Perform Better Functional Training Summit - Day 1

This weekend, I attended a major learnfest known as the ‘Perform Better Functional Training Summit’ in Long Beach, California. This was the third event of its kind this year with the first 2 being in Providence and Chigago (a lot closer to where I have been staying). I have read from numerous other coaches that if you don’t make the effort to attend this intellectual feast, you were doing yourself a severe disservice as a coach/trainer.

No way was I going to do myself disservice, so I travelled the 3000 miles from east coast to west coast, blitzed through 3 time zones and checked into the most expensive hotel I’m ever likely to step into. Committed? I think so.

As I’m at Boston airport, who should I see waiting for the same flight as me? None other than legendary strength and conditioning coach – Mike Boyle and I decided that it was 100% necessary to speak to him....

....So approximately 7 hours later at Long Beach airport baggage claim, I walked straight over to him and introduced myself. I think in all honesty he wanted to walk away, but as he was waiting for someone to collect their bag, he had no choice but to listen to me go on about how great I thought he was. He then offered me to ride in the cab with him and Kevin – the ‘Perform Better travelling band’ - back to the hotel. So that was my first brush with strength and conditioning fame. Great guy. As was Kevin (who in addition to being a great guy he also turned out to be a singer/guitar player).

The next morning, I ate the most expensive breakfast every known to man  - but justified it as part of the experience. I then casually wandered over to the convention center and registered myself with the event.

I saw a total of 11 lectures and attended 2 practicals over the 3 days. In every one of them, I learnt something new that will be valuable to me upon my return to work. I will do a brief summary of each lecture/practical I attended, followed by 2-3 key points that I took from it.

Day 1

Martin Rooney – Speed training for every client (practical)

No one has more energy when presenting than Martin Rooney and he is maybe only second in humour only to Alwyn Cosgrove. His passion is extremely prevalent when he was up on stage and it became pretty infectious - you can tell that he absolutely loves speaking in front of people.

This practical consisted of how to implement speed training into your clients’ programming. He commanded the whole room through a warm-up and taught us 8 rules that had to be stuck to when training (which irritatingly, I have forgotten). The style of his warm-up would serve as a fantastic way when training a large group of kids who need to focus. Following the warm-up, we were taken through some activation drills for the glutes that all involved use of the mini-bands.

Finally, we all participated in various speed drills. As Martin told us in the beginning, he didn’t expect us to learn any new drills, and he was right there, but he did expect us to be taught them in a way that we had never experienced before – and he was bang on.  

Lesson 1 – The most important exercise you’re doing is the one you’re doing now

Lesson 2 – You have to be comfortable being uncomfortable

Robert Yang – Breaking the fatigue cycle

This turned out to be one of my favourite lectures. Robert spoke about varying types of fatigue that clients are subjected to and suggested different strategies to help defeat fatigue. He discussed how lifestyle and nutrition play an important part in one’s overall health.

For example, craving sweet foods after each meal is a sign of fatigue. Interestingly, one teaspoon of sugar depresses macrophages (white blood cells – an integral part of the immune system) for up to 2 hours. So if feel tired and not up to full health all the time and you consume a fair amount of sugar – now you know why. Furthermore, after watching his DVD, I've learnt that eating certain inflammatory foods can inhibit the activity of the core muscles and lead to low back pain.

Lesson 1 – The bottom of the food pyramid should be water

Lesson 2 – Some medications (statins and blood pressure meds) deplete our reserves of CoQ10 – which is essential for energy production.

Lesson 3 – Despite what the majority of the population thinks, red wine is not that great for you. Firstly, after 2 glasses, growth hormone secretion ceases at night and thyroid hormone becomes depressed, thus decreasing fat loss and welcoming a lower metabolism and fat gain. Secondly, the amount of reservatrol (the nutrient that makes red wine healthy) per glass is so insignificant that you would need to drink about 6 gallons to get the equivalent of a single capsule in supplement form.

Bill Parisi – The 5 biggest mistakes I made in the personal training business

Unfortunately, this lecture came immediately after lunch and I had some trouble staying awake and paying attention (major sign of fatigue - as learnt from Robert Yang). This was a very business orientated lecture, in which Bill discussed mistakes he had made so that we would not make the same ones.

We were told how he set up the Parisi Speed School and the efforts he went to in order to be successful. Most importantly, we learnt what he would have done differently should he have to do it again.

Lesson 1 – If goals aren’t hard to reach, then they aren’t big enough

Lesson 2 – Being clear with what you want = POWER

Mike Boyle – Success secrets

A brilliant lecture from my mate Mike. He discussed the strategies necessary for becoming a successful personal trainer. Key point – if you’re not willing to work hard for it, then you’re in the wrong job.

Mike told us the efforts he went to get where he is today, and I’ll be honest, I’m not really that envious. I mean, working 80 weeks for 51 weeks of the year may sound great to some, but not me. That said, I have now learnt that there is a way round this.

The lecture was heavily focused on the importance of getting out there and working - if you need to do it for free, then so be it. Do what you love and money will follow.

Lesson 1 – Until you have done 10,000 hours: DON’T make a DVD, DON’T write an e-book, WORK and PERFECT the craft. Whatever you want to do – put the 10,000 hours in first.

Lesson 2 – Under promise – then over deliver J

Martin Rooney – Speed training for every client (lecture)

To begin with, Martin managed to ‘hypnotise’ the whole audience. When we opened our eyes, we were presented with this:

Yes, he was wearing an alien mask and continued to do so for about 20 minutes. It made sense at the time and was pretty funny.

He firstly pointed out the fact that humans are declining in health for a number of reasons (lack of sleep and exercise and disgraceful nutrition). As a means of getting back on track, sprinting would be a great place to start. Humans are designed to sprint – not run long distances (which is why we have a gluteus maximus and Achilles tendon on each leg). When we sprint, our brain releases chemicals that make us stronger and live longer (and make us smile). When we run long distances, the chemicals released act as natural tranquilisers that prepare us for immediate death – there is no way that we would be running for that long if we weren’t running away from something that was about to eat us.

Lesson 1 – The 100m finals are one of the most exciting events in the Olympics. Not true for the marathon. Although we respect sprinting, most people don’t do it, some people fear it and as a result – kids aren’t taught it.

Lesson 2 – One of the first things we sacrifice when times get tough is sleep. When a baby is asleep, everyone goes to great effort to let the baby sleep. When did it become ok to not respect the need for sleep?

Lesson 3 – Babies hate fizzy drinks – they wretch when you try feeding it to them. Liking it is just getting used to it. When did that become ok?

Lesson 4 – When we lose 15 minutes of sleep – our IQ drops by 5%

Thomas Plummer – Evolve or die

The keynote speaker - Thomas Plummer told us how now is the best time for us to be successful as personal trainers – but we need to change in order for that to happen. Out of chaos comes an opportunity, which if we can catch early – we can make a great career out of the industry.  

Thomas Plummer was an extremely funny guy who had the respect of every presenter as at some point, he had most probably consulted with them on how to improve their business.

Lesson 1 – Treat all clients like athletes

Lesson 2 – Design your ideal career and then do everything to make sure it happens

Day 1 was then rounded up with a social, which included as much free beer as you could handle. I then took it upon myself to follow this with an extremely dodgey burrito at a Mexican restaurant. 

Not so smart. 

Day 2 was to be followed by more great speakers such as Rachel Cosgrove, John Beradi and Alwyn Cosgrove. 

However, before I write about that, I need to fly 3000 miles back (via Texas) to the East coast.....

Why Cressey Performance is awesome

"Cressey Performance is a factory, man"

(Nick Tumminello, 2011).

When I first heard that, I didn't quite know what to expect, but after having spent my last 3 days at CP, I completely understand what he meant.

Cressey Performance is located in Hudson, MA and is described on their website as follows:

"A high-performance training facility designed by athletes for athletes, and those looking to make a serious commitment to their long-term health"

It is owned by Eric Cressey and was co-founded by Pete Dupuis and Tony Gentilcore. In addition, other coaches include Chris Howard, current intern Tyler Simmons and a nice chap called George (who I believe is the guy in the vest in this video and pretty much did this every time anyone went to lift heavy. He essentially was the gym's Terry Tate).

However, before I describe how awesome CP is, I must firstly describe it's one (and only) negative - it's location. Specifically, it's location if you're a foreigner with no wheels other than the ones on your suitcase.

Where I was staying was roughly 10 miles from the gym and there was ZERO public transport that could get me there. I could have got a bus to the nearest town, but only if I fancied walking 13 miles a day (I didn't).

In the end, I manned up, rented a car and got on with it (and took a picture of a reservoir and a liquor store on the way).

Bill gave me directions :)

Apparently you could catch a bus to the car rental from here. Another epic fail by Google maps.

Back on subject....

The clientele of CP consists of about 80% athletes, with about 80% of those being baseball players. As it's the summer, all the guys training were either high school or college level athletes. However, when they all go back to education, the professionals will come in. The fun never stops.

I spent my time watching the guys train, the coaches doing their job, taking notes, asking questions and generally trying not to get in the way.

As a frequent reader of Eric Cressey's and Tony Gentilcore's blogs, I had a fair idea of what to expect, but until you're there, you can't really appreciate it.

Without further ado, here is why CP is awesome, and why all gyms should aspire to be like it (I apologise if I repeat myself):

1) One of the first things I saw was a girl deadlifting.

I could stop right here, because that would probably be enough for most people. But I didn't take 20+ pages of notes for nothing.....

2) The athletes knew what they were doing. Kids of all ages were doing things like deadlifts, squats, speed work, by themselves and it looked extremely professional.

3) Most of the athletes had perfect technique on everything and if they didn't someone would be on them straight away to correct them

4) The coaches were able to keep an eye on everyone at all times and didn't let allow for anything sloppy

5) One of the most impressive things I saw was a guy who was deadlifting on his first session, with technique that would have made me leave the deadlift for another exercise. Tony saw this guy, walked over to him and proceeded to slap him in all the right places, thereby transforming his technique into something that was actually pretty decent.

6) The athletes were being educated whilst they trained

7) Every now and then, Tank (Eric's puppy) would have a wander through the gym keeping an eye on everyone

8) The athletes cleared up after themselves.

9) The dumbbells were always in the correct order

10) The dumbbells went from 5-100lbs. Most impressively, there were (and probably still are) 2 of each weight. I've not seen that before and is a nice touch to the gym.

11) There were no egos.

12) The athletes were training safely

13) There were some strong guys in there

14) The gym has used its space extremely well and there is plenty of room to accommodate a large number of guys at once

15) Every single piece of equipment was used. Nothing was collecting dust.

16) No time was being wasted. People were turning up and doing their thing.

17) Everyone put in hard work.

18) Guys got together and cheered each other on

19) I didn't see a single missed rep whilst I was there. Actually, the only missed reps were my own (but that's because I can't convert lbs to kg in my head yet)

20) Some of the more experienced athletes were helping out some of the newer guys when it came to technique

21) The collective knowledge of the staff is huge

22) Parents were with their kids during their assessments and the coaches did a great job of explaining to them what they were doing and what they were looking for.

23) There was a huge board of high school athlete records in the Front Squat, 3RM Chin-up, Broad Jump and Vertical Jump. Great motivation to keep training.

24) You regularly hear the sounds of chains. Nuff said.

25) The exercises are suited to the client. Most guys squatted, but the type of squat was dependent on their capabilities.

26) Females of all ages were doing pull-ups. Nice

27) The music is ideal for the gym environment. No Justin Beiber or Bill Bryson occasionally spilling out of the speakers.....

28) Chalk on the floor isn't considered a mess - it's attitude.

29) Every client has their own individual programme

30) If you go on youtube, you can watch videos of University strength and conditioning facilities - CP puts these places to shame in terms of exercise individualisation, exercise technique and programme design.

31) Females get stuck in. They weren't training any differently from the males.

32) They appear to have created over 100 different ways to throw a medicine ball.

33) One poor kid was sick after using the prowler. He was 'slow-clapped' on his return into the gym by about 15 guys (thanks to Eric).

34) There were young kids training and getting on with what their doing, and using perfect form - think how awesome they'll be when they're older.

35) Unlike every other gym in the world, the bench press stations were completely unused on Monday.

36) There was a huge amount of 'out of the box' thinking in terms of exercises.

37) Whenever the gym appears to be quietening down, another 4-5 guys were warming up - good flow of athletes during the day.

38) If you were a parent and took your kid to the facility, you couldn't not want them to train there. You'd see first hand A) your kid being fully assessed and be able to ask questions, B) watch them train during the first session, safely under supervision, C) you'd see all the other guys training and being awesome - pretty safe bet that your kid will be like that soon.

39) From the moment they walk in - every single athlete was acknowledged by first name.

40) One athlete attempted to skip a large chunk of their warm up. They were sent back to finish immediately!

41) I heard a dubstep remix of 'Seek and Destroy' by Metallica. I never knew such a thing could exist.

42) There are no mirrors. The athletes learn to 'feel' correct technique (I assume that anyway).

43) Other than number 40, no warm-up was rushed and a lot of time and care is taken by each of the guys when it comes to movement preparation.

44) Finally, and probably the number one reason why CP is awesome and something that ALL gyms should incorporate is this sign:

As a result, I didn't see a single mobile phone in the gym whilst I was there and that's the first time I've ever seen that in any gym.

The key point I learnt was that technique was drilled into the guys training from their first session onwards. They never had an opportunity to use poor form - and this is manifested in the guys who had been training there for a while.

The other point was that each client is assessed and then programmed to their capabilities, needs and availability. They are then reprogrammed at the end of each phase. How many other gyms can say that they actually do this with their clients?

As Alwyn Cosgrove said in his 'Death of Personal Training' webinar on Monday night, your facility needs to be an experience and a culture. Cressey Performance has done just that.

Big thanks to Eric, Tony, Pete, Chris, Tyler and George for letting me watch what you do best and teaching me a ton. I feel a better coach already!

Lessons and thoughts from the Functional Movement Screen Seminar

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of attending the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) seminar, presented by Gray Cook and Lee Burton and held by Perform Better.

I first heard of the FMS whilst studying at University and a few years later, witnessed its use whilst working at the Better Body Shop by coach and trainer, Christo Koukoullis.

The FMS comprises of a screening of 7 different movements:

Overhead Squat

Hurdle Step

In-Line Lunge

Lying Leg Raise

Shoulder Mobility

Core Stability Push-up

Rotatory Stability

A score of 0-3 is then given to each movement (0=pain, 3=perfectron).

From this, the scores are added to give a total out of 21. But the real interest for the assessor is not necessarily the total score, but any movement that the client had an inability to do. 

According to the manual, there are 4 intended purposes of movement screening: 

1)  Identify “at risk” individuals 

2) Using corrective exercise to normalise fundamental movement patterns, thus assisting in programme design 

3)  Monitoring progress and movement pattern development 

4)  Creates a functional movement baseline

One key study by Kiesel et al. (2007) showed that by having a score of less than 14 was positive to predicting injury in NFL football players.  Another study by Okada et al. (2011) attempted to correlate FMS scores with performance predictors (backwards overhead medicine ball throw, T-test and single leg squat). This study showed that the FMS scores were weakly correlated to the performance tests; however, Lee Burton drew attention to the fact that the study only looked at the overall FMS score and that the scores of some of the individual FMS tests were, in fact, significantly correlated with some of the performance tests.

The beauty of the FMS is its simplicity - it takes about 10-15 minutes to perform and has a high inter-rater reliability, meaning that if 2 different people perform the FMS on the same individual, they will most likely score the same result, regardless of experience (Minick et al., 2010).

Whilst studying for my Masters, I completed the ACSM’s Corrective Exercise Module, which consists of an overhead squat and a single leg squat in its movement screen. Any dysfunction seen in these movements is due to either a muscle tightness or a muscle weakness. Apparently, unless you do an EMG, there is no way of ever knowing this as a single muscle cannot be blamed for a movement dysfunction. For example, if the arms fall forward during the overhead squat, tightness of the lats is frequently blamed. However, Gray pointed out that the lats may not be tight and could, in fact, be contracting in order to protect the low back.

Gray Cook - 1 ACSM - 0

If I’m honest, I did have some doubts about the use of the FMS. For example, whilst the 7 movements do cover a lot, they may not provide specific information that you may require of an athlete, such as the difference in hip internal rotation between the left and right hip or any strength discrepancy of hip extension between left and right sides. However, every issue that I had with the FMS was resolved during the lecture, and if a movement is faulty, then testing the specific joint ROM is always an option.

The one test that caused the most grief is the rotary stability test.

At the Better Body Shop, we believed that this test was a load of rubbish (mostly, but not entirely, owing to the fact that none of us could do it). The other issue with the test is that no one could work out what it actually showed. Well, this is the purpose of the test as described in the manual:

"The rotary stability pattern observes multi-plane pelvis, core and shoulder girdle stability during a combined upper- and lower-body extremity movement. This pattern is complex, requiring proper neuromuscular coordination and energy transfer through the torso."

So, uh, Gray Cook – 2, Better Body Shop – 0. 

As it happens, one girl in our group actually managed to nail this test on her right side. This photo shows her second attempt, which she did complete (although not as good as her first, which was perfect).

In terms of correcting the movement, a specific order must be followed. This was important as correcting one of the movement screens had the potential to correct other movements. For example, correcting the leg raise first can actually improve shoulder mobility (although you need to be pretty proficient in functional anatomy to be able to explain why).

The movement corrections involved a combination of increasing mobility and stability simultaneously at various joints in a way that the body would be able to "remember" the new movement, so that corrective exercise wouldn't have to be done every time they visited the from then on.  

An important thing to understand is that when training a client, the purpose is to train them to achieve their specific goal. Therefore, if doing the squat will help them achieve their goal and their technique is not up to scratch, it may be possible to get it near perfect by using a few corrective exercises. In other instances, an alternative (or regression) to the squat may used and the necessary corrective exercises can be integrated into rest periods, with the aim of achieving a squat in the very near future.

However, corrective exercise should not comprise the WHOLE SESSION (with very few exceptions) as A) this is not why the client has come to the gym and B) unless you’re a physiotherapist (or in a related field), this is not the role of a personal trainer/strength and conditioning coach when trying to enhance aesthetics/performance.

When I return to work, I will use the FMS as it’s a very simple procedure and can give a lot of helpful information. That said, I don’t believe I would ever use it as a stand-alone and am likely to use it identify areas of attention that may warrant further assessment. I should say though, that it is completely possible that I will change my mind on it after I start using it – only time will time.

Therefore, as of present, I would recommend the FMS seminar to any trainer who is considering taking it, and I would DEFINITELY recommend it to any trainer who does not currently use any sort of assessment procedure (because it's better than what they're currently doing).

5 things I learnt from the FMS: 

1)  Pain = cortisol. If a client suffers from joint pain, they will produce cortisol as a stress response, thus wrecking their fat loss/muscle gaining efforts. We were told a strength coach who recently lost 5 inches off his waist following hip surgery – apparently his cortisol levels were through the roof prior to being operated on. 

2)  Some clients may want a fitness solution to a medical problem. In these instances, these clients must be referred. 

3)  If obese people learn to move properly, thus improve their mechanics then they will have increased energy in the gym, which can be put towards better use in training. 

4) Eating foods that you have a sensitivity to cause gastrointestinal stress, which tells the abdominal muscles to relax and stop them from doing their job properly. 

5) Motor learning cannot occur under stress. Therefore, training an individual who should actually be recovering is not a wise move as strength training is all about motor learning.

Bonus

6) An imbalance on one side of the body forces the other side to work harder which increases the risk of injury. Thus, asymmetry is rated as the second biomarker of injury risk (first is previous injury).

Lessons for the USA, training in the hottest gym.....in the world and weight training for weight loss

Lessons for the USA

Since I’ve been in America, I’ve had to repeat myself a few times. Not just because I sound funny to the Americans, but because some of the English language is used differently in America and people have no idea what I mean.

Here’s a few, widely used English words that have either no meaning or a different meaning over here.

Cheers = Thank you

Fit = Good looking
Lorry = Big truck

Roundabout = Traffic circle

Surname* = Last name

To be in a queue = To wait in line

*This one surprised me as they have never heard of a ‘surname’ and the guy I was speaking to thought it was a special type of nickname.

And here’s a couple of things I’ve come across….

If you have a 20 minute walk to the other side of town, add an extra 10 mins to account for having to cross the road. Regularly stopping and waiting for the lights to change in order to prevent getting arrested for jaywalking soon becomes a long, drawn-out affair.

Watching rugby with Americans and hearing them support England is strange and bizarre experience. They say things that sound odd and that I wasn’t expecting like “GREAT DEE-FENCE!”, “WIGGLESWORTH?! Great English name! GO WIGGLESWORTH!!!”, “Go JON-NEEEEE!” and “Doesn’t the field look great???” Then they will loudly applaud Wales when they score and exclaim how brilliant their try was and superb they are at all things related to rugby. I'm not complaining though, we still won. 



Training in the hottest gym…..in the world

A couple of days ago I took the opportunity to have a boxing lesson at Ground Control gym in Baltimore. This was the same gym that I visited last week and watched Nick Tumminello train ‘Big Gary’ (although I think ‘Gigantic Gary’ is probably more appropriate).

Nick introduced me to Henry Smith, who was to be my instructor for the next hour. Henry is an ex-professional Thai boxer (can’t remember his record, but it was good) and ex-amateur boxer with a record of something like 48-6. This, plus his tattoos, makes him harder than a coffin nail . 

I get there (15 minutes late – buses here are slow), begin an easy warm-up - 3 minutes of the skipping rope and 3 minutes shadow boxing. I say easy, but the truth is that afterwards I’m completely gassed. The gym was something like 40°C and the humidity was unbearable. For every 5 deep breaths taken, it felt like I had only had 1 small breath of air. Apparently, the air conditioning in the gym consists of ‘switching the lights off.’ It is actually hotter than the sun.

According to Henry, after the summer, a number of his fighters go to Thailand to compete in tournaments. By training in his gym, his guys are acclimatised to the conditions they will experience in Thailand. And I’m experiencing it now and it is brutal, like training in a sauna whilst wearing a snorkel. 

I have to do a number of bag drills to begin with, which I attempt with maximum effort, but then need about 5 minutes to recover from. This is then followed by some mitt work, which can only happen in bursts of 30-60 seconds before my vision becomes blurry, I start to sway and I’m not really sure of where I am. The training ends with a single 3 minute round of pad work, which is generally what I would be used to doing for a full session.

However, once it’s over, I know I’ve given it everything and feel pretty good about doing it. In addition to that, training in the heat isn’t actually a bad thing as I just found a study that suggests it may elevate growth hormone levels (1).  

Maybe I'll be going back…..

Weight training for weight loss

To conclude this post, I thought I'd throw in something a bit more training related.

Most people know what a good diet is. They know that broccoli and wild salmon are good and that pizza and doughnuts are bad, and everyone knows that calories in must not exceed calories out. However, I still believe that the topic of training is still a misunderstood and confusing topic for most people embarking on a fat loss regime.

When your training objectives are solely to incinerate body fat, start with this one goal; to preserve, and possibly increase, muscle mass. This is possible by incorporating weight training and utilising short (<90 seconds) rest periods. 

By adhering to this rule (and, of course, sound dietary principles), you’ll effectively maximise caloric expenditure and fat loss will follow. 

All too often, when training clients (in particular, female clients), they were sceptical about weight training, for fear of looking Bulgarian at the end of a one hour session (or in one case, half an hour).

Obviously this is extremely unlikely to happen, and after repeatedly justifying myself (and quite magnificently, I might add), I have decided to list a few key points about weight training, specifically for the individual who is fixated on aerobic training (long runs, extended use of the bike/cross trainer etc.), for fat loss. 

Weight training	Aerobic training
Preserves muscle mass; therefore, resting metabolic rate is increased (number of calories burnt at rest increases) (2).	May decrease muscle mass, thus lowering resting metabolic rate (number of calories burnt at rest decreases) (2).
Can raise metabolism post-exercise (for up to 48 hours) (3, 4, 5).	Does not raise metabolism for as long following cessation of exercise (6)
Induces positive hormonal changes in the body that support muscle growth and fat loss (7)	Hormonal outputs are weaker or non-existent (8, 9, 10).
Easier to apply the overload principle, thus increasing work done every session (increased weight, repetitions etc.)*	Easier to just do the same thing every session, without ever increasing the challenge*

*Based on observation.

Skeletal muscle's preferred choice of fuel at rest is fat, therefore, assuming that diet is in order, an increased metabolism following weight training will increase the amount of body fat burnt at rest. Not bad eh?!

I would also like to emphasise the fact that weight training for fat loss involves any sort of resistance that is costly in terms of calories. For example, squats, press-ups and medicine ball throws are all ‘yes’ exercises, whereas wrist flexions, the inner thigh machine and leg extensions are all largely a waste of time for fat loss endeavours.

Furthermore, the repetitions should be challenging and as a general rule of thumb, should be around 8-12 per set. If you do 12 repetitions, but feel like you could have done 50, the weight was too light. If it feels like it’s doing nothing, then it probably is doing nothing.

Of course, as soon as you're ready for it (which may be a few weeks for beginners) I highly recommend more challenging activities, including metabolic resistance training, which can be performed as either ‘finishers’ or as the main session….

Although I’ve only scratched the surface when it comes to losing body fat, I feel that most people willbenefit greatly if they switch their training methods and accept the fact that in order to achieve excellent results in body composition, one must devote time to hard work in the gym.

Work hard, rest little, repeat and get better.

References

1.Wheldon A, Savine RL, Sönksen PH, Holt RI. Exercising in the cold inhibits growth hormone secretion by reducing the rise in core body temperature. Growth Horm IGF Res. 2006 Apr;16(2):125-31.
 
2.Bryner RW, Ullrich IH, Sauers J, Donley D, Hornsby G, Kolar M, Yeater R. Effects of resistance vs. aerobic training combined with an 800 calorie liquid diet on lean body mass and resting metabolic rate. J Am Coll Nutr. 1999 Apr;18(2):115-21.
 
3.Thornton MK, Potteiger JA. Effects of resistance exercise bouts of different intensities but equal work on EPOC. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2002 Apr;34(4):715-22.

4.Schuenke MD, Mikat RP, McBride JM. Effect of an acute period of resistance exercise on excess post-exercise oxygen consumption: implications for body mass management. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2002 Mar;86(5):411-7.
 
5.Melby C, Scholl C, Edwards G, Bullough R. Effect of acute resistance exercise on postexercise energy expenditure and resting metabolic rate. J Appl Physiol. 1993 Oct;75(4):1847-53.
 
6.Sedlock DA, Fissinger JA, Melby CL. Effect of exercise intensity and duration on postexercise energy expenditure. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1989 Dec;21(6):662-6.
 
7.Kraemer WJ, Staron RS, Hagerman FC, Hikida RS, Fry AC, Gordon SE, Nindl BC, Gothshalk LA, Volek JS, Marx JO, Newton RU, Häkkinen K. The effects of short-term resistance training on endocrine function in men and women. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol. 1998 Jun;78(1):69-76.
 
8.Felsing NE, Brasel JA, Cooper DM. Effect of low and high intensity exercise on circulating growth hormone in men. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1992 Jul;75(1):157-62. 
 
9.Hackney AC, Premo MC, McMurray RG. Influence of aerobic versus anaerobic exercise on the relationship between reproductive hormones in men. J Sports Sci. 1995 Aug;13(4):305-11.
 
10.Wahl P, Zinner C, Achtzehn S, Bloch W, Mester J. Effect of high- and low-intensity exercise and metabolic acidosis on levels of GH, IGF-I, IGFBP-3 and cortisol. Growth Horm IGF Res. 2010 Oct;20(5):380-5.
 
 

Day 3 of mentorship with Nick Tumminello

No omelette fiasco today - simply as much protein as I could handle at that time in the morning:

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.

Day 2 of mentorship with Nick Tumminello

Omelette making - round 2:

After well oiling the pan this time, I produce a near-perfect omelette. As I'm expertly sliding the masterpiece onto my plate, I notice that the tea towel I used to pick the pan up is on fire and the flames are pretty close to setting me on fire. Naturally, I finish the task at hand and then throw the pan and towel into the sink, extinguish the blaze and pretend it never happened. Only one person saw me do it and I think he's left, so I've totally gotten away with it.....

Back to Performance University. Nick has just had an article published on T-Nation, called '5 drills that are better than the prowler'  and tells me how the idea came to him. He also tells me a bit about his writing style, which is very noticeable if you've ever read it - it's straight to the point. There's no fluff and you'll always get something out of it that can be used immediately.

In response to his article, I show him one written by a friend of mine about 'Treadmill Pushing', which he loves and thinks is a great idea.

Before continuing on with the mentorship, some of Nick's clients turn up to train at the same time as a new client turns up for his first session. If this ever happened to me, I'd probably crawl into a small space and not come out until the day was over. Not for Tumminello as he handled the situation like a true professional and got me to look after 2 of his older ladies (he told them what to do and I just stood there trying to not muck up). It was a great chance to watch him take a new guy through everything we had spoke about the day before and watch some of his older clientele train like athletes.

Day 2 follows the assessment procedure and now we talk about programme design. Firstly, who you are training will determine the type of training you do. There are likely to be 3 clients:

Fitness clients - don't care abut how they look - they just want to be fitter and feel good
Physique clients - want to look better naked
Performance clients - want to perform better at something and win

Fitness and physique clients frequently merge together, so for the rest of the day, we treat them as one. The physique clients training would revolve around training the muscles and the performance training client would focus more on movements (this is just an emphasis and both clients should train both elements.)

We then discuss the merit to increasing muscle size and getting stronger and then I am given the task of writing 2 programmes - 1 for the physique client and 1 for the performance client. It is a 4 day split, with an upper body pulling day, upper body pushing day, lower body knee-dominant and lower body hip-dominant. Not blowing my own trumpet too much, but I excelled at the task and Nick said that he loved it.

I didn't have to state reps and sets or anything about periodisation, he just wanted exercise choices - to make sure I'd understood everything he'd told me up to that point.

The rules were to choose 3-4 exercises consisting of 2-3 movement based exercises appropriate for the performance client and 1 muscle based exercise and then 2-3 muscle based exercises for the physique client and 1 movement exercise. Here is what I chose:

Yes, I did put down leg extensions - as it MAY be an appropriate choice for some people when it comes to leg hypertrophy and they don't care about function. The squat is also a suitable exercise choice for both muscle and performance (obviously).

Then we trained lower body:

Warm-up:

Swiss-ball press-ups
Bent-over T raises on swiss ball
Reverse hyperextension on swiss ball
Jacknives

2 sets, 12 reps of each on the first and 10 reps on the second.

A1) Fat bar deadlifts - upto 6 reps
A2) Overhead medicine ball throw - 5 reps
A3) Neck complex:

Front neck holds
Side neck holds

No specific number of sets, just keep going until we weren't as explosive in the throws or grip gave in during the deadlifts. Once we had finished, we took a load of weight of the bar and did one set till failure of Romanian deadlifts with the fat bar.

The fat bar makes is an absolute killer on grip, so the loads you use are much less in comparison to a regular bar.

Then we went outside and did some tyre sprints:

And tyre drags:

Both of which are about as fun as they look.

We conclude the session with some seated 1 arm shrugs. Nick makes a great point in that people will argue that 'shrugs make the upper traps tight' - well how can that be if you train them through a full ROM with a good stretch on the end?

That night there was an 'All you can eat BBQ for $5' at the hostel. Sounds awesome eh? I ate 2 measley cheeseburgers before the chef had run out of food. Total con-job.

5 lessons I learnt today:

1) The core doesn't transfer force - if it did you'd hurt your head and neck. It dissipates force instead.

2) When training elite athletes, most of the time you're just trying to not hurt them

3) If movement quality is good, athletes need to spend less time on doing agility work in the gym as they'll get enough "agility training" playing their sport.

4) With older clients, unloaded spinal flexion can be ok. In fact, not doing it can be a problem because if they go into a position of spinal flexion in life and their back isn't used to it, pain may arise.

5) Taking a bench press from 400 pounds to 405 is unlikely to improve performance (unless it's powerlifting), but will almost definitely put an unnecessary strain on the shoulder joint. This principle can be applied to other exercises too.

Day 1 of mentorship with Nick Tumminello

Day 1, like every other day, begins with breakfast - a 4 egg cheese omelette. Or at least it was supposed to be, as a sign that clearly states the pan is 'non-stick' actually means 'everything will stick to this pan' and half my breakfast remains in the pan. Not the best start, but I am not beaten by this minor hiccup as today I begin my mentorship with Nick Tumminello at Performance University.

This is how Nick sold his mentorship programme to me:

You'd get 3 hours each day private time with me to discuss specific topics along with anything else you'd like. It sounds like a long time, but I can assure you that it goes fast when you're talking shop. You'd also see a few live sessions along with us having lunch and working out together.

Being in the company of a well-known and respected coach for 3 days with the opportunity to discuss anything training related, as well as watch him work and train with him? Sold.

The gym itself isn't in Baltimore city (where I'm staying), so I had to get a train to a spot that was 20 mins away from it, and then walk. Looked easy on Google maps, but what it failed to mention was that I would have to walk on the freeway, where there's no pavement, against the traffic, in the blistering heat, and the possibility of getting bitten by a snake.  Brilliant.

Anyway, I arrive in one peace, meet Nick, am introduced to everyone who works there and am given a tour of the gym. It looks like this:

I like it a lot, it's very well equipped and there's plenty of space to get things done. There's also a carpark out the back where medicine balls can be thrown and the tyres are stored.

From looking around the gym, there's everything there should be including, sled, sledgehammers, heavy dumbbells, cables, 20+ medicine balls, Valslides, bands, hex-bar, fat bar, fat gripz, peg climbing wall, boxes, a huge bed to lie down and chill on and a whole lot more.

I'm asked what I want to discuss and go over first, so I ask to start at the beginning - how does he assess and begin training a new client. This is a key component of my trip as I believe that it's something that if you do right, you make a great impression and you'll do well.

Many coaches and trainers take their clients through a full biomechanical screen, testing all the range of movements at all joints, but realistically, how many of them actually use the information gathered, and more importantly, how many of them regularly re-assess? That isn't to say that they're all like that, but a lot are. If I'm honest, I have been guilty of it.

You're always going to want your client to be able to squat, push, pull and move without pain, so early on you want to see what their capabilities are. To quote Nick: "In the assessment, you're not finding out what they can't do, but what they can do." Therefore, the assessment should be movement based and will begin with a squat.

A person's squat has the potential to tell you a lot about them, provided you interpret it well. Another important feature of the assessment is how quickly you can fix dysfunction. For example, if the knees cave in, can you very quickly teach the client not to do that or activate the hips in a way that will prevent it? It may be that they can't do the task you ask them without putting their body in compromised position, so alternatives will be found.

Other times, the movement might look good, but due to a lack of stability, the range of movement isn't great, which brings up an important point: After a few weeks of training within a given range of movement, stability will increase and the ROM will increase. If ROM doesn't increase, then maybe there's a reason for it, which leads me to my next important lesson, the difference between an adaptive change and a protective change.

An adaptive change is a change in the body due to an imposed demand, for example, tight hip flexors from sitting at a desk all day. In most cases, this should be corrected. Exceptions would be if the adaptive change assisted with their sport, for example, hamstring tightness, as long as it's symmetrical, can assist an athlete in speed and power development, thus static stretching and increasing length may impair perform. (Eric Cressey briefly mentions - and does a better job of it - here)

A protective change is a change in the body, in order to prevent it from getting hurt - but during an assessment it would look like a dysfunction. Protective changes should not try to be corrected. Using myself as an example, my left shoulder will show a decreased ROM if I try to reach behind my back, so the obvious solution would be to try and increase my mobility. Wrong. My shoulder also clunks if I move it, thus increasing mobility would equal more clunking and potentially more damage. The restricted ROM is there for a reason.

We grab some lunch at a Sushi joint (the best Sushi I've ever had - gutted I didn't get a photo as it was amazing) and Nick gives me some insight into his work outside of training including writing, filming and presenting. All awesome stuff.

Lunch is followed by training, which is an upper body push day and looked like this:

Warm-up, followed by:

A1) Press-up complex with Medicine Ball:

Plyo push-ups onto Medicine Ball - 3 reps
Lateral press-ups over MB - 6 reps/side
Press-ups on MB - 12 reps

A2) Lying band external rotations - 15 reps
A3) Single leg squats on airex pad - 12 reps/leg

3 rounds with minimal rest

B1) Incline press - as many reps as possible - more than 15 but less than 30
B2) Horizontal row on barbell - as many reps as possible but there must be 1 second pause at top
B3) Neck bridges on swiss ball - 8 reps

C) Power push (outwards circles) - 3 x 20 seconds
D) Power push (inwards circles) - 3 x 20 seconds

Cool-down:
Throw MB into air, partner jogs forward and catches it before second bounce, throws it up in the air and repeat.....for length of carpark....4 times.

(Note: If it's 100+ degrees outside and you're running and throwing a medicine ball - it isn't really a "cool" down)

Following training, I get the opportunity to see how Nick trains a few of his clients, and we are filmed for a new video of his.

Then the day is over and fortunately for me, instead of having to complete my 'total wipeout' mission back to the station, Nick is kind enough to give me a lift back to the hostel and pick me up again the next morning.

Top bloke.

5 lessons I learnt from today:

1) I'm a trainer - not a physical therapist, therefore all training I provide should be geared towards the goal of the client (fat loss, hypertrophy, increased speed etc.) and not spending the length of the session correcting some minor issue I discover during an assessment.

2) If someone is awesome at their sport and you then tell them that they move badly - that won't make them feel good. Also, they're awesome at the sport - is a movement screen really correlated to sports performance. No it isn't.

3) Catching medicine balls can be a useful training tool to teach force absorption

4) Single leg raises and bicep curls are both "non-functional" single-joint exercises - yet only the bicep curl gets criticised.

5) You'll get more experience doing a few number of hours training per year with a huge variety of clients than doing 10 times the number of hours churning out the same programmes for the same clients.

Bonus:

6) Corrective exercise is just good exercise