My final day of my mentorship was still focused on programme design, but now going into much finer details. Reps, sets, rest and periodisation are all discussed.
The first stage of training with a beginner client should always focus on getting movement quality and building up strength in basic exercises. This is important as it also can build trust with a client. Beginners can sometimes be nervous when first coming to the gym, so terrorising them with a set of breathing squats or a 6-12-25 routine is probably not the best way to introduce them to training. The loads don't need to be too heavy, as beginners will get stronger using much lighter loads (I believe 40% 1RM) due to increased intramuscular coordination.
Importantly for beginners, hypertrophy training should always precede strength training, as hypertrophy training prepares the body for lifting at greater intensities as there are increases in bone density and connective tissue strength. Also, a bigger muscle generally has greater potential for being stronger than a smaller muscle.
Nick teaches me how to integrate various corrective exercises (provided the clients needs them) into training, but without distracting from the main training goal, which can easily happen if you don't watch your rest periods.
We then go on to planning an undulating periodised plan for hypertrophy, using a structure I've never seen before, in which weekly changes are made to some exercises. This has the advantage of preventing boredom and stimulating hypertrophy further by concurrently increasing strength.
As I told Nick my devastating tale about my BBQ experience last night, he takes me to a BBQ joint, where I enjoy some extremely tasty pulled-pork. He knows how to keep people happy!
At the end of the day, he takes me to 'Ground Control Academy', which is an MMA gym where he is a training a client called 'Big Gary'.
Gary doesn't compete, but likes to train to keep himself healthy, so Nick takes him through a few simple circuits.
This was good to watch, as Gary is a hard worker and I picked up a few new exercises to take home.
My experience with Nick Tumminello has been awesome. I've learnt a ton (way too much to be put down here), picked up a few new exercises, met a broad range of his clients (from a figure competitor to an 86 year old lady) and been taken out for some great food. I would highly recommend the mentorship to anyone who wants to get better at what they do. It's a completely different from being at a conference or a seminar and just listening to people speak. Spending your whole day with someone who's had many years of experience and great success at what they do gives you a real insight as to why they are good at at what they do and how you can be too.
That night, I go to a pub that has 100 beers or so on draft (my first one was served with a slice of orange) and serves deep fried alligator (tastes like fish) and spend most of my time chatting with some Americans about what it's like to be from England.
Not a bad end to the day!
5 lessons I learnt today:
1) Regardless of the client, warm-ups should be succeeded by some fast, athletic movement work. It should really be considered an extension of the warm-up and helps clients to stay athletic.
2) The 5 pillars of training are:
Pushing
Pulling
Rotation
Raising and lowering centre of mass (think squatting and deadlifting)
Locomotion
Training should include all of these movements.
3) When doing horizontal rows with a barbell, attach a fat pad to the bar and pull up so your chest lightly touches it. Going further than the pad can force the shoulders to internally rotate and the lower back to hyperextend.
4) Testing shoulder internal and external rotation by reaching behind the back will tell you where to put your hand when performing quadruped thoracic rotations. Either on the back of your head if external rotation is deficient or on your low back if you lack internal rotation.
5) In America, you get a choice of cheeses in subway. Also, if you say 'Ranch' in an English accent, they don't have a clue what you're asking for.
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