Between the Starting Strength Seminar and the PICP 2 I found myself with a 10 day gap of ‘free time’.
Peak performance is an elite training facility right in the heart of Manhattan, where you can find lawyers and bankers training alongside NFL players and MMA guys.
It’s a large, very well equipped and extremely impressive facility that occupies the entire floor of a building – approximately 10,000 square feet. There didn’t seem to be anything that couldn’t done in the gym and it was easy to see why it was ranked so highly by Mens’ Health.
Whilst I was just sitting back at the protein bar watching the training that was going on, one of the head trainers, Ed Williams, came over and we had a chat about assessments, training and biosignature.
What was probably meant to be a quick ‘Hello’ escalated into a very in-depth discussion that lasted the best part of 45 minutes and also had input from the other head trainer, Dan Trink and Joe Dowdell himself.
Despite the fact that I was only in the gym very briefly, I managed to get the answers to some questions that have been playing on my mind for a long time as well as pick up a couple of new exercises.
Despite the fact that I was only in the gym very briefly, I managed to get the answers to some questions that have been playing on my mind for a long time as well as pick up a couple of new exercises.
Not bad for a mornings work.
UCONN
In the USA, it seems that there is some type of decent training seminar on every weekend (I think in the UK you’ll be lucky to find 4 good ones a year).
I was fortunate to see an advert for the ‘Elite Training Workshop’ that was being held in Connecticut (a couple of hours from New York) and was on only weekend where I didn’t have any plans, so I signed up right away.
I still had plenty of time to kill, so on recommendation from Eric Cressey to go visit one of the colleges, I contacted the University of Connecticut (UCONN) and was told I could go visit them for a few days.
What I hadn’t realised, was that UCONN is a Division-1 University, which means that (according to Wikipedia) it is a "major collegiate athletic power, with a larger budget, more elaborate facilities and more athletic scholarships than Divisions II and III".
So, if I was going to see a University, this was obviously a great choice.
So, if I was going to see a University, this was obviously a great choice.
Associate strength and conditioning coach, Chris West (who turned out to be Cressey's mentor back in the day) took me under his wing and was one of the nicest people I met in the states. He went well out of his way to get me to the University and then gave me a full tour of the facilities, bought me lunch and allowed me to sit in during his sessions.
Chris, or "Coach West" as all the athletes called him, is in charge of strength and conditioning for men’s and women’s football (real football aka soccer) and men’s basketball. The basketball team are current NCAA champions and the men’s football team are ranked #1 in the country. I think it would be fair to say that this makes Chris a big deal.
The facilities for the basketball and American football teams are easily better than some of the premiership football clubs in the UK and the athletes are all treated to the highest professional standards. I can imagine that sometimes, it would be easy for them to forget that at some point they actually have to study
The strength and conditioning facilities were also of an extremely high standard and every single strength training device could be found there. I pointed out that it seemed there was nothing they didn’t have, and Chris said that if there was something they didn’t have – they’d go and buy it immediately.
The strength and conditioning facilities were also of an extremely high standard and every single strength training device could be found there. I pointed out that it seemed there was nothing they didn’t have, and Chris said that if there was something they didn’t have – they’d go and buy it immediately.
Whilst the basketball facilities were extremely impressive, the football (American) training facilities were something else. They had the biggest gym I’ve ever seen – 18,000 square feet, comprising of 28 squat racks (the standard measure as to how good a gym is - usually 3 will do), a 70 yard sprint track and an indoor football field (actual size) in the next room that could be used for warm-ups, speed work, sled work etc.
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| Just the tip of the iceberg |
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| Indoor football field |
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| Indoor sprint track |
As the football (actual football) team were in-season, they don’t do a great deal of S&C. However, Chris is responsible for their warm-ups prior to training and playing.
Here he is in action:
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| Chris is the guy in the middle, apparently enjoying a bit of "Simon says" with the footballers. |
That night they played Yale (a much weaker team) and won 1-0. Since it went all the way until the final minute of extra time before a goal was scored, this game did nothing to make me like football any more than I did (which is not a lot). There wasn’t even one single headbutt. Gutted.
The basketball team are currently off-season, so they were training 4 times a week. In addition to their basketball training and studying, these guys were busy full-time.
Chris’s sessions involved a key lift for either the upper or lower body that had to be improved each workout. Prior to this, the athletes performed a warm-up, core training and explosive work. Following the main lift, the athletes had some higher volume accessory work.
Each session is then subject to a thorough analysis between himself and the interns (and me, because I was there) and they discuss the merits of certain exercises, what they think worked well, what didn’t work well, how they can make improvements, which of the athletes looked good, which athletes struggled etc.
I’ve never seen this done before, but I think it’s a great way to develop yourself as a coach. It showed that Chris was constantly trying to better himself and he regularly would talk about how he’d changed his mind about various protocols over the years.
Elite Training Workshop
This workshop was actually a 2 day event, but since the first day was all about business and how to make your business successful, I’ll leave that all out and focus on the second day, which was all about training.
Day 2 started at 9am. At 8.05am I was just casually checking e-mails and deciding what to have for breakfast in the front porch of my hostel, when I see an e-mail from the night before saying that the lectures today would being at 8am. Nips.
I then put a piece of advice into action that I learnt many years ago:
“If you’re going to be late, be late. Don’t rush around and panic yourself so you can turn up 5 minutes late. Relax and take the time to enjoy your breakfast.”
This is exactly what I did J.
(As it turns out, hardly anyone got the e-mail and people were turning up late all over the place).
The first presenter was the ‘band man' on 'Resistance bands: More than just a training tool'.
I’ll be honest, I didn’t totally buy into what he was talking about, which was essentially using bands as a sole training device – for every client (fat loss to elite athletes). He stated that when pressed for space and time, you could use bands to train large groups of people and then explained how they were great from a business point of view. I do totally agree, but from a results point of view, I think you may struggle after a few sessions.
I’ll be honest, I didn’t totally buy into what he was talking about, which was essentially using bands as a sole training device – for every client (fat loss to elite athletes). He stated that when pressed for space and time, you could use bands to train large groups of people and then explained how they were great from a business point of view. I do totally agree, but from a results point of view, I think you may struggle after a few sessions.
The practical he did was actually not too bad and quite enjoyable, although I would have preferred to have been lifting some iron rather than struggling against a thick rubber band.
From a business point of view, his lecture was good as you could easily make good money from running classes that only use the bands. These classes would probably be enjoyable as well for the client, however, I believe that they would become very old, very quick and people would get bored.
Other than being pressed for equipment and stretching, I can’t really see many applications as a sole training device for bands.
The second presenter was Mike Robertson, on 'Complete Core Training'.
About 2 minutes in, Mike’s computer crashed and he was forced to borrow someone’s hand-out in order to finish. I didn’t notice him flinch, but he claims that it was an extremely stressful 2 minutes until he was able to calm down.
About 2 minutes in, Mike’s computer crashed and he was forced to borrow someone’s hand-out in order to finish. I didn’t notice him flinch, but he claims that it was an extremely stressful 2 minutes until he was able to calm down.
What I enjoyed about Mike’s lecture was that he illustrated a continuum of core training, and it’s important to locate your clients (and yourself) on exactly the right point at the beginning of your training programme.
Do squats and deadlifts increase core strength? Yes.
Does Doris the 86 year old daisy gatherer with a history of back pain need to focus on getting her squat and deadlift numbers up? Errrrm….No, because that might break her in two.
Does Jim the gymnast with many national titles need to concentrate on improving the side plank? No – because gymnasts are typically beasts who can already handle the fundamentals with great ease.
Assuming you have to put someone at the bottom end of the continuum (like our beloved Doris), then Mike presented a series of levels you need to complete in order to take them to the point where you can largely concentrate on improving core strength with squats, deadlifts etc. But, be warned – it does take a while, especially if they have a current episode of low back pain.
Mike's practical taught us a series of exercises that he uses with his clients in order to strengthen the core.
Mike's practical taught us a series of exercises that he uses with his clients in order to strengthen the core.
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| Mike Robertson teaching the waiter's carry |
Next up was BJ Gaddour presenting ‘Crash Course in Metabolic Training’.
His presentation was good and contained a lot of information about metabolism and how to use training, nutrition and supplements to keep it elevated and make your body into a 'fat burning machine'.
His practical consisted of 4 circuits, using different styles of training - very handy for training large groups.
Unfortunately, BJ totally blew it for me (no pun intended) during the last circuit, which consisted of 1 minute of slow tempo press-ups, then a rest, then 1 minute of slow temp squats, then a rest and then 1 set of slow tempo overhead presses – all to a track repeatedly going ‘1, 2 up, 1, 2, down’. For some, this type of monotonus training may actually be highly enjoyable, but for me it was a right pain in the arse and I stopped when I realised I couldn’t tell my ups from my downs, so I relaxed and watched everyone else struggle.
BJ then went on to say how this type of training targets the mitochondria. I believe this is because this type of training is more aerobic in nature and aerobic training has been shown to increase mitochondrial volume.
I'm not 100% convinced that this is the most appropriate training modality for getting people into shape quickly and I would also worry that it's not that enjoyable for the client.
BJ then went on to say how this type of training targets the mitochondria. I believe this is because this type of training is more aerobic in nature and aerobic training has been shown to increase mitochondrial volume.
I'm not 100% convinced that this is the most appropriate training modality for getting people into shape quickly and I would also worry that it's not that enjoyable for the client.
This is not to take anything away from BJ, as his energy and passion for training people was evident, and his lecture was well delivered. There is also the fact that he has achieved considerably much more success than I have.
I just didn't buy into all of his methods (some of his other methods described in his presentation did make a lot more sense).
But who knows? Maybe next year I'll have changed my mind.
I just didn't buy into all of his methods (some of his other methods described in his presentation did make a lot more sense).
But who knows? Maybe next year I'll have changed my mind.
Finally, Eric Cressey delivered a presentation on 'Medicine Ball Training for Performance and Health'. This was the best presentation of the day. As I’d been to Cressey’s facility a month before and witnessed a whole ton of medicine ball drills, it was great to actually learn names for them and find out when they are best applicable.
Cressey has a unique ability to say around 500 words every 10 seconds, detailing the most comprehensive facts in functional anatomy, whilst making it easy enough for a toddler to understand.
The practical wasn’t medicine ball related (we might have killed each other apparently), so instead Eric showed us how he evaluates shoulder function – something else I saw a lot of at CP, but didn’t know what it all meant.
He demonstrated how utilising correct breathing techniques can instantly give the individual extra ROM and how the combined total ROM of internal rotation and external rotation should equal at both shoulders, despite asymmetrical differences in internal and external rotation (something which he had alluded to here).
Furthermore, he pulled one guy out of the crowd and presented a test for measuring thoracic spine rotation. Apparently, this is a genuine test, however, when you see the following photo of the set-up, you may think a little differently.....
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| There are way too many inappropriate comments to be made about this photo.... |
Joking aside, this was a great test. From this position, the client has rotate to the left and right sides - all from the thoracic spine. All cheating from the lumbar spine is eliminated in the set-up, so if you don’t have mobility in your thoracic spine then you absolutely will not be moving well in this test.
So that concluded my fun and games in Connecticut.
Final stop – Rhode Island.
Five things I learnt
1) Constantly analyse and evaluate your training sessions. What worked? What didn’t? What needs to be changed ASAP? What does the client need more of? How can a particular exercise be progressed/regressed?
2) Bands can be used as a very effective stretching tool for the hamstrings and hip external rotators.
3) Never ever settle for quarter squats. They are a disgusting exercise. In fact, they’re not even an exercise. Either, A) you’re not coaching properly, B) the weight is too heavy or C) the squat is too advanced – regress as needed. Unfortunately, in one instance (I won’t say where), all 3 applied and I made a promise to myself to never allow anyone under my guidance to even consider a quarter squat.
4) People with a huge amount of ROM at the shoulders need a ton of strength and stability training. A lack of strength in the scapula stabilisers will actually inhibit ROM at the glenohumeral joint and give the appearance of tightness.
5) For executive clients, you can pretty much guarantee their digestion is shot to bits. HCL works wonders in these cases.
