5 Quick Tips to Increase Strength

1. Warning: Captain Obvious suggestion of the day.

Creatine. It still dumbfounds me to think that there are people out there who train on a consistent basis, yet are STILL not taking creatine everyday (and yes, this includes you as well ladies). It's the most researched supplement in human history and it's efficacy has been proven time and time again.

It's safe
It works
It's NOT steroids
You do not need to do a loading phase.

Just take 5 grams of creatine monohydrate (no need to buy the expensive brands) per day in your pre/post training shake or with a high(er) carb meal and that's that. Here's a great article written by Cassandra Forsythe and Jen Heath titled "Creatine for Women."

2. Take your shoes off when you deadlift. I usually see an instant increase in the amount of weight someone can pull when they take their shoes off. Why? Well for starters, by taking your shoes off you're now .5-1.0 inches closer to the ground, which is .5-1.0 LESS distance the bar has to travel. Secondly, by taking your shoes off you're now able to pull through your heels, and as a result recruit more of your glutes and hamstrings to help out. Thirdly, people will automatically think you're badass cause you're training with no shoes on. Unless of course your feet smell like you've been walking through a sewer all day, then that's definitely not cool.

3. Glute Activation. If your glutes don't fire, the hamstrings and lower back have to do more work when you squat or deadlift. Performing some simple glute activation techniques beforehand will undoubtedly enable you to handle more weight because you will now have more muscle fibers "turned on" to help with the movement. The more muscle fibers and motor units that are turned on, the more weight you will be able to lift.

4. Cut your volume. If you haven't been making any progress in the gym for an extended period of time, it may be time to deload or cutback on your training volume. I've said this on numerous occasions, but FATIGUE WILL ALWAYS MASK ONE's FITNESS. A great analogy I like to use is one that I got from my good friend Eric Cressey. Assume we find your one rep max on the bench press. Now I have you go out and run 10 miles. Do you think after running 10 miles, that you will be able to even come close to your one rep max again? More is NOT better.

5. Rotate Movements. For intermediate and advanced trainees, most would bode will by rotating their main movements more. Try to alternate your squat, deadlift, and bench movements every 1-2 weeks. In doing so, you will keep the body guessing and maybe more importantly, keep your body fresh.

"I don't like cottage cheese."

I hear the above quote a lot.

Young athletes always ask me what they should be eating on a daily basis, and inevitably I will mutter cottage cheese. You would think I was telling them to eat battery acid from a car based upon some of the reactions I get.

I’m going to make this simple: as an athlete you will come to a point in the very near future when you will eat dirt if it meant that it would help you get better in your respective sport. If it means drinking cottage cheese through a straw, then so be it.

The same can be said for those who are just looking to shed some fat and look good naked. The sooner you accept the fact that there are certain “staple” foods that you should be eating everyday, the better off you will be. Ask any person who is already lean, and I can guarantee you (s)he is eating certain foods everyday: cottage cheese, lots of fruits and vegetables, chicken breast, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, lean red meat, mixed nuts, etc. It’s just the way it is. Suck it up buttercup and eat your damn cottage cheese.

Squatting and your Knees

On more than one occasion in the past year, I have overheard other trainers in the various gyms I have worked in and trained mention that they believe squats are bad for the knees. More specifically that "squatting below parallel is bad for the knees."

It's just a bunch of nonsense. So by that rationale, going to the bathroom is "bad?" Most people go below parallel when they go poo. Additionally, I was spending time with my niece (a little over two years old) and nephew (just turned five not too long ago) yesterday and they were able to repeatedly perform a picture perfect squat with no harm to their knees. I don't hear people telling them not to go below parallel.

IMO, what's "bad" for the knees is squatting with a limited range of motion. In this case, I am referring to partial squats (ie: what most people do when you see someone squatting in the gym). Partial squats put ALL the emphasis on the quadriceps and knees, totally neglecting the hamstrings and glutes. To all those people who say that squatting below parallel is bad for the knees, let me ask you a question. Which joint do you think would be able to handle a greater load: the knee or the hip?

Hopefully you answered the latter. By learning to squat the RIGHT way, and with a full ROM, you allow the hips to take more stress OFF the knees, hence saving them. Conversely, I feel that for those people who want full leg development, training with a full ROM only makes sense.

***Side Note: I am NOT referring to powerlifters here, so relax.

In the end I find it comical that many personal trainers will go off on how squatting is so bad for the knees, yet have no issues with using a BOSU ball to teach clients to squat "the right way," which only reinforces atrocious squatting mechanics (ankle eversion, knee valgus, etc) and just makes people weaker in general.

RD's and Protein (again)

Usually when I hear some RD (Retarded Dietician)....haha, did you catch that? I said retarded dietician, instead of registered dietician. Get it? Okay, shut up....I thought it was funny.

Anyways, whenever I hear some RD say something like "I wouldn't want to be your kidneys" in response to the fact that I advocate high(er) protein diets for myself and for my clients, I usually have to fight off the urge to put them in a half nelson and have them cry "uncle, uncle" before I let them go.

I find it comical that certain RD's "know" that high protein diets are dangerous or damaging to the kidneys; especially considering there is absolutely no scientific proof stating otherwise in healthy individuals. So the next time you come across this dilemma here is your retort:

"If you sprain your ankle, it will hurt when you walk; does that mean walking is bad and we should all stop doing it?"

[enter crickets chirping]

***Thank you to Miserere (from the t-nation forums) for that awesome analogy.

Awesomeness....

Totally un-fitness related, but this is awesome. I am so making a workout video out of this.

Prison "Thriller"

Fat Loss Troubleshoot

It's no secret that I like simple. And it's safe to assume that the majority of people who read this blog like simple as well. Losing bodyfat isn't rocket science, yet many people out there make it seem that way.

Leigh Peele has written a superb e-book titled "Fat Loss Troubleshoot" that makes fat loss about as simple as it can be. Everything is covered in this book; from which foods you should be eating for fat loss (and how to shop for them) to how to make a meal plan specific to your own individual needs. She also details which exercises you should be performing to bust through fat, and details what many personal trainers and fitness professionals do WRONG to hurt one's overall metabolism.

More importantly, what I like about Leigh's approach is her practicality. There are no "smoke and mirrors. All in all it's a great product for many first time trainers and/or general public who want simple, yet effective advice on fat loss. Check it out.

Don't Be Scared to Load

Try not to treat your clients as if they're patients. Often times we forget that people NEED a training effect. Sure, corrective exercise is important and is often a necessity. But I don't feel that an entire training session needs to be dedicated to corrective exercise alone; which is a mistake that a lot of trainers make.

More often than not the majority of one's corrective training is going to come from modalities such as foam rolling or dynamic flexibility drills, which can be done in less than ten minutes. If I need to spend a little more time on scapular stability or some glute activation with certain clients, I can usually "sneak" some extra work in between rest periods. So while they are "resting," they're also doing something productive.

I often see a lot of trainers spending 30-35 minutes on "little" things. Sorry, but doing 30 minutes of glute med activation and "core" work is not going to help your client shed those 30 lbs. And repeat after me: "BOSU balls are crap."

Long story short, don't be afraid to load your clients. Getting them stronger will undoubtedly be corrective in nature. This is not to say that there aren't special cases where you have to hold people back, but lets give these people a training effect too.