Strength and Conditioning Stuff You Should Read: 4/11/13

Written on April 11, 2013 at 8:14 am, by Eric Cressey

Here’s this week’s list of recommended strength and conditioning reading:

To Sell Is Human – This was a great book I finished last week.  The title is a bit misleading, though, as the author (Daniel Pink) actually talks predominantly about “non-sales selling:” how we “sell” our ideas to family members, clients, co-workers, and others. It’s an awesome collection of social behavior research that definitely impacted me as both a coach and business owner. If you like the writing of Malcolm Gladwell and Chip and Dan Heath, you’ll enjoy this.

Strength Training Programs for the Pros and the Joes: Not As Different as You Might Think – While I was on vacation, a guy I met asked how training professional athletes differed from what I do with normal folks who just want to be fit. I told him he’d be surprised at how many similarities there are, and this article from a while back outlines why.

New Uses for Creatine – This was an excellent review of the recent research on creatine supplementation. More and more, creatine supplementation is proving valuable for general health, not just performance.

Sign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter and receive a four-part video series on how to deadlift!

Exercise of the Week: Side Bridge Rows

Written on March 21, 2013 at 7:19 am, by Eric Cressey

Check out this week’s exercise of the week: the side bridge row.  I think you’ll find it to be a great progression you can add to your strength training programs.

Sign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter and receive a four-part video series on how to deadlift!

Strength and Conditioning Stuff You Should Read: 2/12/13

Written on February 11, 2013 at 11:07 pm, by Eric Cressey

Happy Valentine’s Day Week! While I love all my readers and appreciate your support, I won’t get all sappy on you today.  Instead, our recommended strength and conditioning reading will focus on getting jacked and crushing good food.  What’s not to love?

Strength Training Program: What to Do If You Can’t Squat Deep – This was a guest blog I wrote over at Men’s Health earlier this week. If you don’t have the mobility to squat deep, don’t worry; I’ll give you some alternatives to ensure that your lower body strength training doesn’t suffer.

Limit Protein to 20g Per Meal? – This is an old blog post from Dr. John Berardi, but I’ve had two separate athletes ask me about whether the body can only “handle” a certain amount of protein at each meal.  As such, I thought it’d be a good time to reincarnate this excellent write-up.

Smart Overhead Pressing – This was a great post at T-Nation by Dean Somerset.  If more people would follow progressions like this before jumping into overhead pressing, we’d have a lot fewer shoulder injuries in the weight training population.

Sign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter and receive a four-part video series on how to deadlift!

Strength Training Technique: Fine-Tuning the Band Pullapart

Written on February 11, 2013 at 12:13 pm, by Eric Cressey

The band pullapart is a very commonly prescribed exercise improve upper extremity function and correct bad posture.  However, while it may appear really simple to execute, it’s important to make sure that it’s coached correctly, as it’s easy to develop some bad habits.  Check out today’s video to learn more:

 Sign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter and receive a four-part video series on how to deadlift!

Strength Training Programs: Coaching the Dumbbell Pullover

Written on January 16, 2013 at 3:25 pm, by Eric Cressey

For some reason, the pullover has become one of those old strength training exercises that has fallen out of favor with in the iron game.  I’m not sure why, as it definitely has some utility on a number of fronts, provided that you do it correctly.  Check out today’s video to learn the “why” and “how” of the dumbbell pullover:

 Sign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter and receive a four-part video series on how to deadlift!

Quick and Easy Ways to Feel and Move Better: Installment 28

Written on January 11, 2013 at 8:01 am, by Eric Cressey

Here’s this week’s list of tips to get your nutrition and strength and conditioning programs on track.  Greg Robins took a break this week, so I’m stepping up my game and covering this installment.

1. If you always squat, try a month without squatting.

There’s an old saying in the strength and conditioning field that “the best program is the one you’re not on.” In other words, everything works, but nothing works forever.  Squats have come under a fair amount of scrutiny over the past few years as diagnoses of femoracetabular impingement have gone sky-high and we’ve encountered more and more people in the general population who simply don’t move well enough to squat in good form.  So, it makes sense to not shove a round peg in a square hole; at the very least, try to remove them from your strength training programs for a month here and there.

In these instances, I like to start the training session with an axially-loaded single leg exercise for 3-6 reps/side.  If you’re not good in single-leg stance, start on the higher side with a lighter weight. If you’re a long-time single-leg believer, though, you can really load these up:

After that, you can move on to deadlifts, barbell supine bridges/hip thrusts, or any of a number of other exercises.  The point to take away from this is that eliminated loaded squatting variations for a month here and there won’t set you back.

2. Work on the squat pattern, not just the squat.

A lot of folks struggle to squat deep because they lack the ability to posteriorly shift their center of mass sufficiently.  This is particularly common in athletes with big anterior pelvic tilts and an exaggerated lordotic curve.

If you give these athletes a counterbalance out in front of their body, though, their squat patterns “clean up” very quickly.  As such, in combination with other mobility/stability drills, I like to include drills to work on the actual squat technique both during their warm-ups and as one of the last exercises in a day’s strength training program.  Goblet squats and TRX overhead squats are two of my favorites:

3. Make muffins healthier.

My favorite meal is breakfast, and I know I’m not alone on this!  Unfortunately, once you get outside some of the traditional eggs and fruit choices, things can get unhealthy very quickly.  That’s one reason why I’m a fan of Dave Ruel’s recipe for the much healthier high protein banana and peanut butter muffins from Anabolic Cooking.  Dave has kindly agreed to let me share the recipe with you here:

Ingredients (for three muffins)
• ¾ cup oatmeal
• ¼ cup oat bran
• 1 tbsp whole wheat flour
• 6 egg whites
• ½ scoop vanilla protein powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp stevia
• 1 tbsp natural peanut butter
• 1 big banana
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• ½ tsp banana extract

Directions
1. In a blender, mix all the ingredients (except for the banana). Blend until the mix gets thick.
2. Cut the banana in thin slices or cubes. Add the banana to the mix and stir (with a spoon or a spatula)
3. Pour the mix in a muffin cooking pan, and cook at 350°F. Until cooked (about 30 minutes).

Nutrition Facts (per muffin)
Calories: 190
Protein: 17g
Carbs: 18g
Fat: 4.5g

Quick tip: you can cook a big batch and freeze the muffins, then just microwave them when needed down the road.

Anabolic Cooking is on sale for $40 off until tonight (Friday) at midnight, so I’d encourage you to check it out and enjoy the other 200+ healthy recipes Dave includes.  My wife and I cook from this e-book all the time.

4. Dominate the back-to-wall shoulder flexion drill before you overhead press.

Whether your shoulders are perfectly structurally sound or not, overhead pressing can be a stressful activity for the shoulder girdle.  To that end, you want to make sure that you’re moving well before you move overhead under load.  I like to use the back-to-wall shoulder flexion “test” as a means of determining whether someone is ready to overhead press or snatch (vertical pulling is a bit different).  Set up with your back against the wall, and your heels four inches away from the wall.  Make sure your lower back is flat against the wall, and make a double chin while keeping the back of your head against the wall.  Then, go through shoulder flexion.

If you can’t get your hands to touch the wall overhead without bending the elbows, going into forward head posture, arching the back, or moving the feet away from the wall, you fail.  Also, pain during the test is a “fail,” too.  Folks will fail for all different reasons – but a big chunk of the population does fail.  Fortunately, a bit of cueing and some corrective drills – and just practicing the test – will go a long way in improving this movement quality.  Hold off on the snatches and military presses in the meantime, though.

5. Drink with a straw to get better about water intake.

I always give my wife, Anna, a hard time about how little water she drinks.  She’ll get busy at work and will simply forget to have a sip of water for 5-6 hours.  Other times, though, she just doesn’t want to drink cold water – because it’s winter in New England and she is always trying to get warm!  One quick and easy solution to the later problem is to simply drink with a straw, as water won’t contact your teeth, which are obviously very cold-sensitive.  My mother gave Anna a water bottle with a straw for Christmas, and she’s been much better about water consumption ever since.  Try it for yourself.

Sign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter and receive a four-part video series on how to deadlift!

Strength Training Technique: Scapular Movement During the Push-up

Written on January 9, 2013 at 4:09 pm, by Eric Cressey

I absolutely love including push-up variations in strength training programs, but only if they’re done with correct technique.  Check out today’s video to make sure that you’re getting the right scapular movement on your push-up variations:

Addendum: several folks have asked for a video of what a good push-up looks like, so here you go!  Take note of how the shoulder blades protract – but still remain “snug” to the rib cage – at the top of each rep.

Sign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter and receive a four-part video series on how to deadlift!

Coaching the TRX Y Exercise

Written on December 21, 2012 at 7:34 am, by Eric Cressey

The TRX Y is a fantastic exercise for correcting bad posture and strengthening the muscles surrounding the shoulder girdle.  Unfortunately, it’s easy to fall into bad traps with technique on this exercise.  In today’s post, I discuss some of the more common problems we see with the TRX Y – as well as the coaching cues we use to correct them.

The TRX Y is a tremendous addition to your corrective exercise and strength training programs, so be sure to put these coaching cues into action to reap all the benefits of performing this movement.

Related Posts

Quick and Easy Ways to Feel and Move Better: Installment 23
Cool Holiday Fitness Gift Ideas: The TRX Rip Trainer

Sign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter and receive a four-part video series on how to deadlift!

Baseball Strength Training Programs: Are Dips Safe and Effective?

Written on December 12, 2012 at 9:52 am, by Eric Cressey

I received the following question from a baseball dad earlier today, so I thought I’d turn it into a quick Q&A, as I think my response will be valuable information for many players.

Q: What’s your opinion on bar dips for baseball players? My son’s high school coach has a strength training program that includes bar dips and I was wondering about the safety and effectiveness of the exercises for baseball players. 

A: I’ll occasionally include dips in strength training programs for general fitness clients, but I’ll never put them in programs for baseball players.

You see, when you do a dip, you start in a “neutral” position of the humerus with respect to the scapula; the arm is at the side (neither flexed nor extended):

The eccentric (lowering) portion of the exercise takes the lifter into humeral extension far past neutral.

This is an extremely vulnerable position for many shoulders, but particularly in overhead throwing athletes.  You see, overhead athletes like swimmers and baseball, volleyball, cricket, and tennis players will acquire something we call anterior instability from going through full shoulder external rotation over and over again.  Essentially, as one lays the arm back (external rotation = osteokinematics), there is a tendency of the humeral head to glide forward (arthrokinematics). 

If the rotator cuff and scapular stabilizers aren’t perfectly strong and completely on time, the only things available to prevent the humeral head from popping forward in this position are the long head of the biceps tendon and the glenohumeral ligaments at the front of the shoulder.  Over time, these ligaments can get excessively stretched out, leading to a loose anterior capsule and a biceps tendon that moves all over the place or simply becomes degenerative from overuse.  And, anyone who’s ever had a cranky biceps tendon will tell you that you don’t want to overuse that sucker.

As a quick digression, this is one reason why you’re seeing more anterior capsule plication (capsular tightening) procedures being done, with Johan Santana probably being the most noteworthy one. The problem is that after a surgeon tightens up a capsule, it takes a considerably amount of time for it to stretch out so that a pitcher will regain his “feel” for the lay-back portion of throwing.  Additionally, anecdotally, I’ve seen more biceps tenodesis surgeries in the past year, which tells me that surgeons are seeing uglier biceps tendons when they get in there to do labral repairs.  These are tough rehabilitation projects without much long-term success/failure data in throwers, as they fundamentally change shoulder anatomy (whereas a traditional labral repair restores it) and call into question: “Does a pitcher need a biceps tendon?”  Mike Reinold wrote an excellent blog on this subject, if you’re interested in learning more.

Bringing this back to dips, we make sure that all of our pushing and pulling exercises take place in the neutral-to-flexed arc of motion, meaning we try to keep the humerus even with or in front of the body.  This is because humeral extension past neutral (as we see with dips) has a similar effect on increasing anterior instability as throwing does.  For those who are visual learners, check out the first few minutes of this rowing technique video tutorial:

I’d argue that the negative effects of bench dips are even more excessive, as they don’t allow an individual to even work from a neutral position to start, as the bench must be positioned behind the body, whereas the parallel bars can be directly at one’s side.

So, to recap…

1. No dip is a good idea for an overhead throwing population. Bench dips – which are probably used more because they are more convenient for coaches out on the field – are especially awful.

2. Regular dips probably aren’t a great idea for the majority of the population, especially those with bad posture, weak scapular stabilizers, poor rotator cuff function, or current or previous shoulder pain.

3. In particular, anyone with a history of acromioclavicular joint injuries or chronic pain in this area (e.g. osteolysis of the distal clavicle) should stay away from dips (and another other exercise that puts the elbow behind the body).

4. Bench dips are really awful for everyone.

Sign-up Today for our FREE Baseball Newsletter and Receive a Copy of the Exact Stretches used by Cressey Performance Pitchers after they Throw!

5 Reasons to Use Speed Deadlifts in Your Strength Training Programs

Written on November 18, 2012 at 7:42 am, by Eric Cressey

When my first book was published back in 2008, a lot of people were surprised that I included speed deadlifts, either because they felt too easy, or because they didn’t think that deadlifting that wasn’t “heavy” couldn’t be productive. Interestingly, when their deadlifts invariably shot up after completing the four-month program, nobody was questioning their inclusion. With that in mind, I thought I’d use today’s article to outline my top five reasons for including speed deadlifts in one’s strength training program.

First, however, I think it’s important to outline what a speed deadlift is. Simply take any variation of the deadlift, and perform it at a lighter percentage: 35-80% of one-rep max (1RM) for sets of 1-5 reps. The higher the percentage, the lower the rep scheme, and vice versa. Examples include 8×1 at 80% of 1RM, 6×3 at 50% of 1RM, and 4×5 at 35% of 1RM. It’s possible to add chains or bands to the exercise, too, if you have access to them. You would rest anywhere from 30s to 120s between sets.

The most important factors, however, are perfect technique and excellent bar speed.

The bar should feel like it is exploding off the floor straight through to lockout.

Now, let’s get down to the reasons you might want to include it in your program.

1. Technique practice

I’ve coached a lot of deadlifts in my career, and people tend to fall into one of three categories:

a. Great technique (~5% of people)
b. Great technique until the load gets heavy (~60% of people)
c. Terrible technique (~35% of people)

In other words, 19 out of 20 people’s technique will go down the tubes as soon as the load gets heavy, so they might as well work on technique as they gradually build the weights up.

When you first took driver’s education class, you didn’t go straight for 65mph on the highway, did you? Nope, you drove around a parking lot, and then headed out for some back roads with very little traffic. Deadlifts are the same way; master the easy stuff before you get to the advanced stuff.

2. Improved bar speed off the floor

Imagine two lifters, both of whom are attempting 500-pound deadlifts. Lifter A puts a ton of force into the ground quickly at the start, and the bar jumps off the ground. Lifter B puts the same amount of force into the ground, but it isn’t applied as quickly, so the bar comes off a bit more slowly. Which lifter is more likely to complete the deadlift? My money is on Lifter A. Bar speed off the floor matters, and that is a very hard thing to teach at higher percentages of 1RM.

What you have to realize is that explosive strength (also known as rate of force development) is dependent on the INTENT to apply force rapidly (lift quickly), not the actual bar speed. An isometric muscle action can be explosive even though the bar doesn’t actually move; just imagine an elite deadlifter pulling against a bar 500 pounds heavier than his 1RM. He’s still applying a lot of force to the bar – and doing so quickly – but the bar isn’t moving. Take a look at my missed deadlift at the 2:12 mark of this video, as an example. You’ll see the bar bending, even if it isn’t moving; there is still force being applied. Advanced lifters get that.

The problem is that less experienced lifters don’t appreciate that you can be explosive in an isometric action; they have to have the feedback of the bar moving fast to teach them that they’re actually being explosive. And, that’s where speed deadlifts can be a great teaching tool and practice mechanism.

3. Power development

In an old installment of The Contreras Files, Bret Contreras did a great job of making a case for submaximal conventional and trap bar deadlifts (30-40% of 1RM) as potentially being as valuable as Olympic lifts in terms of the peak power production, in light of some recent research.  I think we all still have questions about this comparison, as the Olympic lifts require an athlete to apply force for longer (greater ROM) on each rep (allowing for greater carryover to athletes), and more seasoned Olympic lifters may be able to demonstrate higher power numbers simply from better technique.  However, the important takeaway message with respect to my article today is that submaximal deadlifts can, in fact, be a great option for training peak power – and I’d definitely recommend them over Olympic lifts for folks who don’t have a qualified Olympic lifting coach available to teach technique.

4. Double extension is probably safer than triple extension in older, uncoordinated, inexperienced exercisers.

I’ll probably get some nasty comments for this point; oh well.

We know that as people get older, the age-related loss in power is a huge deal.  So, training power is important for not only folks who are trying to get stronger and more athletic, but also folks who just want to preserve power for quality of life purposes.  I’d love nothing more than to be able to do loads of jumping, sprinting progressions, and Olympic lifts with a middle-aged population, but I’m just not sure that’s a good idea in light of the number of degenerative Achilles tendons there are in the crowd, and how poorly many folks move.  These are exercises toward which we can build, no doubt, but early on, double extension exercises for training power can still be beneficial. 

I think this is one of many reasons that kettlebell swings have become so popular; they allow you to train power via double extension with a lot of the same benefits as the aforementioned modalities, but more safely.  Speed deadlift variations can work in much the same way: double extension, compound exercise, plenty of opportunity for power development, and less risk.  Eventually, when you want to start to introduce some eccentric challenges and triple extension, skipping drills, uphill sprints, and sled sprints are all good ways to do so gradually.

5. A way to train squats and deadlifts on the same day without feeling like poop.

Heavy squats are hard, and so are heavy deadlifts.  Doing both on the same day is brutal – and it can increase your injury risk in training.  Accordingly, powerlifters need to lower the intensity on one of the two if they want to get in plenty of quality work on both.

On this front, a training approach that worked really well for me during my powerlifting career was two have two lower body days per week, and break them up as:

Day 1: Squat for Speed, then Deadlift Heavy
Day 2: Squat Heavy, then Deadlift for Speed

Speed deadlifts allowed me to train bar speed, pull frequently enough to enhance technique, and get girls to like me – all without feeling like poop.  It was a win/win situation.

Speed deadlifts aren’t the be-all, end-all of training initiatives, but then again, nothing is for everyone at every time. One thing that makes them unique is that they yield benefits to beginner, intermediate, and advanced lifters – but for all different reasons. Try incorporating them here and there in your training and I think you’ll find them to be valuable.

For more deadlifting tips, I’d encourage you to check out Deadlift Dynamite, a thorough resource from Andy Bolton and Pavel Tsatsouline.  The introductory offer on this great product ends tonight (Sunday, 11/18) at midnight.

 Sign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter and receive a four-part video series on how to deadlift!