Strong Sports Medicine

08/26/2021

Part 2 of the thoughts on programming series.

Considerations. There’s a lot of them. This is definitely not a complete list but the point is that there’s a lot to think about. In reference to post 1, it can get overwhelming so keep it simple where you can!

08/24/2021

I’m ending this really long no post drought with a series on what things I think about when writing programs. The big thing to note here is that these are MY thoughts which could be wildly different than other really great coaches out there.

1. Keep it simple - programming get very complicated very quickly. You have hundreds, if not thousands of exercises to pick from and an infinite amount of variables to consider. It can get overwhelming. Focus on the basics and movement quality. Don’t chase novelty.

2. Everything needs to have a rationale - If you can provide a reason for an exercise that applies to the client’s specific needs or goals there really isn’t a “wrong” way to program. If you can’t, you are truly doing your client a disservice. Busy work is not good work.

3. Plan backwards from goals - have a rough plan to get your clients to their long term goals. Lots of times this means accomplishing smaller short term goals first and progressing towards those big goals. I say rough plan because things change constantly, you’ll always have to adjust but as long as you know where you’re going you’ll get there.

4. Prioritize according to needs and goals (rocks, pebbles, sand) - imagine your training week as a jar you want to completely fill with rocks, pebbles and sand. You need to put in your rocks (high priority movements) first, followed by pebbles (movements similar to your high priority movements) then sand (accessory movements). Otherwise you’ll have room in the jar and you won’t be training as efficiently as possible.

5. Order from high technique/multi-joint movements to more simple/single joint movements - there are always exceptions to this rule based on previously mentioned thoughts BUT in general, this will encourage good position throughout the workout more consistently. Fatigue is a very significant limiting factor.

02/23/2021

said yesterday was the first time in her adult life that she’s been able to do body weight chin ups. In a few months time she went from not being able to start one to absolutely crushing 3.

02/18/2021

02/12/2021

And it translates to their every day lives.

12/11/2020

Exercise us always been a great outlet for me. Yesterday was one of those days where I felt extremely overwhelmed with everything that I had going on. After my lift I was in a much better head space and was ready to tackle the day ahead.

I can confidently say that this year has been especially stressful for everyone. When you’re not feeling well just go do SOMETHING. Walk. Run. Lift. Shoot hoops. Whatever you want, it doesn’t matter. Just move your body and I guarantee you’ll feel better.

12/11/2020

Just a quick TRX Row AMRAP 💪🏻

11/04/2020

🤷🏻‍♂️

10/08/2020

If you have long limbs relative to your torso you can find it very challenging to squat to depth while keeping a good torso position. The result is either a squat in a pretty bad position or cutting depth a lot and missing out on training a very large range of motion.

The landmine squat is one of my favorite variations to give to athletes with this body type. By putting them at an angle and front loading then you decrease the mobility demands greatly. The result is the ability to training through a full range of motion in a great position.

Change the environment according to the athlete to maximize their success and minimize injury.

09/09/2020

In order to fully express your strength and limit risk of injury you MUST be a stickler about position.

I really like Tempo movements to hone in on this. Here I’m doing a Tempo Squat with a 4 second eccentric concentrating on maintaining optimal position the entire time.

08/26/2020

Boring video but REALLY IMPORTANT.
Your set up and walk out will make or break your squat.
First, you need to make sure you are in an optimal position before you even get the weight out of the rack because if you’re not in a good position here, you will never be able to claim a good position once you are loaded. Make sure your feet are rooted, you’re in a neutral spine position and your joints are stacked.
Secondly, Set up with INTENT. Because this is relatively light weight you’ll notice the bar actually floats in the rack before I stand up. That’s just from creating as much tension as I can before I lift.
Lastly, make sure your walk out is as efficient as possible. Maximum of 3 steps to get into your squat stance. The less energy you waste here, the more you’ll be able to squat.

07/24/2020

THIS DRIVES ME NUTS

I was writing an at-home program for one of my clients and wanted to include a video for instruction so I typed “forward lunges” into YouTube and this came up for one the suggestions. I have a problem with this for 2 big reasons.

1. If a novice exerciser is looking for instruction and they just see this suggestion it could prompt them that women and men need to do lunges in a different way which is just false. Obviously women and men are anatomically different which means one population is more inclined to have certain muscle imbalances and/or injuries than the other. Which means exercise selection is at times different. BUT, I cannot think of an exercise in existence that I have my female clients perform differently from my male clients.

2. If you click on this suggestion, most of the videos you’ll see have women doing body weight lunges or holding pink or purple little dumbbells. This feeds into two incorrect thoughts, that women aren’t as strong as men and if women lift heavy weights they will look big, bulky and masculine. I have female clients that out lunge, deadlift, squat and pull up my male clients AND none of them look masculine.

Ladies, there’s nothing wrong with being strong as f@$k and you don’t have to do lunges differently than men.