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Laree here—throughout the website, I'll let you know when it's me, not Dave, writing (other than the forum participants, of course)...
July 28, 2010... Drip, Drop, Droop, Drape
Begin: You walk into the gym and find your space. I don’t mean a locker or a bench or a rack; I mean your inner space, your sense of your surroundings and the intimate aura about you. This may help, my personal approach... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· How much is too much?
· Shoulder health
· Order of exercises
I knew this would be a whopper of a day, lugging 40-pound boxes of books down a double flight of stairs and processing the preordered copies of Gray’s book, Movement. Luckily, a couple of weeks ago Mike Robertson sent a guest blog post for just this occasion. In it he documents the four most important things he’s learned from Dan John. Before you head off to read it, can you guess what they are?
You have my full approval if, as I did, you rolled your eyes over Dave’s exaggerations in the lead-in, but gushing about Gray’s new book, that part’s not such a stretch. In fact, look what Pavel had to say about it earlier this week:
“Once a decade comes out a book that you will keep reading, rereading, and crowding with notes until it falls apart. Then you buy a new copy and enthusiastically start over. In the 1990s it was Verkhoshansky and Siff's Supertraining. In the 2000s, McGill's Ultimate Back. Enter the 2010s and Cook's Movement. It is a game changer.” ~Pavel Tsatsouline, author of Enter the Kettlebell!
I’m really excited to be a part of getting this material organized and presented for the coaches and personal trainers we know, and for the medical professionals who look at movement issues before prescription drugs when helping patients with chronic pain.
Click the link below for my chapter overview: New Gray Cook book Movement
Now check this out: Next week Dan and I are heading to Long Beach to spend a couple days with Gray, Michael Boyle and friends at the Perform Better Summit. By the time we get home, I’ll be saturated in this stuff and eager to get back to relaxation with Dave and Gunsmoke.
July 21, 2010... I Wish I Was a Kid Again… Again
Weight training started out as the obvious, direct and simple means to any of a variety of achievements -- muscles and strength, fitness and physical capability, good looks and coolness -- and became something much more: an expression, a discipline, a release, an instructor, a guiding force, a commendable lifestyle.
I dare say nothing at this point of an ego trip or hang up, an obsession, a veil, a substitute, an excuse, an escape, a pet (monkey on your back) or retribution. Mum’s the word. Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Fighting the age thing
· Power training rep scheme
· Substituting leg training
As by now you know (since I babble a lot), I spent most of my working hours between January and June editing and putting the packaging around Gray Cook's new book, Movement: Functional Movement Systems, Screening, Assessment & Corrective Strategies. Today that book ships from the printer, and tomorrow, Gray, his co-authors and I get our first look at the results of our efforts. A few days after that, those of you who have preordered will get a shipping confirmation of a book on the way.
I don't have the writing skills to even begin to tell of the insights I've gained while working closely with Gray these past months. Prolific in writing, he's not, er... all that great at email, so most of our interactions are by phone. Gray's this brilliant guy from whom those gems of how the body works just flow during a conversation. Plenty often, I've had to make him stop talking to give me a chance to sort out a thought lingering from two sentences before.
And that's what will happen to you as you read his new book --- nearly every page has a buried nugget that you'll have to stop reading to ponder, insights you'll be thinking about for the rest of the day. Still, you probably want to know about the structure of the book; after all this talk, what's it really about anyway? I spent a day distilling the content into a couple of sentences per chapter to help you decide if this is the right book for you.
I can say with confidence: Anyone who trains, coaches or treats individuals or teams will find value in this text.
Click the link below for my chapter overview: new Gray Cook book Movement.
July 14, 2010... Sports and Iron and Playing and Winning
Someone came up to me in the gym the other day and asked what is better for the older trainer, to lift heavier at a slower pace or to lift lighter at a faster pace. I told the tottering sap -- must have been 50 or 60 -- to shut up and lift, I was busy. Geez, where in the world do they come up with this stuff?
I admit the old geezer got me thinking. I hate that. Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
Gray Cook’s new book, Movement, will be shipping from the printer next week -- we’ll have books in stock around the 28th and will ship the pre-orders immediately. Next week I’ll put up an overview to let you know what to expect from this terrific new text.
Today we move to part three of Gray’s thoughts expanding on Michael Boyle’s Joint by Joint Approach to Training. In this one, he concludes his discussion of clearing specific joint regions and the common problems physical therapists see when working with individuals.
If you missed the three earlier segments, start at the links below. You’ll want to read these thoughts in order.
http://www.davedraper.com/url/joint-by-joint.php
http://www.davedraper.com/url/gray-cook-part-1.php
http://www.davedraper.com/url/gray-cook-part-2.php
July 7, 2010... Sports and Iron and Playing and Winning
I’m tempted to go to the gym today because I’m bored, have nothing better to do and no place else to go. Gee, that about sums up my life in a neat little package. For excitement I can stop at the park and feed the pigeons. I’ll pack a picnic – tuna, water and breadcrumbs.
Actually, things are looking up. A few months ago I would have opted to lie down and sleep to overcome fatigue and shortness of breath. If this wild and crazy upswing continues, I might consider returning to Hollywood and filming a beach flick. I’ve got connections.
I can see it now: “The Terminator and the Gladiator Go to Hawaii.”
Seriously, bombers. I’ll talk to Arnold. He’s almost done governing. Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
We’re on the countdown toward the release of Gray Cook’s new book, Movement, so close... so close. In fact, we’ll begin taking preorders next week for delivery about 10 days later. I can’t wait to see the book, and after that thrill subsides, I’ll be eager to hear the review comments.
Meanwhile, today we move to part two of Gray’s thoughts expanding on Michael Boyle’s Joint by Joint Approach to Training. In this one, he begins his discussion of clearing specific joint regions and the common problems physical therapists see when working with individuals: Gray Cook Joint by Joint, part 2.
June 30, 2010... Catch Me if You Can
There are two young guys, twenty-some, who have discovered the magic of mid-afternoon training at the iron oasis. The sinewy one who groans while bench pressing - till I arrive, that is - always has a big grin and an encouraging word for me, like, “my dad was your biggest fan when he was a kid,” or, “is it true they only did squats, deadlifts and bench presses when you used to train?” Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
Last week you read the joint-by-joint excerpt from Michael Boyle’s book, Advances in Functional Training, wherein he explained the basics of the joint-by-joint concept of training.
http://www.davedraper.com/url/joint-by-joint.php
This week we begin Gray’s expanded explanation, part one of three, excerpted from his forthcoming book, Movement. The second and third segments will follow next week and the week after, and then... tada! We’ll have book delivery information for those who are in the corrective exercise or physical therapy fields.
Here we go with part one: Gray Cook on Joint by Joint Training. Boy oh boy do I love this stuff. http://www.davedraper.com/url/gray-cook-part-1.php
June 22, 2010... Musclehead Daydreams
When’s the last time I stretched out to relax and didn’t endure the familiar neck and trap stiffness? Not since I was 12. How many times have I vowed not to flex my neck muscles and use my head to stabilize my torso when performing stiff-arm pullovers? A gazillion. What’s new? Nothing. What are you going to do about it? Nada. Some things never change. Nope. Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· What else can I do?
· Military Fitness
· Giving up weight training
What was very likely the most influential concept in physical training in the past five years occurred during a casual conversation between Gray Cook and Michael Boyle. Gray produced the idea, and Michael brought it to the masses. In this excerpt from Michael’s book, Advances in Functional Training, he explains the joint-by-joint concept.
In part two next week, we’ll get Gray’s expanded explanation, excerpted from his forthcoming book, Movement.
This stuff’s brilliant; we owe these guys a bundle.
June 16, 2010... Ouch That Feels Good
It’s no secret I’m not a big fan of aerobic exercise, just as I’m not big on nibbling my food or driving slowly in the fast lane or buying grapes one by one at the market. It’s a personality thing. That doesn’t mean I don’t train my heart and lungs fittingly, I simply have a broadside approach.
Yes, I’m an admitted, self-assessed mental case. I was presented a dashing Lifecycle 18 months ago by my adoring wife, Tower Power. It sits patiently in the corner of the bedroom facing a picture window full of trees, nature and hope. How soothing, how alluring and inspiring! In a moment of weakness I mounted the wheel-challenged contrivance for a total of 25 revolutions.
My brain seized and my butt grew numb, time stopped and the world quit spinning. Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Post-workout food
· Incline dumbbell press
· Horizontal rows
Our pal, the good Doctor Nichols, is back at us this week with more teaching -- it seems he wants us to get a little more attentive to our heart-rate training. Looks like we no longer get to glance at those big digits on the watch face and let that be enough. Oh, no... Mike wants us to get geeky for our heart health.
Here’s the link to Doc Nichols’ heart-rate training, part one. At the end of that page, you’ll find links to parts two through five. Much of it’s over my head, but I can still recognize quality when I see it. The numbers lovers will be seriously crazy over this series.
June 9, 2010... From One Cuckoo Nest to the Next
Normalcy has returned to the Draper household. Laree’s latest book publishing mission is complete and the 400-some page manuscript is off to the printer after several months of 12-hour days on the phone and at the keyboard, coordinating and finessing one author and five contributors (four of whom are doctors), and amassing, compiling and editing their complex of written material... including photos from a variety of angles, color flowcharts, system sequences, front and back covers, appendices and index. Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Pushing the edge
· Hammer Strength
· Need a motivational book
I’ll post a longer commentary about Gray’s new book when we get a little closer to the day the printer ships. That should be toward the end of July, so we’ll take pre-orders in about a month. Here’s a brief look at the resulting book we send to the printer Friday: Movement by Gray Cook.
June 3, 2010... Toys for Tots
I’m becoming a regular kettlebell junkie.
Well, not exactly. Laree is letting me use a pair of her 16-kg black beauties to lug around the front yard on my “off” days. I feel like a strongman wannabe, or a kid in a cape imitating Superman. I heft the suckers up and down a five-degree slope for six sets of 50 paces. Just what the doctor ordered.
The doctor’s a shrink, and I’m a mental case. I like the therapeutic effect and Laree hopes the action will have a positive influence on my flawed hip-mobility. Continue reading...
May 26, 2010... Live ’N Learn, a Tough Combination
My engagement with the metal was spontaneous, yet its execution was logically precise. I applied a flow of instinctive freedom and intuitive release. Enter gym, sense your presence, ignore thought, confront the ironbound adversary, have no pity. Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
You know I’ve been fascinated in my learning of how the muscles work, and especially how muscles working badly causes pain. One thing I noticed is there’s great information for personal trainers and coaches easily available in a way it wasn’t even a few years ago, which is fabulous. But what about for the average person who just wants an overview -- not all that anatomy, but just a few tips on where that recurring back pain might be coming from? There’s a bit of a gap there; that information isn’t filtering out to the rest of us very well... yet.
Julie Donnelly of Julstro does a nice job of breaking this down into easy lingo. When I saw her recent article on the muscles that can cause low back pain, I wrote and asked for permission to reprint it for you. Here’s the link, very simple, very powerful: http://www.davedraper.com/url/low-back-pain.php
May 19, 2010... The Thought of Summer Makes Me Silly
A content grin is next in line and a good chuckle is hard to beat. Indisputably, at the top of the list of smile-related contagions is laughter, true, unadulterated laughter that originates in the belly and erupts outwardly without control. They say it cures diseases, wins battles, makes friends and stops time in its tracks.
We need to laugh more, bombers; there’s no doubt about it. But I believe I speak for all of us when I say we’ll settle for a smile on the way to the gym and a satisfying grin as we walk out the door... and just for good measure, a chuckle along the way. Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
The weekend of October 9, 2010, marks our 10th annual IronOnline forum get-together; spanning the States over the years from Alaska to Florida, this year we’ll be in Kansas City at the historic Fort Leavenworth. Our speaker for the weekend is Glenn Pendlay, a top US Olympic weightlifting coach who trains primarily out of the California Strength Club in San Ramon, California. He’s a former Olympic lifting competitor with an extensive background in powerlifting and a Masters in Exercise Physiology. He’s the manufacturer of the Pendlay barbell and bumper plates, and a guy who behind-the-scenes guides much of our training philosophies, even though you may not know it. This Glenn Pendlay link will give you all the details.
May 12, 2010... Time Out -- What’s the Hurry, Why the Rush?
Getting to it, where do we begin? The last thing I said a week ago in reference to a question about aging and letting go was, “Next week, if I can get this jalopy to fly, I’ll approach the question from a different direction, one with an answer in mind.” Forever the optimist. Let’s give it the old grammar-school try. I promise to be positively positive. Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
You've heard by now that Dennis Tinerino died last Friday. He was a terrific guy, full of life and humor and love of God. His was a story of the toughness of an Italian from Brooklyn in the '50s, the competitiveness of a multi-sport athlete who became a four-time Mr. Universe, leading to a time of crime and prison, where he was reunited with his faith. It's a wonderful story of a passionate man. Here are a few snippets of Dennis Tinerino.
May 5, 2010... Look Between the Lines and See
It is the ultimate dilemma, bombers: how to deal with getting old and letting go? Hard enough for a retired lawyer or librarian, linguist or Lilliputian, but an iron-bound builder of muscle and might? Horrors!! I can tell you what does not work for sure: pounding your head against a squat rack, howling as you spear an Olympic bar across the gym floor, smashing a locker-room mirror with a 45-pound plate or glaring at the wide-eyed and naturally muscular 18-year-old who enters the gym for the very first time. Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Youth, just getting started
· HIT training and bodybuilding
· Binge drinking
Next I'll send you to a photo report of our kettlebell workshop, held this past Sunday, featuring Mark Reifkind, Dave Whitley and Tracy Reifkind. I’ll keep you up-to-date on the DVD progress over the next couple of months, with an eye toward a late-July release date.
The IronTamer, Dave Whitley, one of our speakers for this weekend's workshop, is from Nashville, where much of his city and many of his neighbors' property is under water. The flooding began as he made his way west for the weekend, and other than photos emailed to his phone by friends, he saw little television news of this disaster. The bombing attempt in Times Square and the oil slapping against the Gulf shores has sapped the media, leaving no attention left for a historic flood spanning three states.
The flood waters are receding, and now it’s time for the clean-up. It seems the financial gift coffers are bare from lack of attention. Could you step up with a few bucks to help? You can text “Redcross” to 90999 to make a $10 donation, or you can visit this linkfor a report and a donation link.
April 28, 2010... A Dog is a Man’s Best Friend
I’ve been getting a lot of flak lately from lifters who think my workouts are shrimpy. I say to them, “Lighten up! Have a Draper Dog!” I also say they’re right, but it’s the very best I can do. After a while the old American muscle machine is meant to be polished, not raced. I do what I can to maintain a sheen, fight the rust, prevent mechanical breakdowns and keep the tires from going flat.
Here’s where a good pump is handy. Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Going to the gym when you’re down?
· Joint Issues
· Shoulder Joints
Dr. Mike Nichols has been a friend and advisor since the late 1980s. We trust him with our lives... literally. He often sends us a quick note to clue us in on something important, and has recently taken up posting some of his medical thinking on his new site, WhenYouAreSerious.com.
As you might guess, his was the first voice we heard with the “not so fast” view of cholesterol and cholesterol management. Of course, today we discover his thinking of 15 years ago was correct. So when I saw a new post he called “Housekeeping,” in which he explains the basics of medical science, I asked for permission to reprint it for you.
Let me introduce you to our doc’s website, where you’ll find medicine considered like nowhere else.
When you finish reading the link above, click on over to his site and listen to the video lectures—wow! I heard them once, but need to go back for a second round. Then subscribe to the updates (right sidebar subscription box) so you'll get an email notice of his new articles. Each one leaves me pondering, considering changes I need to make, and they'll do that to you, too.
April 21, 2010... Waste Not Time, Effort or Spare Parts
I’m not one for pausing before the first rep of a workout or lingering after the last. I enter the gym with serious intention, do my business and depart promptly with a shrug and a nod. Settled, we’re done here.
Conversations with co-trainers are infrequent and brief, a minimal engagement of one-syllable words and faint gestures to convey only necessary thoughts. I’m on a mission and moment-by-moment focus, pace and precision of action decide my success. My breath is calculated, my effort is deliberate. No set is wasted, every rep counts.
We want big, we want strong, we want ripped, we want supple. And we want it now and forever. No game, not funny! Lift hard, eat smart! Never miss, never quit! You got it?
When you get it, then you can laugh, then you can play. Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Gaining muscle after 50
· Top Squat Question
· Stigma of the bodybuilder
Here we are, about a week and a half from our Bay Area kettlebell workshop, Sunday, May 2nd. IronTamer Dave Whitley will be winging in from Nashville to join Mark and Tracy Reifkind for an all-day presentation during which the three of will dazzle and amaze.
Rif has been training and teaching for about 35 years; Dave, in addition to his remarkable speaking skills, is one of the strongest showmen alive, and Tracy has quite a story to tell, with her kettlebell experience to back it up. Between the three, I think we’ll see plenty of kettlebell action, mixed with some kinesiology lecturing, sprinkled with strongman feats of strength, tempered with pressing and swings instruction with even a bit of breathing and bending techniques and grip advice.
This will be a mix to please, but with a common thread to tie it all together. In fact, they’re going to wrap up the day with a Q&A session, all three available to explain where their philosophies mesh, and where they separate.
Oh, and we’ll feed everyone real good, too.
We’ll be filming this for DVD for those who don’t live nearby. Meanwhile, would you post the above link in your twitter and facebook streams in case you have friends who may not have seen this and who live near San Jose? We’d appreciate it, and they will, too!
More about the presenters, including video clips here.
April 14, 2010... The Building Blocks of Society
It’s early afternoon and I’m stopped in traffic en route to the Weight Room (what else is new?). I miss the days when my workout was complete by this hour, just a glowing memory of shifting a stupendous stack of scrappy steel from nowhere to no place and back again... in the gym, under the iron, over the steel, across the bench, up the stack, down the rack and out of there... see ya later.
The rest of the days were a cool breeze ‘cuz I’d detoxified the system, enlivened the spirits, fortified the disciplines, built some muscle and power and expressed myself boldly before the still slumbering world. A wholesome process, humbling and prideful and nourishing. Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
Something a little different on tap for you this week: stretching. Yeah, I hear ya groaning, but seriously, it doesn’t have to bad as bad as you remember from high school PE. And if you learn how a couple of tricks, it can be a lot more affective.
Furthermore – am I allowed to go on? – we’re missing the boat if we don’t keep the tissue at a healthy length. Those tightened up areas are probably not serving you very well in your quest for a healthy, pain-free life… or a muscled-up one, either.
A chiropractic doc, Perry Nickelston, wrote us a brief instructional on fascia and how to move it around using active, isolated stretching. And don’t fret too much – he’s also made us a video.
April 7, 2010... Penetrating Study of Training ABCs
I’ll never learn. Never, never, never. I’ve been feeling pretty good lately -- no injury, no pain, no fatigue, no job -- so I mosey into the gym innocent as a newborn gorilla and blast an arm workout. No C-4, just one stick of standard-issue Bomber Dynamite, and ba-boom, I pull something lumpy in the right lower biceps.
Of course, the sneaky SOB (swelling of biceps) doesn’t show up until the next day after the damage is done. The injury is nothing new (my head would have to fall off to be new), an overwhelmed insertion I suspect, but it is dangerous. Meticulous training care is in my immediate future, not to mention suffering, misery, frustration, discouragement and depression; irritability, whining, pouting and public tantrums.
I’m good, I’m cool, I can handle it. Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
Many of us use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, NSAIDs, regularly; some of us use them daily, and some use them prior to workouts on training days. Do they work? If so, how? Are these a good idea in terms of long-term health?
When referring to NSAIDs, we’re generally talking about over-the-counter products like aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin), acetaminophen (like Tylenol) and naproxen such as Aleve. Because they’re OTC, most of us assume they’re completely safe; heck, better than safe—your doctor may even have recommended a daily half-dose of aspirin to help stave off heart disease. But safe? That’s definitely not accurate, probably less that you might guess. Read more: NSAIDs: Should We Use Them for Mild Pain Relief?
March 31, 2010... Be Here Now, Then and Always
I would no longer share a workout with someone as I would share my Lamborghini or my Legos. Over the years I’ve become selfish with my toys and playtime. I like to do what I want to do, when I want to do it, and I need to be first, last and always. Of course, with those parameters I don’t have a lot of bombers lining up to be training partners anyway.
Nevertheless, I manage alone and highly endorse it. It’s just me, the lone rider, the free spirit, the top dog; pilot, copilot and bombardier. You mess up, nobody knows. Fact is, there is no messing up when chucking the weights unless you injure yourself, and even injuries prove to be valuable. Mistakes teach, and a good lifter depends on them. They are the true personal trainer.
I must admit I had the best training partners in the day, and the day was those days I spent in the Dungeon, ’63 through ’66. All the other days were just days. One at a time, line ‘em up, something like a year with each: Dick Sweet, Fritz Sills and Rick Josephson. We put away press behind necks and side-arm lateral raises like they were gumdrops. I still do, only they’re jawbreakers and seem to act similarly on the shoulders. Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
I spent last Sunday with Charlie Weingroff, a doctor of physical therapy who’s exceptionally generous with his time, constantly sharing information to bridge the gap between those of us in the fitness world and his peers on the medical side. Last weekend he was presenting a three-day workshop covering Gray Cook’s Functional Movement Screen and some of his assessment ideas to a group of personal trainers at Equinox, a high-end fitness club in Palo Alto. On Sunday I was his client model, and he spent the day hauling me up off the floor, and back down again.
The movements he looked at were the toe touch, backward bend, standing rotation in both directions, single-leg stance on both sides, neck flexion, shoulder mobility, overhead squat, inline lunge and upper and lower rolling patterns.
The entire review was fascinating, me showing dysfunctional movement in nearly all cases when I was expecting little or none, and ending with improvements across the board in a short amount of time. Here, let me tell you a little more about it: FMS and SFMA with Charlie Weingroff
Those of you who are interested in the teaching of a powerlifting physical therapist will want to subscribe to his site updates, which you can do in the sidebar of charlieweingroff.com.
March 24, 2010... I Miss Winter—Not So Much
For starters, the handsome white, grey and red-trimmed Weight Room breathing sounds of the ‘60s and ‘70s was lightly sprinkled with grateful tinheads. Who else in Santa Cruz by the sea on the most beautiful weekend of 2010 would be in a concrete building surrounded by iron and adrift amid The Moody Blues?
The dedicated, persevering and disciplined, that’s who; those willing to sacrifice for the greater good, to suffer, to strain, to endure pain and to give of their blood and sweat that they might find their souls. Or, quite possibly, the lost, lonely and insecure, the dull and unimaginative, the suspicious and odd, the muttering sad-sacks with big arms and no place in the world. Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
Plenty of people teach the Turkish getup, but lately many of the techniques originate from the work of Gray Cook, Brett Jones and Mark Cheng in their two-dvd and booklet set, Kettlebells from the Ground Up.
Two examples of Kalos Sthenos spinoff: I spent some time last summer with Dan John, who teaches only the bottom part of their method, which we filmed as part of his kettlebell form dvd. And just yesterday I got another glimpse of their getup teaching from Charlie Weingroff in a workshop I’ll write about in a week or so after I’ve had time to practice his suggestions.
I’ve been curious to discover the differences between teaching styles, and especially to learn it from the guys who spent the time to break down the getup so carefully. You’ll have to wait a few weeks to get the personal impact of my Kettlebells from the Ground Up dvd review, because there are plenty of layers that need private, attentive practice, but I still have a pretty good idea what we’ll find.
Here, check it out: Gray Cook, Brett Jones, Mark Cheng: Kettlebells from the Ground Up.
March 17, 2010... Pushing and Pulling in Concert
It’s a good day, in case you hadn’t noticed. Five days forth and it will be spring, a time to leap into the air and throw our hands skyward as we shout with delirious delight. Our bodies automatically shift into the muscle-growth cycle, which is accompanied by the fat-loss period, the energy-expansion phase and the power-enhancement rotation.
Of course, to take advantage of this natural succession of multiple dynamics, all we need to do is blast it, eat right and embrace life with overflowing enthusiasm. I’m ready, are you? Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
We’re now several years into the fish oil revolution, far enough for most everyone to have heard of it and many to be taking it. Let’s take a couple of pages to talk about why omega-3s are good for us, and since there was a fish-oil purity lawsuit filed that gave us something to talk about last week, we’ll do an introduction to fish oil processing.
March 10, 2010... Bent Buckets, Broken Bottles
I don’t know that I’ve ever looked forward to training; it’s always been something I’ve had to do. And, as I think back to that indelible moment kneeling on the sidewalk in front of my house in Secaucus, a pile of weights scattered for the very first time before my 10-year-old-knees, I knew then what I was about to embrace was no dip in the pool, no pony ride, no picnic in the park. Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
By now you’ve caught a hint (I started to write “whiff,” but that just seems wrong when referring to fish oil) of the lawsuit filed March 2, 2010, in which the Mateel Environmental Justice Foundation claims they had 10 fish oil products tested and discovered the presence of PCBs. PCBs are man-made compounds that were used in coolants and electrical products such as transformers until they were banned in 1979. These toxins are still in the water, and hence, are still in fish.
The difference between the federal allowance and the California Prop 65 requirement is huge, and that’s why the case was made here in California. I spent some time reviewing parts of the available information, and collected the responses from our two fish oil suppliers, Nordic Naturals and Now Foods. Here’s the result of my time investment: I’m still taking fish oil, and so is Dave; in fact, the more I review omega-3 oils, the more committed I become: Fish oil lawsuit
This week we received two inquiries about opening a gym. After 15 years working a struggling gym, I figure my first duty is to talk them out of it.
And then I spent the rest of the week using twitter to show where next to turn. Failing to talk a person out of his or her gym-building enthusiasm, I insist on a Thom Plummer workshop. Insist, literally, because in today’s world, there’s little chance of pulling off a financially successful training facility without some guidance.
I had a dozen great links to share for prospective gym builders—check them out, here.
March 3, 2010... Rock On, Ironheads
Let’s go back to the beginning. Man crawled out of the primal ooze and discovered a rock. He hoisted and tossed it and it was fun. He grew strong and built big gorgeous muscles and the girls said, “Momma mia!” Man rocked.
Later, he invented iron and shaped it into circles. One he called the wheel, which eventually proved to be useful, and the other he called the barbell, which revolutionized mankind’s way of believing, breathing and behaving. Life became a blast: meaningful, wonderful, challenging, purposeful and fulfilling. Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
February 24, 2010...Something to Think About
There’s something special about simple pushing and pulling that makes the heart beat with cheer. We’ll save the sophisticated stuff, the high-tech principles, the advanced methodologies and the complex formulations for another time, the spring, perhaps, when energy and hope are in the air.
For now, presses and curls will do nicely, performed in sets and reps to pump and burn and please. Gee, we get all wrapped up and in a tizzy over this, umm, musclebuilding theatrics, the iron drama, the shadowy stage of cold steel. Just go and don’t turn back. Continue reading...
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In my first effort to cover a single topic in a week’s twittering, I went for an easy target, the hips and pelvic area. There’s so much great information available, so many good teachers guiding us through a region where not long ago we only knew of a few key markers.
Like the hip bones, that turned out to be in the wrong place.
Today we have generous educators offering a variety of video clips, articles, drawings of muscles and bones showing how the entire complex works together. Heck, we even have some Power Point class notes offered up by an instructor teaching at a chiropractic college.
Don’t worry, it’s not all anatomy. There are even a few videos sprinkled in to keep your interest.
February 17, 2010...Underground Dungeon Documents
I’m snuggling up to dumbbells these days, engaging various degrees of incline presses and flys to effectively combine chest and shoulder work in my condensed training scheme. I condense my workouts not to save time, but because extending time would be overtraining, fatiguing and counter-productive.
The dumbbells are light, though they feel plenty heavy as the focused and deliberate reps and sets pile up. These sets and reps do not happen without purpose and pain and perseverance. The legendary trio defines the sacred qualities that guide those precious metal lobes heavenward, enacting the very muscles we seek.
Playfully serious, my first set of five or six supersets begins at a 20-degree angle with an amusing pair of Ivankos. I just want to get my cranky hands around the things, toss them overhead and run them though the old mill. Oof, ugh, screech, scrunch, ooh... ahh... how sweet it is.Continue reading...
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One of my very favorite pieces of Dave’s writing was an article he wrote for Muscle and Fitness a few years ago called Behind the Smile. It’s a look behind the lens of the muscle mag beach shoot from the late 1960s, and not only is it a hoot, it’s also a real nice piece of writing. You may have missed it on the main site of over 3,000 pages, so let’s stick it in the blog for our newer visitors. Here, have a gander: Behind the Smile, Muscle Beach Photo Shoot.
In the strength twitterings this week you’ll find links to an article by Dave on building furniture out of the POP pier, and some photos of the results; an article by Jeff O’Connell, writing of Dave’s personification of ‘60s bodybuilding; Lisa Shaffer’s 10,000 kettlebell swings plan; a couple of bits on kinesio taping and a great video by Mark Cheng on the hip and quad in the half-kneeling position.
The mix made me realize it might be nice to preplan these in order to have a weekly topic. I think I’ll… think about that.
February 10, 2010...Noise, Aka, Thinking Out Loud
Time is flying by (unless, of course, you’re spending life in the state penitentiary, trapped in a stalled elevator with a serial killer, or caught in LA traffic at 5PM) and the only fix to the mad rush is to hop on board and go for the ride.
“Stop and smell the roses” is a cute little ditty for Auntie Sue on her 60th, but it’s smarter to grab the roses and smell them along the way. Let’s face it, we stop to take a whiff and somebody snatches our bench and dumbbells and pump. No way, Jose. Move it or lose it!
Next thing you know, I’ll be texting the newsletter instead of writing, editing and sending it. Hmmm. Gain a whole new generation of dive-bombers... or not, big on the not. What do they care about barbell curls supersetted with skull-crushers? On second thought, they might like the thought of skull-crushers. Continue reading...
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I began my funky attempts at fitness in the late ‘70s, at the outset of the jogging craze (trudging is what I was doing), and from then until fairly recently, we fitness enthusiasts spread the rumor that sciatica was a runner’s problem, and bent-leg situps were the cure. Now that we’re past those ridiculous decades, we now know that’s not the case, neither the cause of the problem, nor the cure.
In fact, sciatica isn’t a diagnosis at all; it’s a symptom, and it means pain down the leg. If you went to a doctor or chiropractor and got that diagnosis, and the instructions were to rest or to take an anti-inflammatory — and was the extent of the instructions, nothing more — it’s time to get a new doc. Sometimes the inflammation will run its course and the pain will dissipate, but it won’t be from following those instructions, and it’s likely to flare up again in a few months if you don’t get to the underlying cause.
Let’s look at some of the causes, and what you might be able to try on the way toward relief: Sciatic Pain Relief
As promised, here’s a link to a recap of this week’s informational twitter postings, most of which were about trigger points and tissue quality.
February 3, 2010...National Bombing and Blasting Magazine
This is the season to lay down track, people of cold iron and rusting steel. The creosote-soaked ties huddle in well-placed stacks, lengths of steel rail lay in crushing piles, and kegs of spikes are strewn like thorns in a frosty patch. The atmosphere is heavy, the work is grave and the pace is laborious, slow and intermittent. There’s an ache in the air and goals are hard-fought and distant. We’re dealing with heavy metal, rugged wood, sledge-hammer spikes and flesh and blood.
Throw a tie on the back, toss it in place. Grab a steel rail, drag it to rest. Hammer in one hand, spike in the other. Do it right, do it now. Swing, and swing again. The stacks and piles, you swear, remain the same. The tracks, you suspect, lead to nowhere... or, maybe, a two-bit burg called Muscletown. Continue reading...
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The trucking company just called to tell us to expect delivery today of the second printing of Dan John’s book, Never Let Go. Since I’m not ready, either for the delivery (making space for pallets of books takes a little, uh, effort), or for the newsletter publication, I’m doing my not-uncommon cop-out on the blog bit.
But, actually, the whole “what the heck should I do” exercise gave me a good idea. Since most of the newsletter readers don’t get my twitter or facebook updates, or if they do, it’s likely the one-liners get lost in the shuffle of tweet volume, I’m going to post my twitter updates, either here in the newsletter or at the end of the weekly blog posts. They’re usually posts with links to the people I’m learning from, either to their articles, blog posts, podcasts or youtube videos. You know, stuff you can use.
Here’s the catch-up from the past couple of weeks: Strength and Conditioning on Twitter
If you want to help with the mule work and you don’t already have a copy of Dan John’s book Never Let Go, here’s the quick link to grab one.
Come to think of it, selling a few copies won’t make that much difference in hauling 5,300 pounds of books, will it?
January 27, 2010...A Little Foolishness Can Be a Good Thing
My workouts are most effective when they are fun, and they are most fun when they are effective. I’m approaching that place in my training where it must be fun, or I’m not going to do it. Like Danny Glover said in Lethal Weapon, “I’m getting too old for this poop.” The predicament is I’ll be, as Laree likes to point out, a revolting and miserable creature who’s impossible to live with if I don’t do it.
Sometimes it takes trickery to convince an ole ironhead his workout will be fun and effective. I’ve heaped up half a century of barbells and dumbbells and the pile’s getting high. Time for some fast talking, if ya know what I mean. Continue reading...
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You may be surprised, as I was, to discover how much movement should be available in a rib cage when it retains its optimal mobility. The majority of the joints in the body are in the thorax, where each rib connects to its vertebra in the back and to the cartilage and sternum in the front. The more joints, the more small adjustments can be made; there is a lot of movement possibility here if it’s not locked down.
Instead of rib cage, the Feldenkrais group uses the term rib basket to remove the impression of jailed immobility. When I heard that, I wished I’d learned it earlier; I really had no idea the rib cage was mobile. Happily, though, that lost mobility is recoverable once you discover the problem and start working on the fix. Here's more: Rib cage mobility.
January 20, 2010...A Toll-Free Bridge, Workout to Workout
When my dad was 67, he had another 25 good years ahead of him. That’s like a lifetime. By the time I was 25 years old, I was the dad of a six-year-old cutie, was Mr. America and Mr. Universe and Harry somebody in Don’t Make Waves, and an old friend of Zabo. Just think of the pump and burn I can get in the next 25.
It all depends on the last workout and continues with the next. I can’t wait till tomorrow to carry on the journey. In the meantime, I sit at my computer and tell you about my last workout only one day ago.... Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Reg Park and deadlifting
· How much is enough?
· Am I too impatient?
Last fall after an off-the-cuff comment by Dave Whitley in our IronOnline forum, he, Mark and Tracy Reifkind and I started pulling together the pieces for a kettlebell workshop here in the San Jose area.
Featuring Rif, IronTamer Dave and Tracy, we’re set for Sunday, May 2nd, $149. The price includes lunch (thought you’d would think that was important enough to list), and we’ll be filming this for dvd; the workshop fee includes a free dvd set once the dvds are ready.
We’re holding this at Greg Everett’s Catalyst Athletics in Sunnyvale. It’s just a few miles from the San Jose airport, if anyone wants to fly in, and we got a great discount at a hotel about a mile away that includes a free shuttle from the airport. We’ll have a number of people around, so no one will need to rent a car if flying in… we’re a friendly bunch.
For future reference or to pass the link along to friends, here’s a direct route to the workshop website: San Jose Kettlebell Workshop.
January 13, 2010...Joe Rollino
The bent circle of metal sitting on the corner of my desk was once worth 25 cents. It was given to me by a vigorous fellow at the 2007 AOBS dinner in Saddle Brook, New Jersey. He was not large in stature, but he was full spunk and he darted around the tables visiting the guests like he knew them all.... Continue reading...
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In the new dvd set, Assess and Correct: Breaking Barriers to Unlock Performance, corrective exercise authorities Bill Hartman, Mike Robertson and Eric Cressey team up to give us a group of joint by joint self-assessments to identify movement deficiencies. Over the years, I’ve gravitated toward learning the various alternative movement-based modes of pain relief, and these three guys have contributed to that learning, Mike mostly about knees, Eric mostly about shoulders and Bill, well… everything that moves. Given that history, I was eager to get a look at their latest work. Click here to read my review of Assess and Correct.
January 6, 2010...Fun and Games of Growing Up
Now what? It’s been a week since passing the great columns of 2010 and my steps are short and tentative. It’s as though I’m in a land of unknowns and dare not step with confidence or security. What to do, who to follow, what to say?... Continue reading...
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I worked on Michael Boyle's book Advances in Functional Training for about two months last fall. Before beginning, I was very familiar with Michael, had read his earlier book Functional Training for Sports several times, had read most of his published articles, was a member of his Strengthcoach.com website and had read many of his forum posts there. You can assume, then, while I appreciated having all this material collected in one place—in print—and categorized for each part to build upon the last, there wasn’t much that was entirely new to me. That is… until I got to the single-leg exercise classifications. These are entirely logical, and I felt like I knew them instinctively, but reading and pondering these explanations was illuminating. This link represents four pages excerpted from the 28-page section covering training on one leg. I think it’s brilliant stuff.
December 30, 2009...Twenty Ten, a Very Good Year
I like the sound and appearance of 2010, the sync, the click and the boldness of the numbers. That’s good enough for today, but by mid-January I expect to see progress: huge and ripped, or bigger, faster and stronger, or just plain alive, kicking and pain-free... the latter providing a fighting chance for the former... and the future... Continue reading...
It’s the day before the day before Christmas day and all is well. Well, not exactly; the world’s a mess, but that’s beside the point and this is not the appropriate place to talk about it. We’re here by the buoyancy of the iron to rise above matters of deceit and world sorrow and, by our nature of strength and courage, to share our goodness and lift up those around us. Is anybody using this bench? Continue reading...
December 16, 2009...Another Week, Another Newsletter
Now, let’s see, where are we? Oh, yes, the middle of December. We’re building muscle and eating right and considering ways to enjoy the Christmas Season. Other things crossing our minds are how to end the old year right -- no regrets, no recriminations, no debts, no doubts -- and how to begin the New Year bright -- new resolutions, new goals, new underwear and new socks (making use of handy Christmas gifts).
I’ve got part one down, the muscle and eating and Christmas thing, but part two of the plan is a bit rocky. Rocky sounds better than, say, dismal, don’t you think -- rugged, outdoorsy, tough and all-natural? Continue reading...
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As we slide our way into the final two weeks of the year, I think I’ll haul out my old favorite, a dusty article of Dave’s from around ’96 or so, and possibly the first time Dave let himself get creative in his writing. This may have been the first time I noticed Dave could really write. Here, have a look for yourself: Holiday Foothills.
And I’ll do the quick links to the new stuff again… plenty of time for priority mail Christmas shipping.
Michael Boyle’s new Advances in Functional Training book
We’ll catch ya next week for a real brief pre-Christmas hello. Nobody needs a nag two days before Christmas, right?
December 9, 2009...Let Not the Season Be Lost to Worry and Hurry
We are now up to our knees in the Christmas Season. Next week it’ll be our hips and the following week, our ears. December is all-consuming.
Having no friends has its advantages. No Christmas shopping for me. I go to the mall, pull up a bench and watch the frantic shoppers stream by. Where do they come from? Where are they going? What is their purpose? At least they’re active. The whole scene appears to be very aerobic. If only they’d ditch the fast-food vendor’s complex, a chattering, sugar ‘n grease oasis amid the nonstop shops. Continue reading...
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Last week we had a conversation in the forum that comes up from time to time. No doubt we’ll forever look for new ways to identify problems that come from an elevated hip, and sort out the causes and possible solutions. One clear clue is gait, so let’s take a look at that today. Here’s the link: Gait and the elevated hip.
December 2, 2009...December Song and Dance, Act One
The project of the day is to make room in our work area for the incoming load of books -- three pallets -- from our printer in Illinois. The book, of course, is Laree’s most recent publication titled “Advances in Functional Training,” written by 25-year strength and conditioning coach extraordinaire, Mike Boyle. It’s a gorgeous book, large, heavy and rich with information to effectively enhance one’s training performance as an evolving athlete, coach and trainer.
Where was Mike 50-some years ago when I was a dumb and defenseless bone-rack? Continue reading...
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In the How I Spent My Holiday department, I took a side road on my path to R&R to spend a few days doing website design, danjohn.net. I’ll give you a link in a sec, where you’ll find approximately 100 pages or posts, most of which were part of a site meltdown that occurred a few years ago and that only his most ardent readers will have seen before.
If you have a blog, stick this link in your blogroll if it’s appropriate. That’ll help us get Google to find it pronto: Lifting and Throws Coach Dan John.
As Dave so cleverly told you, the new Michael Boyle book got trucked in today, and since we got the last of the Dan John workshop DVD series in last week, I’m pretty much relaxing now, a regular holiday leisure month. Here are links to both the new publications:
Michael Boyle Advances in Functional Training
Finally, again I take the shortcut in the blog since, well… you get the gist of the last week, culminating today in a Clydesdale hauling of 5,000 pounds of books from the freight truck to their final resting place. Many thanks to Josh Henkin of Sandbagfitnesssystems.com for providing me with a way out! Here’s Josh on the value of sandbag training for the everyday trainee… like you, me and the guy on the next bench.
Now, then, I really *am* going to that matinee… one of these days…
November 24, 2009...The Thanksgiving Story
... It’s Saturday. I just returned from the gym where two other guys and I snorted and grunted over dumbbells and bars for an hour or so. One guy, a tall, fit and quiet kid about 30, did the usual bench presses, dips and dumbbell flies, while the other guy, a bulldozer near 40, did leg presses and watched the game on TV, a popular Saturday afternoon superset.
There was an occasional burst of howls from a cluster of bobbing heads and shoulders at the juice bar, which blended well with the sounds of Chicago and Steely Dan and the kathunk of heavy metal. I added a minor clink and a tone-deaf clank in the background to supplement the lead and bass. I’m cool. ....Continue reading...
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In addition to being a major holiday here in the States, this is a big week for me. The final DVD of Dan John’s workshop video set was delivered earlier today, and tomorrow we’ll receive copy number one of Michael Boyle’s new book, Advances in Functional Training. I guess you could say it was a productive summer here in the Control Tower.
Underway for winter, I’m working on another book project in partnership with Byron Chandler, a pal our forum readers will recognize as the smart guy who uses the handle “ccrow.” This one is directed toward the maturing trainee who, perhaps through chronic pain, has discovered the training routine he or she has been using since 1980 is no longer doing the trick. We’ve been chipping away at this for a couple of years, and we’ve gained some steam lately, partly because it’s a good winter project, and partly because the ideas have gelled better over the past few months.
Dave’s flirting around with his new photo memory book; a big collection of photos is now organized and ready for his two tapping fingers to tell their stories. We may need more than a Thanksgiving holiday to get him in action, though. Missing a mortgage payment would do it, if it didn’t cause depression and writer’s block to set in.
I’d love it if both the new books came your way early in the spring, but we’re not far along enough for schedules… at least Dave’s not.
Meanwhile, let me wish our US readers a great holiday weekend, and a offer a link over to the new Advances in Functional Training book overview, and one to Dan John’s DVD set for those who’ve been waiting for the complete package. Quite the Christmas gifts, those two new items, in case anyone asks for your wishlist over Thanksgiving dinner.
November 18, 2009...Holiday Spirits and Heart Burn
... I especially like to go to the mall where, after parking anyplace I choose, I join the friendly folks who gather to shop for neat little things for stocking stuffers, like necklaces, watches, rings, the latest iPod upgrade, fine perfumes, silk ties and undies and small caliber handguns. And, we, Laree and I, are going in together on a big-ticket item the two of us can share. Guess what? Go ahead, guess... a Gravitron XLS with a circular staircase, fountain and built-in large screen plasma TV. ....Continue reading...
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We’re now set with part four of Dan’s IronOnline workshop -- or at least we will be Friday or Monday -- the final DVD of the series, in which he shows us his sample warm-ups, a few workout varieties, and his famous barbell complexes. Trust me, these aren’t your regular Bomber bodypart splits, although over the decades Dave’s done his share of barbell rows, presses and dumbbell farmer walks, and he’s probably also done our share.
One of Dan’s key phrases here was, “The warm-up is the workout,” and as he puts our crew through the paces, you’ll see how he can make that claim! He also uses members of the audience to demonstrate new movements, or to show his corrections when we went astray.
Here you'll find a couple of video clips taken from the workshop (his discussions of Koji and chain squats, plus his deadbug abdominal series), and a list of the major topics covered in the program.
Next week I'll give you an overview of the new Michael Boyle book, Advances in Functional Training, which will be shipping from the printer Friday. Quick tip for discount shoppers: Amazon may be discounting, but they don't have any of the books to ship, and won't for a couple of months.
We'll get to you early next week, not so much to make up for the tardiness of this week, but because it's Thanksgiving and you'll probably be otherwise occupied!
November 11, 2009...Don’t Just Stand There, Go to the Gym
I don’t have to tell you everything. Don’t whine. Bodybuilders are like little kids. Fact is, the secret is there are no secrets. Stop brooding.
I loathe brooding, as I loathe leprosy, animal poachers and politicians... loose flesh, convulsions and hemorrhoids... wobbly dumbbells, bent barbells and plate-dragging pulleys. The negatives of life deplete existing muscle stores and prevent new muscle from developing. Note: The first sign of negativity in my world and I go to the gym....Continue reading...
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Now that the new Michael Boyle book, Advances in Functional Training, is at the printer and the proof for the final DVD of the Dan John seminar weekend has been approved for replication, I found myself kicking around over the weekend wondering what of that huge mess on my desk most needed to be done. Those two projects have been my primary focus for nearly six months, so I wasn’t quite ready to backburner either one of them. Hey, how about I update the On Target Publications website?
So I get there to take a look and oops, what do you know… hasn’t been touched in about five years. Ouch! No new book updates, no new technology. It just looked B A D. You can probably guess what I did the next couple of days, and you know I’m going to send you over there to take a look. In fact, maybe I’ll even ask a favor: Would you let me know if you find any problems? Typos, browser issues, like that? Your review comments on the various book and dvd pages are most certainly welcome, too, because I know the authors appreciate hearing your thoughts.
Buried in the author pages you’ll find bits of history, perhaps how the books came to be published, or how I came to know the authors. I’ll continue to update the Forthcoming page as new projects hit the planning stage, but meanwhile perhaps you’ll want to know what’s up for now.
In the print department, Dave’s just begun work on his new, as yet unnamed book, which sounds like it will be part memoir, part motivational, part pictorial. The selection of photos is underway, which means he’s dreaming up memories to tell the stories behind the images. His memory articles are often the readers’ favorites, and just the idea of this new material is enough to lift my spirits.
I’m working on another book project in partnership with Byron Chandler, this one directed toward the maturing trainee who, perhaps through chronic pain, has discovered the training routine he or she has been using since 1980 is no longer doing the trick.
I hope we’ll see both of these new books in early 2010.
May 1st we’ll be filming a workshop in San Jose, California, featuring Mark Reifkind and Dave Whitley for publication on DVD. This will be a paid day-long workshop; registration and seminar details will be online in January, and the DVDs hit production during May, available early summer.
And the weekend of September 25, 2010, will mark our 10th annual IronOnline bash to be held in Kansas City, where Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore will be on hand to present a workshop weekend, also planned for DVD publication. Details on that event will be posted in the IronOnline forum as they become available.
The new website is OnTargetPublications.net. If you find any problems, please give me a yell.
http://www.ontargetpublications.net
November 4, 2009...Open Door, Enter Gym, Lift Hard, Exit Gym, Close Door
“Together we raise our hands to the sky and await the next dumbbell to drop. Heavy may it be, but not so heavy for us to retreat. Our backs may bend and our arms cry out, but our spirits shall greet the load with valor and daring. No thing is so great to defeat our center, our soul.”
Dramatic prose expressed by Hercules to Yoli from his chariot in Hercules Unchained, Steve Reeves, circa 1956.
Herc’s message: We are in this good fight together, warriors. ...Continue reading...Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Measurements
· New Workout Plan
· Front Delt Development
Happy to announce the release of the third of four dvds from the Dan John seminar weekend, Dan John on Olympic Lifting for Beginners. Click here to view a couple of clips from the new dvd.
October 28, 2009...Oh, That I Could be a Tree, Thick Limbed and A’swaying
Time to toss the iron! Let’s face it. I haven’t tossed the iron since it became heavy a couple of years ago. Isn’t it funny how serious life becomes when the weights get heavy? Note the solemnity, the sarcasm and the resentment of my tone. Life sucks; the weights are heavy.
Not. It gets better. Each of what appears to be an enemy, a detriment and a flaw is a partner, an instructor, a tender of careful development. What teaches more about persistence and ingenuity than an obstacle? What unfolds more concentration than pain? Humility increases as injuries mount. Arrogance is shattered and patience is established as success delays its brilliant emergence. ...Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
· Incline chest vs shoulder press
· Aging and Recovery
· I’d like to compete in bodybuilding
Since last we wrote, the printer’s working on Michael Boyle’s new book, Advances in Functional Training; I’ve been to the dentist for a cleaning and the fridge is clean. I haven’t done the matinee thing yet… but I will… soon.
So this morning I’m sitting here wondering what the heck I’m going to do about a blog post for today, with absolutely nothing remotely interesting on my mind (I’m sort of a wreck), and in comes a note from Nick Tumminello. Am I ready for a new blog post from him?
Oh very yes.
I always like Nick’s stuff. It’s useful and inventive, often very unusual. And today’s post, in addition to letting me off the hook in one quick email, is also timely in another way: It’s about training around bad knees. And coming off this recent siege… wouldn’t you know it? My knees are giving me grief.
Nick’s my hero of the day. Here’s his post on training around painful knees.
Before I go, we got a couple reports of people having trouble ordering Stella’s healthy recipe cookbook. I’ve tweaked the shopping cart (I guess that’s a chore that never gets finished), and I believe the problem is now fixed. Here’s the link to Stella’s Kitchen.
Next week we’ll have video clips from Dan John’s new Olympic Lifting for Beginners DVD, because the workshop DVD should be in stock by the end of next week.
October 21, 2009...Pressing On
The gym is much more than a place housing the tools of our exercise activities. It’s an assembly line, a forge, a refuge, an emergency room and a ballroom; the place downtown or under our house where we build the body, mind and soul; where we play, we suffer and rejoice. We press on.
The weightlifting tools, the bars, dumbbells and plates -- the iron -- are far beyond the heavy forms of resistance they present to our muscles. They are protagonists and antagonists that push and pull, and clumsy toys too big for children’s hands. They are the source, the center, the heart of the grand challenge with which we struggle, and without which we fail...Continue reading...
Lastest updates in Dave’s Q&A blog:
I know I need to update the website, and that project idea has been fluttering around the back of my mind as I finish the indexing of Michael Boyle’s new book, Advances in Functional Training, set to ship to the printer Monday. I guess just the idea of being done produced an opening in creativity, although I can’t imagine why since all I really want is an empty brain, no responsibilities for a week and a double-feature at the matinee.
Still, the next project seems to be brewing without authorization. Why, just today I discovered a buried treasure of old magazine articles I suspect few readers have seen. That reminded me to create a subsection for history and bring some of this to the forefront.
What the heck, let’s skip the wait for the website updates and move one of these over to the blog so you can have a look right now. Here's Health and Strength, 1971.
October 14, 2009...Sights and Sounds, Free of Charge
Three hours ago I glubbed an ordinary, yet spectacular Bomber Blend concoction, grabbed my lucky gym bag and blasted off my remote launching pad for the Santa Cruz Weight Room. In less than 20 minutes I was barging about benches and racks, setting up my gear for my first incredible series of multi-sets. Without pause I was immersed in an authentic musclebuilding workout. The sets were flying, exercises were strewn across the floor and a pump emerged beneath my sweaty t-shirt; within the depths of my muscles a searing burn smoldered. .....Continue reading...
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At this year’s IDEA conference a presenter, Sue Hitzmann, did a long session on fascia, the connective tissue that gives our bodies form. She’s a massage therapist who studied the new science of neurofascial anatomy, and in teaching her practice to others, developed a self-treatment method she calls MELT. I’ll prepare an overview of her presentation later, but for now I want to focus on her foot treatment.
Her technique for the feet takes our simple tennis or golf ball foot rolling a step further, using a game plan rather than the all-purpose, all-direction roll we did before. She uses a ball nearer the size of a golf ball, and begins with a softer ball to introduce the action to the fascial system, and later moving to the harder round after the fascia begins to loosen.
Click the link for a longer description, plus a little twist I put on the practice: Self-myofascial release with a tennis ball.
October 7, 2009...There’s No Business like Show Business
Hold it right there, Palzie-walzie. Before you go to the gym or the garage, the basement, the closet or wherever it is you go to perform the preposterous act of lifting weights, are you sure you want to go through the scene one more time? I mean, you don’t have to. There’s no law or governmental requirement (thus far) demanding you hoist the obstinate objects from one place to another. It’s a strictly voluntary deed, right?.....Continue reading...
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One guy in our industry with unusual ideas is Evan Osar, a real favorite of mine. I’ve been following his youtube videos since he started filming a year or so ago, and I read his monthly newsletters, so I was eager to hear him present his sessions at the IDEA conference a couple of months ago. The presentations were fabulous, and as you might guess, right up my alley. So I, uh… I took some notes.
Of note were his thoughts on why we lose joint range of motion. This is a primary problem as we get a little older, and we need to know what’s causing this decline in joint mobility so we can fend it off. Sure, sitting at this desk is a factor, but there are others reasons, and one I’ll bet you never thought of.
Click to learn Evan Osar’s thoughts on joint centration.
September 30 , 2009...A Golden Opportunity Amid Tarnished Times
The crowd’s thinning. A robust stream of determined ironheads is jogging upward and onward to Muscletown, a prosperous hillside community where the sun shines generously through silver-lined clouds. Smell that crisp, fresh air. They’re in no hurry, but they are bound and persistent. No time to waste, they are proceeding and progressing. A slump-shouldered remnant is on a slow descent along the roadway that leads eventually to cold and dreary Notsville. They lean forward, pick up their feet one at a time and shuffle, which translates into a movement resembling forward. It is in fact backward; they know it and that awareness adds weight to their already heavy gait. .....Continue reading...
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With the arrival of Dan’s new kettlebell DVD today and being at the final countdown of sending Michael Boyle’s new book, Advances in Functional Training, to press next week, I’m going to cop-out and skip the blog post this week. That’ll be a total FAIL from Dave, since he’s produced a new article every week since 1999 except the week he had heart surgery a few years ago, but heck, there’s a 50/50 chance he’ll never even find out, so I’m going for it.
Meanwhile, here’s where to catch a couple of clips of the new Dan John DVD our UPS driver dropped off earlier this afternoon.
September 24 , 2009...Musclebuilding Made Simple
It’s not punishment I seek, nor do I find pleasure in pain. Victory is my goal and I’ve noted the mean approach to the steel works best. In fact it’s the only approach I know or have ever engaged. Enter chamber, bomb, burn and blast, exit chamber. Clean and concise, simple and stunning. It works. Over time, however, I discover this bullish Type A methodology has developed disadvantages, mainly swollen joints, body-aches and fatigue; diminishing strength, muscle and appetite; loss of humor, friends and hair. I suspect my methodology needs re-tuning.....Continue reading...
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As I think about the new Dan John kettlebell dvd, part two of his four-part weekend seminar series DVD we’re expecting from the replicator in a few days, I again realize how much information he packed into the weekend.
When you’re in the thick of things, it’s hard to comprehend the quantity of new information, or the value we get when guys like he and Dave simplify things to the core. That’s what happened during our weekend in June, bullet by bullet Dan hit the target for our group of IronOnline attendees.
And as you know, we got it all on film. Click the link to watch a couple of video clips from the forthcoming DVD: Dan John Perfecting Your Kettlebell Form.
September 16 , 2009...A Stretch of the Imagination
I approached the two-story concrete building from the north parking lot. The rear doors were open, but there was no movement visible from my position. I continued my advance with stealth, my gear held tightly in my grip. I was on a mission and its success was in my hands. I was alone and I was ready.....Continue reading...
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We have a guest blog post today from Boris Bachmann, the guy who created the terrific Squat RX video series on YouTube. Boris has some pointers on how to bring your squats up to your deadlift numbers if they’re lacking.
I found his photos in the section about energy leaks illuminating. Like you, I’ve heard plenty about energy leaks, but to be honest, I really didn’t understand it. The Bachmann photos cleared that right up. Here’s the link:
We have two new offerings to flesh out our DVD department of the online store. In stock today, from our friends John Brookfield and Ingrid Marcum: Hurricane Ingrid, a battling ropes workout DVD. Now that’s a wild ride to add some velocity to your training table!
And for pre-orders, here’s the link to the second in the Dan John seminar weekend DVD series: Perfecting Your Kettlebell Form. We’ll have these in stock late next week and will ship the pre-orders within a day of arrival. And in the meantime, I’ll dig out a couple of video clips from the new DVD to post on YouTube next week. It’s a fun one; kettlebell enthusiasts will learn and enjoy it, and kettlebell beginners will be well-served to learn correct form from the outset.
September 9 , 2009...Musclehead Kaleidoscope Mind
When’s the last time you sighed that sigh and said those words with peace and conviction? Gotcha there! Probably the best we can do is to recall the feeling we had after our last workout. Of course, not long after the shower, the temporary relief, a ray of sunshine faded and the storm returned -- lightning and thunder. But we’re tough. We rock, we roll, we bomb and blast; we adapt and hardship becomes relative. I shudder to think where I’d be without the workouts......Continue reading...
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Advancing last week’s discussion of neck pain, we next need to develop a plan to reverse forward head posture, because when the head is held forward of its optimal position, the neck is going to hurt. When the muscles in the back of the neck do all the work fighting gravity to hold the head up instead of the foundation of the body carrying the weight, the muscles get stressed and painful.
Excessive thoracic kyphosis -- too much bend in the upper spine -- goes hand in hand with forward head posture. Regaining thoracic mobility greatly contributes to fixing that, and subsequently eliminating neck pain.
A huge percentage of adults have excessive bowing in the upper back; in some, it’s a congenital structural issue and in others, usually the elderly, it’s a result of increasing osteoporosis and weakening bones unable to support the torso. But in most of us (you can guess what’s coming next), it’s postural… plain old bad habits.
Click to continue reading about forward head posture and fixing excessive thoracic kyphosis.
September 2 , 2009...Life’s Lessons and Secrets, Friends and Foes
We all know, or at least have heard of people who have a cup of coffee and a cigarette for breakfast (instant Maxwell House and a mentholated Salem). By noon it’s a beer, a salami hero and a cigarette. 4 PM rolls around and they’re heading for the 7-11 for another pack, a six-pac and a sausage-dog-on-a-stick. This routine goes on till it’s pizza in front of the TV and whatever there is to scarf, swig, smoke or spill.
Gulp, gurgle, gag... see ya in the mornin’... tough day ahead.
These are the folks I think about when I feel like I’m losing my grip: missed a workout (heathen), ate some fries (glutton) or stayed up past midnight (debaucher). The contrast lifts me up and gives me hope... makes me feel better about myself. This is known as Advanced Sociological Science, or ASS, one of the first survival methods I learned in grade school. .....Continue reading...
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One of the guys in the forum asked about neck pain the other day. That reminded me many of us have an overuse neck ache of some type, especially as the decades of gravity add up. An overall, non-specific aching neck is usually caused by one of two things. Either the head is being held too far forward in all postures, especially during excessive computer time, or the neck is being used to handle all the weight of the head, rather than allowing the chest and shoulder girdle to take some of the load. These usually go together, but relying too heavily on the neck muscles happens both in forward-head posture and in optimal postures. When the head is forward, neck muscles will always be overworked; in optimal posture, neck muscles can be activated habitually, always turned on, even when not needed.
You want your head in a position that requires the minimum work, one where the neck barely works at all. When the head moves forward of the spine, the neck muscles go to work to fight gravity, a job for which the whole body foundation is much better suited.
In healthy posture, the head sits in the middle of the shoulder girdle. It just rests there, and there’s no stress at all in the neck. If that’s not how it feels to your neck muscles, click here: Neck Pain.
August 26 , 2009...All Aboard... The Train is Leaving the Station
Q: How did you end up not being featured in the film Pumping Iron?
A: I was out to lunch, up to my ears in sawdust and not at all interested. I was also comfortably shabby, invisible and disconnected from the scene. I came and went among the benches and racks without seeing the cameras roll, or the rolls being played. I was 215, strong and contentedly distant and preoccupied.
A workhorse with blinders, I missed the distractions about me. I plodded on tenaciously, faithfully wherever I pointed my nose.
Hmmm... Some of my answers sound cynical as they echo in my mind. They’re not, scouts honor. Like a flipped coin, I occasionally land on my edge.....Continue reading...
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- How do I get back to the gym?
- Pec-delt tie-in underdeveloped
- Is drinking protein as good as eating steak?
The trip to the Anaheim IDEA conference was geared around mental saturation of anatomy, physiology, biomechanics and corrective exercise (I really need to be immersed before this stuff begins to sink in), but it was spiced by a visit with Anthony Carey of Function First and a few minutes play on his core trainer, the Core-Tex.
My first introduction to Anthony was his book, The Pain-Free Program, which I bought a couple months into this corrective exercise side-trip that started nearly two years ago. Floundering a bit, heading off in the wrong direction by guessing wrong a couple of times, the book brought me back to the path, and I became intrigued as his techniques quickly began to work.
By this time, you know I’d become a fan and was an avid reader of his blog, so when I saw he had invented a new core training device, I was eager to try it. It looks like a blast, but would it be more than just a few minutes of fun, sort of fake surfing for landlubbers. Here's more: Anthony Carey's Core Tex Balance Trainer.
August 19 , 2009...Bungee Cord and Exertube Training for Power, Mass and Cuts
I can remember when I was a young whippersnapper (mid-forties), cutting fresh stability balls into 4”x 4” squares and passing them out to my hardcore buddies as grips for chinning and bench pressing, heavy rows and deadlifts. “Thanks, bro, these are really cool.”
Yeah, I’m a man of iron with a heart of gold. “No problem, dude. We’ve got ‘em in hot red, mellow yellow and all-purpose purple.”
This week we’ll be taking a break from the next wild installment in my series of powerful training techniques, Bungee Cord Antics. Sit back, relax and ponder an interview I did with T-mag earlier this spring. Have some popcorn. It’s free.....Continue reading...
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We're about a week away from taking delivery of our new DVD, Dan John's lecture, A Philosophy of Strength Training. Told with humor and great insight, you’ll learn:
* ~ The Role of the Strength Coach
* ~ Levels of Strength Coaching
* ~ How a Home Trainer Becomes His Own Coach
* ~ The Influence of Strength Coaching on Performance
* ~ Strength and Athletic Performance
* ~ How to Narrow Your Training Focus
* ~ Systematic vs Systemic Learning
* ~ Setting a Non-Competitive Training Goal
* ~ Phasic vs Tonic Muscles
* ~ How to Stay Youthful while Aging
* ~ Movements, Not Muscles
* ~ Dan’s Hip Displacement Continuum
Find out why Coach John is considered the go-to guy by top fitness professionals when they want to know what really works in strength and conditioning: It’s because he knows, and he teaches it well.
In pondering an overview of my days at IDEA last week, one thing really jumps out that I need to clear up before I delve into 57 pages of notes, and a pile of scribble-covered presenter handouts: I owe Todd Durkin an apology.
You see, I’d judged him; I made and held an impression of him based on a film clip, and on what he does. I thought a guy who taught instructors to drill others in bootcamp group exercise classes and who trains pro athletes would have to have an ego the size of Texas. Only… it turns out Todd’s a Jersey boy, just like Dave. Continue reading about Todd Durkin.
August 12 , 2009...Where Do We Go From Here?
It’s hot, very hot, and it’s Sunday on the gold-lined coast of sunny (and flourishing) California. The gym will be empty and quiet, but for us, me and you, my imaginary friends, whooping and hollering and hoisting metallicus objectus supremus. I never party alone. So, who wants to ride shotgun? The rest of you can pile in the back -- no standing, no hanging over the tailgate and no mooning the other cars. It’s arm day with a brief exchange of legs and midsection.
....Continue reading...
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Broken up into part lecture and part hands-on practical workshop, John Izzo’s educational dvd, Shatterproof Spine, How to Build an Athletic Low Back, is geared toward personal trainers, but will also be quite useful to individuals who have the occasional or recurring twinges of back pain. 90 minutes spent attentively with this DVD will give you the tools to reverse that increasing back pain -- why your back hurts and what to do about it -- for life. Click here for the rest of the review: John Izzo Shatterproof Spine: How to Build an Athletic Low Back.
August 5 , 2009...Pull Over, Mack. You’re Speeding
As my eyes adjust from the glare of the noonday sun to the cool shadows of the Weight Room, I see a half-dozen faces I recognize. This is good; non-combative companions in quest of strength and courage and liberation. Iron is everywhere in various configurations, and the characters I know well, yet hardly at all, are attentively shifting the deadweight about as if its repositioning was vitally important.
Job well done, diligent and mighty servants.
One might say, a doctor or lawyer for example, “Why bother, what’s the use?” But wait; one is a lawyer, another a doctor, and the sturdy fellow in shorts works circles around Wall Street from his computer at his oceanfront home. Get this: 30 years ago he won Mr. Santa Cruz. I was a judge. ....Continue reading...
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In the blog piping up with a dvd review today, I’m here to tell you this in no uncertain terms: There’s no doubt if you enjoyed Dan John’s 3-part dvd set, Everything’s Over My Head, you’ll be crazy jazzed by Chip Conrad’s Strength Rituals dvd set ($45). This is a two-dvd set, running over three hours, filmed at Chip’s BodyTribe Fitness and at Midtown Strength in Sacramento, California, and shot in a forest, on a dock, at a warehouse location, on a rooftop and on a beach, and is amazingly athletic, completely accessible to all of us, and very sharp.
Throughout the dvd, the mix of exercise combinations will keep even the most flaky of trainees interested, and they and the dedicated will all become very strong and fit. Bring your most playful self and let ‘er rip. Great video, great narration. FABULOUS to watch, it’s everything but routine. Very motivational, both fists up!
Here's the rest of the review: Chip Conrad's Bodytribe Strength Rituals.
July 29, 2009...A Bomber Does What a Bomber Has to Do
Sitting here on a Monday morn, the sun darting through the trees like golden retrievers and Laree still up to her limbs in Dan John DVD magic and madness (not enough gigs of computer memory, latest minor catastrophe) and me on the relentless prowl for legitimate subject matter for the newsletter, I come to realize yet again the smallness and vastness of the sport associated with lifting weights and moving iron. Basic, yet complex. Simple, but confusing. Plain, and puzzling.
It’s not the iron; it’s the player. Plate on a bar, bar on a bench, push, pull -- pull, push. Again: plate, bar, bench, push, pull. Again and again. Muscle and might! Here’s where it gets confusing, downright mysterious, hugely complex and beyond understanding: How much, how long, what, where, when and why, why not and who said? Are we there yet?
And I haven’t even mentioned words like methodology, periodization, plateau, pyramid, superset or the implications of catabolism, hormones and nutrition. ....Continue reading...
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Nearly four years out of print, yesterday Dave offloaded books from skid off the back of a semi, and today we began shipping the cookbook, Stella’s Kitchen. With these thoughts in mind:
- The kitchen is simple
- The cooking is easy
- The food is superb
… Stella Juarez Post of stellaskitchen.com created a cookbook packed with recipes that are healthy, low calorie and include the nutritional breakdown of individual portions of each recipe.
Throughout the book are short tips that’ll make your kitchen work smoother, and longer sections to help with bigger cooking issues such as how to jazz up plain tuna or cottage cheese, how to select meat cuts and make simple marinades.
One such section was a huge hit among the muscleheads, and we’re reprinting the excerpt in the blog today. Here’s Troubleshooting the Protein Shake, by Stella Post.
July 22, 2009 ...Champ, Big Guy and Bubba to the Rescue
The hills are quiet this afternoon. A gulch several hundred yards below our house leads to the ocean, if you care to take the hike, and is an efficient conduit for the sounds of mankind below. The freeway hums early in the morning and the surf is a kind rhythm late at night. Restlessness stirs the air as July’s lucky ole’ sun keeps rolling along and the glorious day folds upon itself.
Time to break the soft afternoon serenity with the crack of iron and the thunder of steel. Danger Zone! I’m off to the factory where strong bodies, minds and souls are built. Hard Hat Area! Enter with caution the gritty shop where pressure is released, character is defined and gratefulness is earned. ....Continue reading...
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It’s time to find out how many of you missed the opportunity to get a copy of Stella’s cookbook, Stella’s Kitchen. The printer shipped our book inventory today, and we should have stock in about a week or ten days. Have you been a frustrated cook, waiting for the day we could get a copy in the mail to you?
Our newer readers may not be familiar with Stella’s recipes; on the order page, you’ll find a sampler pdf with a few recipes to give you an idea of Stella’s cooking style. What you can expect is healthy, low calorie and easy… with the nutritional breakdown of each serving on every recipe page. Click the link above to order or grab that sampler pdf; your credit card will not be charged until shipment.
On Facebook this week, a discussion: Are you still using your foam roller?
In the blog this week, we have a guest writer, Nick Tumminello, an original thinker who offers a few small, but important twists to our shoulder prehab protocol: Shoulder YTWLs are no longer! For your pondering and self-testing, get after the Tumminello LYTPs.
July 15 , 2009 ...To Twitter or Not to Twitter -- Tweet Tweet
I’m considering twittering. Some influential friends of mine (Joe, the gardener, Buzz, the pizza-delivery guy) say if you don’t tweet, your voice is not heard. My fear is once you twitter, there’s no turning back. Thou must twitter. Tweet or die. Sounds like a bird thing, and not of the hawk and eagle variety, soaring and bold, but more like a canary with clipped wings perched in a cage. ....Continue reading...
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Most of the corrective exercise writers discussing pelvic tilt suggest anterior tilt is by far the most common, meaning the pelvis tilts forward, toward the front. I’m starting to wonder if that’s not quite right.
Now, remember I’m not a personal trainer and don’t work with people in the gym, so perhaps I have this all wrong. But what I’m wondering is if these writers are mostly guys, working mostly with guys or maybe younger, athletic women, and maybe, just maybe, women might have a higher incidence of posterior tilt, the pelvis tilting toward the back.
Here’s what I’m thinking: Many women spent their teen years sucking in the lower abdominals in search of a flat stomach – certainly women my age (and let’s not even discuss the lack of side-to-side motion as we learned early on to lock down our walks!). That habit (both, really… sucking in the stomach as well as limiting the model’s hip sway) was a huge, huge problem for me to break, probably the hardest of all the corrective work I’ve done.
Click the link to see what happens when you suck in your stomach: Posterior Pelvic Tilt.
July 8 , 2009 ...Summertime, Summertime, Sum Sum Sumertime
Who doesn’t love a vacation? Head out the door, bags in hand and put it all behind you. No bosses, no responsibilities, no chores, no alarm clock, no time clock; different faces, different places. Anything but the same-old, same-old; a bad vacation is better than no vacation at all.
Well, that’s not exactly true. I remember sleeping at O’Hare Airport for two nights while union workers haggled, or sitting on the runway in San Francisco for 18 (maybe it was 8) hours before disembarking a cancelled fight for London (engine repair), or the time I showed up in Australia for month tour and my luggage didn’t, ever. And do not lose your passport in Germany, kids... a nightmare I never want to relive. The worst was a flat tire on the ole’ Buick station wagon halfway through a dark tunnel in the rocky wilds of Utah.....Continue reading...
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Joint mobility work is practically mainstream these days -- everybody’s doing it. Even you, right? What’s the next step? Let’s fine-tune this a little bit. As you move your joints through a range of motion quickly, the larger muscles initiate the movement and propel the joints through the circles and stretches. Is that really how you want to do this? Click to read my thoughts on that: Joint Mobility vs Joint Coordination.
On Facebook this week we have a short but informative discussion about fiber, ending with a link to a continuation of the conversation over in the forum.
July 1 , 2009 ...Gravity, Iron, Force, Time, Space (GIFTS)
Few things prevent me from going to the gym and having a satisfactory workout (an overturned tanker on the freeway containing hazardous waste, femoral bleeding, misplaced propeller). Let’s face it, bomber, that’s what it’s all about. Iron! Gravity! Force! Some folks think there’s more to life, like, what are we here for, what’s it all mean? By the time they come to zero conclusions, I have half my workout done, a good burn and a decent pump....Continue reading...
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I think I’ll use this space this week for some housekeeping because I have a bunch of small bits and pieces to share. First up, in our continuing presentation of Dan John’s book, Never Let Go, we’ve got about 30 reviews from readers who in many creative ways all say the same thing: I can’t put this book down!
Dan's a lot of fun to listen to -- he's an educator and a storyteller with a lot to share. He's done a number of audio interviews the past couple of weeks, and here's a link to the list.
It’s likely a good number of readers missed Jeff O’Connell’s article about Dave from the November 2004 issue of Muscle and Fitness. I think you’ll enjoy the read.
In a fascinating Facebook discussion, Scott Sonnon, whom you may know from his work with clubbells and as the guy who introduced many of us to joint mobility practice, gives me an education on the Alexander Technique, and Sean Flanagan, a Somatics enthusiast, offers us a great link that discusses the history of the field, and, toward the end of the link, a really terrific explanation of how muscles stay contracted longer than needed, and how to remedy that.
June 24, 2009 ...A Day at the Beach on a Sunday Afternoon
I went to the gym Sunday early afternoon -- 1 PM -- and it was as empty as a bank vault after closing. The treasure was there, but no one to plunder it. I felt like a thief about to stuff his bag with bounty: any exercise I want, as many sets and as many reps; squats, supersets, dumbbells, benches and cables. It’s mine, all mine. I’m rich. ...Continue reading...
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In April I wrote a sort of year’s wrap-up of my initial Feldenkrais efforts (Feldenkrais would be considered work that should last a lifetime; a year into this, I’m just a beginner). I’d earlier written an overview describing the practice, and before that, Mobility Doesn’t Always Mean Movement, a commentary on how a joint mobility program, while important, may not be enough.
Most of us are too busy, and while a few may be interested enough to search out local assistance, it’s likely you haven’t gotten that far. You might be able to carve out an hour to give this a try if I make it real easy. So let’s try this: I’ll find a basic, free mp3 download with voice instructions; you’ll download the file, lie down on the floor on your back and go through the motions the instructor suggests. If you get a hint of possibility in the outcome, move on to step two: several related lessons selected to achieve a specific purpose. To continue reading, click this link: Learning Feldenkrais.
And you know, I just thought of something else. From time to time I post a query in my Facebook stream and once in a while it hits when a few experts have time to respond. When that happens, I’ll drop a link here in case you’re interested in following along.
I believe you’ll have to befriend me to see the commentary at this point, but my understanding is these will all be public soon -- no Facebook account needed -- and available to googlebots to archive in their search results. People will have mixed feelings about this depending on how they use Facebook, but in our example of information sharing it will be One Outstanding Move.
Here are two recent conversations I found especially interesting, one on diaphragmatic breathing practice and the other on releasing the psoas.
June 17, 2009 ...Forward, Backward, Sideways
I’m running late with this week’s newsletter. The deadline was yesterday, the funeral went on into the night, and the burial was early this morning. May it rest in peace. I’ve been distracted nipping at the edges of the chapters to be added to Brother Iron Sister Steel and the project is not without a hurdle or two.
...Continue reading...
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I realized this morning a good many of the IronOnline regulars may not be familiar with Dan John's writing. Let's remedy that. Here's an excerpt from his new book, Never Let Go, called Systematic Education for Lifters.
Next week we’re going to switch gears, back to a Feldenkrais discussion. A friend asked how to get started on a Feldenkrais program at home and without professional instruction. We’ll get into that a bit, and I’ll find some good links for those who are interested in taking a shot at it. Until then, click that link above and finish Dan’s story.
June 10, 2009 ...Don’t Hold Your Breath
It’s a gorgeous Saturday in booming California as I write this newsletter. Laree is in the mountains of Utah with a crew of strength athletes and lifters -- friends from IronOnline -- celebrating the ninth annual Bomber Bash. They are engaged in a marathon of fundamental and specialized training instruction and demonstration by Dan John, highly accredited strength coach and master lifting champion.
This is a grand enrichment for 50-some ironheads as they enjoy each other’s company and share in lifting, learning and growing and eating and mingling for a long spring weekend. Beyond being a veritable wealth of information, a formidable iron technician and practitioner, Dan is a remarkably skilled communicator. Dan speaks and performs -- you listen, learn and love it. Click the title link above to continue reading....Continue reading...
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Nestled at the base of the breathtaking Utah Wasatch Mountains rests the 57-acre Juan Diego High School campus where Dan John teaches and coaches, and where he hosted a group of IronOnline forum members June 5-7, our 9th annual Bomber Bash.
Dan’s an outstanding writer (author of the new book, Never Let Go), and a champion athlete, but I won’t have to stand alone if I say where he really shines is as a teacher. He’s a gifted speaker, and like all good high school coaches, has eyes in the back of his head. How he knew what each of the participants needed to hear or be shown, I have no clue; each of us got a bit of private attention at just the right instant to change something important. He was remarkable, truly remarkable.
For details and photos, click here.
And… about Dan’s book, Never Let Go, Dr. Ken Leistner writes:
"Something truly different in strength training: a literate, well-written book full of enjoyable information and an opportunity to cull through it and choose what might enhance one's training. That's unusual in our field, but Dan has provided a volume one can go back to numerous times and benefit from." ~Dr. Ken Leistner
June 3, 2009 ...Life Without Iron
Here’s a worthy consideration: What would life be like without training... the weights... the iron... the bombing...the gym? Sit, think, rollover, play dead.. ...Continue reading...
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Preparing the corrective exercise specialist certification suggestions blog post last week made me realize we also need a suggested reading list. I put the word out for ideas and the responses quickly popped onto my screen, just another example of why I’m digging Facebook and Twitter. I’ve collected the suggested reading list, along with links, and will keep it handy in the blog sidebar for later reference.
Now this oughta crack you up. There’s a terrific used bookstore in Santa Cruz, Logo’s, where I’d live if they’d let me. One day while wondering around the stacks, I found a $2 book, The Kinesiology of Corrective Exercise, by Gertrude Hawling, Second Edition, thoroughly revised in 1949! And you know what? We’d have known all this corrective stuff all along if we’d have paid attention. No kidding -- diagrams of elevated hips… rotated rib cages… you name it, it’s there.
1949!
I’ll continue updating both the certification suggestions and reading list blog posts as new ideas come in. Meanwhile, I’m off to Utah to meet up with my IronOnline pals, to listen to Dan John lecture, to share some Feldenkrais movement ideas and generally have a hopping good time. We’ve got a film crew recording Dan’s seminars, and I’ll spend the summer editing the videos for dvd.
But first… I’ve got a bit more work on Stella’s Kitchen, which we’ll be re-publishing in July for those who weren’t able to get their hands on a copy the first time through. Big summer around here.
Here are your reading assignments: Corrective Exercise Specialist suggested reading.
May 27, 2009 ...The Draper Jawdroppers
Was I to do it all over again, would I lift weights to become a high-flying Bomber? Yes, of course. Would I suggest my precious child pursue championship in the bodybuilding arena? No way. Top-notch physical fitness will do just fine, dear heart. Now, go; have fun, prosper and be healthy. Live forever. Serious bodybuilding -- huge and ripped -- is too hard, too fatiguing, too tedious, too focused, too limited, too severe, too dangerous and too maddening, though it can be a blast. ...Continue reading...
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In an email, a personal trainer wrote to ask about a certification for corrective exercise. In particular, she wanted to know which is the most research-based. I’m not a personal trainer, nor am I certified in anything, corrective or otherwise (certifiable from time to time), so I put the question out via Facebook and Twitter. There was a terrific response; I didn’t want to waste the input to a lost Facebook thread, so I archived it in the blog, here: Corrective Exercise Certifications for Personal Trainers.
About Dan John’s new book, Never Let Go, exciting reviews are beginning to float in.
Writes Lyle McDonald: Dan John has been in the lifting weights since about the history of recorded time. He’s seen it all, done it all, and tried it all. His knowledge and experience is encyclopedic... coupled with his willingness to share that information with anybody who cares to show interest For just about anybody involved in the field, I really can’t recommend this book too highly. For those who are old and jaded like me, Dan may give you an insight into some decidedly old school approaches to training that flat out work. Here's Lyle McDonald ’s extensive review of Dan John's Never Let Go.:
And via Twitter and Facebook, I've spotted some fun one-liners, such as:
Eric Beard said: I love Never Let Go by Dan John, great pearls of wisdom mixed with humor, dedication and experience! Great common sense, training nuggets and humor mixed with philosophy. Will try a few ideas today.
Zach Even-Esh wrote: I CAN'T put this book down!!
Interested in reading the incoming reviews, or are you enjoying Dan John's new book, Never Let Go? Reviews: You're encouraged to post a comment and read the reviews.
He’s also on tap for a few ‘net interviews. I’ll keep this thread updated with the schedule: Dan John Interviews.
Dan’s an interesting interview, quite a talker with fun stories and a passion for helping us excel in our training. Definitely worth a listen!
May 20, 2009 ...Flash: Fitness is for Everyone -- You, Me, Them
Wakey, wakey, no mistakey! Time to shape up for your vacation: walking, jumping jacks, knee bends (cute ‘n good), squats, deadlifts and presses (bad ‘n ugly). Clean out the fridge and empty the cupboards: no soda pop, no beer, no chips, no sugary stuff and no grease; more protein, more water, more salads and enough fruit, and smaller meals regularly throughout the day. And last, but not least, gobs of discipline, heaps of commitment and piles of perseverance, regularly. Go. Do not hesitate and do not look back. ...Continue reading...
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Yesterday afternoon we were startled by the arrival of a huge delivery truck; the driver jumped from his seat and promptly offloaded three pallets of Dan John’s new book, Never Let Go. Now check this: The pallet delivery arrived two hours before we received our UPS 2nd Day Air first-off-the-press publisher’s copy! UPS, you’ve got some ‘splaining to do.
I always enjoy delivery days. There’s no fake workout on those days; it’s a real-deal workout, unloading, hauling and re-stacking 3,500 pounds of book cartons. My non-gym friends don’t get it, but I know you all will.
Pre-ordering customers: Your copy went out yesterday, with our thanks and Dan’s appreciation for your eagerness to get your hands on his book. To those slower to push the Buy Button, may we put one in the mail to you today? Click here to order Dan John's Never Let Go.
After you’ve had a chance to look it over, we’d love to hear your thoughts. I’ll start a thread in the blog where we’ll archive your review comments for potential buyers to consider, and for Dan’s future enjoyment and pondering.
Oh, and to be completely honest, I really don’t have many non-gym friends. Where would I meet them? I meet all my friends at the gym, just like you do.
May 13, 2009 ...Home Alone
Today is Saturday and I chose not go to the gym, letting the freeway to the ever-loving vacationers, board-walkers, sun-sappers and sand-kickers. Instead, I stepped onto the deck in my shorts, pulled up a bench and shared a couple of cans of Dave’s Albacore Tuna with Mugsy, the world’s greatest cat. The sun was pouring down like fool’s gold from a stimulus package, and I, after the tuna cans were scraped clean, stretched out to relax on the bench. Mugs cleaned his whiskers and paws. .... Continue reading...
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You know how it is when you’re reading an article, you come to the end and even though the author’s points were made – the story’s complete –you just don’t want it to end? That’s how I am when I read one of Dan John’s articles. Just like when I’m reading Dave’s writing, with Dan I just want to sit on the deck and read his stuff forever. And that’s why I was so thrilled to be a part of bringing his new book to life.
… which is where we are today, sitting in anticipation of a call from the trucking company to schedule delivery. The books shipped from the printer, and should arrive late next week.
Already the word has slipped out and the eager are lining up to be first to get a copy. We’d love to add you to the list of enthusiastic readers, too. Click the bolded link for more details about a book I consider a big contribution to our field, Dan John’s Never Let Go: A Philosophy of Lifting, Living and Learning. I am sincerely so thrilled. Thanks for letting me be a part of this, Dan.
May 6, 2009 ... Take Me to the 100-Pound Dumbbells
There’s a jiggly creature hiding under my workout rags and I know it. And he knows I know it. The whole neighborhood knows it. It’s time to dig out the battered old shoebox of spring training tricks... the one marked, “Oh, no. Here we go again!” None of us will argue the hardest and most essential move to make is the first move -- recovering the box from the rubble of the attic, opening it up and poking through its dog-eared contents. Patuey!.... Continue reading...
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My part of this blog has trended toward corrective exercise strategies over the past couple of years as I began to learn chronic pain wasn’t just a part of aging and I didn’t have to live with in decline. Many of my IronOnline forum pals have also moved off the strength path temporarily in order to reclaim lost movement, and others probably would if they knew where to start without having to go back to school to learn anatomy and kinesiology.
Often people ask for the simple solution -- you know… hey, just tell me what book to get and I’ll read it. But until now, it hasn’t been that easy. In fact, that’s the reason we started collecting names for our corrective exercise specialist database, which you’ll find at this link; by the time we hit our 40s, 50s and 60s, we’re so jammed up it takes an expert to sort it all out.
The thing is, even if we can part with the bucks to pay someone to help many of us are not in driving range of such a person. The field has grown hugely the past couple of years, but the personal trainers who know more than an introduction to assessments and corrective strategies are still few and far between.
So what are you going to do? Today we actually have a viable do-it-yourself option, Keith Scott’s Unbreakable Body Program. Click the link below for more: Keith Scott's Unbreakable Body Program.
April 29 , 2009 ... Muscleheads: Here, There and Everywhere
The Iron World, Russia interview — Interview with Dave Draper for Iron World, Russia, February of ’09, Sergey Tyshchenko, Part 2 of 2..... Continue reading...
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April wrapped up a full year of regular Feldenkrais training, both in group classes as well as in private, hand-on sessions. Not only has the training propelled me miles ahead of where I could have gotten on my own with self-taught corrective exercises, stretching and myofascial release, but it’s also been a real eye-opener for casual movement, moving posture and even in learning.
The biggest wow moment was learning to think of the skeleton separately from muscle. When doing joint mobility, I now think of the bones moving and let the muscles move naturally, without purposeful attention. Good joint motion happens when it’s smooth and effortless.
Good movement through the joints requires the right rhythm. Muscles have to fire in optimal order to move well and freely, without pain. Yet how do you do that? How can we possibly teach our muscles how to fire in the right order? Some—many—ways to move are never learned, or are forgotten. Remember this: In movement, we’re self-taught!
April 22 , 2009 ... From Russia with Love
Got one right here: The Iron World, Russia interview — Interview with Dave Draper for Iron World, Russia, February of ’09, Sergey Tyshchenko, Part 1 of 2..... Continue reading...
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In a conversation of books covering barbell training techniques, Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore’s book, Starting Strength, will instantly surge to the top as the most important book a trainer should own. Period, no close second.
If you need another opinion, there are plenty in the section of the forum where we review the book and discuss their instructions and illustrations of the basic exercises. You’ll find everything’s covered; in fact, we’d arranged for the guys to come on the forum to address questions at the end of our book review month, but when the time came… well, there just weren’t any questions left unanswered.
Still, some people are visual or audio learners, and perhaps even Lon’s terrific illustrations aren’t enough for these types. A mere $24.95 and plenty of practice will buy these folks a perfect squat, deadlift, bench press, overhead press and power clean; no joking here -- Mark Rippetoe’s filmed Starting Strength barbell exercise technique seminar leaves no confusion. Each of the five exercises gets its 25-35 minutes, including discussion and instruction, followed by a long section in which Mark troubleshoots individual problems. Click here: Review of Mark Rippetoe's Starting Strength dvd.
April 15 , 2009 ... Attitude and Altitude -- Higher and Higher
I’m a very busy person and my plate is full.
Full of crumbs, that is. Perhaps if I scrape them together there’ll be a sufficient heap of stuff to get me to the gym. Each crumb is a remnant of responsibility, need, desire, discipline and obligation, with a few flecks of inspiration along the edges. What’s this? Yuk, a morsel of guilt.
Trouble is, I don’t have an appetite.
However, I do have excuses: The gym is 30 minutes down the road, the truck’s dirty and the traffic stinks; it’s cold, windy and grey outside and my favorite T-shirt’s in the washer; there’s a newsletter to write and Mug’s is curled up on my lap, purring. I’ll go to the gym tomorrow.
Crazy! There was a time 50 years ago I had nothing I’d rather do than go to the gym! 40 years ago contests were coming up... off to the gym. 30 years ago I ran the juice bar in the gym. 20 years ago I owned the gym. 15 years ago the gym owned me. 10 years ago I morphed into the Bomber writing tales about the gym. Boom-Zoom..... Continue reading...
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- How long do I spend on a routine?
- Fast weight gain
- How long before I can train after back surgery?
- Armand Tanny
As for extras... I got nothin’ for you today. And here’s why: Dan John's Never Let Go ships to press!
April 8 , 2009 ... Hold On -- Never Let Go
Laree, under my explicit supervision, encouragement and inspiration, is just a week away from publishing a comprehensive book on strength and lifting by Coach Dan John. Dan’s a great writer and educator, as well as a record-holding champion in throwing sports, and the material he’s presented Laree, though consumptive, has been a pleasure for her to work with.
He can spell, punctuate, write whole sentences and compile his thoughts with wisdom and entertainment. Plus, he knows what he’s talking about -- from the heart and soul, body and mind. The work is titled Never Let Go..... Continue reading...
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Camaraderie among gymrats, sharing training tips learned over the years… the hard way… and an outstanding weightroom educational opportunity — could there possibly be a better way to spend a weekend? Not likely!
The members and visitors of our IronOnline forum get together annually to laugh and learn and grow; this year’s event will be in Draper, Utah, just south of Salt Lake, the weekend of June 5-7, and as always, you’re invited. Drop me an email, or join in the Utah Bash forum thread to express your interest.
Now, then, what’s the truly exciting part? Just this: It’s to be held in Dan John’s weightroom, where he’ll be on hand to lecture three times, which we’ll film for future dvd production, and to answer our long list of training questions privately or in small groups, winging it (Dave likes that term a lot, thinks since we’re pretending Bombers we should be winging around town at will) as needed by the participants. We’re not planning a huge crowd, and your face time with Dan will be plenty to cover any of your training confusion. Heck, this guy likes to teach!
April 1 , 2009 ... Weights: To Lift or Not to Lift
Weights and lifting them make men and women of all ages strong in body, in mind and in soul. They build muscle and strength, as surely as they build character. They improve energy and endurance, as certainly as they improve acuity and physical calm. The iron, though cold and lifeless, is instructive and endearing and dependable. .... Continue reading...
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As you read in Dave’s column or saw in the forum or elsewhere on the internet, Zabo (real name Irwin) Koszweski died over the weekend. His death came suddenly; Dave talked with him about three, maybe four weeks ago, and he was fine, at home in Venice. A couple weeks later, he spent a few days in an LA hospital with pneumonia, was released to a nursing home for a few days, then went east to his daughter’s where he died about a week later.
Read more about our friend, Zabe.
March 25 , 2009 ... Gravity Was Different Then
I’ll never forget those nasty 60s, the ones sitting crooked on the splintery wooden racks in the dimness of the Dungeon. They were not alone in uniqueness and construction, but they were the only ones that fought back when pushed around. They were scrappers.
The dumbbells in the Dungeon went from the clanking 10-pounders to the rumbling 150s. The 150s, long, thick and formidable, reminded me of locomotives in a train yard: slow-moving black steel, hellishly noisy, awesome in structure and built to perform a serious job. Only a few burly iron-workers were equipped to engineer the monsters, and no one questioned their authority.
The 150s didn’t move far and didn’t move often; they mostly sat still and rumbled...... Continue reading...
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Seems like such a great dream – noble even – to build a dungeon where heavy iron hits the floor and bumper plates are heaved smoothly overhead. Instead… I look in the crystal and see a three-year nightmare that ends with you and your best-bud training partner feuding, your back account empty (or worse, owing borrowed money), and the IRS hounding you for unpaid payroll taxes. It’s a heartbreaker.
We hear from people weekly, either by email or in the forum, writing of their amazing plans to build their dream gym. They write to share their excitement, or perhaps to get a tip or two from someone who built and ran a couple of gyms over a fifteen-year period.
Each time we have the opportunity, both Dave and I do our best to talk the planner down from the lofty heights and back to reality. In only one instance do I know of a person who stuck with the plans after our badgering, and who’s truly made a go of it in the health club business. All others had everything going against them, aside from their immeasurable enthusiasm. Unfortunately, in a business that can be compared in difficulty with the restaurant industry, enthusiasm simply isn’t enough.
Click here for more foresight: Building a commercial gym.
Hmmm, perhaps that was hindsight.
March 18 , 2009 ... Now and Then -- Muscle and Might
Imaging is one step removed from spontaneous. I stand before the weights with a low-contrast mental picture of what I’m about to do. Since it’s not yet done, I can change it anytime to suit any circumstance, whatever it might be. As I go, I know. I call this over-65 precision. And whatever I do, it’s going to be good and it’s going to be done right. That part is certain, the effect of strong visualization.
Training back in the day there was no straying from the set routine. None! To wander was to weaken; to drift was to die. Strict training principles were necessary, mandatory. The stern approach made working out almost fearful. Nuts to that. The last thing I need in my life these days is fear. Today, wandering and drifting under the calm supervision of wise and mature eyes and a knowing nose is the way. The yellow brick road, the golden iron highway..... Continue reading...
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Dave’s genius lies in seeing what we all see, but being able to describe it in a way few of the rest of us had considered. That’s why I don’t want his musings of the internal coaching personalities from the column a few weeks to disappear into the depths of the archives, now reaching a thickness of over 500 columns, without calling out those familiar nags.
Before sending them off to history, which of your internal advisers is your favorite, which visits the most often or is the most destructive? And I wonder this: Do we have the skills to bring a more positive and more successful internal coach to the forefront?
Can we send the faulty ones to the rear?
March 11 , 2009 ... Come and Get Your Fresh Roasted Peanuts
I had a peanut-size workout today and feel great. The dumbbells were pink in color with light blue polka dots and emitted neither an irritating clank nor an abusive thud. I used whatever bench was nearby without improvising a precise training angle by intricately stacking boards and blocks under one end.
Foregoing a critical 10-minute search, any old handles dangling on the cable machine sufficed, and I instantly performed my tucks and extensions and crossovers. And, you might note, without applying progressive mathematical formulas to determine my specific set-and-rep scheme. I just repped out till I seriously pumped and burned.... Continue reading...
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What is social media? How can we use it? Why would we want to?
I know you’ve heard of it—social media, Facebook… Twitter. You may be thinking the same as Dave, which is why would anyone want to do that? That’s what he said when I told him I was sticking my foot in the social door, but that’s also what he said when I started making a three-page website back in the winter of 1998, or started the email discussion group the following summer. He said it again when I installed the forum board software in 2004. He sure was wrong on those occasions, so why not now?
How I see it is the trilogy of our well-established strength training forum, plus the personal and easy-going aspects of Facebook and the wider-reaching, free-wheeling nature of Twitter rounds out everything we could need for learning and growing our web-based education and camaraderie of iron.
We’re sharing information, passing on links, getting a quick grin from a note from a new acquaintance—a friend of a friend, perhaps—enjoying a memory of someone who was in the audience when Dave won the Mr. America onstage at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1965. You’re not going to get that stuff training at home, and rarely will you get much of it at your neighborhood gym. You’re going to have to cast a little wider for the real gems, and that’s where the new social media comes in.
March 4 , 2009 ... From here to Eternity
Talked to Don Howorth, Zabo, Leroy Colbert and Frank Zane in the passed few weeks and we all concluded that time, though not courageous, gracious or patient, is persistent. Frank, the child among us (six months my junior, but mature), plans to get in super shape this summer. Don (a little bit older than me) trains himself and a dozen other muscleheads at various Hollywood neighborhood gyms throughout the week; baby needs shoes and muscles need attending.
Leroy (a little bit older than Don), my first bodybuilding hero and partner, offers nutritional consultation from his Ventura Boulevard heath food store, Total Nutrition. He juggles a pair of dumbbells in the backroom between clients.
Zabo (a little bit older than Leroy, yet younger than Moses) works whatever doesn’t hurt three times a week at Gold’s, Venice: sit-ups and cables, 60 minutes, gone.
I get a weekly email from Deputy Lou Ferrigno (he’s even younger than Frank Zane, if you can imagine... pups), encouraging me in less then three to four words to carry on. He’s probably just realizing the rapid and consistent flight of time... faster than a speeding bullet..... Continue reading...
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A stunning gift to those who thrill at the idea of mountains of weight moving overhead real fast, Arnold Classic promoter, Jim Lorimer, and IronMind’s Randy Strossen teamed up this year to bring in the 2008 Olympic gold medalist, Matthias Steiner, from Germany, along with his weightlifting team for an exhibition showcase on the main stage in the expo hall at the Arnold this weekend, Saturday, March 7 at 1pm.
Ingrid Marcum, our inspiring friend from the forum, has been invited to participate in the exhibition, so after a very short break home following her bobsled season travel, which spanned non-stop from September thru February, Ingrid treks to Columbus this weekend to join the showcase.
February 25, 2009 ... Lost and Alone Without the Iron
What would life be like without the gym, the workouts, the weights? Curiously, I’ve never confronted myself with that question. I feel slightly dazed... a little faint... I’d better sit down.
No sets? No reps? No cunning determination of how to bombard the delts or blast the biceps? Days on end without pursuing extreme pain through maximum muscle exertion? Endless weeks free of plodding to the gym through wind and rain and fire? Infinite months unburdened by the anxiety of missing a good workout, or, worse yet, completing one badly? No more swelling, throbbing, aching; no more ice and heat and painkillers? Freedom from limping and limited range of motion, sudden yelps and sleepless nights for, like, ever?
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry or run and hide. The latter sounds appealing and I’m thinking of under the bed with my pillow..... Continue reading...
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Much of the current kettlebell enthusiasm is focused on time and endurance, and with good reason because for conditioning a kettlebell is a remarkable tool. But old-school strong man devotee David Whitley has gone in the other direction: He’s using these chunks of weight to create exercises and combinations each one more difficult than the previous to execute, sometimes using a single kettlebell, but more often doubles, and occasionally two of differing weights, and sometimes even both of those in the same hand.
It’s a grin to watch Dave perform, and it’s also a pleasure to learn from him, as I did recently via his Full Body Power, Beyond the Basics intermediate and advanced kettlebell drill dvd. My notes are intense, three pages of mashed scribbles, as I studied his techniques covering variations of what he calls Follow the Leaders Series and his burpee combinations – think burpees with a single kettlebell or double kettlebells used for deadlifts, swings, cleans, high pulls, snatches, clean and press and clean, squat and press, all artfully tossed together to wipe out even the neediest Rocky fan.
In response to a question in the forum about a Vince Gironda technique, I excerpted a piece from Dick Tyler's West Coast Bodybuilding Scene explaining the Gironda frog crunch; here's The Cloak and Dagger Abdominal Exercise.
February 18, 2009 ... Internal Board of Supervisors
We’re never alone. At least a dozen confused personalities take refuge in the average musclehead, ready with garbled advice when prodded, poked, slapped around and pinched. Recognize any in particular? .... Continue reading...
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Ten years ago I realized my pains and lifetime injuries were all on my right side: right foot metatarsal pain, right heel pain, right hip, right shoulder, right elbow, right jaw. Did that mean anything, I asked my doctor, who shrugged back a who-knows response. What a disappointment to come home telling Dave my brilliant insight had come up empty.
Today, with that list of right-side problems relieved through successful mobility, flexibility and corrective exercise work, I look back and wonder how a trained medical doctor wouldn’t have known something was amiss.
Ten years is not that long, really, but consider how far we’ve come in the fitness and athletic industry. Today you could ask your doctor the same question and probably get the same shrugged response, yet if you asked a personal trainer—at least one who pursues continuing education—you’d probably get a knowing nod, and certainly you would if you asked an athletic trainer. The medical profession is focused and remarkable at curing disease, but not that good at building health and fitness. Continued reading: Discovering and Correcting Asymmetries.
February 11, 2009 ... Light Weight -- Heavy Exertion
Occasionally someone will ask what keeps me going after all these years. My first reaction is, duh, like, this rugged and powerful body, Dude. Whadaya think? However, my smooth and savvy character insists I offer a more motivational and instructional answer, one spiced with inspiration and wisdom. I start with something lyrical, like the iron is part of me. It’s my purpose, it’s my center; it’s my blood, flesh and bone. It’s the very breath I take. It’s my soul.
And let’s not forget muscle and might and everything right, health and well-being and all that’s full-meaning. A light jingly rhyme is always kinda cute.
It’s the truth that hurts: I continue to train year after year because I don’t know anything else and when I miss a workout my self esteem tanks big and I grow sullen and resentful. I don’t want to train; I’ve got to train. What am I going to do -- the laundry, get a job? .... Continue reading...
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Is it your understanding moving your body by foot over a mile distance will burn up just under a hundred calories? Isn’t that what we’ve always been told, whether running or walking covering a mile clocks between 98 and 104 calories?
I’ve heard those figures given at least a dozen times in lectures over the past twenty years. It never made any sense and every time had me scratching my head, but given the authority behind the statements, I found myself repeating the 100-calories-per-mile average throughout my time in the gym business.
Apparently all that credulity was strained for a reason: According to Dr. David Swain, author of Exercise Prescription: A Case Study Approach to the ACSM Guidelines, calorie expenditure while walking at a 17-minute-per-mile pace burns 3.3 calories per minute over resting activity, while running at about twice that pace burns about twice as many calories, and if the person works the same duration covering twice the distance, he or she gains a fourfold greater caloric expenditure.
February 4, 2009 ... When in Doubt, Go to the Gym
This sunny day reminds me of one day 47 years ago, when I hopped in my GTO and headed for the Muscle Beach Dungeon. The ride was tight, fast and mean, the sun blazed across my windshield and the Pacific sparkled like diamonds at my nine. This was paradise and I didn’t know it. I didn’t know anything till it was gone.
I was parked in the rear of the old hotel in 10 minutes. No gym bag in those days, no key to the front door and nobody on the gym floor but my partner and me. He was never early, he was never late and I was always on time. Nods and motions and the eyes did the talking. .... Continue reading...
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At the back of the Spa Fitness Center, circa 1980, behind the thick, steamed-up glass, across the gold shag carpet and past the blue machine with the wooden fat rollers, picture a well-populated pool, steam and sauna area. Between the pool and the simmering whirlpool, a small, deep cold plunge. Why it was there, I never knew, but since it was, it must have been there for a reason, so I used it—sauna, steam, then cold plunge to whirlpool.
Thirty years later, the cold plunge is back in vogue, and perhaps there really is something to it, something more than Scandinavian history involving a sauna and the local snowpack. Here’s a brief discussion of contrast bath therapy for workout recovery.
Skipping to the end, you’ll discover the classic finale: You have to try it for yourself. Don’t you hate that?
January 28, 2009 ... Trivial Pursuit: Muscle, Strength and Health
How far have you come this first month of the new year, and where do you see yourself, say, four months from now -- mid-spring. I’m not big on looking much further ahead than tomorrow, but it’s not a bad idea to glance at the not-too-distant future to stir the imagination and arouse intentions.... Continue reading...
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Bill Peel, our great friend who goes by the name Wicked Willie in his wild west reenactments and in our forum, also calls himself a squat-challenged lifter. Maybe you consider yourself squat challenged, and would like to know some of the steps Bill’s worked the past couple of years as he works to correct this limitation. This week he posts the third of his series, A Squat-Challenged Lifter.
If you missed the earlier posts or need a refresher, here are links to parts one and two. You’ll also want to review these should you be interested in purchasing or using a leverage squat machine.