: Product Reviews

Written on December 27, 2011 at 4:54 am, by Eric Cressey

I’ve already featured the top articles at EricCressey.com from 2011, and now it’s time to highlight the top product reviews I did at this site in the last year.

1. Metabolic Cooking – This was the most popular product review I did on the year for a very simple reason: everybody needs to eat!  And, the folks reading this site prefer to eat “clean” – and Dave Ruel did a great job of making this easier and tastier with an outstanding recipe book to which I still refer every week.  I made two posts about the product:

Metabolic Cooking: Making it Easier to Eat Clean with Healthy Food Options
A Must-Try Recipe – and My Chubby 4th Grade Pics! (this is the best chicken fingers recipe in history; try it!)

2. Muscle Imbalances Revealed – Upper Body – This was the sequel to the popular lower-body product that was released by Rick Kaselj et al. in 2010.  I went through and highlighted each presenters contributions to the product via four posts:

Muscle Imbalances Revealed Review – Upper: Part 1 (Dean Somerset)
Muscle Imbalances Revealed Review – Upper: Part 2 (Dr. Jeff Cubos)
Muscle Imbalances Revealed Review – Upper: Part 3 (Tony Gentilcore and Rick Kaselj)

3. Lean Hybrid Muscle – As the review below will demonstrate, this program offered me a nice change of pace from my “normal” training when I needed to shake things up earlier this year.  It’s a nice follow-up to Show and Go.  Here’s my review:

How I’m Breaking Out of My Training Rut: The Lean Hybrid Muscle Strength and Conditioning Program

4. Post-Rehab Essentials – Based on the fact that Dean Somerset has now gotten two shout-outs in my top product reviews of 2011, you might think that I have somewhat of a man-crush on him.  The truth is that I think Dean relates complex terms in simple terms and “teaches” about as well as anyone in the fitness industry.  Check out this post that touches on why his product has merit:

4 Reasons You Must Understand Corrective Exercise and Post-Rehab Training

There were certainly some other great products I encountered this year, but these four reviews proved to be the most popular with my readers, based on hosting statistics.

We’ll be back soon with the top features of 2011.

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Corrective Exercise: Muscle Imbalances Revealed Review – Upper (Part 3)

Written on September 29, 2011 at 4:29 pm, by Eric Cressey

This marks the third and final installment of my review of Muscle Imbalances Revealed – Upper Body.  In case you missed the first two parts, be sure to check out Part 1 (Dean Somerset) and Part 2 (Jeff Cubos).  In this third installment, I’ll cover the contributions from Tony Gentilcore and Rick Kaselj.  For the record, me combining these two into one installment in no way reflects how I felt about their presentations; I am just getting ready to leave for my anniversary this weekend, and need to cover them both quickly before I head out!

Tony, as many of you know, is a long-time friend of mine and works with me at Cressey Performance – and I’ve been harassing him for years now to put out a product.  He’s a great coach whose ideas and skills deserve to be showcased to a larger audience, and I’m glad that he finally got around to putting his name on something!

That said, it was a little tougher to evaluate Tony because we literally spend so much time together that our brains are very “synced up” – meaning that it’d tough for him to throw something new at me that we haven’t already integrated at CP.  That said, some highlights of Tony’s presentation:

1. I think he did a good job of distinguishing between how we program both reactively and proactively for upper extremity issues at Cressey Performance.  How one trains someone with symptoms is, in many cases, remarkably different from that same individual would be trained in the absence of those symptoms – even if the same movement impairments are present.  This is a crucial area of understanding for trainers who may want to get more involved on the corrective exercise side of things.

2. Tony outlines some of our horizontal pulling and scapular stabilization progressions.  I think the biggest take home is understanding that different people need different progressions.  Some folks with completely imbalanced programs can thrive simply from going to loads more horizontal pulling.  Others may be doing plenty of horizontal pulling, but doing it incorrectly because they lack the appropriate recruitment patterns.  These folks need very targeted scapular stabilization drills to get the ideal “big bang” effect of rowing variations.  The low-level activation drills become the warm-ups to groove the movement patterns, and the horizontal (and vertical) pulling helps to make those patterns part of the bigger picture.

3. Above all else, I feel that the strongest value of Tony’s presentation is in the cues.  If you’re an up-and-coming coach and need to learn some excellent cues to get your clients/athletes to not just pick up movements, but pick them up optimally, then this is a great purchase for you.

4. Last, but certainly not least, Tony provides some sample programming templates to demonstrate how everything fits together in a comprehensive strength training program.  It’s one thing to hear about principles and theories, but another thing altogether to appreciate how they all fit together in a comprehensive strength and conditioning program.  He provides several examples in this regard that’ll help you get comfortable with piecing everything together.

Next up was Rick Kaselj, the man responsible for bringing all these minds together.

Here were some of my favorite points from Rick’s presentations:

1. People seem to think of clavicle as motionless.  In reality, from 0-90° abduction, you only need 5-10° of clavicular upward rotation.  From 90-180° of abduction, you need 20-25° of clavicular upward rotation.  This clavicular movement can be affected by the muscles that attach directly to it (pectoralis major) or by those that indirectly impact it (muscles attaching to the scapula and/or humerus).

Now, think about where most people with acromioclavicular joint pain wind up with symptoms during abduction: the final 30° – which is known as the painful arc.  Any surprise that the symptoms occur at the point where the most amount of clavicular upward rotation is needed?  Nope.

Keep in mind that poor clavicular positioning can also impact sternoclavicular joint function, too.  Double whammy, if you’re “stuck.”

2. Rick did a good job of showing the checks and balances that occur within the rotator cuff musculature.  Shirley Sahrmann has pointed it out in her work, but I think it gets overlooked.

The supraspinatus creates a compression force into glenoid fossa.  The subscapularis, teres minor, and infraspinatus produce an inferior directed translation force on the humeral head.  The infraspinatus and teres minor also externally rotate the humeral head in frontal plane so that the greater tubercle doesn’t clog up the subacromial space.

In other words, you get a pull in, down, and into the “right kind of rotation (external rotation increases the subacromial space, whereas internal rotation closes it down).

One point I’d add to strengthen Rick’s case even further is that the subscapularis also has a posterior pull on the humeral head.  Without adequate subscapularis function during internal rotation, the pectoralis major can take over and draw the humeral head forward, causing anterior joint capsule irritation.

3. Rick’s last presentation focused on the neck, a complex area to understand for most fitness professionals.  He started off by emphasizing to get neck issues checked out, as they can be very serious.  His presentation then emphasized training strategies to prevent neck pain and work around it if it’s present.  Accurately, Rick noted that some of the big players on this front were:

a) breathing – diaphragmatic or overuse of accessory respiratory muscles?

b) posture – forward head posture or neutral spine?

c) tissue quality

d) range of motion (particularly the thoracic spine)

e) strength (particularly the deep neck flexors)

f) scapular stability

g) rotator cuff function

Sometimes, the easiest way to address an issue (or prevent it) is to look at what happens a joint below (or above).  Of course, when you’re dealing with neck issues, always refer out to a qualified professional first.

This wraps up my three-part review of Muscle Imbalances Revealed – Upper Body.  As I’m sure you can tell by now, I’m a big fan of this resource and highly suggest you add it to your library.  Keep in mind that the $70 off discount for my readers only ends Friday at midnight, so don’t delay in picking up a copy if this is up your alley.  With the money-back guarantee Rick’s made available, you can’t go wrong.

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Corrective Exercise: Muscle Imbalances Revealed Review – Upper (Part 2)

Written on September 27, 2011 at 7:36 am, by Eric Cressey

This marks Part 2 of my write-up on Muscle Imbalances Revealed – Upper Body, a product that really impressed me.  In my first post, I highlighted some of Dean Somerset’s great contributions to the project, and today, I thought I’d bring to light seven more great corrective exercise lessons from another excellent presenter on this resource.

Dr. Jeff Cubos is an Alberta-based chiropractor with an outstanding skill set that not only encompasses his clinical work, but also an excellent ability to relate how what he does in the clinic applies to those in the strength and conditioning field.  This “dual proficiency” was readily apparent in his presentations, too.

Here were a few highlights:

1. From an alignment standpoint, you can envision the core like a house – where the diaphragm is the ceiling, and the pelvic floor is the floor.  Just like with the house, too, the ceiling and floor should be parallel.  Having an anterior pelvic tilt and rib flair dramatically alters this:

2. Good training to address this issue isn’t just about stretching hip flexors and activating glutes, though; it’s about retraining breathing, “owning” one’s breathing in various positions, and progressing that respiratory function (and, in turn, rib positioning) into more comprehensive strength exercises.

3. Jeff does the best job I’ve seen of discussing breathing drill progression – and how to sync them up with progressive strength training programs.  Just as importantly, though, he does a great job discussing the role of the diaphragm, utilizing an excellent video to show exactly how it works (as you watch it, be sure to check out how the right diaphragm attachment point is more prominent on the spine).  I’ve mentioned many times in the past in the blog about how we utilize breathing drills, and folks always want to know what they are.  Unfortunately, you can’t really just describe a breathing drill; you need to show it and add specific cues.  Jeff does exactly that.  Here’s a good excerpt on the assessment side of things, too:

4.  Dr. Cubos also discusses bits and pieces of both the Dynamic Neuromuscular Stability (DNS) and Postural Restoration Institute (PRI) philosophies.  Having been to seminars for both disciplines, I can tell you that Jeff does a great job of presenting this valuable, but sometimes confusing information in as user-friendly a format as one possibly can.  It’s a cursory overview, but enough to give you an introduction to these philosophies to find out if they’re right for you.

5. Even if you aren’t planning to delve deeply into these disciplines, Jeff covers a few specific cues that you can apply to breathing correctly on every exercise you do – especially if you (or your clients) are stuck in anterior pelvic tilt, lordosis, and an elevated ribs posture.  For instance, Jeff uses the cue of performing a few diaphragmatic breaths at the point of greatest tension in a movement; this will enable an athlete to “own” that position more quickly.  He uses the example of holding for a count of “one-one-thousand” at the top position of the quadruped extension-rotation:

6. I’ve got to great lengths in several previous blog posts to distinguish between tendinitis (inflammatory) and tendinosis (degenerative) – and Dr. Cubos did a good job of reaffirming things on that front (tendinosis is much more common than tendinitis).  However, he took it even further with some excellent information on the “continuum” of tendinopathies.  I’ve spoken about how we’re all waiting to reach “threshold” (presentation of symptoms), but haven’t paid a lot of attention to sub-clinical tendinopathies.  Here’s how Jeff portrayed the continuum:

Reactive Tendinopathy – This is acute overload (too much, too soon).  Soft tissue treatments are beneficial, but not locally to the tissue in question.  An example that immediately comes to my mind is a supraspinatus tendinosis; manual therapy to the pec minor, posterior rotator cuff, etc. would be very helpful, but working directly on the supraspinatus could exacerbate the problem significantly.

Tendon Dysrepair – Dr. Cubos referred to this as “a failed attempt at healing, and a disorganization of the connective tissue matrix.”  Immediately, I thought of someone with chronically crank hamstrings following a previous strain.  Direct soft tissue work has much more immediate and profound benefits.

Degenerative Tendinopathy – This is the obnoxious, long-term tendinosis we’ve come to know – whether it’s an Achilles tendon or common extensor tendon (Tennis Elbow).  Here we have cell death, disorganization of the connective tissues, and less collagen.  Unfortunately, full resolution isn’t that common – but most people can respond over time to the right kind of rehabilitation programs.

7. Last, but certainly not least, Jeff introduces his audience to several common soft tissue treatment approaches, including Active Release Technique, Fascial Manipulation, Functional Range Release, and the various modalities of Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization.  In describing each, he outlines why some may be better for others in certain instances, as well as the differences between approaches.  I think this is a “must-watch” for trainers to understand the skills of the manual therapists to whom they refer, and also up-and-coming rehabilitation specialists to decide which approaches they’ll utilize in their professional careers.

All in all, Dr. Cubos was another new name (for me, at least) that I was glad to come across – and I’ll definitely be following him more moving forward.  I’ll be back soon with the final installment of this review.  In the meantime, I’d encourage you to check out Muscle Imbalances Revealed – Upper Body – which is available to EricCressey.com readers for $70 off the normal price through this Friday at midnight only.

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Corrective Exercise: Muscle Imbalances Revealed Review – Upper (Part 1)

Written on September 25, 2011 at 3:54 pm, by Eric Cressey

This summer, Rick Kaselj sent me the eight webinars from his new collaborative product, Muscle Imbalances Revealed – Upper Body, to review.  I was really excited to check them out, as I’d enjoyed the initial version of the Muscle Imbalanced Revealed (MIR) series – and I highlighted it in quite a bit of detail in a previous blog.

Unfortunately, my enthusiasm to watch it was overtaken by a crazy busy summer schedule and I only now got around to looking it over today.  I regret that it took me this long, as I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve seen.  That said, I thought I’d use today’s piece to comment on my favorite take-homes from one presenter, Dean Somerset, who I thought did an exceptional job.  Be sure to read through to the end, as I reached out to Rick and he was gracious enough to hook my readers up with a special deal on the product so that they wouldn’t be left out in the cold on the introductory price simply because I was a slacker this summer.

Anyway, Dean’s presentation was a pleasant surprise for me in the initial Muscle Imbalances Revealed collection, as I had not been familiar with his work prior to the product.  As it turned out, he did a great job of delving into the fascial system, which is no easy task, considering that even the foremost experts on “fascial fitness” recognize that we still have a tremendous amount to learn in this regard.

His presentations this time around didn’t deviate from that initial trend, either; I really enjoyed them for a number of reasons; here are my top seven:

1. Dean did the best job of outlining a clear rationale for foam rolling that I’ve seen in the industry thus far – and did so in a very layman-friendly format.  In highlighting the role of Ruffini endings – which are slow adapting, low threshold mechanoreceptors that respond to direct pressure (like foam rolling) – Dean showed that they can decrease tone of tissues in the presence of stretch and inhibit sympathetic nervous system activity.

2. Another way he made his point was with a great analogy.  Much like we have fast-twitch and slow-switch muscles, we have receptors that may act in similar ways.  On one hand, we have “fast twitch” receptors like golgi tendon organs and muscle spindles that function with the musculotendinous units.  On the other hand, we have “slow twitch” receptors like Ruffini endings and Pacini fibers that exist in the fascial tissues.  Because the muscules, tendons, ligaments, and fascial tissues are really all continuous with each other, there exists a great amount of interaction between these slow and fast twitch receptors – much like the interaction of different muscle fiber types.  They are all responsive – in both positive and negative directions – to chronic training stimuli – and sitting on your arse in front of a computer screen for years on-end.

3. Dean noted that fascia carries an electrical charge that is never off; it’s just “on” at different levels.  Certainly, it’s far more “on” with exercise than at rest – and it’s the reason that contractions can last for hours post-exercise.  If you have an individual who isn’t able to tone down (pun intended) that contraction in the post-exercise period, you’re likely dealing with someone who’ll have chronic movement impairments.  If this electrical charge is always present, it can ultimately alter movement to the point that joint structure can actually change (think of the reactive changes in an acromion process, as an example).  Appropriate training enables one to get the benefits of exercise without creating negative long-term adaptation in this regard.

4. What is appropriate training for fascial fitness, though?  Dean cites the same seven components to an appropriate program that I outlined here, but he does so with a very valuable qualifications: adequate hydration status is absolutely crucial to making the most of any training status.  Repeated stretch bouts during the warm-up period allows for more water content for the fascia; each successive stretch improves hydration to allows for better elasticity and tensile strength, which in turn provides better joint stability and force production.

5. I like guys who solve problems.  I love using spiderman variations in our warm-ups, as they are great hip mobility drills.  Unfortunately, though, they don’t always look so hot when you have someone with poor thoracic mobility trying to get their elbow down to the inside of their thighs.  Many folks will wind up rounding over – which is certainly not ideal.  Imagine Quasimodo doing this drill and you’ll get what I mean.

Dean’s solution – which provided me with a “why didn’t I think of that?” moment – was to bring the thigh up to the torso.  In other words, do the forward lunge component onto a 12-inch plyo box so that folks can get the hip mobility benefits without compromising thoracic positioning.  Sweet.

6. I thought Dean did an excellent job of highlighting that it can take years to improve fascial fitness substantially.  Super-immobile individuals usually take years and years of either sedentary lifestyles or terrible training habits to get to that point, and unless they’re ready to dramatically overhaul their mindsets and daily habits, it can be like swimming upstream when correcting bad posture.  Be consistent when addressing these limitations, but also be patient.

7. I love the fact that he commented on all the normal roles of the core – force transfer, resisting movement, returning from a position outside of neutral – but also highlighted that optimal core function is essential for optimal respiratory function.  Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows that we use a lot of specific breathing drills, so I was glad to see a bright dude in the industry backing me up on this one!

This is really just the tip of the iceberg with respect to not only Dean’s two presentations, but the entire Muscle Imbalances Revealed – Upper Body package, which also includes webinars from Rick Kaselj, Jeff Cubos, and my business partner, Tony Gentilcore.   I’ll highlight a few more of my favorite takeaways in my next post, but in the meantime, I’d strongly encourage you to check this great resource out for yourself.

To sweeten the deal, Rick has agreed to make the product available to my readers only for $77 – which is $70 off the normal price – for the next five days only.  It’s a fantastic deal on a product that I highly recommend – and one that comes with a 60-day money-back guarantee, plus several cool bonus features (including two interviews Rick did with me).  Click here to check it out.

Training Partners: The Most Overlooked Part of an Effective Strength and Conditioning Program

Written on August 10, 2011 at 6:15 am, by Eric Cressey

Here’s a good illustration of how valuable training partners can be in a strength and conditioning program. Conversation from yesterday, during four sets of 8 trap bar deadlifts:

Eric (after set #2):”You want to go five plates?” (505lbs)

Tony: “No, I’m staying here.” (“here” was four plates plus a 25-per-side or 465lbs)

Eric: “So you’re saying that it won’t bother you to look me in the eye for the next seven hours of this work day knowing that I outworked you at a weight you know you can lift?  That’d really bother me.”

Tony: “Ok.”

On a related note, congratulations to Tony on the release of his first product, Muscle Imbalances Revealed – Upper Body.  He contributed two webinars to what looks to be a great collaborative product.  Show our boy some love and check it out.

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Stuff You Should Read: 5/29/11

Written on May 29, 2011 at 4:14 am, by Eric Cressey

It’s been a while since I sent out a few recommended reading ideas, so here goes…

Cracking the Code on Muscle Imbalances – Muscle Imbalances Revealed has become a continuing education mainstay for our interns when they start with us, and with a new class about to get underway, it made me realize that this recap of the product I wrote a while back has slipped into the archives of my site.  There is a lot of good information here; check it out.

Why Bodybuilders are More Jacked than Powerlifters – Trust me when I say that the writing and research in this T-Nation article is far superior to what the title implies.  Bret Contreras and Brad Schoenfield did an excellent job with it.

Coaching Neutral Neck, Spine, and Wrist – This three-part series by Mike Robertson was very well done, as it includes a lot of valuable coaching cues for your strength training programs.  It includes several videos for those of you who are visual learners.

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Weight Training Programs: Product Reviews

Written on December 28, 2010 at 3:38 am, by Eric Cressey

As you probably know, when I come across high-quality products that I really enjoy that I think will be a good fit for my audience, I am thrilled to be able to write up thorough reviews for you.  This way, it not only gives some love to these products’ deserving creators (and learn myself!), but also gives you more background to make sure that it’s a good fit for you if you opt to purchase it.

To that end, I wanted to use today’s post to highlight the top seven products I reviewed in 2010.  Considering that I receive literally dozens of products in the mail each year to review (I still have a stack left to cover), these represent not just the cream of the crop, but the ones where I actually had the time and inclination to write something up.  Check them out by category:

For the Fitness Professionals:

Muscle Imbalances Revealed – This set of six webinars can be viewed conveniently from the comforts of your own home.  No travel or shipping charges to ruin your day!  Check out my review Product Review: Muscle Imbalances Revealed.

The Single-Leg Solution – Mike Robertson is a great friend of mine – but that’s not the only reason I liked this product.  It was very thorough, well-researched and written, and offered some excellent coaching cues that any fitness professional would be wise to study up on.  My review is The Single-leg Solution: Detailed Product Review.

Rehab=Training, Training=Rehab – This long-awaited debut product from Charlie Weingroff was just released in the last few weeks, and it certainly didn’t disappoint.  Even if you don’t pick up a copy, you’ll learn quite a bit from my two-part review: Rehab=Training, Training=Rehab: Top 10 Takeaways – Part 1 and Rehab=Training, Training=Rehab, Top 10 Takeaways – Part 2.

Movement – I just realized that I never got around to writing up a review of this great book from Gray Cook, but that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t an excellent read.  I HIGHLY recommend it.

For the Fat Loss Enthusiasts (then again, can you really be enthusiastic about having to lose fat?):

Body of Fire – This fat loss resource from Chad Waterbury was great for the masses – especially if you only have minimal equipment at your fingertips.  I loved the focus on movement rather than just crazy high volume training.  Check out my interview with him: Waterbury on Why Most Fat Loss Plans Fail Miserably – and a Better Approach.

Final Phase Fat Loss – John Romaniello’s first product is a great fit for those trying to lose those stubborn last few pounds of body fat, especially if they are masochists who enjoy a very challenging program!  For more information, check out Final Phase Fat Loss: An Interview with John Romaniello.

For the Athletes:

The Truth About Quickness – I’m a big fan of Kelly Baggett, and he collaborated with Alex Maroko to create an excellent resource for up-and-coming athletes.  I gave Kelly the spotlight with three pieces: How to Get Quick…Quickly: An Interview with Kelly Baggett, and The 5 Most Common Speed, Quickness, and Explosiveness Problems in Athletes Part 1 and Part 2.

That wraps it up for the best of 2010 product reviews; hopefully you can reward yourself with some late holiday shopping by picking up one or more of these items; you won’t regret it.  I’ll be back tomorrow with the best videos of 2010.

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Muscle Imbalances Revealed, Rotator Cuff Exercises, and Kids (and Puppies) Making it Big

Written on November 12, 2010 at 6:26 am, by Eric Cressey

1. First, I wanted to give you a quick heads-up that Rick Kaselj just released Muscle Imbalances Revealed 2.0 – and it’s on sale through tonight (Friday, 11/12) at midnight. Many of you probably already know that I raved about this product in a review when it was initially launched, as it provided an awesome resource that compiled expertise from some really bright folks in our industry.

Well, based on customer feedback, Rick tinkered with the product, added some sweet new content, including over 50 new corrective exercises for the lower body, a second presentation on fascial anatomy and its impact on spine function/back pain, and a detailed write-up on barefoot running – all in addition to the great content that was available in the first place.  I’d highly encourage you to check it out and take advantage of this great introductory offer by the end of the day today.

For more information, check out Muscle Imbalances Revealed 2.0.

*Also, as an added bonus, this product is available for CEU/CEC for the fitness professionals out there – and I didn’t even realize it until just now.  So, I guess you could just call these credits “gravy” on a product that would have been well worth it anyway!

2. While on the topic of muscle imbalances,  here’s a quick study to check out, as it highlights the overwhelming importance of scapular positioning (secondary to adequate strength of the scapular stabilizers) with respect to rotator cuff function.  This study saw reduced pain and increased rotator cuff strength following a program to restore strength of the peri-scapular muscles.  While the study in question was a chronic intervention (3- and 6-month follow-ups), the truth is that these benefits can be seen transiently as well – just by positioning the scapula correctly during rotator cuff exercises.  You’ll notice that in both the following videos, regardless of the amount of abduction present, the scapula remains retracted and depressed to allow for optimal performance of rotator cuff exercises:

For this reason, whenever anyone ever says that an external rotation drill causes shoulder pain (particularly the front), the first thing I do is reposition their scapula into posterior tilt and retraction.  In almost all cases, this will eliminate their shoulder pain instantly and they’ll start to feel rotator cuff exercises in the posterior shoulder musculature (where they should).  This is also one reason why many people will instantly go from painful shoulder movement to pain-free movement just by having soft tissue treatments on the pec minor; by getting some length in this muscle, the scapula can posteriorly tilt, which not only gives the rotator cuff tendons room to “breath” (less shoulder impingement), but also puts them in a more mechanically advantageous position to stabilize the humeral head (via the length-tension relationship).

3. If you’re like me, you could have used a good laugh to brighten your day yesterday – and that’s why we have puppies.  Here’s Tank’s weekly cameo (make sure you turn up the volume):

Speaking of Tank, thanks to several minor league baseball players at Cressey Performance who have too much time on their hands, you can now follow him on Twitter – and I must say that these tweets have been very entertaining thus far.  Check him out at http://www.Twitter.com/TankNasty.

4. Speaking of Twitter, you might notice the new addition to my blogs where you can tweet if you like what you read (and the same thing goes for clicking the “like” button for Facebook).  These little icons are located at the top of each blog.  If you enjoy a particular post and think others would benefit from reading, I’d appreciate it if you could help spread the word with just a quick click.  Thanks in advance!

5. Last, but certainly not least, a few people forwarded me this link of our old friend – who apparently actually has a name (Keenan Cahill):

It just goes to show how awesome he is that he can make 50 Cent look like a JV player just by showing up….no bling or flat-billed cap needed to be a real high roller.

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Friday the 13th: Muscle Imbalances, Stiffness, & Increasing Throwing Velocity

Written on August 13, 2010 at 6:34 am, by Eric Cressey

1.  I just realized that it’s Friday the 13th.  Hopefully that epiphany doesn’t jinx this blog and make it suck.  Prepare yourself either way.

2. In case you missed it earlier this week, today is the last day you can save $50 off of Muscle Imbalances Revealed, a discount that is only in place for my readers through THIS LINK. As I noted in my Muscle Imbalances Revealed product review earlier this week, it’s an excellent product and worth every penny. The sale lasts through tonight at midnight only.

3. If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you probably know that I’m a huge advocate of soft tissue work based on anecdotal evidence.  This week, however, I want to direct you to a great “case study” guest blog by physical therapist Trevor Winnegge over at Mike Reinold’s blog.  Trevor writes about the importance of soft tissue release following SLAP 2 repairs.  This is great information for both clinicians and those looking to be advocates for themselves following shoulder injuries, so definitely check it out.

4. Check out this excellent blog post from Bret Contreras on stiffness.  A lot of folks think that being stiff is always a bad thing, but as Bret shows, there is a time and a place for everything – and it’s crucial for successful athletic performance.

5. Cressey Performance athlete Andrew Chin had a nice interview published at ESPN Boston the other day, and talks about his training at CP in some detail. Check it out: Player Perspective: Andrew Chin.

5. Tony’s out of town for a lovely romantic weekend with his significant other.  He’s planning to serenade her, so we did a little trial run at Cressey Performance the other night.  I think he did pretty well:

Hey, it beats techno, right?

6. One of my goals for the rest of 2010 is to really kick up the video content here at EricCressey.com.  To that end, I am tentatively planning a video series for the blog that is all about exercise technique and how we teach certain lifts.  I’m looking for ideas: what drills/exercises/lifts have been a struggle for you to learn?  Please post some suggestions as comments below and you might see it in this blog in the next few months with a ton of detail.  Thanks in advance for your ideas!

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7 Steps for Attacking Continuing Education in the Fitness Industry

Written on August 12, 2010 at 3:30 am, by Eric Cressey

In response to a recent blog, one reader posted a question about how I “structure” my approach to continuing education.  As I thought about it, it’s actually a more organized “ritual” than I had previously thought.  Here are the key components:

1.  I always have two books going at a time. One involves training/nutrition/manual therapy/rehabilitation.  The other involves business/personal development.  Noticeably absent from this list is fiction; I really don’t have any interest in it, and couldn’t tell you the first thing about Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter.  I’ll usually have a book on CD in the car as well, but nowadays, my commute is non-existent (since we moved closer to the facility), so I have been doing more reading and less listening than previously.

Right now, I’m reading Movement by Gray Cook and a book about social networking that my landlord loaned me (not a very good book, to be frank – which is why I’m not giving it a shoutout in the blog!).

2. Our staff in-service is every Monday at 10AM. This has turned into a great continuing education opportunity for all of us.  I do two per month and Chris and Tony each do one.  While one person is “responsible” for presenting the topic, it always inevitably becomes a “think tank” among our staff and interns about how something applies to specific clients, unique issues, functional anatomy, or our programming or business model.

For instance, last week, I talked about how to assess shoulder external rotation and address any identified deficits on this front.  We got to talking about which clients were using the appropriate mobilizations, how to perform them, and what would happen if they are performed incorrectly.  Likewise, we talked about how certain people need to be careful about mobilizing their shoulders into external rotation because of extreme congenital laxity and/or extreme humeral retroversion.  This mobilization, for instance, would be a great one for a 40-something desk jockey with 80 degrees of external rotation, but terrible for a pitcher with 140 degrees of ER.

Beyond just the benefits of helping our staff grow as a whole, for me, it has several distinct benefits.  First, when I come back from a weekend seminar where I’ve learned something good, it’s a great opportunity to “reteach” and apply it immediately.  I’m a firm believer that the best way to master something is to have to teach it to someone else.  Second, having pretty frequent “mini-presentations” keeps my presenting skills fresh for seminars when I may have 4-6 weeks between speaking engagements.

3. I get to at least 4-5 weekend seminars per year. I’m lucky in that two of these are generally Perform Better Three-Day Summits where I get to see a wide variety of presentations – with all my travel expenses paid because I present myself.

I think that every fitness professional needs to get to at least two such events per year.  The good news is that with webinars and DVD sets, you can save a ton on travel expenses and watch these on your own schedule.  A lot of people, for instance, have said that they learned more from our two-day Building the Efficient Athlete Seminar DVD Set than they did in years of college – with no tuition payment required, either!

That said, a ton of the education at such events comes from interacting with other fitness professionals, so you do miss out on the accidental “social” education.

4. I have one day a week where all I read are journal articles. Sometimes it is entertaining, and sometimes it’s like reading stereo instructions.  It depends on journal – and regular ol’ luck with respect to what’s going on in the research world.  I’ll keep it pretty random and just type in a search term like “sports medicine” or “strength training.”  We also have The Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies delivered to the office so that our staff can look that over.

5.  I read a few blogs/newsletters each day in both training/nutrition/manual therapy/rehabilitation and business/personal development. For the first category, I’ve listed several on my recommended resources page.  For the second category (business/personal development), I like FitBusinessInsider.com, Alwyn Cosgrove, Seth Godin, Tim Ferris, Thomas Plummer, and Chris McCombs.  There are loads more out there; these are just the tip of the iceberg and the ones that I tend to read more frequently.

6. I’ll usually have a DVD set or webinar going as often as possible. For instance, last week, I checked out the Muscle Imbalances Revealed webinar series (it was good stuff, as I noted in my review the other day).  I tend to prefer DVDs more than webinars, though, as I can watch them in fast-forward and make people talk faster to save time!

As a brief reminder, the Muscle Imbalances Revealed webinar series is discounted $50 for my readers only through Friday at midnight at THIS LINK.

7. I talk to and email with a handful of other coaches about programming and business ideas and new things we’re doing. I wouldn’t call it a mastermind group, or anything even close to one in terms of organization, but it is good to know that whenever I want to bounce an idea off someone, I have several people I can contact.  On the training side of things, a few guys that come to mind are Mike Robertson, Neil Rampe, Mike Reinold, Bill Hartman, and Tony Gentilcore.  On the business side of things, I’m lucky to have Alwyn Cosgrove and Pat Rigsby as good dudes who are only an email or phone call away.  I think that the take-home message is that if you surround yourself with the right people, answers that would normally elude you are really right at hand.

This post wound up running a lot longer than I’d anticipated, but hopefully you all benefited from it nonetheless.  Have any continuing education strategies of your own that I have overlooked?  If so, please post them in the comments section below.

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