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So… What Do You Do? – Part 2

So one aspect of moving to a new state, and working at a new job, is making new friends.

Fortunately for me, Massachusetts is a hot bed of strength and conditioning, as there are several handfuls of colleges, private schools, and travel teams of baseball, hockey, lacrosse, and many other sports as well. So, if I say I’m a strength coach, people usually don’t look at me like I have five heads.

Similar to my last post on this topic (So… What Do You Do?), I feel like discussing this subject is important, as this can serve to be a reference for why I do the things that I do, as it is still a very relevant topic, and I feel it is necessary to give an updated topic on what I do as a professional in this industry.

Being a strength coach brings about a sense of mystery to the general public. The profession is still in its infancy, and there are plenty of things to define as far as responsibilities go within the industry.

If I could succinctly define my immediate roles at Cressey Sports Performance, it is to be a presence both on and off the floor for athletes and clients in the form of providing guidance for their fitness and sporting endeavors.

I can’t make a final decision for you, and I can’t put food into your mouth to help you gain weight. I can however, provide guidance on how I believe to best achieve these goals.

For the fitness enthusiasts out there, I like to think of myself as a 90/10 : general/specific preparatory coach for baseball and other sports.

Let’s begin with who I coach.

Who Do You Coach?

Different members of several organizations come in to train at Cressey Sports Performance (Hudson, MA location).

CSP

On a day to day basis, I can work with a member of a professional baseball team, to a high school hockey player, to a multi-sport athlete who is in the beginnings of her softball pre-season, to an executive who is on her lunch break in the middle of the day. So to say I work with only baseball players is a bit of a misunderstanding.

And no, I don’t just train people from the Red Sox organization.

What Do You Do?

Similar to last time, I function within several titles:

  • Performance Coach
  • Assess People
  • Writing Programs

Performance Coach

I like to think of myself as a human performance coach, as the name athlete brings with it several different connotations, whether good or bad. All I know is that I’m not training dogs, or other animals (that is down the hall).

So when it comes to performance – whether you are aiming to simply improve how you function on a day to day basis, or you are aiming to hurdle a fastball from the mound to the plate at 95mph – I’m all about helping you get to your destination. And there are tons of ways to improve performance.

Starting At The End

So upon coming through to our facility, I automatically begin thinking about the end goal of why you are here.

I want to get you where you want to go.

If you are talking to me about beach body stuff, and you are a baseball player, we might need to reevaluate our expectations, as the actions for both will be different than anticipated.

Some smarter people will use the phrase, “Let’s begin at the end.”

This allows us to evaluate a few things:

  1. Timeline
  2. Logistics (travel time, food allocations, other coaches/PTs/etc guidelines)

What an 11 year old should expect out of training might (and should) be different than what a 21 year old who is now a free agent should expect from lifting with us at CSP.

Biomechanical (and neurological) movement patterns need to be developed and reinforced for the 11 year old, while the 21 year old might need to break some new habits, or work around a few non-contact injuries prior to starting his exercise program.

Fitness qualities of strength, speed, and power need to be developed based on the individual’s specific task, not to mention their physical age, training age, and where they want to end up.

Nutrition will lean more on the 21 year old’s independence and ability to cook, while the 11 year old might need more assistance from his elders and guardians/parents in order to facilitate a healthier lifestyle. This is not to mention that the 21 year old will probably encouraged to consume massive amounts of food in the off-season in order to put on weight (before potentially losing it while traveling in his in-season).

Psychologically the 21 year old might have tons of different logistics going on, and will need some guidance on how to overcome these obstacles going into his off-season into his pre-season. The 11 year old will hopefully have not as many obstacles to stress out about.

Assess People

If you’re in the fitness or strength & conditioning industry, this is one of the more “sexy” aspects of being a strength coach. Whether or not you believe in assessments, or whether or not you have the appropriate skill set to approach assessments in an intelligent manner, at some point you will have to admit that you can’t program your clients’ movements blind.

With respect to the integrity of the exercise program, everything comes from the assessment, and after determining where they want to go (ie starting at the end), the exercises will fall in to place for that individual.

Appreciating different ranges of motion, whether actively or passively, is something that can be immediately implemented and accounted for when developing an exercise program.

If you cannot get into certain positions due to joint mobility restrictions, I have to question how and what you are doing from an exercise programming point of view.

So, this is where assessments come into place. Now, I’m not saying you should go get the latest weekend certification, and away you go programming the latest fad of exercises to appease your client base.

I’m of the opinion that there should be an educational tool based off of anatomy and physiology, and a skill set of requisite movements should be adhered to for programming.

You can use the right tool, at the wrong time, and it will certainly be the wrong solution.

However, use the right tool, at the right time, and people will think you’re a magician.

This “magician” like quality often (but not always) involves having years of experience of assessing, and improving and refining your thought process.

Not every new piece of information should or has to be a mind-blowing piece of information.

Investigate claims, learn new ways to view a topic, and aim to refine your toolbox.

Writing Programs

Another way to put this is I take all of the above information (logistics, amount of days you have available to working with us/me, training age, assessment information, etc.) and put it into a working list of exercises aimed at improving various fitness and sporting qualities.

There is a reason for everything.

So whether or not you are experiencing symptoms of hip impingement in your lead leg as you pitch, or you have a lack of shoulder range of motion, there is, fortunately, a method to the madness.

And depending on your specific logistics and what kind of timeline we are dealing with, it’s my goal to pick away at what we need to work on to help improve your performance or desired goals.

Hint: There is more to personal success than the exercise selection on a piece of paper.
Hint: There is more to personal success than the exercise selection on a piece of paper.

If I had a philosophy of throwing things on a wall and seeing what sticks, I wouldn’t feel the need to track down specific items.

However, I’d like to think I’m holding myself to a higher standard, so I’d like to track down different fitness markers alongside all of your other numbers in the gym!

Monitoring Information

One item I’ve been incorporating more and more is monitoring various pieces of information. It is no longer imperative to only view the biomechanical model from an assessment point of view – there are multiple ways physiology can influence how we move on a biomechanical level.

While this endeavor is in its infancy, I’d like to think it will be worthwhile, as it is providing me with some immediate feedback on what is working for my athletes, along with what is not working for my athletes.

“Everyone enjoys talking about their success. No one wants to discuss what didn’t work.”

Some of the information just makes sense.

If you can’t pass an adequate looking overhead squat, then I’m thinking something will happen when you attempt to deadlift.

If you lack ankle mobility, I’m thinking there might be something holding you back when you attempt a stride out when you pitch.

However, some of the other information might require a bigger “lens” for me to view appropriately.

If someone has had braces for 5 years, has a heart rate of 65 bpm after sitting still for 5 minutes, and has sweatier hands than a 14 year old at his first school dance (aka me), then something might be up from a physiological, biomechanical, or neurological level. I’m not sure what, but something tells me this guy won’t be able to deadlift from the floor right out of the gates. I could be wrong though.

I had braces from the 4th grade to 9th grade. I was also very uncoordinated growing up.
I had braces from the 4th grade to 9th grade. I was also very uncoordinated growing up. I turned out alright.

Miscellaneous Stuff

So as you can see, there are lots of tangibles and intangibles when it comes to the title of a “strength coach.” Managing personalities and lifestyles is a great way to put it, and it is something that I do on top of attempting to maintain a lifestyle of my own.

Writing & Social Media

I’m also a blogger (you’re obviously reading this right now on my blog!), online writer and contributor for various publications (check out my Press page), along with hosting various videos on several different social media platforms.

YouTube

  Twitter @MiggsyBogues

 

Further, I’m also focused on developing my dance training company Enhance2Dance, training to compete in powerlifting, keep up with bboying moves every once in a while, alongside reading multiple books to stay on top of that competitive edge.  
 

So all in all, I’m busy to say the least! :)

As always,

Keep it funky.

MAsymbollogo

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Human Performance Podcast – Episode 1 with Greg Robins

So for better or worse, I and a few others have taken the liberty of going into a more focused and directed path with regards to the medium that is available to us via podcasting. Some will include interviews, others will be focused on education and more modern techniques with regards to movement, strength and conditioning, and fitness. The focus is borrowing from the idea and mission statement from Henry Lau’s Human Performance Forum, going forth with the name of “Human Performance Podcast“. Essentially, the mission statement that is being focused on is…

To educate individuals in human performance in various topics such as, though not limited to movement, rehabilitation, strength and conditioning, nutrition; and to bring awareness to unrelated topics/products that might help individuals in the fitness industry.

With this in mind, the format and structure is open for criticism, so feel free to leave any feedback!

Episode 1

Today will feature a podcast with guest Greg Robins and Pat Davidson, where discussion ranges from powerlifting, to Strongman lifting, to technology in training, among other changes in approach that Cressey Sports Performance has been undergoing as of late. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/161207623″ params=”color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /] Timestamps on Human Performance Podcast – Episode 1

00:00 – Rebranding and Intro

00:40 – Greg Robins Introduction

1:20 – Personal Lifting and Intern Lifting

3:30 – Miguel’s Personal Nostalgia

5:15 – “Where’s Cressey Performance?”

6:12 – “…in the middle of nowhere.”

7:30 – Greg’s Background

24:40 – Greg’s beginnings on powerlifting

30:40 – “Has your approach changed with regards to powerlifting?”

35:50 – Percentage Based Strongman Training

41:00 – How technology and advances in techniques can change your approach to S&C

44:07 – “…The culture has changed…”

45:00 – “You know what… why don’t you just train harder?”

46:20 – People ask Pat, “Have you gone soft?”

48:20 – Warm-Up Talk

51:17 – Movement Education Drills

57:13 – Specialization Success Guide Chat

SSG-300

1:02:00 – Percentage Based Training Chat

1:05:10 – The Arena – Teddy Roosevelt

Teddy Roosevelt

1:10:00 – Powerlifting Seminar and CSP Seminar

1:14:00 – “You want to hurt the ground….”

*Bolded are portions of the podcast that were interesting to me.

You can find more about Greg here at his website, the Strength House.

Greg Robins’ and Eric Cressey’s newest powerlifting product:
Specialization Success Guide (SSG)

Links Talked About
Modifying the Specialization Success Guide

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So with all of this in mind, what else can we cover that you aren’t getting? How can we help you improve at your game as a coach and trainer? Please leave a comment below and thank you in advance!

As always,

Keep it funky.

-MA

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The Grey Area of Achieving Success – Late Night Musings (7.20.14)

Within the realm of the fitness and S&C “bubble”, there is a bit of a discrepancy between working out and training. Essentially, it comes down to understanding that with “working out”, there is a temporary and fleeting moment when it comes to using this phrase.

While not necessarily feeding into a negative connotation, the term working out is something used when you are exercising without a specific goal or real focus for that block of time, whether it is an hour, 20 minutes, or 3 hours. Sometimes you can workout with your family members, friends, or group of people – and that can obviously be a great thing, as the act of exercising can and will bring about a spirit of camaraderie that can’t be so easily defined.

achieving

At the opposite end, “training” or “lifting” is another term that can denoted as exercising towards a specific goal – increased athletic performance, improved efficiency of aerobic and anaerobic capacities or outputs, or increased muscular hypertrophy, to name a few specific goals.

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Online Client Spotlight – LeeAnne

This isn’t to say that “training” or “lifting” can’t promote camaraderie either, but rather that it involves a specific mentality or mindset that both includes certain individuals or excludes certain individuals. On top of this, there is a set timeline that is involved – for some it is a 12 week span of training. For others, it is a 16 weeks of time. And for others, it is a lifelong commitment. Some view this as a lifestyle, others view it as being overly attentive to what may be termed as an exercise related version of orthorexia nervosa – or addicted to eating healthily.

When Achieving Your Goals Can Bite You in The Ass

The very idea of getting ready to go to the gym, sweating, and smelling, and moving weights around the gym floor is sometimes unappealing to people. For others, focusing specifically on a 16 week plan where every set and rep is planned to the tempo and rest periods is unappealing, for whatever reason.

For me specifically, there was a period of time where I had written out a timeline of exercise programming and I had not missed or left any singular repetition out – for two and a half years I lifted for 4 days every week, and I didn’t miss one day of lifting – until once where I had become sick and I decided to take a day off.

The next day I was back in the gym.

However, from a social aspect, I definitely missed out on many occasions, social events, traveling occasions, and other things that I might have otherwise had more “fun” doing – marathons, half-marathons, 5k Runs, or mud runs and the like, mainly because I had been training in powerlifting for that specific block of time.

That picture up there where I was surrounded by family and friends? This was after my brother, and two cousins trained, ran together, and ultimately finished their first half-marathon together. This was a fun time for them, and it was a fun time for me too as I helped to guide them with strength training to make sure they didn’t have any overuse injuries by performing a singular motion (running) for a long bout of time.

“Why didn’t I run the half-marathon with them?” you ask.

I was specifically training for a powerlifting meet during that time. On top of this, I didn’t perform any activities that would detract from me improving in my chosen sport at the time – no running, no dancing, no movements that were to otherwise prove unhelpful towards improving my lifts in the big 3.

This didn’t mean I couldn’t be surrounded by them and had to alienate myself in order to focus on my goals however.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONnVmt0NQt8]

First Powerlifting Meet in 2011 where you can hear my family supporting me!

While I tend to view things in a very black and white manner – you either do it or you don’t – this is the grey area of achieving this type of success. But it doesn’t have to be synonymous with cutting ties with people.

So while it is easy for me to reflect on these items and be done with it, here are some action plans that maybe you can partake in if you find yourself in one camp versus the other:

If You Enjoy “Working Out”

  • Plan on making a goal, and analyze why you truly want that goal.
    • Whether it is fat loss, increasing your 5k run time, or increasing your bench press that hasn’t gone up in 5 years, choose a specific goal.
  • After you decide on that goal, decide on a timeline to achieve that goal.
  • Choose the smallest, actionable item you can take towards that goal.
    • Many times, smaller steps will lead to greater goals, and a snowball effect occurs in which you can increase your momentum towards achieving this “greater goal”.
  • After that block of time, measure or test your goal.
    • Did your waistline decrease? Did your 5k time increase? Did your bench press increase by 5lbs? If not, analyze why your plan of action did not lend itself to improving your physical (and mental) goals.
  • Contact me for online coaching to write up a specific exercise program where you can achieve your goals faster.
  • Either that, or find some crazy people who want to do the same thing. Powerlifting was a good outlet for me. So was breakdancing.

If You Enjoy “Training”

  • Plan a singular block of time in your week (does not have to entail one whole day – it can be 20 minutes, 30 minutes, or one hour) where you essentially throw things on a wall, and see what sticks.
  • Play! Call up a friend, go to the basketball courts, or play a pick-up game of anything.
  • Since your comfort zone involves strict regimented plans of action, getting outside of your comfort zone will involve living in a little bit of chaos or unrestricted play.

Adjacent to my facility in Conshohocken, PA is a significantly large turf field. Earlier in the year (January through March), the space would be rented out at night to a group of individuals who loved throwing a frisbee around – in fact they had a league involved, and let’s just say it looked like a lot of fun.

Frisbee
This catch can’t be legal.

After a full day of coaching, I wish I had asked them if I could throw the frisbee around for a bit just to play!

Stories aside, that is what is needed sometimes if you enjoy the “specific” blocks of training for long durations of time – perhaps this is why I enjoy dancing about 2 to 3 times a week. It allows a block of time where I can just “create” movement and not worry about anything in particular!

As always,

Keep it funky.

MA