Canada Recap

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This past weekend I went to Toronto, Canada to do a Workshop Weekend that consists of a lifting workshop on Saturday and a programming workshop on Sunday. It was my first time in Canada since stepping over the line at Niagra Falls when I was ten (do they still let you do that? or do you need a passport?), and it was excellent. I was hosted by two stellar dudes, Chris and Paul — thanks again to both of you guys and I hope we get to hang soon without a workshop getting in the way. They live outside of Toronto in a small town area that reminds me of rural Pennsylvania. The weather was beautiful; around 80 degrees (F), no humidity, and a cool breeze.

The workshop itself was good fun, Canadians have a pleasant disposition. I even noticed that I started emulating their tone in talking, specifically the upward inflection at the end of sentences. Contrary to the American belief, Canadians don’t say, “Eh?” all the time, but they do defecate in inappropriate places when challenged.

I hope the attendees walked away from each day confident in what they need to do to lift or program well. Two attendees who were only signed up for the Saturday portion were allegedly impressed enough to sign up for Sunday’s as well. You guys can e-mail me any time with questions as well as videos of your technique (preferably from a front or rear 45 degree angle). Stay in touch either on the site, Facebook, or e-mail. Remember the one or two cues you have on each lift! Work those rehab exercises in, Sandy and Adam. Make sure your chest is up, Silen. Good luck at your meet, Rowan, and keep doing that anterior shoulder mobility. Kyle, make sure your knees are out in your deadlift set up. Blake, reinforce that leaning over to avoid being to upright in the squat, and don’t get in a hurry with your reps. Paul, stop being so handsome. Mike, be smooth of the floor in your pull (along with that other proper set up stuff). James, your squat/pull were much better when you corrected those fundamentals like stance and chest up. I could go on, but hopefully you guys wrote down what you need for each lift. Also keep in mind all of the tools you have to administer a proper dose of stress to get an appropriate adaptation based on your current adaptation.

I actually don’t have any pictures whatsoever of this weekend; I was just too busy. I also wanted to get some video of the lifting transformations, but I misplaced the SD card for my camera. It’s disappointing, because I wanted a pic with my Canadian homies Chris and Paul (their biceps and behavior when drinking exceeded expectations). Thanks again to both of you guys, especially Chris and Melissa for letting a filthy American rest at your domicile. Paul, tell Sharon that Melissa totally ran off with the cab driver after Chris passed out.

All in all, I was impressed with Canada. It was a sport.

Since I don’t have any pictures, here’s a place that I want to visit in Canada.

Lake Louise


19 thoughts on “Canada Recap”

  1. Oh, cool shoutout everyone from the workshop but Mark. Dick.

    Mark, you didn’t come on the lifting day, brah. Clearly I was giving them their cues.

    –Justin

  3. were the Canadians mad that the Boston Bruins are the 2011 Stanley Cup Champions?!!

    Also, how many servings of french fries w/ gravy would you estimate were consumed?

    We only ate at once place that had them, and I didn’t know it was on the menu, and the place kinda sucked.

    –Justin

  6. Seriously though…the Toronto seminar was very informative and if any of you ever gets a chance to attend one you should. Maybe Justin will wear his peach colored tank top again. I think I saw nipple

  8. So any chance you might swing by San Francisco on your next California trip? We might be able to get enough people to do a seminar.

    Sure. Where?

    –Justin

  9. Oh and that sucks about the poor restaurant choice, I would have recommended this awesome Vietnamese place that’s like 10 minutes from where the workshop was held. $6-8 for full size entrees.

    Damn it, Mark. You’re like three days late.

    –Justin

  10. There’s getting to be a pretty good lifting community in Washington, DC if you’d ever want to do a workshop here. I know you’re probably thinking, “well, I need a gym or somewhere to lift at.” I can’t help with that really but I do know that myself and several others would totally go if you did one in DC.

    Question if you’ll indulge me: I’ve been having some pain in my front left shoulder. It’s like deep down in there. Benching and pressing don’t hurt and neither do deadlifts but Chin/Pull ups have become impossible. This wasn’t an acute injury where I felt it happened; it’s creeped up over several weeks. Is this something I need to just lift through with light weight or rest to make it get better? Not being able to do pull ups sucks. I can’t do a single pull up right now because of the discomfort. Thank you.

    Also side note, I got cortizone shots in my heel on Friday for the plantar fasciitis I asked you about a while back. I’d been trying self treatment for 9 months to no avail. Wow, that hurt but boy did it work! It’s cured. I’ll continue hard core stretching/foam rolling but man, by Sunday afternoon I was pain free. Absolutely amazing. I almost wish I’d gotten the podiatrist to give me a shot in the shoulder haha.

    Regarding the shoulder your description isn’t clear enough where I know where you are experiencing pain. Were you doing multiple sessions of weighted pullups and chinups during the week? What caused this?

    Update: And by the way, Maslow, just because you got a cortisone shot doesn’t mean your fasciitis is cured. It merely reduced the inflammation in the area, and the inflammation is what causes the pain. The original structural issue is still present, yet you aren’t feeling any pain. This can sometimes be a bit dangerous since you can cause further harm to the weakened structures without knowing that you are. Continue working on the soft tissue in the area. Brian MacKenzie has told me that rolling the arch of the foot with a golf ball, including right in front of the heel, will help. You may also need to do some various arch strengthening exercises.

    –Justin

  14. Question for anyone with experience:

    I am going to start alternating deadlifts with rack pulls, and I was wondering how much heavier people typically start with rack pulls.

    I pulled 190×5 two Fridays ago, and 195×4 last Friday. I was thinking somewhere around 210 for rack pulls? I will feel it out as I warm-up/acclimate, but I was just curious to hear others’ advice and experience.

    And I will be pulling from below the patella. Thanks.

    I assume you’re using kilos. If you’re going to do the rack pulls below the knee, and do them correctly, then you’ll find it difficult to do them much higher than where your dead is at, especially when you start.

    As for your program, altering DLs and rack pulls every week will stop progressing pretty quickly. It’d be better if you treated your DLs with an active deload if the rack pulls were something that you were set on doing (probably to improve your lockout, if I had to assume).

    –Justin

  15. Been to lake louise. In the winter you can snow shoe across the lake. Sweet hotel. They had a little castle made out of ice on the lake.

    So awesome.

    –Justin

  16. Lake Louise is nowhere near Toronto! Next time you come to Canada, come to Calgary – my hometown – and its a 2.5hr drive there! (1:45 if Im driving…). You would like Calgary, its like a politer (slightly) version of Texas…Rodeo and BBQ are big here (we ride’em, then we grill’em!).

    Also, hit a couple of PRs lately.
    182.5 x 1 on the press. (200 within reach!)
    295 x 25 on the squat (not consecutive – a couple of rests, but still – enough to make me ALMOST hate squatting!)

  18. Thanks for the reply, Justin.

    Yes, those numbers were kilos. And as far as programming goes, I have been using a TM setup with Squat/Bench or Press/Deadlift on intensity day.

    How frequently would you suggest utilizing an active deload, and with what protocol? Something like a triple with my last successful set of 5? Thanks.

    I would have you squat every intensity day. I would cycle your deadlift stuff. But I’m just a guy who wrote an e-book on it.

    The active deload concept would have you use a movement with a mechanical disadvantage with respect to the original lift. In the case of the deadlift, I’d probably tell you to just pull it with a regular double overhand hook grip instead of alternating your grip, using a hook, or using straps. Obviously you can’t lift as much with a double overhand grip, and the lighter load and fewer reps will be less than had you used the alternate/hook/straps. This would allow you to still deadlift (as opposed to doing something that is drastically different), and provide the “deload” so you can still push heavy on the rack pulls (in this example you would alternate the overhand deadlift and rack pulls every week). This would be exceptionally useful if you were powerlifting, but I don’t know your goals.

    –Justin

  19. Yep, I am squatting every intensity day.

    And about my goals… kind of a mixed bag. I can tell myself I lift to become a better rugby player, but I really just want to get stronger and more powerful. I have done 1 Oly meet, 1 Push-pull and 2 strongman comps. My current plan is to keep playing rugby and compete in the off season.

    Thanks for the advice.

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