Random Friday Thoughts: 8/29/08

Written on August 29, 2008 at 9:11 am, by Eric Cressey

1. As you probably know, I haven’t been updating here quite as frequently of late, but fortunately, it’s with good reason. The summer’s winding down, so we’ve been getting our fall schedule all squared away with the high school guys – plus some local college guys at programs that don’t have organized S&C programs. Additionally, all of our minor leaguers are in the final few days of their seasons right now, so coordinating with them and a few agents has been a priority right now. Fortunately, though, there are also some exciting things in store for this blog…

2. Basically, we’re going to be combining EricCressey.com with EricCressey.Blogspot.com. So, my blog will be available directly from EricCressey.com. In the process, we have to transfer a ton of content – but the good news is that the finished product will look a lot more professional and organized when all is said and done. In the meantime, thanks for your patience as we make this switch.

3. I was chatting yesterday with Doug Carroll, a great hitting coach with whom we work. Doug played professional baseball to a very high level in both the Mariners and Devil Rays organizations. We both agreed that one thing you’ll notice in the majority of high level athletes is that they really don’t give a crap what anyone outside their family thinks of them. I think that if more people approached their lifting with this mindset, we’ve have a lot more people who were really big and strong. Interestingly, this closely parallels my approach to internet forums – and, thus far, ignoring what the haters say has been a great decision.

4. Never forget that you don’t have to leave the gym exhausted for the session to be considered productive. Take a 300-pound lineman and have him run five miles; he’ll be completely exhausted by the end of the session. He’ll also be slower, more likely to get injured, and definitely more likely to want to kick your teeth in.

5. Something you might not know: there are estrogen receptors on the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) that – along with several other factors – make females more susceptible to ACL ruptures. The cyclical nature of estrogen and progesterone markedly influences ACL strength via fibroblast activity – so at certain times of the month, the ACL is more likely to tear. The ACL may also be predisposed to dramatic mood swings that make everything your fault, fellas.

6. I had a new article published yesterday, in case you missed it: 5 More Common Technique Mistakes.

7. I got two separate bills from Comcast in the past two days for a total of over $314. Do you think they read my blog, or is their billing system simply as hopelessly inadequate as their customer service?

8. Someone asked me yesterday, “Are single-leg leg press a good unilateral leg exercise? I hate lunges.” Sorry, dude; single-leg leg presses don’t count for anything.

9. I’m working on a detailed write-up on my views on running for pitchers right now. I think it’ll open a lot of eyes – if I ever get time to finish it! I also have a new e-book in the works that I think will open a lot of eyes.

10. Have a great holiday weekend, everyone.

Maximum Strength and HIIT Sessions

Written on August 18, 2008 at 11:45 am, by Eric Cressey

Q: My question concerns the combination of your Maximum Strength program and HIIT workouts. Comments I have read by you indicate that HIIT training is detrimental to progress in your program. Could you explain why? Thanks for all that you do.

A: Give this article a read; it should answer your questions:

Of course, some things change if you are a guy who is more focused on getting lean, maintaining/improving cardiovascular fitness, or conditioning for a particular sport that warrants a lot of interval training. It’s the give and take between maximal strength and performance in some other discipline.

There are a lot of elite strength and power athletes who couldn’t run a mile in under 12 minutes – or even finish a mile at all! These are the folks who either a) have to keep body fat levels in check with diet, lifting, and very low intensity supplemental activity or b) not worry about body fat levels much at all, as strength and power are the name of the game.

For more information, check out Maximum Strength.

Maximum Strength Review at the Fitcast

Written on July 30, 2008 at 11:18 am, by Eric Cressey

Hey Gang,

Kevin Larrabee posted a really thorough review of Maximum Strength at The Fitcast.

To pick up a copy of your own, head HERE.

Random Friday Thoughts: 7/25/08

Written on July 25, 2008 at 9:40 am, by Eric Cressey

It’s that day of the week again, folks. Here we go…

1. Last night, Dan Toledano hit a 405 bench – his first 400+ pound bench. Congratulations, Dan. If you keep this up, you might actually get around to kicking that Star Trek fetish and meeting a girl who has all her teeth and is interested in your for more than just your Jedi Gym training background:

2. Speaking of bench presses, I got a question the other day about whether I thought that wrist wraps interfere with forearm hypertrophy. I doubt it, if you’d just using them to bench and possibly squat. For me, the benefit completely outweighs the cost, as the diameter of my wrists is right about six inches (that’s small, folks). So, for me, the wraps allow me to stay healthy for the long haul – even they don’t offer too much in terms of poundage increases. You can find some great wrist wraps at APT.

3. If you want to laugh like crazy – and don’t mind the occasional rattling off of obscenities, here’s a great blog from Cressey Performance client, Michelle Elwell. I could just post a hyperlink, but I’m not going to lie: the title is worth typing out:

http://www.michellethinksyoureanasshole.blogspot.com

Michelle is awesome – definitely one of our favorite clients. Yes, it’s because we’re afraid to not like her, but that’s not the point. Read, laugh, and if you’re one of the a**holes to which she’s referring, clean up your act, a**hole.

4. There is some awesome feedback on some tremendous results from a Maximum Strength follower HERE. You can pick up a copy through my website.

5. Here is a great read about how saturated fat isn’t all that bad – and how low-carb diets outperform low-fat diets (again!).

6. Great quote from Mike Boyle:

“Soft tissue work, whether for chronic muscle strains or for tendon issues, is like weight training. Treatment is actually a stimulus. In effect, what the therapist is doing is irritating the tissue to produce a chemical response. The chemicals produced are what begin the healing process. This why soft tissue work is often painful and can leave you feeling similar to a workout the next day. According to Dr. [Donnie] Strack, soft tissue mobilization (think massage) stimulates the formation of fibroblasts, which help take immature, and randomly aligned Type 3 collagen (found in tendinosis) and changes it back to a stronger, more parallel mature Type 1 collagen. In other words, massage changes the quality of the muscle fibers.”

For those of you who don’t know, Mike Boyle heads up what is definitely one of the best information sources on the ‘net for those interested in strength and conditioning and fitness. They have a 14-day trial offer in place for just $1 – so I’d definitely recommend checking out StrengthCoach.com. You really don’t have anything to lose.

7. I got my act together and organized all my baseball content in one place. You can check it out HERE.

8. As a surprise birthday present for my girlfriend, today, I’m taking her horseback riding*. She rode a lot when she was younger, and hasn’t been since she was a teenager. I, on the other hand, have never been on a horse, so it’s safe to assume that when I get on that critter, I’m totally screwed. I doubt that powerlifters and horses get along, so send some good vibes my way – and put in a vote for me for boyfriend of the month.

*Honey, if you actually read my blog, you could stop asking me what the surprise is by now. Don’t worry, though; if I had to put up with me all the time, I probably wouldn’t read this blog, either.

Have a great weekend, folks.

Maximum Strength: The Personal Trainer’s Perspective

Written on July 24, 2008 at 8:23 am, by Eric Cressey

Here’s a “Guest Blog” of sorts from Personal Trainer Kaiser Serajuddin, who recently read Maximum Strength:

“Writing a testimonial for Maximum Strength is a great way to get your name on a blog read by thousands of people, but I wanted to give my views on the book to deliver the personal trainer’s point of view. I know a lot of other trainers besides me follow Eric’s work for principles and ideas to apply to our clients. And beyond that, I’m an athlete myself constantly looking to improve my performance. In both areas, I found this book valuable.

“What we have here is a no-nonsense plan to get straight-up results. Most people today are looking for the appearance of outstanding fitness and health without the reality; for ripped abs or bulging shoulders, and every book is written for this sometimes gullible audience. That’s traditional bodybuilding, which won’t necessarily work for everyone. Here we have a different point of view, where the iron is our measure of success. Incidentally, it’s probably a much more sound system to gaining mass than what most others are following.

“I have to count myself in the boat of disillusioned weightlifters. It’s something Eric talks about in the book, which describes me and I’m sure a lot of other people: guys endlessly yo-yoing between bulking and cutting, and ending up right back where they started. That’s why it’s time to implement a different plan.

“Talk about the right information at the right time! In the past few months I switched over to a lower volume powerlifting model, and have been achieving excellent results. Now, enter Maximum Strength to help me focus it. If you read that new-age stuff, this is the “law of attraction” at work. If you’re experiencing some of the same frustrations – for example, your strength, size, or performance hasn’t improved in a while – it’s probably time for you to open up to something new too.

“Like all of Eric’s writing, this book is based around sound science and principles proven to work in Eric’s practice, not just gym rhetoric. This is especially important from a trainer’s perspective. First off we have an ethical responsibility to deliver proven systems to achieve results with our clients; and for those of your clients to whom it applies, Maximum Strength is such a plan. A solid method to follow and tracking system with principles to back it up is important. You’ll get that here.

“Another thing to keep in mind for a trainer is a comprehensive approach. Beyond just strength, Eric keeps an eye on flexibility and joint health here. The description of soft-tissue work prior to exercise with the use of a foam roller is one area I found valuable. I already knew about the importance of pre-competitive soft-tissue preparation, but it took this book for it to sink in.

“It’s true that Maximum Strength isn’t as sexy as some of the other books out there. Eric chose not to hire a fitness model and instead demonstrated all the exercises himself. And he inexplicably decided to keep his shirt on, and didn’t tan, shave, or oil up for the photo shoot. We’ve all read all of those books. What you have here is a way to achieve measurable results, which is what I’m sure most people are going for.

“It’s also very readable, and not overly detailed. Knowing Eric’s work, there’s a lot of reasoning behind the progressions and choice of exercises he’s laid out, but he chose to save us all eye-strain and kept the plan simple.

“You’re not used to getting info of this quality in the general fitness section of the bookstore (maybe it was misplaced?). However, it’s an excellent book that, as an athlete, I’ll be using for performance; and, as a trainer, I’ll be using the principles and exercises with my clients. Thanks, Eric.”

You can pick up Maximum Strength HERE.

The Dumbest Bodybuilding Move of All Time?

Written on July 21, 2008 at 8:15 am, by Eric Cressey

This one has been all over the news here in Boston this past week.

And you thought doing curls in the squat rack was a bad move!

Dynamic vs. Repetition

Written on July 17, 2008 at 9:45 am, by Eric Cressey

Q: I’ve heard about people using a “repetition day – upper body” instead of the “dynamic effort day – upper body.” What are the differences? How come you use the dynamic effort day instead of a repetition day in your Ultimate Off-Season Training Manual? Is a repetition day more CNS-intensive?

A: Who says you can’t do both?

Throw a medicine ball, and then do rep work on the bench. Or, do jump squats before you deadlift. Oh no! Heresy!

Most inexperienced athletes need both. Dynamic work usually encompasses drills that help teach deceleration/landing, change-of-direction, and acceleration while improving reactive ability. Repetition work helps strengthen connective tissue and groove appropriate movement patterns. You can do both!

I’d generally say that the dynamic stuff is more CNS intensive, particularly when it involves a lot of jumping/sprinting (due to ground reaction forces, or GRF). For instance, with sprinting, ground reaction forces can anywhere from 4-6 times an athlete’s body weight; the better the technique, the lower the stress from the GRF.

Conversely, if you’re a 1,000 pound squatter who is doing “speed” work with six plates a side, it’s still going to be considerably easier than jumping in and doing four sets of six reps at 750 pounds or so.

The point is that there really isn’t a right answer. It’s influenced by your training age, overall strength, the stimuli to which your body has already been exposed – and the areas in which you need to improve the most.

The Ultimate Off-Season Training Manual

Feedback on Maximum Strength

Written on June 26, 2008 at 8:58 pm, by Eric Cressey

“Hi Eric, I just wanted to let you know that your new strength manual is amazing. I am doing the program with two other guys. Before the program, one of them could not even back squat because his shoulders would be in too much pain holding the bar. After two weeks of foam rolling and the mobility work, he was amazed to see that he could back squat with zero pain. Also, I had shoulder pain from benching before starting the workout, and ever since then the pain is gone and we are all improving quite nicely on all our lifts. Just wanted to thank your for the great book. I recommend it to everyone; the dynamic warm-up alone is worth the price. THANKS!”

Daniel Pfohl
West Seneca, NY

To find out for yourself, check out Maximum Strength.

Add 300 Pounds to Your Deadlift

Written on June 19, 2008 at 10:30 am, by Eric Cressey

Q: What BASIC methodology did you use to get your deadlift up over 600? Did you deadlift heavy, do similar exercises like pulls from different heights, or use different exercises like good mornings and rows?

A: I have used a lot of different ones – and things changed as I got stronger and stronger.

Early on, like everyone, my deadlift went up no matter what I did. I actually laugh at some of the silly stuff that I used to get my pull up to the 300-350 range. I was training six days a week, doing sets of 20, 5×5 workouts, lots of leg curls, you name it. Not the brightest stuff in the world, but when you’re untrained, it all works.

Pushing things to 400 took a lot more dedicated work in lower rep ranges (3-5) – and without a bunch of goofy accessory work. This got me to a 430-ish deadlift by the time I got to graduate school in the fall of 2003.

In that first year of grad school, I played around with a ton of stuff – everything from clusters to wave-loading (which I don’t think did anything) to straight sets, to 8×3 type-stuff. I hit 484 in the gym around March of 2004, and in my first meet (June 2004), I pulled 510 on a fourth attempt at a body weight of 163. So, I guess you could say that in my first dedicated nine months of powerlifting, I put about 80 pounds on my deadlift. I flat-out blew the “conventional” strength-training induced gains from previous years out of the water at a time when progress was supposed to be slowing.

It was about this time that my buddy Steve turned me on more to the Westside school of thought – and I also made some great friends at the meets I did. The summer of 2004 – when I was on campus in Storrs just working with athletes, reading a ton, and training – was a great summer for information exchange and trial and error. Over the 2004-05 school year, I really started hitting max effort days and dynamic effort days. In July of 2005, I pulled 567.5 at a body weight of 161. So, there’s another 57.5 pounds in a year.

After graduate school, I started training at South Side Gym in Stratford, CT alongside some great lifters. Every session was a mix of crazy efforts and information exchange in an awesome environment. It’s when I really started pulling more frequently: twice a week, in most case. It was without a doubt the best training year of my life, and I detailed some of the training ideas I implemented in an article called Frequent Pulling for Faster Progress. Speed deadlifts made a huge difference for me not only because my bar speed off the floor increased, but also because they allowed me to practice technique without always pulling heavy and, in the process, breaking down. By the time I left South Side at the end of July 2006 (moved to Boston), I had hit a 628 deadlift. Now, I’ve pulled 650 (although it isn’t really the main focus anymore).

I really never did much good morning work until I was already pulling mid-to-high 400s. For me, the good morning wasn’t nearly as effective as deadlifting or squatting; I guess specificity holds true again, as I got really good at good mornings. That said, it likely has to do with my body type, as I’m a long-limbed, short-torso guy who already is very strong in the lower back relative to the legs. Guys who have more squat/bench-friendly builds (short limbs, long torsos) generally respond really well to good mornings.

I am a huge believer that lots of rows not only kept my shoulder healthy, but helped my deadlift along. Chest-supported rows seemed to have the best carryover, in my experience.

Yes, I have done my fair share of rack pulls. I don’t think that they directly help the deadlift as much as people seem to think, but they are a fantastic way to make lifters comfortable with heavy weights. Here’s a photo from back in 2005 of a 705×5 rack pull from just above the knees. It’s certainly not for the beginners in the crowd, but pushing the envelope is necessary sometimes for getting to the next level. I wouldn’t recommend this for the overwhelming majority of lifters and weekend warriors – so don’t be stupid and try it at home.

They’re also great for building up the upper back – particularly when performed with a snatch grip.

A lot of these experiences shaped the way that I wrote up the program in my new book, Show and Go: High Performance Training to Look, Feel, and Move Better. Effectively, I touch a bit on everything that took me from 350 to 650 over the course of the four phases in the program.

EC on the Fitness Buff Show

Written on June 17, 2008 at 9:14 pm, by Eric Cressey

Hey Gang,

Last Friday, I was a guest on Pete Williams’ “Fitness Buff Show.” You can listen to the interview HERE.

We went into quite a bit of detail on the rhyme and reasons for my new Maximum Strength program.