Happy Monday All!

This weekend I visited  Cressey Performance, an athletic training facility in Hudson, Massachusetts.  There were a couple reasons for my visit, but the most important was a shoulder evaluation.  Eric Cressey of Cressey Performance is known as “The Shoulder Guy” in the training/strength coach field.  I started my day on  Saturday with a one-hour eval with Eric.  I’ve had a symptomatic shoulder for years, but always put off going to the doctor, for reasons that are beyond the scope of this article…well okay, basically I didn’t want to end up in physical therapy that was prescribed by an out-of-shape doctor (who probably tells all his patients that squats are bad for them) following some cheesy outdated cookie cutter you’ve got a shoulder problem program that’s xeroxed for every “shoulder” person that comes in.  So, I emailed Eric for advice/guidance; maybe he knew of somebody in NYC?   He responded with “can you come to Boston” –whoa, why I didn’t think of that?  Boston is only a 4hr $15 trip/4 hours away on the Fung Wah Bus. “Yes” I responded; this would be a great opportunity to get some solid advice on my shoulder and see a kick-ass facility in action.  Then I found out that CP isn’t actually in Boston and there was no real way to get there with public transportation.  Luckily for me an awesome client of mine was willing to drive me out to Marlborough, MA where I crashed for the night on Friday.  Saturday I woke up and got a car service to CP, and as I passed through legitimate swamps on the way, I realized this place was out there!  When I arrived, the day was just getting going at CP and I was excited to take it all in.   After the eval Eric was kind enough to let me hang out and observe a Saturday afternoon at Cressey Performance, as this was the other reason for my visit.  I love to see and learn what other people are doing in the strength and conditioning field.  Eric, along with Tony Gentilcore and Brain St. Pierre , the two other trainer/coaches at the facility were happy to answer all of my questions.  So, if you are ever in the Boston vicinty, it’s worth it to  stop by and check out Cressey Performance.  Here’s a look at the space and a staff workout (FYI, I don’t know what was going on with the music the day they filmed this.  When I was there the music was quite good although I hear they do have a slight techno problem from time to time). Anyways these guys can all deadlift more than you.

Arrrggghhhh.   Anderson is back!  Well, she probably never went anywhere, but when I got home today she was on my coffee table, in article form in the new issue of W magazine (my g/f is addicted to fashion magazines)!  This one is entitled “Gwenyth, Madonna, and Me”; awe, how cute!  It chronicles a W staffer’s quest to become an “Android”, aka a brainwashed individual with no real concept of reality who blindly follows Tracy Anderson’s horrible advice.  It even includes some before and after photos, that look pretty good, however the author admittedly had a previous “fitness” routine of one yoga class per month.  So it’s easy to see that “arm dancing”, which involves “whipping limbs around in every imaginable direction” along with “cardio”  and a calorie-restricted diet for seven weeks, 6 days a week,  at 90 min. per session would yield a noticeable change.  That’s right folks– those photos are not remarkable, this woman took on a major change.  She went from one hour of yoga a month to 6 days a week of  “exercise” and a low calorie diet.  It takes a drastic change in lifestyle to see an extreme change in your health and body composition.  Have you ever lowered your total caloric intake while adhering to an exercise program for six weeks?  No matter how hard you work out or follow a precise diet this will never happen- – “She claims that, with these moves, she’s re-engineering my body by pulling muscle closer to the surface (where, she says, cardio can eliminate it more easily).” WTF Tracy!  Seriously you’re F-ing nuts!  I can’t believe you can tell people this lie with a straight face, which sadly means she must believe it too!?!

I have a crippling case of the “itis”. Not the kind you get from eating an excessive amount of Ribs, but the kind you get from trying to keep up with this guy:

I haven’t been able to lift any weights with my upper-body for over a month now, and my lower body activity is pretty restricted as well; I can’t grip any weights because of the horrible tendonitis in my elbow or “tennis elbow” as it’s commonly referred. Do I play tennis? No — this “itis” is the result of a little contest my coworkers dreamed up between myself and my lifting buddy Jonathan Lespinas.

The premise of the contest was basically to see who could gain the most muscle in 6 weeks. Silly I know, but neither of us could refuse. So it began, we wrote our program, and weighed in. The first four weeks were great; we both saw a lot of gains and had some of the most intense workouts ever. The goal was simple: do more than the other person on every lift, and I’m not just talking weight here — if you couldn’t stomach more weight you would do more reps, if you couldn’t handle more reps then you could try for better form, more range of motion, faster, etc.

It quickly became the standard that you had to out-perform the other person at everything, including eating. As I mentioned before, this is probably one of the best ways to see serious results, more than you will ever get while working out on your own.   Although I don’t recommend competitive eating to everyone.   Jonathan and I are blessed with lightning fast metabolisms and we both have a very high carb tolerance.  But it’s not for everyone, some people can’t be pushed, and some people lack that internal drive.   Jonathan and I are both extremely competitive people and if you put us in this situation we’re bound to push extremely hard, maybe too hard. After six weeks I started to feel the onset of some “itis” in my elbow, but I kept going (very stupid), and come seven weeks it hurt bad enough that I had to perform all pulling exercises with a supinated “palms-up” grip, and by the end of that week I had a very bad headache.  By the next week I was at home sick, then to the neurologist, then the diagnosis…Viral Meningitis!  It seems I may have possibly caught some “itis” in my meninges as well as my elbow. The Doctor  wasn’t sure, but the only way to make certain was a spinal tap. No thanks!

So as you can see pushing yourself is the key to success, but also can be your demise. I’m already regretting writing the last parts of this post in general because I fear it will halt some people from ever realizing their potential; I find that the average person never pushes him/herself hard enough in the realm of fitness.  So, before anyone freaks out or any of my clients come in saying “but I don’t want to get tendonitis” stop — it’s not going to happen.  I had plenty of warning signs but I did not yield and when these warning signs arise take heed.  Or better yet plan to cut back on your workout volume every 4-6 weeks by reducing the number of sets and/or exercises you perform.

As for the contest, well it is indefinitely post-poned as I’m still not hitting the iron, although before we put this thing on hold I was up about 5-6 pounds on Jonathan, who was once beaten by a girl in an arm wrestling match.  Anyways, the above clip is from Defranco’s Gym.  Defranco’s is known widely for atmosphere, a very important part of training if you ask me.  The atmosphere is so great there because it’s packed with extremely self-motivated and competitive individuals who refuse to do anything but give their all.  To see what I mean check out the video below.

For more information and motivation from Defranco’s check out their website.

Also read “Most Brutal Training Camp on Earth” by Nate Green for a behind the scenes look at what it’s like to prepare for the NFL combine at Defranco’s.

photo credit: jet200nyc

This weekend I participated in the Walk for MS in NYC.  The weather was wonderful and I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge for the first time after living in NYC for more than four years.  I walked with team “Give and Take”,  a t-shirt line created by my friend Shea Mullen.  The t-shirts feature retro graphics from charity organizations printed on comfy cotton tees made in LA.  Charities include MS, the Boys & Girls Club of PA, and the American Cancer Society.  Twenty percent of each purchased shirt is given to the featured charity – a pretty hefty amount given most “for charity” brands seem to not give beyond 15%.

• Find out more about Give & Take, or to see the full collection of shirts click on the Give and Take t-shirt above.

• To learn more about MS Society fundraising opportunities in your area, visit:  www.nationalmssociety.org.

• Weightlifting can have positive results for those who suffer from MS; check out this article from Medical News Today for further info.

And now: time for some Monday Motivation! Everyday I walk out of work and see a billboard of  Team Hoyt; the father and son endurance racing team.  Dick and Rick Hoyt have competed in numerous marathons and triathalons as a pair. If you are unfamiliar with the duo then you may be wondering why they deserve a billboard.  Well, everyday I see this billboard I’m reminded of a video I once saw of them on online and instead of me telling you why they deserve this sky-high promotion, I’d like to share that video with you so you can see for yourself. Be warned: it’s a tear-jerker.

There are 168 hrs in a week.  If you are an average American, you spend 40 of those hours at work sitting.  Oh, and there’s a good chance you qualify as overweight.  Is there a correlation?  Most definitely.  Not only is the majority of your work day spent sitting (8 .7 hours).  But, what about the commute (24.3 mins.), snacks/meals (1.1 hours), relaxing activities like reading/watching TV (3 hours).  Ahh, now it’s finally time for bed (7.6 hrs of lying on your back).  Think about it: you hardly moved around at all today!  The aforementioned activities total 20.64 hrs, only 3 hours left!  Oh, wait!  You did go to the gym.  That’s right, phew – now you’re safe, right!  Let’s think about what you did:  “Some machines,”  “Some bench,” and/or “Some cardio”?  Great; you even managed to sit at the gym.  But, no accolades there, it’s sadly pretty easy to sit about at the gym.  That’s right — next time your at your local gym take note of how many machines, exercises, and apparatuses actually require you to sit or lie down.  Pretty crazy, right?  That counts as your only activity of the day!  And according to The Bureau of Labor Statistics the average amount of time spent exercising for Americans is 30-59 minutes and you spent it sitting and lying down!  What a waste!

But it’s not your fault, you didn’t know, you assumed you were getting a good workout.

It is possible that you got a decent amount of exercise, but unfortunately you could’ve done a lot more.  You probably wouldn’t have had to stay any longer either.  Unfortunately, Bodybuilding has governed the fitness world for many years and as a result your gym is full of equipment that has you sitting, doing relatively small movements designed to isolate muscles.  On the contrary however, you need big movement!  Let me ask you a question: do you have kids at home?  You would have done better by chasing them around the yard, picking them up and carrying them around.  This probably would have been a better choice of activity for your body, both physically and emotionally.  But, I’m glad you’re going to the gym.  If you weren’t I might not have a job!  It’s just we have to figure out a better system, a way to get you off your ass!

Movement is the essence of life, and in part 2 we will discuss how to get off your ass and get more done in the gym by replacing your favorite machine exercises with standing movement based exercises.