A huge Congratulations to my long-time client Josh Thompson.
Josh called me this morning from the road and let me know that he just won his first professional golf tournament on the Hooter’s tour.
He is now the champioin of the 2008 Touchstone Energy Open (Josh is in green)
Way to go Josh!!
Bill
Bigger Carrots…
I competed in a powerlifting competition last weekend.
Talk about spur of the moment decision making.
I found out about on Wednesday and felt the competitive urge kick in. The rationale side of my brain wondered what I was thinking. It’s not like I had trained for the meet…at all. I’ve just come off a fat loss protocol, I’m not nearly as strong I have been in the past, and I’ve got a few orthopedic issues that I deal with on a daily basis, but I couldn’t deny the desire to challenge myself.
I didn’t have expectations on winning, but as soon as I decided to do it (of course, I got permission from the lovely Diane), my whole mindset adjusted into competitive mode. My preparations for the next couple days were effortless.
I had to drop a few pounds which was “easy”. I had to restrict a few carbs, water load, and sweat a couple pounds off, but it was a piece of cake (hold the cake).
I wasn’t concerned about the process or the details leading up to the meet so much as I was focused on the outcome of being ready for the meet.
I’ve seen clients go through the same process in trying to achieve their goals of fat loss or performance.
It’s like the stubborn donkey that refuses to move until you hang the carrot out in front him to get him to move forward. It has to be a big enough carrot to entice him to go get it. Then he’s no longer concerned about the process of getting it and he walks forward in anticipation of the outcome…eating the carrot.
If you’re struggling to achieve a goal, hit a certain percent body fat, lift a certain weight, run a certain distance, and question whether you’re willing to do what it takes…Maybe you just need a bigger carrot.
Then the rest is easy.
Text Messaging…
My cell phone doesn’t have a text messaging option. I can receive them, but trying to answer them is a pain is butt.
That’s okay because I don’t really understand the whole text messaging “thing” (am I showing my age…have I become my Dad?).
To me text messaging is like saying, “I have something really unimportant that I want you to know right away, and it’s not worth actually talking to you, but I would like to distract you from doing something productive.”
I’d have to rank it up there as the lowest form of communication in a world of communicaton overload.
So get this.
There’s a new gym in town. I don’t personally know the owners, but somehow they know me and got my cell number.
They’ve sent me two text messages asking me if I’m interested in working for them. So now I have cell phone SPAM to deal with as well the usual crap in my email inbox?!
Uh…No thank you…and, uh…No.
How ’bout a little effort on your part…smoke signals, sky writing, singing telegram, or a lavish gift for my wife??
Oh, here’s a creative idea…how about an appropriate well-written introductory letter to start things off.
At least I would have called you back, thanked you for the offer and turned it down respectfully in a personal phone call rather than including your total lack of class in a blog post.
Bill
Q: Bill, I love your blog. I wish you had time to post more often. I had a question. I have never been able to do a lot of push ups. My chest gets fatiqued after about 25-30 now matter what I do. I hear people talk about doing 50 push–ups at a time. Do you have any advice that will help me be able to do more push–ups?” Thanks.
A: Thanks for the question.
If you really have your heart set on setting a PR (personal record) for push-ups there’s a number of factors that contribute to your performance.
1. Stability
If you lack trunk or scapular stability, your prime movers at the shoulder girdle and upper extremity will be limited in their ability to produce force.
The Fix: Perform long duration planks and isometric holds in the lowered position of the push-up. Be sure to actively depress and stabilize the scapula.
2. Maximal strength
When doing a regular push-up on the floor, you’re lifting about 2/3 of your body weight. If you can increase maximal strength of those muscle groups involved, your 2/3 body weight becomes a lesser percentage of your maximals strength and theoretically your maximal number of push-ups performed should increase.
The fix: Loaded push-ups with a weighted vest, push-ups with chains, push-ups with bands, asymmetrical and unilateral push-up variations, partial range of motion push-ups, and even bench pressing.
3. Strength-endurance
High rep sets of push-ups are a test of your strength-endurance, so in essence, doing more push-ups will help.
The fix: Try this progression. 1-2x/week start by performing the maximal number of push-ups that you can do in a row while timing the duration of this first set. Rest the same amount of time that it took to complete the set. Repeat this process until your complete the desired number of repetitions. As strength-endurance improves, it should take fewer and fewer sets to complete the desired number of repetitions.
Bill
I’ve always said that the scapula is my second favorite bone (insert joke here).
Apparently, I’m not the only one.
http://www.biertijd.com/mediaplayer/?itemid=6353
Thanks to super-client Galya Talkington for the link
Bill
My friend Jim Smith looks at things from all angles…literally. His brain never stops and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t sleep.
Last time he was in town, dinner was like the ultimate roundtable discussion on every training method imaginable.
As one of the masterminds behind the Diesel Crew, he’s also got a reputation for being one of the great brains in strength and conditioning
His Building the Ultimate MMA Athlete book is one of the most thorough resources on the subject.
His Chaos Manual is literally the bible of supplementary training. At over 600 pages of “no fluff” information, it’s a go-to book for solving the “what to do in this case” training issues.
As much as I enjoy and reference these books, I think Smitty has outdone himself and just about everyone else.
He’s just released his new book, Combat Core: Advance Torso Training for Explosive Strength and Power.
There are many “must haves” in the strength and conditioning field, but this beats them all in the core conditioning category. Like I mentioned in the title, this is real core training.
By the way, Smitty is known to overdeliver in the information department, so if you’re on the fence, here’s what you get in addition to Combat Core:
The Combat Core Basic Package includes:
Combat Core
BoxingPerformance.com Interview
BoxingPerformance.com $1 Trial Membership
The Deadlift 101 Video
The Deadlift 101 Manual
The Underground Combat Files
The S&C Interrogation Files
Lifetime Updates
The Combat Core Deluxe Package includes:
Combat Core
BoxingPerformance.com Interview
BoxingPerformance.com $1 Trial Membership
The Deadlift 101 Video
The Deadlift 101 Manual
The Underground Combat Files
The S&C Interrogation Files
The Complete Abdominal Index
Advanced Kettlebell Training
Sledgehammer Essentials
The Summer Shredder Program
The MMA Power Program
Lifetime Updates
Get it while it’s on sale.
Bill