Happy Tuesday!
Happy Tuesday? I know, who says that.
Apparently, ladies who just gave birth.
I'm pretty low on sleep and have about a million work things to do before the next set of relatives join us for the rest of the week (t-minus 30-min, not looking good for me getting everything done).
So, I'm just going to do a short round-up of some miscellaneous posts and a personal update:
- Alex Hutchinson has the breakdown of an interesting study regarding diet and hydration relating to workload at Sweatscience. It's title says it all: Nutrition and Hydration: Science 1, Experience 0. Pretty cool info, especially if you think your body operates on some different plane than everyone else (it doesn't).
- This morning I received a link from Brian Levenson directing me to a Ted talk called Philippe Petit: The journey across the high wire. If you've got about 20-minutes to spare check it out, the main points are about magic (yes, like magic tricks), pursuing your passion, and doing the impossible.
- My new favorite equipment supplier for both commercial and home applications is Rogue Fitness. Their stuff is made is the USA, comes at very reasonable prices, and - best of all - they don't "bend you over" on shipping rates. Sorry for the imagery. I just ordered a few things for our backyard and anticipate using them heavily for SAPT orders in the future.
Personal update: I know most people who read Saptstrength.com also frequent Stronggirlswin.com, so you're probably aware of the "self-experiment" I've been running on myself throughout this pregnancy.
Now, that the birth is over, I'm beginning a new self-experiment that will last from Duke's birthday of May 23rd through the beginning of the fall semester at Mason (August 27th). That's just short of 15-weeks.
My personal goal is pretty darn simple:see if I can get myself into a BodPod measured and confirmed 14-16% body fat level. Why? Well, over the last 3-years I've been pregnant for a total of 20-months and spent the other non-pregnant 16-months learning how to balance being a mom with work.
But, another EXTREMELYimportant goal for me is to provide proof of success and, eventually, a framework for other new moms to gain motivation and direction from.
I simply don't agree with the idea that once you have kids you have to accept a body that you don't really want.
I'm quite excited and anxious to spend some serious and focused time working on ME. I'll be documenting this process and progress over at Stronggirlswin.com.
Whoooo Hoooo, Happy Tuesday!
It's the little things....
It's not uncommon for us coaches at SAPT to receive "thank you's" from our clientele, whether they be through emails, Facebook, or during conversations in our facility. Usually the gratitude will center around something tangible such as an improved vertical jump, faster baseball pitch, lower poptime, reduced bodyfat percentage; or, "intangibles" such as reduced knee pain while running, leaping and bounding, and general sense of improved movement proficiency. We cherish each and every one of these moments, as there are few things more rewarding than seeing our hard-working athletes and clients feel the results of their efforts and tasting the fresh fruits of their labor. However, every now and then we receive something that holds a special place in our hearts, and this past week was no exception. I got so fired up and excited that I had to share it here.
Below is a Facebook message we received from one of our old high school athletes (I changed his name for confidentiality purposes):
"Hey, this is Adam, ive been in your summer program for 2 summers and i just wanted to thank you, you guys know that as recent as last year i couldn't do a single pullup, but by this year i was able to the one ton pull up challenge (weight * number of pullups= 2000lbs) so i did 11, right now i can do as many as 15!! then i did the 3000lbs dip challenge, i did 19 dips for that, and right now i can do almost 30, thanks without your help i would not have been able to any of that! and I'm one of the few people in my school to successfully do both"
Two years ago, I vividly remember when Adam was in here with a large group of athletes. He was very hard-working, but wasn't the strongest of the group, and was struggling like crazy to do pullups even with a fair amount of band assistance.
A couple months into the program, Coach Chris and I spotted him standing up on the 
pullup platform, looking up at the bar. There were no bands attached the apparatus, so it became quickly obvious that he was going to attempt a bodyweight chinup (his program definitely said band-assisted chinups, 3x5), and his body language and facial expression was similar to that of a child about to jump into the deep end of a swimming pool for the first time.
However - after a few moments of standing on the platform, looking at the bar - he turned around and jumped off, confidence wavering and and a slightly defeated look on his face.
Chris acted on this very quickly, and directed his voice over to Adam:
Chris: Adam, were you about to try a bodyweight chinup?
Adam (*looking a bit scared, like he just did something wrong and was about to be pounded by Chris, the 230lb powerlifter*): Umm, maybe....yeah, well I was thinking about it....
Chris: Well then GET BACK UP THERE and go for it dude!!
Adam gets back up on the platform, hesitates for a second, and then goes for it. He gets about one third to halfway up, gets stuck, fights for a while, and then drops down.
*Cue end of short story.......
Anyway, I say this because it was HUGE for me to read the above Facebook message to us, knowing full well where he was at in his training just a couple years ago. To know that he went from not being able to do a single chinup, to being one of the only kids in school to successfully complete that pullup/dip challenge....brought happy tears to my eyes.
People often ask me if my dream job is to work with a professional sports team, and my answer is simple: Absolutely not.
Don't get me wrong, there's something to be said for having the opportunity to train some of the "best of the best"; but, in my personal opinion, working with professional athletes doesn't give near the reward of working with the not-so-genetically gifted individuals.
Professional athletes will typically learn a movement within one set of an exercise, while your typical high schooler may take MONTHS before he or she is even ready to squat or deadlift with a barbell, let alone safely perform plyometrics or movement training drills.....and this can take incredible patience and perseverance from BOTH the athlete and the strength coach. Yet, there's something about this process that continues to allow me to wake up on Monday morning, excited to go into work for the day.
Receiving a message like Adam's, in which he thanks me and the SAPT staff for playing a pivotal role in his accomplishing something great, gives me fulfillment that few other things can provide, and I'm extremely blessed to work with people like him....and hear stories similar to his.....on a weekly basis. I dunno...there's just something that makes me tick from being able to help the people who AREN'T used to "getting it right" the first time, to get from Point A to Point B.
One of the reasons I love SAPT so much is that I do have the opportunity to work with professional athletes, but the majority of my time is spent teaching your average high school kid how to do something great with his or her life, both inside and outside of the weight room. And it's not something I plan to give up anytime soon.
Don't Leave Your Assistance Work Out in the Cold!
A house won’t be much of a house without nails, screws, and cement. I would say the same goes for your training as well. Consider your main movement of the day (squat, bench, deadlift, overhead press, pull-ups) the building blocks of your house. With that first lift you have the makings of a giant mansion; now how will you hold it all together? This is where your “assistance” work or “supplemental” work comes in. The assistance work of your program act as the nails, screws, and cement that solidify the work you’ve put in with your main movement. They will provide your house the ability to stay strong and not crumble.
Before I go any further let me explain what qualifies as assistance work. If your main lift of the day is a squat then your assistance would be a variation thereof. This can be another bilateral movement or a unilateral movement; but almost always compound in nature and will mimic the movement pattern of your main lift. Examples of assistance work for a squat would be a box squat, front squat, split squat, BSS, etc. (these lifts can be used as a main movement but in this instance they would be considered assistance work). Your assistance work can be used for different reasons be it to reinforce the movement pattern of your main lift, bringing up weak points and imbalances, to make the main musculature stronger and bigger, etc. Regardless of the reason the main point becomes that assistance work will get you stronger and better at the main lifts which in the end will make you stronger overall. Plus it gives you yet another way to get your Hulk on and smash weight.
I’m not saying go out and work up to a heavy double on safety squat bar good mornings for an assistance lift, that would just be overkill. I believe you should still be moving some appreciable weight but the volume should be greater than your first lift (as long as your volume for your first lift wasn’t absurdly high). In order to work on your weaknesses or to get better at the movement pattern you need to practice. This would be the reason why it’s important to keep the volume higher; it provides a lot of practice.
How much volume are we talking here? You want to give yourself a rep range that is going to work on your specific goals. Is maximal strength your goal? Then I would probably keep the volume low (18-30 reps). Is hypertrophy your goal? Then I would probably keep the volume on the higher end (30-50 reps). Keep in mind I am speaking generally, there are many exceptions to what I just said based on a person’s strength level. One exception would be if you have a relatively young training age then I would stay at the low end and be focused on quality not quantity. What I like to do is pick a number of reps and flat load it over a few weeks. For example, if I picked 24 reps for my total volume then my sets/reps would go something like, week 1: 6x4, week 2: 5x5, and week 3: 4x6. This way I can stay at the same volume while hitting it in different ways each week. Mark Bell has talked about this before and I think it’s a great way to go about programming your assistance lifts.
The tricky part in all this is to keep from going overboard. As I stated before I feel you should be using heavy weight but that heavy weight should be appropriate for the volume you are working at. If your max deadlift is 315 then it’s probably not a good idea to try and do 300lbs RDL’s for 5X6. You would look awful doing it, if you could even do it at all. Good luck trying to groove a movement pattern using 95% of your deadlift max (yeah I did the math, what of it!). Have you ever read or heard a fitness professional say “just focus on your main movement; don’t worry so much about your assistance work?” The reason they say that is because if they told you to treat it with the same intensity as your main lift then you would probably load the bar as heavy as possible and the lift would look as ugly as this dog.
The problem with fitness professionals coaching that or writing that is now people seem to just go through the motions when it comes to assistance work; they feel it’s not important. Well I’m telling you now that it is. Just work hard and make the reps look smooth!
I know it can be challenging for people to get in their training session with their hectic schedule. Your main movement is primary and crucial but your assistance work is a close second. If you need to cut out anything then cut out your accessory work (accessory work would be something like tricep pushdowns, delt raises, facepulls; most of the time they are single joint movements done at a high volume, 30+ reps near the end of a training session). You really shouldn’t lose focus on anything while training. All your movements should be intense and deliberate. If you can’t devote the effort needed to an exercise then you shouldn’t do it at all. With that said, it’s time to show your assistance work some love, it has feelings too!
Congratulations to Kelsey!
With the current sale that ends this Thursday (be sure to sign up in case you missed it!), Kelsey and I have been seemingly drowning in a pool of emails to respond to and programs to be written. Kelsey named our current situation "Medusa" as, for those of you not-so-well-versed in Greek mythology, 5 new emails/programs will pop up for every 1 written. Given this, I've had much less time than usual to write articles and compose blog entries, but I wanted to take a moment to congratulate Kelsey on her completion of the RKC certification this past weekend. It was 23 hours (yes, TWENTY THREE hours) of rigorous coaching, training, and refining; and the attendees had to pass a pretty arduous test at the end of it in order to walk away with the certification.
One of the things I like so much about the RKC is that their standards are nothing to be sneezed at, and that they are a school of strength and form. According to them, the two are intertwined (something I find many individuals/organizations seem to miss....), and I found myself frequently nodding in agreement when Kelsey would arrive home each night and fill me in on what she learned/did. Not to mention, Pavel (head Yoda of the RKC), is the co-author of Easy Strength, the "no BS" book on all things strength training that I find myself continuing to recommend to fellow strength coaches in the field.
(Note: Kelsey wrote a brief synopsis of her experience HERE)
Just yesterday, Kelsey attempted a Turkish Get-Up with a 28kg (62lbs) kettlebell for the first time, putting into practice a few of the techniques she picked up over the weekend. Needless to say, she nailed it:
Not bad for a woman that weighs just over 50 kilos!
I've been REALLY proud of her as she's learned to train, intelligently, around her injuries (torn labrums in both hips, along with a few herniated lumbar discs), and I'm quite excited to see her continue to press forward despite numerous setbacks in her training. She trained her butt off for this past weekend, and passed with flying colors.
In addition, I've already witnessed HUGE dividends - regards to our continued refinement of coaching at SAPT - as a result of everything Kelsey learned throughout the RKC course over the weekend.
Congratulations, babe!!
BIG News: SAPT is Moving!...
...Just down the road!
This is another HAPPY 5th ANNIVERSARY effort I"ve made to say "thank you" to our loyal clientele and Team Fantastico (aka, the SAPT coaches).
While we"re only going about 1-mile from our current location, we"ll be taking a huge step forward in terms of improving working conditions for the SAPT coaches.
Don"t worry, the actual training floor will retain all the aspects that keep us out of the "commercial gym" category... you know the concrete floors, concrete block walls, high ceilings, and big bay door.
Where we"ll be getting "soft" (if you can call it that): We will FINALLY have a CLIMATE CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT!
The coaches will also have some pretty nice offices (check out the picts below).
I wish I could say this deal is 100% done and done. But, we will be having a public hearing to see if we get approved for the permit required for us to make this move on June 5th with Fairfax City"s Board of Zoning Appeals.
If you"re in the area or are a City resident, please consider coming out to the hearing to support us and our continued online casino occupation within Fairfax City! The meeting will be Tuesday, June 5th at 7pm at City Hall in the City Council chambers.
In the meantime, check out what we hope will soon be our new digs:
At this point you may be wondering about the exterior and how it compares to Pickett Road. While I don"t have any photos to share, I can say with full confidence, our clients and visitors will no longer get to enjoy the sights of "bombed-out" and abandoned vehicles in our parking lot.
25% Off Sale Ends Soon!
I'm in the middle of a bear of a day, so I just wanted to pop in and remind you all that the 25% off sale ends this Thursday, May 24th. See here for more information. This is the first time we've EVER done this in the five years we've been open, and I can guarantee you won't see anything similar again until the 10-year mark. Even if you can't begin right away, you can still make the purchase and cash-in once your back in town for the Summer or home from vacation.
Click HERE to sign up, OR email Kelsey directly at: kelsey@studentathletept.com
Be back soon for more training-related content!
