Inspiration from Ross Enamait

I never get tired of watching videos of Ross training and getting after it. He merely trains in his garage or outdoors, and yet his strength, endurance, and power is unparalleled by countless individuals who have access to all the "fancy" equipment. Ross receives countless questions from internet warriors (both on his website and in the comments section of his videos), and he almost always responds to each and every inquiry. It cracks me up as he never tires of giving pretty much the same answer every time, when people ask him what motivates him, and how he has become as physically fit as he is.

"Real gains don't come in days or weeks. I've been training for 20+ years. Patience and consistency are perhaps the most important supplements to any routine.....There's nothing special about me. I've just been working hard for a long time." -Ross

People are always looking for the magic formula or silver bullet, be it the latest exercise program, nutrition "secret," or piece of specialty equipment.

Guess what? There isn't one. And I know few people that could prove this better than Ross.

Stick to the basics. Train smart. Work hard. Never back down. Be consistent. Repeat every day for thirty years.

Enjoy the training video above (I also LOVE all the quotes he interspersed throughout the video), and then apply these lessons.

Friday Musings: Butt Jump Roping, Pet Peeves, Star Wars A Cappella, Mentoring, etc.

1. The other day I had programmed some low volume jump roping for one of the girls, Paula, at SAPT. Upon watching her first session, it was quite evident that she was no foreigner to jump roping, so Coach Kelsey looks over at her in passing and and says, "You know, you're pretty good at those." To which Paula responds, "Well, I can also jump rope on my butt. So, using my feet isn't really that big a deal."

Obviously Kelsey and I had to see this stunt for ourselves, and asked her to perform a few reps. Needless to say, she knocked it out of the park, and it was the first time anyone in SAPT ever did anything like this:

2. Chris Romanow once told me, in a joking-but-not-really-joking tone, that the majority of people's goals (moving better, looking better, athletic performance, fat loss, remaining injury free, ruling the world, etc) could be solved by a healthy, regular dose of goblet squats and spidermans.

And the more I coach people and do these things myself, I'm right there with him. My personal contribution to the list would be loaded carries and kettlebell swings.

davidfarmerwalk

Do those four movements, multiple times a week and you're set.

3. These need to be posted at every youth sporting event. *Everywhere. I slow clap those that created and posted this sign:

4. A few of my pet peeves, in no particular order:

1. Morning People. More specifically, morning people who insist on talking to you within one hour of your morning awakening.

The morning should be used for three to four things: Enjoying a quality cup of coffee, spending some time on reflection (on what, that is up to you), reading, and perhaps pooping if that's what schedule you're on. Notice that talking is not on the list. Just because you are a morning person doesn't mean that the person that happens to be in the same bedroom/house as you likes to discuss the world's problems first thing in the A.M.

The only exceptions to this rule are A) If you're my wife (I love you, babe), and B) If I wake up past 10AM. People have every right to talk to me if I ever get out of bed that late.

2. When you're (manually) doing dishes and the cup/glass isn't large enough for your hand to reach all the way to the bottom, so you end up standing there, pinching your knuckles and skin into the glass, trying to stretch out your fingers with the sponge to barely reach the bottom.

3. When you're wearing socks and you step in something wet.

4a. People who don't turn right on red. More specifically, when you're driving down a two-lane road, and the person in front of you changes lanes into the right lane before the turn you need to make, but of course the light turns red so they end up blocking you for the next two minutes. Stay in the other lane and be considerate, dang it.

4b. Drivers who don't use their turn signal. I swear you could cut me off in traffic, but if you're using your signal, hey, you're good in my book.

4c. Those who won't get out of the left lane. I don't think I need to explain this any further, do I?

5. Extroverts. Why do you people always need to be around me and talking to me?!? Can't a man get some alone time around here? AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

6. People who squeeze the toothpaste tube in the wrong spot. You know who you are.

7. Overhead kettlebell swings. Wow....just, wow.....please stop.

8. Cracking knuckles. Makes me want to crawl into the fetal position each time I hear it. Never done it, don't plan on it any time soon.

9. When you're at a restaurant, and you finally achieved the perfect water temperate by getting the ice:water ratio just right, and the waiter comes along out of the blue, merrily filling up your glass without asking, completely screwing up everything you've worked so hard for.

10. Country music. 'Nuff said there.

5. I have no idea who this guy is, but can you say awesome? Here he does a a Star Wars themed, four-part a cappella musical tribute set to a few cinematic themes by composer John Williams.

Corey - If you live in the area, I'll give you a free assessment and coaching session for putting this together. Our address is 3831 Pickett Road, Fairfax, Va.

6. Read this article by Jim Wendler:

Mentoring Wendler

Here's a quick preview:

Towards the end of my senior year, I finally asked Darren why he never spoke to me during my first year in the weight room. And it was this lesson that I have taken with me in all areas of my life. His answer:

"Because you hadn't earned it. I've written hundreds of programs and helped so many kids and teachers with their training – and almost all of them quit after the first week. I had to see if you were going to stick with it. I had to see if you were serious. I'm not going to waste my time or my energy."

We all have someone like Darren in our lives. Unfortunately, few people are receptive to it or exhibit the will, heart, and resolve to show them that they deserve their attention.

I know because I see it around me daily. I see kids and lifters that ask questions and think they want to be great and strong, but always fall short of the small amount of commitment it takes to prove themselves. Everyone wants a handout rather than earn it. - Jim Wendler

Such awesome words of truth spoken by Jim Wendler here. I'm not sure if it's just me but it seems that the most recent generation seems to feel, for some odd reason, that they're the center of the universe, and that nothing can ever be their fault. If they didn't accomplish something or if they messed something up, there's an obvious excuse, right?

On top of that, I seem to experience more and more conversations with individuals who do wayyy too much talking, and too little listening.Well spoken, Jim.

7. This article is very cool, and definitely worth scrolling through all the pictures.

21 Pictures That Will Restore Your Faith In Humanity

I first learned about "The Bystander Effect" in a sociology course in college, and Tony Gentilcore actually wrote a great, quick piece about it HERE. Learning about such incidents always make my heart drop a bit, and question the general tendency that humans learn toward at times.

Scrolling through the pictures in the linked article definitely helped temper the "cynicism" of humanity that occasionally shrouds my thought processes. Ah, there is hope in the world!

That's all for now, have a great weekend everyone.

*Except for the sporting events of my future kids. **They're obviously the exception and need to open up a big can of you-know-what on their opponents.

**That's a joke***.

***Maybe.

Box Squatting is the Greatest

In efforts to conquer my fear of speaking in front of a camera I decided to make today's entry a video post.  We all need to work on our weaknesses and mine happens to be public speaking and speaking on camera; it’s like kryptonite to being able to organize my thoughts. Anyway, practice makes perfect so the following video is talking about why I prefer to use the box squat (as opposed to a squat to box) as my preferred method when teaching proper back squat mechanics. I hope the audio is loud enough; just in case the two main reasons I go into as to why I prefer box squatting is safety and posterior chain strength development.  Enjoy…

Patterning for Improved Skill Acquisition

A few thoughts I've jotted down in my journal over the past few months that I thought I'd share here... All of the athletes (yes, all) that walk in our doors at SAPT become, nearly instantaneously, better at their sport simply from performing a correct goblet squat for the first time in their lives. Yes, the loaded carries and hip hinges certainly aid in this phenomenon as well, but for now I'm just talking about squatting. We personally recommend the majority of the young athletes (ages 13-18) entering SAPT for the first time to begin with just a 2x/week training regimen, and then, if needed and appropriate, they can increase the frequency. But you'd be surprised at how much you can accomplish in just two sessions a week with someone who's brand new to virtuous training methodology.

In the past, Day 1 has been a "squat emphasis" day, where the first main movement they do is a goblet squat. Day 2 will be a "deadlift emphasis" day, where we help them pattern the hip hinge and learn to deadlift with a kettlebell, keeping a neutral spine and using their posterior chain. After they groove the squat or deadlift (depending on the day), they'll then move on to their unilateral work, pushes, pulls, loaded carries, direct glute work, and all that good stuff.

Now there is nothing wrong with this layout, as, after all, it has worked for a myriad individuals and allowed them to become stronger, less prone to injury, and become more of a beast on the playing field.

The thing that had been troubling me though was I felt that, simply put, they weren't squatting enough under our watch. Given the fact that despite the thousands of team conditioning sessions, commercial gym group workouts, and exercise DVD routines they'd undergone, their squats resembled something along the lines of a baby giraffe learning to walk for the first time. I guess their previous instructors were either too ignorant or lazy to teach them good squatting mechanics, but who am I to judge?

And it can take a long time to "undo" the habits developed from thousands of bad squats performed in a life time. And while 1x/week of squatting twenty-five TOTAL reps can certainly do the trick, I've found it even more time-efficient to squat everyone during every single session.

So, if they're training 2x/week, they squat every session, toward the beginning of their workout while they're fresh. If they're training 3x/week, then yep, they squat 3x/week. Patterning it every day until it becomes second nature.

This means that the unilateral work and direct glute training take the back burner, at least until they can execute perfect squats every single time. Good squats will lay the foundation down for everything else in subsequent training cycles.

While squatting 1x/week will work for a 400lbs squatter, everything changes when someone can't hold a 25lb kettlebell and sit back without everything turning very ugly very fast.

I guess all I am saying is that, in order to "reprogram" someone's nervous system and motor control, they need to practice this motor control training frequently and correctly. Nothing too new or revolutionary, but something to consider when you have limited time to work with a young, developing organism.

Fluid is Fluid? A Lesson in Hydration

The weather for the second half of this week around the DC Metro area promises to be a bear! The kind of bear that brings high humidity and high temperatures with it. Yuck-o.

In honor of it really feeling like summer, I've put together a bit of a hydration survival guide (you can take that literally, by the way) for strength and power athletes:

Hydration and Strength:

• A sweat-induced body weight loss of 2% during a training session can result in a significant performance decline. Strength, power, and overall performance will suffer.
• A sweat-induced body weight loss of 4% or more during a training session begins to cause physiologic strain resulting in increased core body temperature, heart rate, and perceived effort.
• Try to stay ahead of trouble by consuming fluids throughout a training session. Rather than simply attempting to replace lost weight via water and sports drinks after the session is over.

• Athletes involved in multiple practices or training sessions in a single day need to take their hydration seriously as a domino effect of declining performance can occur from one training session to the next.

How Much is Enough?

• Depending on training status, fitness level, body size, training intensity, and heat acclimation status, athletes tend to sweat at a rate of 0.5-2.0L per hour (that's liters! 2 liters an hour... let it sink in).
• To prepare to enter a training session well hydrated, consume at least 1L or 34 ounces of fluid the day before exercising AND/OR consume 14-20 ounces 2 hours before training session begins and continuing to ingest fluids throughout session.
• Exercise lasting less than 90-minutes really only warrants water as a sufficient source of hydration.
• Exercise beyond 90-minutes should include a carbohydrate sports beverage to provide both fluid replacement and a fuel source for the working muscles.
• The addition of electrolytes - even though marketing companies will have you believe otherwise - are unnecessary for most strength/power athletes as their diet covers this base. However, when acclimating to extremely hot/humid conditions or if you are in a negative caloric balance, electrolyte addition can be a good idea.
• Consider taking in fluids during practice/training in the same quantity and timing that you will during competition.

• During hot/humid conditions it is a good idea to take your body weight before and after exercise. Then replace each pound lost with 24 ounces of fluid.

What Counts as Fluid?

• Anything that is safe for human consumption has fluid in it and counts towards total daily fluid intake (check out the table below, all those amounts add up). Plus, things like coffee, tea, and *gasp* even soda count, too (counting as fluid is different from what is optimal to consume, by the way).
• Men should take in 128 ounces (3.8L) of fluid each day.
• Women should take in 88 ounces (2.6L) of fluid each day.
• Check out the fluid content of some common foods:

Cucumber (1 large)

10 oz

Watermelon (1 wedge)

9 oz

Asian pear (1 large)

8 oz

Chicken noodle soup (1 cup)

8 oz

Corn (1 cup)

7 oz

Salad (1.5 cups)

7 oz

Lowfat yogurt (1 cup)

6 oz

Lowfat cottage cheese (1 cup)

6 oz

Baked beans (1 cup)

6 oz

Baked potato (1 medium)

5 oz

Brown rice (1 cup)

5 oz

Grapes (1 cup)

5 oz

Apple (1 medium)

4 oz

Oatmeal (1 cup)

4 oz

Orange (1 medium)

4 oz

You'll probably have a tough time staying cool for the rest of the week, but hopefully this helps keep you well hydrated. Good luck!

Guacamole in 3 Minutes: How to Make Delicious Guacamole in a Flash

When it comes to food toppings, I don't think many can make a case for anything that's better than guacamole. It's the magic maker for all things hamburgers, vegetables, sandwiches, and don't even get me started on Chipotle. Guacamole even rivals bacon when it comes to the fairy dust of the food kingdom.

However, and I don't know about you, but despite the fact that guacamole is irresistibly delicious, and healthy for you (yes, fat is healthy), I often choose not to make it because of how tedious a process it can be. You know, dicing up all those tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, red onions, cilantro etc. into itty bitty pieces.

Not only that, but you put all that hard work into making the guac, and then the freaking stuff turns brown and disgusting (yes, even if you add lime juice....I've tried it) a mere 48 hours after storing it in the fridge. Aaaaarrrggghhhhh!

Not anymore. Enter the world's fastest way to make guacamole. I recently learned this from my older brother, and just last week I whipped up an entire batch of guacamole in a matter of three minutes. (For those of you who know how slow and meticulous I move in the kitchen, you can appreciate how revolutionary this method was for me.)

Step 1

Buy pre-made salsa in the grocery store. This is the step that saves you the eons of vegetable chopping. You'll want the kind that is pretty dry, with a consistency similar to that of pico de gallo. So, you're essentially purchasing a container of pre-chopped guacamole ingredients, sans the avocado obviously.

This is the list of ingredients in my salsa:

• Tomatillos
• Red Onions
• Green Pepper
• Lime Juice
• Jalapenos
• Cilantro
• Garlic Powder
• Salt

Yeah, it does take a bit of the "authenticity" out of the equation, but if you're like me and want to save time, do yourself a favor and just pick up a container of this salsa and save all the vegetable chopping.

Step 2

Pour the salsa into a bowl, and then add the ripened avocados. Mix, match, and stir until you've reached your desired consistency.

Place on desired food, and bask in the rays of human ecstasy as you experience the heights of food deliciousness.

Woah woah woah, can that really be IT? Yep, that's it. Guacamole in three minutes.

Enjoy, and share this with everyone!