Perform Better Summit (Providence, RI) Recap: Part 1

The Perform Better seminars are always a great time. Fantastic presenters and amazing people who are looking to become better trainers, coaches, therapists, or fitness enthusiasts. Speaking of the presenters, the line up was amazing. Here are just a few of them: Thomas Myers, Sue Falsone, Mike Boyle, Eric Cressey, Martin Rooney, Robert Dos Remedios, Chris Frankel, Todd Durkin, Grey Cook, and on, and on… I was really bummed that I didn’t get to see more of the lectures and hands on presentations.

Here are the ones I did get to:

Sue Falsone on the Thoracic Spine (Lecture and Hands-On): If you don’t know Sue, she is a highly regarded PT and works for The LA Dodgers and Athletes Performance. Sue talked about the importance of mobilizing the thoracic spine and how being locked up there can cause issues above and below. I feel like we have talked a ton about thoracic mobility on the podcast so I will keep it brief. Sue, gave us a few mobility exercises to do. Most if not all of them require a knowledgeable PT to perform.

Sue also emphasized that we need to also stretch the side of our body, here is one of the movements she gave us here:

Chris Frankel (Lecture and Hands-On):

You might remember Chris from Episode 151 of The FitCast. He is the go to guy when it comes to suspension training be it with a TRX or any other suspension device. Chris’ lecture was really good. It kind of surprised me how much there was to learn about suspension training and how it can be so valuable for us as coaches or fitness enthusiasts. his motto for suspension training makes a lot of sense: FLAC

• Unleaded, Focus on Movement
• Learn appropriate level of progression
• Apply training stimulus
• Challenge conditioning

Chris also went over some cool single leg exercises and progressions with the TRX that I will try to shoot videos of for you guys. Basically, if you still don’t have a TRX, you are really missing out.

That is it for Part 1. Part 2 will be all about Thomas Myers and Anatomy Trains. I am attending another one of Thomas’ lectures tonight so I should have some great stuff for you guys. And again, Anatomy Trains is one of those books that you must have to understand why we foam roll, and why foam rolling might actually be pretty ineffective…

Fresh Ideas: 3 Deadly Complexes For Fat Loss and Conditioning

How do people go to the gym day after day and do the same 30 minute workout on the elliptical machine? Honestly I would rather do some sprints in the parking lot outside of a 7/11 in a rival gang’s territory at 2am with nothing on but a game worn jock strap from Terry Tate.

No, but seriously, I would rather challenge myself and do something different every time. That is where this blog post comes in. I hope to provide some fresh ideas for you to use when it comes to the end of the workout, when you need to get that finisher in. Now hold on to your butts and crack open a Spike!

1. Burpee/Mountain Climber Combo: This one is pretty straight forward. You give yourself a rep amount to hit for each movement. I am a fan of doing 60 mountain climbers (30/side) and 12 burpees (with the push up). Rest for 60 seconds in between each round. Rinse and repeat at least 4 times and try to work up to 8 or 10. Keep the trash can near by…

2. TRX Circuit from Hell: OK, now things get interesting. That TRX in your garage isn’t just for rows and planks, it can be used for some of the hardest complexes imaginable. For this you will go from one exercise to the next, performing 10 reps (per side if  for each movement. The exercises are: Atomic push ups, rear foot elevated split squat, leg curls, rollouts, and rows. Try to get through the whole circuit in under three minutes.

3. Grab bag Finisher: This is the one I use the most. I put together five or six exercises and put them into a complex. They usually involve low risk movements with lighter weights than normal, for obvious reasons. Think medballs, kettlebells, slideboards, TRX, body weight, and barbell exercises. Here is one you can try today that will have you screaming for mercy:

• Plate loaded front squat (Hold a 10-25 pound plate out in front of you while squatting). x8
• Renegade Row 8 reps/side

• TRX Rollouts (or ab wheel) x10
• KB Swings x12
• Bodysaw x12

• Overhead Medball Slams x20

BONUS: Here is a Death Circuit I did three years ago with Eric Cressey. I promise my posture is much better now:

If you want some more of these, I highly recommend you check out Tony Gentilcore’s blog. He posts tons of circuits on there, and blogs about the latest Lord of the Rings convention. Enjoy and be safe. Have some other circuits or finishers you want to share? Post them in the comments section.

Eat to Live, Don’t Live to Eat/You Can Only Take a Client as Far As You Have Gone

This past week was easily one of the best I have ever had. First off, I get to work at one of the premier strength and conditioning facilities in the WORLD, Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning. If my batteries are ever drained, they get recharged every single week at our staff meetings. This past week Mike had Todd Durkin come in and talk to the staff because he was in town for the Perform Better Seminar. To be honest, he didn’t even talk to us about training. Instead he talked about how we can/should go about bettering ourselves and our business.

If you listened to this past week’s episode of The FitCast (Episode 171), you heard me talk about some of the things that Todd had to say, but that was just scratching the surface. The second Todd had the floor the energy in the room raised immensely (and this was AFTER he trained had for an hour in the weight room!). I don’t think I have been more wide-eyed since I first met Mike back in 2006.

Anyways, to the point of this post, I am going to make it very clear. Some of the things Todd said hit home hard. Sometimes we can hear the right answer 1,000 times, but it is number 1,001 that makes the biggest impact and convinces us it is the right one because of the person who is delivering it. That is what happened with Todd. He dropped a bunch of quotes and sayings that I immediately wrote down for future reference. Here is the one that hit home:

“Eat to Live, Don’t Live to Eat”

I should say it was that quote followed by this one:

“You Can Only Take a Client as Far As You Have Gone”

Think about that. Does that mean a coach or training with 20% body fat can’t get their client below that? No, I don’t think so. I am not in the same shape as my man Jason Statham (I really want to meet that guy…), but I have gotten some amazing results with all of my clients. I took it more as, “How do you expect your clients to get results that you can’t achieve yourself?” I mean, YOU are the expert right?

Another reason why I am excited to post these finished Destination Abs pictures in the near future…

I am sure there are more quotes and thoughts from the talk coming soon, so stay posted!

It’s All About Progression: Push Ups

Beginners make a lot of mistakes when they first start lifting and it isn’t their fault. They see a workout in FLEX or SHAPE magazine and just go at it. Then their form is poor, they are complaining of soreness, and they don’t see results. Why? Because they don’t use progressions. Why start with reverse lunges or body-weight squats when you could be doing back squats with German volume training that promises 100 lb increase in your 1RM in 3 months? Same think with push ups to benching. I don’t let any of my untrained athletes and clients bench until they have shown proficiency in the push up. I mean they should be able to do 15 body weight push ups before I put them under the bar. Dumbbells are another case, but hopefully you are picking up what I am dropping you.

The Push Up

The horizontal press is another one of those movements that people tend to progress to rapidly. Should you really be joining in with your buddies on Bench Monday if you can’t do 12 bodyweight push ups? Probably not. What about doing dips, dumbbell press variations, or dumbbell flys? Oh yeah, and that brings me to my next point, stay the hell away from machines unless you want to get into bodybuilding (and can eat and train for it) or have a specific reason for doing so (training for EXTREME hugging does not count, although I am all for it).

Now let’s talk about the push up a little more before we continue. Personally I think it is in the argument when you talk about the top three exercises you can do for optimal strength, performance, and overall health promotion. Just for discussion (in the comments) I believe the other two are the single legged squat (or lunge) and the pull up and its variations.

How to do a perfect push up

Keep these things in mind when performing the push up:

• Keep a straight line from the back of your head to your heels.
• Keep glutes tight (will help you keep that straight line
• Chin tucked
• Don’t lead with your head
• Hands shoulder width apart (or more) and under your shoulders (don’t have your hands past your face when you are on the ground.
• 45-70 degree angle at the armpit
• Bring chest all the way to the ground for proper scapular retraction

Phase 1:

• Elevated Push Up (hand elevated)
  • If someone can not do push ups from the ground the best place to start is with their hands on a box or an elevated barbell in a rack. This way you can progress them by moving the bar in the rack closer to the ground or a shorter box.

Phase 2:

• Bodyweight Push Up
  • You should be able to complete a minimum of 12 push ups correctly before moving on

Phase 3 (Where the Fun Begins):

• 1-Legged Push Ups (Great for core and shoulder stability, I am a big fan of this as the first progression after bodyweight push ups)

• T-Pusp Ups
  • These are great for also addressing thoracic mobility as well.

• Feet Elevated Push Ups (12 inch box)

• Clap Push Up

Phase 4:

• Spiderman Push Up

• TRX Push Up
• TRX Atomic Push Up
• Slideboard Push Ups

• Valslide Push Ups

• Renegade Row

Spicing it Up

Now what if you have become a master of all of the push up variations and now you need more of a challenge that is where these come in play.

• Chains
• Band Resisted Push Ups

Now what are your favorite push up movements? I could go the rest of my lift just doing push ups… But I won’t… Because I love benching…

Ask Kevin: Episode 1 (I Totally Copied Leigh Peele)

Download Episode 1 here: AskKevin001.mp3 (Right Click and Save-As to download)

It was bound to come eventually, I can’t shut the hell up, so I figured I would record it and share it. Here is episode 1 of my solo fitness and nutrition podcast that I will be releasing mid week as a companion to The FitCast. It will be 20-40 minutes covering diet, fitness, nutrition, rehab, workout music, Destination Abs stuff, Back to the Fut… OK, maybe a little off topic at the beginning is something particularly cool happens.

At this point I have no artwork, and the name is just temporarily until I can think of something brilliant and catchy (don’t hold your breath). Also the podcast isn’t on iTunes. If I get 1,000 downloads for episode 1 I will add it to the FitCast iTunes feed. EDIT: Added it to iTunes after 3 e-mails under The FitCast Feed. I caved early…

Here are the notes of the show:

NEWS

• KevinLarrabee.com
• T-shirts
• Kim’s Accountability

Questions

• Ever look at the Vegas Pro Straps vs TRX? Any advantage to not having a single point attachment like TRX? Thoughts?
• Should I be sore after every workout (except maybe times of deload)?
• Do thonkgs like spike really help workouts?  How should these energy drinks be used if at all? -Erin
• G’day kevin,
  just a question about your training. what kind of assistance work are you doing with 5/3/1? are you doing boring but big or assistance work you chose yourself?
  Also do you find that some lifts respond better to volume that others, or is that just me. my bench dies unless i’ve been hitting with twice a week with solid volume, 5×5 style, where as my deadlift only need one high intensity set to keep improving.
  thanks Harry
• Hey Kevin,
  Long time listener here. I was just wondering your thoughts on a couple of supplements I am planning on taking. I’ve been hearing a lot about the Animal brand of products and was wondering your opinion on them? As far as Animal Paks multi’s and then the Animal Cuts fat burners? I’ve heard positive things about them and was wanting to try them out. I’ve noticed BioTest has been out of Hot Rox for awhile and I’m wanting to help jump start my fat loss at the gym. Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
  -Jason
• What’s on your workout playlist -Dan