“E” is for Easy or Running on Empty? (Part 2)

So, in part 1 of my previous article on intensity, I went through my tendency to push the load and effort too much with my workouts.  Even though giving my best effort every workout was and is a valuable quality, it ended up negatively affecting future training sessions because my recoverability was stressed beyond a reasonable point of return, especially on the big lifts.  I wanted to always do better and this created a state of fatigue that was not going to go away without significant time off or a reduction in load/effort.  I talk about a few things that can be done in order to keep aggressive tendencies in check.  These consisted of listing the exact reps and weight that needed to be done, using RPE and RIR scales to control effort, and incorporating isolation exercises to expend aggressive energies.  

Further, I want to discuss the concept of intensity with regard to programming.  Of course, this can’t be discussed without mentioning another important variable such as volume, but I want to wade into this area to give you a better understanding of how intensity is utilized for attaining specific goals such as strength or hypertrophy. 

Intensity, then, will definitely be different depending on the target of your desires.  If your goal is to get a World Record deadlift like Thor Bjornnson, then you need to spend the majority of your time practicing the actual skill of deadlifting with heavier loads (> 85% of conservative 1RM) in the 1-6 rep range.  Other accessory exercises can be done, but they need to be done in light of assisting the ultimate goal, which is to get a HUUUUGE deadlift.  So, if your goal is powerlifting-related, then performing the competition lifts with heavy loading should account for the bulk of your volume (⅔ – ¾) with the remaining volume coming from lighter loading on assistance movements.  Also, keep in mind (especially for you over-aggressive ones) to pay attention to your RPE/RIR in order to keep your body fresh during these high-intensity workouts!

Hypertrophy is a goal that requires a different application of intensity than strength.  If you want to be Mr. Olympia like Ronnie Coleman, then you need to work on building copious amounts of muscle.  Instead of spending the greatest amount of time lifting heavier loads, you will need to stimulate your muscles with moderate intensity (and volume).  The focus should be on lifting weights that are 70-85% of your 1 RM for 6-12 reps at 5+ RPE.  This is not to say that lower-rep / higher-intensity (1-6 reps at >85% 1RM) and higher-rep, lower-intensity (12-20 reps <70% 1RM) ranges can’t be implemented into your hypertrophy training program.  There is certainly a time and place for those methodologies when stagnation happens.  However, the 6-12 rep range is the most efficient in terms of accumulating enough volume for muscle growth as long as the effort is there.  If you do the recommended 10-20 sets of a muscle group per week but don’t put in the intensity of effort to challenge yourself, then you can not expect to see the results you were hoping for.  Overall, it is vital that you show up every workout ready to put in a robust effort and attempt to increase the weight or reps (progressive overload) in order to maximize your work of eliciting muscle hypertrophy.

Thanks again for reading!  I hope this was educational in regard to how intensity needs to be adjusted according to your goals.  If your goal is strength, intensity needs to be cranked up but not overdone.  If your goal is hypertrophy, moderate intensity needs to be invoked in order to get the Gain Train rolling in the right direction.  Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.  Take care and as always…SETTLE DOWN, SLACKERS!!! 

Sources:

Beardsley, Chris. “Why is progressive overload essential for hypertrophy?” Medium.com February 5, 2019. https://medium.com/@SandCResearch/why-is-progressive-overload-essential-for-hypertrophy-68757329a82d#:~:text=The%20principle%20of%20progressive%20overload%20is%20essential%20for%20achieving%20meaningful,set%20that%20leads%20to%20hypertrophy.&text=Eventually%2C%20the%20stimulating%20effect%20will,any%20muscle%20growth%20to%20occur.

Helm, Eric, et al. The Muscle & Strength Pyramid Training. Middletown. Muscle and Strength Pyramids, LLC. 2019.

“E” is for Easy or Running on Empty? (Part 1)

So, I’m a huge fan of Makaveli Motivation on Instagram.  I love listening to their videos while I’m working out.  I usually don’t need motivation because I’m a high intensity person but these videos take me to a whole new level.  I love one video in particular with Jay Cutler where he discusses his mindset when training and how he says it’s hard for him to train easy when he’s in the gym.  Watch it here: https://www.instagram.com/p/B-ha6nYJm72/ 

This is an attitude that I can totally relate to.  I rarely ever give less than my maximal effort in the gym unless my program specifically tells me not to.  Even then I sometimes get carried away and do too much and then get in trouble with my coach (Sorry Tony!).  Besides experiencing the wrath of my coach, this can be bad on another level in that I get burnt out quickly.  When you bring maximum intensity to every single training session without necessary relenting of any sort, you can head quickly into overtraining and chronic fatigue.  I have noticed this over the past couple years, especially when training with multi-joint exercises such as the deadlift.  The deadlift is already a taxing exercise on your Central Nervous System, so adding my over-aggressive personality does not make us a match made in lifting heaven.  You see, I start off fresh with a deadlift program and everything feels really good.  However, the feel good vibes slowly deteriorate as I get further along in the program because my body can’t sufficiently recover from the amount of stress that I place on it.  I understand that fatigue creates fitness, but I definitely overdo the fatigue part by trying to set PR’s every time I deadlift and taking too many sets close to failure.  This, naturally, affects subsequent workouts in which high threshold motor units can’t be maximally recruited because of a combination of peripheral fatigue, central fatigue, and mainly muscle damage.

Below, you can see how the Fitness-Fatigue Model lays out the interaction between the two.  Performance is Fitness minus Fatigue.  If fatigue is not sufficiently recovered from over the course of one’s training sessions due to excessive workload and intensity, performance will be negatively impacted.  Therefore, it is important that a periodized program with proper deloading be utilized in order to fully maximize one’s performance.

As a result, what is recommended for the impassioned lifter who needs some restraint like me in their workouts?

To begin, I think you need to list the weights and reps you want the high intensity lifter to use instead of telling them to use a certain percentage of their one-rep max or go for a repetition max.  For example, when I was given a certain amount of free reign in terms of what I could do, I always wanted to beat whatever my previous records were.  I didn’t care how much fatigue it caused me, I just wanted to see immediate progress with my lifts.  And, of course, this was detrimental to the end result.  Consequently, if you want to hold in check the over-aggressive lifter, tell them exactly what you want them to do!  This will (hopefully) keep them from digging a big hole of fatigue.  

Next, you need to incorporate rating of perceived exertion (RPE) or repetitions in reserve (RIR) into their workouts.  These are measurements used to calculate intensity of effort.  RPE is based on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being very light exertion and 10 being maximal effort. A 10 RPE would mean that you couldn’t do any more reps, a 9 RPE would mean that you could do 1 more rep, an 8 RPE would mean you could do 2 more reps, and so on and so forth.  Similarly, RIR can also be utilized to minimize overtraining.  1 RIR would mean that you could do 1 more rep, 2 RIR would mean that you could 2 more reps, 3 RIR would mean 3 more reps, etc. Accordingly, if too many 9’s and 10’s for RPE (or 1 or 0 RIR, respectively) are continually showing up, especially on the multi-joint lifts, you know the time will be quickly coming for the intensity to be decreased so that adequate recovery can take place. This might take a little time to master these estimates if you are relatively new to training, but can eventually be a solid restraint for those who need to be checked before they get wrecked.

Nevertheless, I do think fervent lifters need an outlet for their Type A personalities.  I think that’s where training to failure with isolation exercises comes into play.  If the individual is a powerlifter, for example, you don’t want them to train to failure on squats because 1) it could be dangerous and 2) the systemic fatigue would be too great to recover from since it is a total body effort.  However, adding a burnout set or two on leg extensions (after squats) would be a solid way to get their aggressive energies out without compromising the goal of the program due to its mild recovery cost.  The key to using failure in your workout plan is to use it strategically and not randomly without regard to its after effects.

Overall, thanks for reading!  I hope this was a little bit enlightening in regard to how intensity needs to be managed so that progress can be steadily achieved without too many (unnecessary) recovery detours.  Be on the lookout for part 2 on this topic in which I discuss specifics related to intensity during training and how much is necessary (in conjunction with other factors) to get STRONG!  Anyway, take care and as always…SETTLE DOWN, SLACKERS!!! 

Sources:

Beardsley, Chris. “How does muscle damage lead to central nervous system fatigue?” Medium.com January 24, 2019. https://medium.com/@SandCResearch/how-does-muscle-damage-lead-to-central-nervous-system-fatigue-93f36e1cbaa3

 Beardsley, Chris. “What is the fitness-fatigue model?” Medium.com March 15, 2018. https://medium.com/@SandCResearch/what-is-the-fitness-fatigue-model-6a6ca3274aab

Helm, Eric, et al. The Muscle & Strength Pyramid Training. Middletown. Muscle and Strength Pyramids, LLC. 2019.

Uncommonly Noticed but Commonly Executed Deadlift Miscue

If you ever watch videos of people deadlifting with absolutely horrendous form, what is the number one thing about their form that stands out?  For me, it is the ridiculous amount of rounding that takes place when they perform a deadlift.  I’m not talking about a little thoracic spine rounding.  I’m talking about that fishing rod rounding when you are pulling in something that would win you first place in the Bassmaster tournament.  This deadlift form is frequently seen in amaetur and inexperienced lifters because they don’t have any idea about getting tension into their body.  They try to yank the barbell or grip it and rip it off the floor and it gets them nowhere except a possible disc or two being mercilessly ejected from their spines and a video on Gym F***ery.  

So, what needs to be done for these poor souls to deadlift properly without an emptying of their spinal contents onto the gym floor?  The main cue is to take the slack out of the bar before lifting the weight.  This involves getting tension from the barbell and putting it into your body.  Before the weight is even lifted from the floor, you should be pulling so hard on the bar that with a bit of force, the bar comes right up.  I cue my clients to use the bar to pull their chests up and get their tension that way.  It is hard to do with lighter weight, but once some decent weight gets on the bar it makes it much easier.  This deadlift setup will create maximal tension throughout the hips, shoulders, back, etc. that will create ideal body mechanics for a successful lift.  

On a personal level, I recently found this deadlift miscue to not be as sharp as I wanted it with my own technique.  I always thought I efficiently used the barbell to pull my chest up and set my hips in position by taking the slack out, but I kept having trouble with my lockout.  I thought it might be a weakness associated with the lockout itself, but the more I evaluated the issue, I realized my hips would be out of position early in the lift and that would set me up for failure at the end.  I recognized that I wasn’t getting maximal tension in my body from the start and that was ultimately causing me to miss lifts at the top because of my back rounding and hips rising too soon.  As a result, I have strived to fix this issue and it seems to be making a big difference in my ability to grind through and lock out big weights with the deadlift.  

Overall, if you want to see someone who does a good job of taking the slack out of the bar and lifting significant weight, I would recommend looking at Yury Belkin in this video clip.  You can see his deadlift attempts starting at the 1:40 mark.   

Again, thanks for reading and please let me know if you have any questions or comments.  Take care and as always…SETTLE DOWN, SLACKERS!!!                    

Uncommonly Noticed but Commonly Executed Bench Miscue

A few years ago, my bench was in a really bad place.  I’ve never been a great bencher, but that juncture in my lifting career was exceptionally woeful.  I think my best bench to that point was 370 pounds, but it was nowhere close to that during this extremely dark period.  I was really frustrated because I have decent levers (thick torso, shorter arms) to be a good bencher but it never truly manifested itself in the weight I was able to lift.  So, one day I’m working out in the gym and I think I was struggling to do some close-grip bench presses with like 250 for 3 to 5 reps.  Honestly, I was embarrassed to be doing this little of weight at the time because my build (especially my arms) always said I could do way more.  “Bro, how much can you bench?” was (and still is) the common refrain. Nevertheless, as I was doing my close-grip bench presses, I somehow started bringing the weight lower on my chest and pushing the weight back in an arc toward the rack.  It INSTANTLY felt easier.  I was a little bit in disbelief.  Thankfully, there was another educated lifter in the gym at the time and I mentioned it to him.  He was like, “Oh yeah, that’s the bar path you are supposed to use with the bench press.  Greg Nuckols recently wrote an article about it.”  Accordingly, I went and found the article and lo and behold, I ended up benching 400 pounds a couple months later.

So, why did I tell you this story?  Because an incorrect bar path on the bench press is a highly common mistake that I see with lifters in the weight room.  They do not press the bar back towards their face during the ascent of the lift and subsequently, do not increase their bench numbers.  This was the story of my bench life until I miraculously stumbled upon it in a workout and it was confirmed to me by Greg Nuckols astute writings.  But, why do not a lot of people talk about this bench press cue?  My personal opinion is that the focus is on the shortest range of motion and NOT the strongest range of motion.  With the bench press, you would assume that the least amount of distance the bar has to travel (i.e. vertically in a straight line) would be the strongest.  That’s why powerlifters are told to arch hard so that they can reach their sternum to the bar and really cut down on the ROM.  However, this school of thought has holes in it.  Number one, there is the issue of gravity pulling vertically down on the bar.  Horizontal movement, on the other hand, is unaffected, so the lift becomes more efficient when the bar path includes this direction of travel.  The number two reason why the shortest ROM on the bench press is not the best is because it doesn’t take into account the stress demands (i.e. shoulder flexion – think front raise and shoulder horizontal flexion – think pec fly) the pecs and shoulder undergo pressing the weight back up.  When the bar touches the nipple line/lower sternum on the descent, the initial push off the chest should be more horizontal than vertical because once the sticking point arises, the bar will be nearer to the shoulders and enough force can be produced to overcome this potential barrier due to less total flexion demands.  As a result, more weight can (hopefully) be added to the bar because the movement will have become more technically efficient at all stages of the lift. 

If you want to get an idea of who uses this bench form to a “T,” I would definitely use Dan Green as an example.  He brings the bar really low to his chest/stomach area, lets it sink in, and then horizontally explodes the bar before locking it out (vertically) over his upper chest and shoulder area.  You can check out his bench press here.  

Overall, thanks for reading!  I really hope this bench press cue helps you as much as it helped me.  Keep working at it and please let me know if you have any questions or comments.  Take care and as always…SETTLE DOWN, SLACKERS!!! 

Uncommonly Noticed but Commonly Executed Squat Miscue

As a personal trainer, I see people bastardizing their exercise form on a daily basis.  It used to really bother me but I’ve pretty much accepted the fact these circus acts will continue long after I’m gone.  However, before I sing my swan song, I still want to do something to curtail these weight room miscues.  So, in this article, I will cover a mistake I commonly see when people perform a barbell back squat.

The mistake that I repeatedly see on the barbell back squat is a horizontal elbow position.  This means that when an individual sets up to squat, their elbows are pointing back as opposed to pointing down towards the ground.  Of course, this isn’t anything earth shattering but it is a very ineffective way to squat because there is absolutely no tightness in the upper back and lats.  Further, it puts the lifter in a disadvantageous position because when the weight gets heavy enough, it’s going to pull them forward and most likely, make them miss the lift.  

So, what cues or advice would I give someone with this type of squat form?  First, I would verbally cue them to keep their elbows directly under the bar at all times during the squat. This will allow them to be at a more biomechanically sound position and would not be setting them up to collapse at any point during the movement.  I have seen this work in multiple instances and know it can be beneficial if put to proper use.  As a quick aside, I personally don’t like the cue of pulling the bar down on your back during a squat.  I know this is a popular phrase used by the powerlifting community but I never found it to have any merit for myself.  I’ve squatted 635 raw and the last thing I need to be thinking about at that time is putting more weight on my spine by pulling down on the bar!     

Once I am done cueing a client on keeping their elbows pointing down towards the floor, I would then have them perform the actual movement to see if it fixes the problem.  It might be a simple fix or it might be a difficult task because of the prevalence of upper cross syndrome (i.e. tight chest, weak mid-back) in today’s society.  If this is the case, they would then be a prime candidate for static stretching and self-myofascial release of their pecs.  To see some examples, check them out here and here, respectively.  The intention is that these drills will relieve some of the tension existing in the chest fibers and hopefully, give the lifter more mobility.  Besides these recommendations, I would advocate for thoracic spine mobility drills here to improve extension and rotation in their upper back since they are probably suffering from some degree of kyphosis.  Last, there would need to be a heavy emphasis placed on upper back and mid-back strengthening. Row variations, face pulls, band pull-aparts, pulldown variations, etc. should be the bread and butter of the workout program.  A ratio of 2:1 or 3:1 pulling-to-pressing exercises would be a solid place to start in order for this imbalance to be rectified sooner rather than later.

If you want to see this “elbows down” cue in action from someone in powerlifting who is really strong, check out Ben Pollack’s squat (and his 2039 total @ 198 Raw) here.  His squat form is definitely unorthodox, but it fits his body’s levers and strong points and he has mastered it with world record perfection.

Overall, thanks for reading and please let me know if you have any questions or comments.  Take care and as always…SETTLE DOWN, SLACKERS!!!                   

Shoulder Health

So, my left shoulder is a hot mess right now.  I have pain when I abduct and externally rotate my left arm.  It is miserable.  The pain was so severe that I decided to have a MRI done to assess the damage.  Thankfully, the MRI revealed that I didn’t have a tear but moderate rotator cuff tendinopathy.  This brought me a sense of relief in knowing that the injury wasn’t as serious as I thought it would be.  However, I still wanted to figure out the root cause of my shoulder impairment and what exactly makes/keeps a shoulder happy.      

Disclaimer: Before I start, I’ve been doing online training with Tony Bonvechio from The Strength House and I have to give him credit for making me understand this better.  Thanks Tony!  

I don’t know why I didn’t grasp this sooner, but pain in the body usually has an underlying reason or reasons why it exists.  This was no different with regard to my shoulder.  Initially, however, I sought to fix the problem at the source (i.e. rotator cuff) when there were most likely some things going on beneath the surface that contributed to the painful dysfunction.  Accordingly, this was where Tony was kind enough to enlighten me with regard to shoulder issues.  He said shoulder issues usually follow a hierarchy (with arrows pointing to a house structure analogy):

  • Ribcage position (i.e. thoracic spine) ———> FOUNDATION
  • Shoulder blade position ————-> WALLS
  • Humeral head position ————-> ROOF

So, the question had to be asked: was my rotator cuff pain the result of dysfunction at the humeral head or did it go deeper than that?  Well, I have to confess that it probably went deeper than that.  My limited bodily awareness told me that my gross extension pattern (forward head posture, excessive lordosis, anterior pelvic tilt) and restricted shoulder blade mobility were a significant part of the blame for my bum shoulder.  To better understand this as a whole, Tony gave this example: If you’re benching and you don’t maintain an arch in your back (lack of upper back extension), your shoulder blades will tip forward (anterior tilt), which will cause your humerus to overly internally rotate, which could impinge upon your supraspinatus and biceps tendon.  This example was definitely eye-opening in terms of how everything is connected and how a kink in the ol’ garden hose can prevent you from seeing a fully effective end product.  

As a result, what does this suggest in terms of your training?  I think a little more time focused on breathing drills such as this: 

https://www.functionalmovement.com/exercises/802/90_90_breathing_position

(especially if you are super hyper-extended like me and need to be brought back to a more neutral spine position) and thoracic spine mobility drills such as these: 

Top Five Thoracic Mobility Drills to Improve Your Overhead Pressing

(if you lack thoracic spine extension) will go a long way in treating the foundational component of the shoulder.  

Next, you want your scapula (i.e. shoulder blade) to be able to move in multiple directions such as retraction, protraction, upward rotation, depression, etc.  Some mobility drills and exercises found in this article: 

https://www.mytpi.com/articles/fitness/8_exercises_to_improve_your_scapula_stability_and_shoulder_mobility_for_golf

will do the trick for your scapula’s health and well being.  

Then, after you cover your bases relative to these areas, you can finally move on to the humerus, which is targeted by rotator cuff drills such as these: 

Click to access 2017-rehab_shoulder.pdf

Overall, I hope this wasn’t too confusing and that you have a little more clarity with regard to shoulder function and health.  Remember that shoulder pain needs to be looked at beyond the source to see if there is something underneath the surface that might be actually causing you the discomfort.

As always…take care and SETTLE DOWN SLACKERS!!!!!!!    

How to Maintain Muscle EVEN When Training at Home

By this time, most of you are probably wondering how much muscle you have lost during this whole quarantine thing.  You are probably dreading stepping back in the gym to see how pathetic your body is going to feel.  I understand.  However, it doesn’t need to be this way!  You can still maintain muscle even if you don’t have access to a plethora of weights and equipment.  Before I explain how, let me give a little background on the process of muscle development.  In 2010, Dr. Brad Schoenfield, world renowned researcher on muscle growth, revealed in a study three primary mechanisms thought to be responsible for inducing muscle hypertrophy: mechanical tension, metabolic stress, and muscle damage.  Since the aspect of muscle damage hasn’t been fully validated in further research concerning muscle growth, I will leave that out of this article discussion and discuss the other two.   

Mechanical tension will be the mechanism most likely impacted during your hiatus away from the gym.  It will be negatively affected because it relates to lifting heavier weight.  Unless you have copious amounts of weight lying around your home, you most likely won’t be able to load your muscle fibers with enough stress to cause a response within the cells for muscular adaptations.  As a result, this type of training might have to be put on the backburner for now, but can be full steam ahead once the doors to the gym open back up.

Metabolic stress, however, is an area that can be fully taken advantage of during your quarantine training as it can require little or no equipment.  Metabolic stress, in simple terms, is the “pump”.  Popularized by Arnold Schwarzenegger, the “pump” is the feeling you get when you are training your muscles and they start to fill up with blood and they feel like they are going to explode.  More blood is coming into the muscle than leaving it, therefore causing fluid accumulation within the muscle’s interstitial and intracellular spaces.  “Pump workouts typically involve rep ranges from 8-20 or more reps, short rest periods, and multiple sets for the same muscle group or opposing muscle groups. They can also include advanced training techniques such as: drop sets, burns, partials, negatives, peak contractions, and forced reps” (Source: https://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/ivan5.htm).

Some examples of exercises that follow this logic are included below.  You might have to go through these sequences two or three times while training close to failure, but they will ultimately provide the necessary stress to pump you up!!

Bicep Curl 21’s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjIEXtVuRNo 

Three Way Shoulder Raises (Paul Carter): https://www.instagram.com/p/B_A1IgQDydf/ 

Push Ups (Decline, Regular, Incline): http://nicktumminello.com/2012/03/2-triple-threat-push-up-workout-protocols/ 

Split Squat 1.5 reps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pM-wcLIvn9Q 

Tricep Finisher:  https://www.t-nation.com/training/tip-the-ultimate-triceps-finisher 

Glute Finisher: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXNcoKeGvUA 

3-Way Band Pull-Apart (Back): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcOpf1MMfxQ  

Nevertheless, I hope this article gives you a little hope that your hard earned muscle can still be present when you get back to the gym.  Please let me know if you have any questions, comments, or concerns as I will be glad to help.  Take care and as always…SETTLE DOWN SLACKERSSSS!!!!        

THREE REASONS WHY HAVING A COACH IS IMPORTANT

Having someone coach you in your health and fitness pursuits is an immensely valuable commodity.  Personally, it has been one of the best decisions I’ve made when it comes to my own training.  Why, you ask?  I have three reasons:

  1. Objectivity 
  2. Accountability
  3. Knowledge

Objectivity is the first reason a coach is a great idea.  This is beneficial because a coach is starting from scratch with you and is not swayed by your past successes or failures.  The slate is clean as they won’t be bringing your own personal biases into the equation.  A coach’s sole focus will be on taking you from your current state and propelling you toward the goals you specifically highlight.  They will speak the truth when it needs to be spoken (hopefully in a way that resonates with you) and be honest with you about your strengths and weaknesses.  The neutral, unprejudiced words and wisdom from a coach can be a powerful catalyst for eliminating stagnancy and jumpstarting you in the right direction.  However, it can only happen if you are humble, hungry, and open to some constructive criticism.  Some exercise enthusiasts are too prideful to receive help and unfortunately, this will be their downfall.  Please don’t be like this.  If possible, hire a coach and let them be the voice of reason when your vision becomes blurred by a concoction of your own limited perspective and mindset.  

Next, accountability is the second reason hiring a coach is a great idea.  Why?  Because there are a whole host of things relating to health and fitness that would be good for us but we would rather not do.  Whether it’s doing cardio (I’m guilty), eating your veggies (I’m guilty), doing mobility work (I’m guilty), or something else, there are all things that we could do better if we had to report to someone.  Research has shown the validity of accountability with exercise.  This couldn’t be more important right now with the Coronavirus pandemic.  The oppressive temptation is to let the circumstances drive us into a cycle of sluggishness and poor decision making, therefore compounding the bad stress in our lives.  However, the beauty of having a coach is that they can keep you in line when you are starting to go off the rails.  Personally, working out at home for me is a big distraction and not the most enticing thing in the world to do.  It is a challenge to do my workouts when I’m by myself, alone in the basement.  Thankfully, I have a coach to answer to and that keeps me motivated for compliance.  If that wasn’t the case, I’d probably still be in a food coma and Netflix trance on my couch.  As a result, having someone hold you accountable for your health and fitness actions and habits is a great way for your goals to be achieved sooner rather than later. 

    Knowledge is the last reason I believe having a coach is a great idea.  As we all know, there is no shortage of information available on health and fitness topics.  This vast expanse of information can be overwhelming and confusing, even for someone (like myself) who is in the actual field.  Once again, this is where a discerning coach can come in handy.  They can cut through all the noise and find the most pertinent and effective approach to get results.  Not every method might be the right one for you, so a coach can take all his or her years of knowledge accumulation and put it to work as they design the most appropriate program for you.  For example, I have trained under a couple different strength coaches and they have enabled me to get stronger while also exposing me to different but valuable training techniques.  The extensive amount of learning that has taken place through my interactions with the coaches has been instrumental in giving me an enlightened perspective on strength training.  Without their guidance, I would have been tirelessly spinning my wheels and probably not making the type of progress that I actually experienced.  So, pick an educated and well respected coach and use them as a resource to build up your brain power and knowledge relative to health and fitness. 

Overall, I hope these were three convincing reasons for you to hire a coach.  As I stated before, I think hiring a coach would be a great move, especially if you are struggling during these stressful times.  Your health is your livelihood.  If you are failing to exercise consistently or eat well, please reach out to a coach for help.  There are plenty of quality coaches here at the JCC that would be more than glad to assist.  If money is an objection, you can always hire a coach for a short period of time to lay out a program for you and then follow up once you are done after 3 or 6 months.  I’ve done this with clients before and it can be a real benefit to them even though they are not working with you individually on a regular basis.  Nevertheless, take care, be safe and please let me know if you have any questions or comments.  And, as always, SETTLE DOWN, SLACKERSSS!!!!!