The “Oh Sh*T I Have 5 Minutes to Warm-Up” Warm-Up

We can’t all have time machines in the form of a phone booth from a future where Bill and Ted’s music aligned the planets and set in motion intergalactic peace. This is why on some days I have clients that show up late or I myself need to fit in a quick training session in between clients or meetings. So what do you do? Do you lift for a shorter period of time or do a quick warm up that may just be enough to prepare our bodies for the rigors of heavy squatting and explosive bicep curls (because…it is almost beach season…Gym. Tan. Laundry).

Let me preface this blog by saying the far to often used, “it depends.” I consider myself to have pretty good mobility everywhere except my hips, and they are even doing pretty damn good now. But what about someone who has poor posture, knee pain, and hip flexors with the tissue quality of beef jerky? Obviously I would have them put the mobility and rehab work higher up on the list of priorities. Got it?

Now, here is the best bang for your buck warm up for those who are crunched for time but still want to warm up properly.

Foam Rolling (6 reps each)

• Quads
• Adductors
• Lats
• Traps

Mobility (5/side or 10 total)

• Spider Man Lunge Walk with Reach and Hip Lift: This is the epitome of, “bang for your buck” when it comes to mobility exercises. Think about it, you are stretching your hip flexors and hamstrings while also activating your glutes and quads.

• Scapular Wall Slides: It is a sad fact, but most people have very limited scapular mobility. Just ask a friend to try and put their arms straight overhead, instead of something that looks like a touchdown sign, you will see a deformed “V.” Scap wall slides will mobilize your upper back and get you ready for your horizontal and vertical pulling.

• Wall Quad/Hip Flexor Stretch: Like the Spider Man Lunge Walk, this mobility exercise hits a few muscle groups, the hip flexors and quads (no duh Kevin…). To perform these go against a wall and place one knee on the ground and the opposite foot on the ground. You should

• Push Up to Downward Dog: I don’t like yoga, but this movement allows you to warm up your upper body and get a great stretch for your hamstrings and calves.

Now go on and leave no room for excuses when it comes to getting a lift in. Lastly, DO NOT FORGET:

BE EXCELLENT TO EACH OTHER (AND YOUR TISSUE)

Random Tips of the Week: Desk Jobs and Fat Loss Methods

Sometimes I have some cool things to talk about, but they wouldn’t justify a whole blog post. That is where the random tips posts come in. I am not going to go too in depth on these, just some thoughts on diet, nutrition, training, and rehab.

1. If You Work a Desk Job, Do 2:1 Pull to Press.

This one should be pretty obvious. A large majority of people today have desk jobs, and for the guys, still tend to do too much horizontal pressing. You know the whole “Bench Monday” thing? And this is not just a postural thing. Many people wonder why their bench never goes up while their back and lats are proportionally weak compared to their chest. So, maybe do your barbell bench in the beginning, but throw in two row variations later on in the workout. Push ups are great too as it promotes scapular retraction and you can do some many progressions (coming up on Monday I will have an article on it). You can even super set the BB bench with a 1-arm DB row or a facepull. BONUS: A little thoracic mobility work wouldn’t hurt either.

2. Fat Loss: Train More to Eat More? Or Train Less, But Eat Less?

I don’t think we discuss this subject enough. Yeah, you have heard that, “you can’t out train a bad diet” a thousand times, but what about what is optimal for fat loss? A program where you are lifting 3-4 days a week with high intensity interval training along with a calorie deficit around 3500 cals/week? What about a 3-day full body program with some steady state walking on off days and a 7,000-8,000 Calorie deficit? Would we be able to retain most if not all of our muscle mass?

Do we have the answer? Has it been researched? Personally, I think it depends:

• How quickly do you want to lose weight?
• How important is it to train at a high intensity when it comes to your enjoyment?
• How much time do you have to dedicate to training each week?
• What have you done in the past and has it worked?

It is just a case of different strokes for different folks. Both will work if you have the calories, workout nutrition, macronutrient partitioning, and training down. Does one work better all things equal? In my experience with clients and personally, I would go with the lower calories, 3 day lift, and some steady state work on off days if they have their nutrition locked in. BUT!!! Remember, it does depend on their goals. I am just talking about looking good naked. Not deadlifting 400 pounds, or doing 40 pull ups, or having a 30 inch vert, or the ability to run a 6-minute mile.

Some of my clients just don’t want to eat protein at every meal and count calories. For them I take a little harder approach with the lifting and conditioning because I know they are fueling themselves to recover from it. For some of my male clients at least I can promise that they will put some muscle mass on and drop some bodyfat, it is just going to be a little slower.

I understand that everyone has their own different training and body composition philosophies. There is more than one ways to skin a cat, I guess I think we need to evaluate our clients and ourselves to determine which method will garner the best results.