December 2011
10 posts
6 tags
New blog at wisconsinbjj.com: The Squat, Part 2 -...
Earlier this week I addressed some of the myths and fears about the squat. Today we’re going to talk about how to squat weight safely and effectively. For simplicity’s sake, a squat will be a barbell back squat. There are many varieties of squats, all with their own benefits and drawbacks. For the barbell alone there is the front squat (where the bar is placed on the front of the...
4 tags
New blog at wisconsinbjj.com: The Squat, Part 1
If you’ve ever read anything I’ve written, chances are you’ve heard me mention the squat. It is one of the basic foundational movements that I teach every person who comes through the door (barring extreme injury/condition). As I’ve mentioned before, though, the squat gets a bad rap, which doesn’t exactly add up in my mind, as people have been bending and...
5 tags
Hoopspeak.com: Cookie-Cutter Programs
I’ve got a new article up at hookspeak.com: Check it out
”In my first Coaches Forum article I discussed the importance of proper preparation in young athletes, as well as the need to thoroughly, properly and safely introduce movements (aka exercises) to your program. One big thing I cautioned coaches about was being too quick to increase intensity/weight for lifts before an...
4 tags
New blog at wisconsinbjj.com: Muscle Mass and...
Here’s a quick one I wrote for wisconsinbjj.com
Somewhere along the line being muscular became synonymous with being stiff, inflexible and unable. This is due primarily to the pec-obsessed bodybuilders of the 1970s and 1980s, who spent hours and hours bench-pressing and doing endless flys, tightening down their chests and shoulders until they couldn’t raise their arms above their...
4 tags
The Truth Behind Kettlebells - new blog at...
I actually wrote this article a couple weeks ago, but for some reason I forgot to publish it here. Enjoy.
Click to read at source
Over the past ten years, the kettlebell has seen an enormous resurgence of popularity in the west. Much of this rise has been attributed to Pavel Tsatsouline, a Russian-born Fitness coach who has wrote extensively on the topic (in addition to his works on...
4 tags
New blog at wisconsinbjj.com: Have fun.
We take ourselves too seriously in fitness. Words like extreme, hardcore, elite are scrawled across gym websites, accompanied by images of skulls, blood, bending bars, and other hyper-aggressive imagery. Now there’s nothing wrong with that, if it’s your bag. But not everybody fits that personality type. Your average gym-goer doesn’t necessarily want to get screamed at, unleash...
3 tags
I’m currently gym-less in Canada, so I’m taking this opportunity to rediscover aspects of my mobility that I may have been neglecting in pursuit of other goals. It is humbling, to say the least. I’m a big fan of intuitive warm-ups - using a group of familiar, basic movements to communicate with the body, reminding myself of proper movement patterns and exploring points of...
2 tags
4 Reasons You MUST Understand Corrective Exercise...
From Eric Cressey
Some good insights into what we need to incorporate into our programming (athlete or otherwise). Here’s a few excerpts:
“Very simply, physical therapists rarely have the time to do everything they want to do to get people truly healthy, so folks often have to just settle for ‘asymptomatic.’”
“…there is certainly a big need for these...