Sarah Walls 4/13/12 Sarah Walls 4/13/12

12: Powerlifting Meet, Baseball, Sheep Shipping, and Something You Can Help Me With

1. I'm really excited to head down to Richmond tomorrow morning to support Coach Ryan, as well as student-athlete Carson, in their powerlifting meet tomorrow as they throw some heavy things around. Ryan wrote a brief write-up on his meet prep, along with including a video of his opening attempts, HERE if you're interested. We're also really pumped to support Carson, who, as a HIGH SCHOOLER no less, has been training his butt off and will boldly be stepping out on to the platform for his first powerlifting meet ever. Carson trains more intensely than just about anyone I know, and I have no doubt he's going to do well.

There are also two other things that make me excited about my trip to Richmond. The first is that I'll have a chance to hang out with my older brother and his fiancee, to catch up and all that good stuff. With regards to the second reason I'm excited about my trip to Richmond....well, something that not many of you may know is that I have a little side business in the sheep shipping market. It will be interesting to see if I can gather any new customers (needing sheep for pets, bodyguards for the house, or training for the sheep fight club) during my stay outside my usual sheep-shipping grounds of Northern Va.

2. This past Tuesday, Kelsey and I had the privilege of getting to watch a lot of our high school athletes battle it out in a baseball game (Yorktown vs. Washington-Lee). The one frustrating component of working as a strength coach is the fact that you have to work evenings, which is the very same time that most of the (high school) games take place, so it's always tough to find a game one of our athletes are playing in that we can actually attend.

Last night, we were able to see a ton of SAPT athletes get after it:

Red Dowdell (home run)
CJ Herold (home run)
David Palmer
Bennett Nagurka
Daniel Whitaker (3 for 3 and a two-run triple)
Graeme Fineman (pitching as a freshman on Varsity)
Lucas Dolan
Andrew Long (pitching as a sophomore on Varsity)
Justin Snow (two hits and four RBI)
Seth Whitmore (doubled)
Luke Fichter (two hits)

Needless to say, it was awesome to see the guys "in their element" outside the walls of the weight room, getting after it on the field. We look forward to similar/related opportunities in the future!

3. We recently started a newsletter for all our "in-network" SAPT people, and we're working on making it so that any of you reading can sign up for it on the website (I know I know, we're behind the ball a bit), so stay tuned! With this we're hoping to provide training tips, news updates, and content that we don't post on the blog.

4. Lastly, I've been experiencing a bit more "writer's block" than usual lately.

Normally, even though I definitely don't consider myself a "writer" per se, when I open my laptop to write, ideas flow to me fairly seamlessly (at least that's what I like to tell myself). Lately though, I've been in a rut where I just can't seem to get my thoughts together and/or choose a topic that I'm satisfied with.

As such, if any of you would like to see any particular topics covered here on the blog, please let me know!

Feel free to drop something in the comments section, or email me (steve@studentathletept.com) with anything.....no, really, anything.....that may interest you to see discussed on here.

Sarah Walls 3/19/12 Sarah Walls 3/19/12

An Outside Eye

This past weekend, my wife and I had the privilege of giving a presentation to a weight loss group at a local church in Fairfax. The group is made up of adults primarily in their 40s and 50s, and the majority of them haven't undergone a consistent resistance training plan in years (if ever). Needless to say, it was a rewarding experience to answer their questions and help guide them along, on top of the fact that it was a good chance for Kelsey and I to practice communicating some of the intricacies of exercise science in a SIMPLE manner. Anyway, one of the points we harped on was the power of having someone assess you and to guide you through exercise technique. This is true whether you're a grandmother or an elite athlete (or both?), by the way.

I say this because we've had professional athletes walk into the doors of SAPT that couldn't do a pushup or squat correctly. And if you are reading this, chances are high you are NOT a professional athlete, so yes: this especially applies to you, big guy.

I can't tell you how many times I coach someone - athletes and Joes/Janes alike - through a squat, seated row, pushup, plank, you name it, for the first time, and their immediate response is along the lines of:

"Ohhhh! THAT'S where I'm supposed to feel it?"

"Woah, I didn't realize how HARD this exercise is when I do it correctly."

I can't stress enough how important it is to do this. For the adults we were addressing at the church on Sunday, we suggested they do this in order to reduce the likelihood of injury during their exercise programs. For example, say we told the group they should immediately start doing planks every day in order to help alleviate/reduce their risk of back pain.

Because planks are good, right? Well....theoretically, yes. But what if you do them like this?

In fact, this is why it can be so hard for me when someone (who has never had someone assess them before) tells me to just "tell them what to go do on their own in the gym."

We don't think twice before having someone show us how to scuba dive, shoot skeet, or ride a motorcycle, so why is weight training any different??

I think it's because the majority of people have been doing pushups and bicep curls in their bedrooms since age ten so we feel it'd be silly to ask for someone to show us how. I mean, how hard can it be to do a good squat, deadlift, and lunge?

I don't care if you're a bodybuilder, athlete, runner, weekend warrior, or are aging and simply trying to stave off diabetes and osteoporosis. Get assessed and have someone look at your form!!

Strength coaches aren't excluded from this, by the way. I can't tell you how many times I'll ask one of the SAPT coaches to step out of the office while I'm training to check out something I'm doing to ensure I'm remaining honest with myself. Heck, Kelsey and I drove up to Boston in October to have the staff at Cressey Performance assess us and coach us through all the major lifts.

You won't regret it.

Sarah Walls 2/23/12 Sarah Walls 2/23/12

Complete and Utter Randomness

Just a few random thoughts that have been running around my mind and some training videos for everyone out there. Random Thoughts:

I’ve been struggling as of late when it comes to high school weight training either as a class or after school for sports. It seems to be very few and far between that you have sport coaches/weight training teachers who know what they’re doing in the weight room (I’m not saying all of them). Just talking to athletes about what they do in there blows my mind such as maxing every three weeks with terrible form, crumpling under the barbell during a squat or rounding their back and hitching a deadlift just to get the weight up. Most of these kids can’t do a bodyweight squat correctly, why are they maxing with a barbell on their back? I’m not trying to make people angry but it just seems ignorant when there is so much good/free information everywhere that would help these coaches and their athletes immensely. I attribute this to one of two things, they are to prideful to admit they don’t know what they are doing or they just don’t care to find out that what they are doing is wrong and harmful. Either way it’s unacceptable.

The previous thought kind of led into the idea of being average. I’ve heard people for as long as I can remember talk about how they are better than “average” or that they don’t want to be just “average”. I always thought that thinking like that was arrogant, or that they felt they were superior. I used to be of the mindset that in order to be above average you had to be something like an astronaut, sports superstar, movie star, bill gates, you know things along those lines. I’m assuming I thought that way because from the time I was in elementary school to the end of high school that’s what I felt I was, just average. Why? Because I was led to believe that’s what I was by OTHER people. It wasn’t until college when I started taking my physical education and exercise science classes that I started to realize that I wasn’t “average” and that I never want to be “average”. I started becoming more confident in my intelligence and through weight training I became more physically confident, and most importantly I stopped listening to negative people. This all lead to me understanding that it’s OK to NOT want to be average. Nobody should want that. Whatever it is that you are currently doing you shouldn’t be satisfied with being average at it. Whether you are a student, strength coach, teacher, sport coach, attorney, grounds keeper, etc. you should STRIVE to be better so you can look back when it’s all said and done and be able to say you left your mark. Anyways the reason why this all got sparked was because I’ve been hoping this is the message that I am instilling in the athletes I work with. There is enough negativity in the world and I REFUSE to be a negative influence when it comes to working with these kids.

My last thought as of late is that I want to buy a truck. Really not for any other reason than to buy a Prowler to leave in the bed of the truck just so I can always have it on hand in case the mood strikes to push it. Weird right?

Videos:

And without further delay, here are some videos to take your mind off the incoherent rant you just read….

Here are two of our female high school volleyball athletes. I think they are just realizing that they are really strong. SAPT is really proud of all their progress…

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The next video is of one of my training partners and GMU’s S&C graduate assistant John Delgado. He’s currently doing Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 and he decided to get real squirrely with this 315 deadlift for what I believe is 13 reps…

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The last video is of me getting in some work for my upcoming powerlifting competition. My training is going really well and my squats and pulls feel really fast and smooth (bench is still feeling a bit weird and wild). I’m about 7 weeks out from the Richmond Open and I am getting all sorts of jacked up about it.

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Sarah Walls 1/12/12 Sarah Walls 1/12/12

10 Rules to Keep Your Man Card

In the short time I’ve been a strength coach I’ve learned a number of lessons from mentors and co-workers.; one of those lessons being how to lose your “man card”. It’s important for us to understand that our man card is not a right, but a privilege. And trust me, if you’re not careful yours will get snatched away! Hence the reason for writing this post; follow these simple rules and I promise your man card won’t be going anywhere. Rule 1: Do not wear your clothes so tight that your girlfriend mistakes them for hers. Guys, there’s no excuse for this, either buy some bigger clothes or get bigger yourself.

Rule 2: Do not comment on how vascular another man is/don’t talk about how vascular you are. Is this something I really need to explain? Just don’t do it, it’s weird.

Rule 3: If your 140lbs soaking wet do not talk about wanting to gain mass and then complain about not wanting to lose your “six-pack”. MAN UP! Start pounding whole milk and peanut butter and start MOVING WEIGHT!

Rule 4: Do not lip sync to your awful music in the mirror at the gym in between sets with an angry look on your face. When I was in college I saw this entirely too often. Let’s keep that nonsense to yourself guy in the tiny Affliction t-shirt and Euro Puma shoes.

Rule 5: Bringing this back to the beginning, do not wear skinny jeans so tight that your girlfriend asks if she can borrow them. Much to my dismay, I feel like this happens more than it ought to. As a matter of fact just don’t wear skinny jeans.

Rule 6: Do not begin every sentence with the word “Bro”. Usually the sentence that follows goes something like; “Bro, can I get a spot on these Preacher Curls?”

Rule 7: Do not lift your shirt up to check out your abs in the mirror while at the gym. Put your shirt down and get back to your Smith Machine quarter squats.

Rule 8: Do not use a foam pad on the barbell when squatting or front squatting. Again, MAN UP! Get used to the bar, get some bigger shoulders, and get a bigger yoke!

Rule 9: Do not update your status on Facebook to “gettin’ swole at the gym”. Newsflash, no one cares that you’re at the gym. Unless your status is “attempting a 600lbs deadlift today” we don’t want to hear about your adventures on the elliptical machine.

Rule 10: Do not be the guy five years out of high school at the local gym telling everyone about the glory days and how “strong” you used to be. This is what I like to call the Uncle Rico syndrome. It’s over man, move on. And chances are you weren’t as strong as you thought you were.

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I know what you’re saying to yourself, “Ryan, you’ve never been guilty of any of these things?” And my answer would be nope, not a one. Come on, you seriously think I’d admit to any of these things? Anyway, be sure to follow these rules in order to keep doing those manly things we like to do such as, chopping wood, going on river boat gambling trips, making beef jerky, hunting bears with our bare hands, and wearing flannel.

Sarah Walls 12/27/11 Sarah Walls 12/27/11

Pre-Race Carbs Predict Marathon Performance

Welcome back from a long weekend! SweatScience has an interesting post up about carbohydrate intake and marathon performance. Marathoners aren't exactly SAPT's specialty, but I think there are lessons here for power athletes, too. Check out SAPT's newest hat and our newest hat model. Warning: this falls into the categories of gratuitous cuteness and random family update.

Sarah Walls 12/16/11 Sarah Walls 12/16/11

Some Pre-Christmas Shenanigans: Guam, Some Big Brother Love, and "Neat" Video

Some of my ramblings as I head out for the holidays.... 1. This weekend I travel overseas (to Guam) to spend Christmas with my wife and her family. I'm your quintessential creature of habit, and have spent every Christmas thus far at my parents house in Vienna, Va, in temperatures typically surrounding the 15-35° mark. As such, I was initially a bit hesitant to break out of my "Christmas comfort zone."

You know, same Christmas Eve and Christmas morning routine, complete with the right music, the right food, and the right holiday cookies. And how can it be Christmas if it's not cold enough to snow?!

This budding uncertainty lasted about a total of 30 seconds however, as it quickly sunk in that I'd be a fool not to give up one year of my typical Holiday traditions in order to spend a week in December walking around shirtless in 85° weather on a Guam beach:

Yup. 'Nuff said.

Taking this trip also gave me a good article idea, given that I was recently planning my training for while I'm out of town. A lot of people seem to inquire about working out while traveling, so I'm thinking of writing an article on good ideas for traveling on the road, whether you have minimal equipment or access to a so-so hotel gym. Keep your eyes peeled!

I should note, too, that this trip also wouldn't be possible without an awesome boss and co-workers, who (for the life of me I don't know why) are letting me do this. So, to Sarah, Chris, Ryan, and Susan: THANK YOU!!

2. My "little" sister graduates from the Radford School of Nursing today, and I'm fortunate enough to be able to travel to Radford to attend her pinning ceremony before Kelsey and I fly out to Guam. She has worked her freaking butt off these past few years (I'm not sure how many realize just how demanding nursing school is), and I couldn't be more proud of her. I've seen her in action, and let me tell you, she rocks it hard as a nurse.

Congratulations Jenny!!! The medical world is now a better place because of you.

3. For those of you sitting at your desks on this particular Friday looking for something to occupy your time, see the video below:

Here Dr. Mike Evans contrives a REALLY cool presentation on "what is the single best thing we can do for our health?" Is it a simple message he delivers? Yes. But still something that many fail to grasp and will go a long way in saving our country's annual expenses related to health care. I can only imagine the the artist in this video was questioning her sanity by the end of this!

4. I hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas, or Hanukkah, or Holiday, etc., whatever you celebrate in particular. It's easily my most favorite time of the year, and I hope all of you have a fantastic time celebrating "the Season."

Have some fun while you're at it, too. While yes, I'll be sure to pick up some heavy things and get after it while I'm overseas, I'm still going to get in my share of relaxing and enjoying holiday treats. As they say: it's not that important how you eat and exercise between Christmas and New Year's, but it IS important how you eat and exercise between New Year's and Christmas!

Cheers Everyone. In the words of N Sync: Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays! (Yes, I just did that)