Tag Archives: Greg Robins

Horizontal Pulling Progressions for Youth Athletes

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My good friend and Cressey Performance coach, Greg Robins, just posted an article that I wrote for his site. In the article, I give you a 6-exercise progression you can use to teach your athletes proper horizontal pulling technique. Click the link below to give it a read!

Horizontal Pulling Progressions for Youth Athletes

Have a great weekend!

ADFPF Nationals Meet Preview

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Tomorrow morning, I will be competing in my second-ever powerlifting meet, the ADFPF Nationals in Rockland, MA. My buddy and coworker, Chris Martin, will be competing with me again, as well as our friend and Dynamic client, Jay, who is participating in his first powerlifting meet. All three of us have been training our asses off and working hard to get stronger in preparation for this day. I think I can speak for all of us in saying that we’re ready to get on the platform and lift some heavy weight. That being said, I wanted to briefly share a few thoughts and goals for the meet tomorrow morning.

  • I decided not to drop weight and will remain in the 242-275 lb. weight class. Tomorrow’s meet is a qualifier for a world meet being held, by chance, in Massachusetts this October. If you reach a certain total for your three lifts, you can apply to be on Team USA for the world meet this fall. I learned of this opportunity at my meet last winter and was immediately intrigued at the possibility of trying to qualify. My total in my first meet was just shy of the required total to qualify in the 220-242 lb. class, so I figured I might drop down a class and give it a shot. While I love training and have found a great, new hobby in powerlifting, I have several other important priorities outside of the gym, too. Considering that fact, even though I am much closer to the 242 lb. end of the scale, I elected not to stress about making weight, but rather focus my attention on training hard and getting stronger. If I go into the meet tomorrow and simply meet or exceed my goals, I will be very happy!
  • Speaking of goals, I’m going to be much more aggressive with my approach this time around. In December at my first meet, I was pretty conservative. I set goals of a minimum 400 lb. squat, 300 lb. bench press, and 500 lb. deadlift. While I came up just short on the bench press, I felt that I might have been able to push the weight a little more on the squat and deadlift. I walked away with a 402 lb. squat, 281 lb. bench press, and 524 lb. deadlift that day, which I thought was a good first showing, but I wasn’t satisfied and have been determined to improve upon those numbers. In talking with Tony Gentilcore, who has been programming for me in preparation for the meet, my attempts are going to look like this:
  • 1st attempt: For my opener, I’m going to do a relatively “easy” weight that I know I can get. On the squat, I plan to open with around 380 lbs. For the bench press, about 285 lbs., and deadlift, 500 lbs. Part of my training sessions in the last two weeks were to hit each of my openers. On Monday, May 21, I squatted 375 lbs. and deadlifted 475 lbs., each for a solid single. They both felt good, but in talks with Tony, I feel that I can be a bit more aggressive on the deadlift and open with 500 lbs. Last Saturday, following the excellent “begin, press, rack” commands of Greg Robins, I did a single on the bench at 285 lbs. with the “competition pause.” That pause can be a killer, but the lift went up well.
  • 2nd attempt: For my second attempt, I’m going to go for a PR on each lift. Seeing how I feel on my opening lift will help me gage exactly what weight I go for on this attempt, but right now, I’m thinking of around 420 lbs. for the squat, 303 lbs. for the bench press (which I missed on my third attempt at my last meet), and about 535 lbs. on the deadlift. I’ll be especially pumped if I nail 303 lbs. on the bench. The primary goal of my training for this meet was to reach a 300 lb. bench press, and back in March, I finally put it up in the gym. I’m hoping 303 goes as well as that 300 went in March!
  • 3rd attempt: For my third attempt, assuming I hit all my previous lifts, I’m simply going to go for broke and try to get an all-out PR. Like I said, the numbers for my 3rd attempt will be largely dependent on my 2nd attempt and also on how I’m feeling tomorrow, but a mid-400’s squat, 310 or so bench press, and mid 500’s or so deadlift would be very nice.

I’ve been feeling good this week and have just been doing foam rolling and mobility/activation work since Tuesday. I got a thorough ART treatment on Tuesday afternoon and have been trying to get plenty of rest at night, along with good nutrition and hydration. I’m really excited for this meet, as I’ve been training for it since Christmastime; I’ve put in lots of dedicated work and gotten excellent programming from Tony, so I’m ready to get out there and set some new PR’s. I’m confident that Chris, Jay, and I will do well and have a blast.

Check back next week for some videos from the meet, as well as my meet recap. In the meantime, have a great weekend everyone!

How American Idol Sends the Wrong Message About Fitness

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What’s up with all these singing shows that are on TV these days? I don’t watch a lot of television, but it seems like every time I’ve turned on the TV in the past few months, one of these shows has been on (at the very least, I’ll see a commercial for one of them): American Idol, The Voice, X-Factor, The Sing-Off, and probably others that I don’t even know about. Now, as I’ve confessed on the blog before, I did fall prey to a few episodes of the first season of The Voice last summer. I admit that. In retrospect, I’m not very proud of it, but I will say that I did NOT watch a single episode of Season Two.

With all these singing competitions on the tube now, a slew of questions inevitably entered my mind. Why are so many Americans interested in singing, of all things, and why do we continually have to find America’s next singing sensation? Why can’t we search for America’s latest Chess sensation?

I’ve noticed that the “stars” these shows aim to find always seem to be pop singers, too. Why pop singers? Why couldn’t we look for the best new metal band? Why can’t we find the next Pantera? HA! Trick question; there will NEVER be another Pantera!

Alright, I think I’ve posed enough questions for now. And I do understand that Chess and heavy metal probably don’t appeal to the majority of people.

As I was contemplating all of these questions, I finally realized something. Before I reveal my thoughts, however, let me bring your attention to American Idol for just a second. American Idol, a show meant to find America’s next singing superstar, is currently in its eleventh season on TV. Let me repeat: eleventh season. That’s a lot of seasons, and there aren’t any signs it’s slowing down. From this I can draw one major conclusion: that we, as Americans, are obsessed with finding the latest and greatest thing. This is certainly true when it comes to pop singers, and unfortunately, it’s also true when it comes to fitness.

Too often, I see people seeking out the latest and greatest fitness craze. You know, the type of training that everyone and their cousin are doing right now or the system or piece of equipment that’s being advertised all over TV. The truth is, these things don’t last very long, and rarely pass the test of time. And with the entire buzz that surrounds the “hot” modes of training, sometimes we tend to lose sight of the basics, or “classics,” as I like to call them. One of those “classics” that immediately comes to mind is the lowly barbell.

These days, the barbell is getting a bad rap in certain fitness circles and is being used inappropriately in others. The barbell has been around for a long time and is a tried-and-true piece of equipment. It’s a very simple tool that, when used properly, can help you achieve many of your fitness goals. Want to get stronger and gain muscle? Enter the squat, bench press, and deadlift. Want to lose fat? Enter complexes and the famed 8 x 20:10 (8 rounds of 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest; widely referred to as “Tabatas” but not quite the same as the strict definition). All you need is a barbell and some weights and you can put together a fantastic training session.

Perhaps one of the best qualities of the barbell is that it’s a simple tool, and simplicity is a notion that I can’t emphasize enough. I know I’ve talked about it before and I’m sure I’ll talk about it again in the future. More times than not, the way to attain your fitness goals is very simple. Dan John talks about many of his strength training programs being “so simple, you won’t even do it.” The same is true here; many of the principles, methods, and exercises that are a key to fitness success are so simple, most people won’t even utilize them.

Don’t follow the fitness fads that may be getting attention in the popular media and don’t stray too far from the path of simplicity. Don’t let simplicity fool you; in fitness and in other areas of life, it is often the most simple, direct approach that works best. Unless you’re a contraindicated lifter, always revert back to the barbell in your strength and conditioning program and the simplicity it exudes. Coincidentally, as my buddy Greg Robins stated in his post yesterday, “Simple isn’t always flashy, but simple works.” So grab a barbell, throw some weight on, and get after it. And don’t watch American Idol.

Awful.