A program is a program is a program is a program, right? Nah, that ain’t me. We know that programs aren’t created equal, but it’s not because one is necessarily better than another. It’s because one is better for an individual or group of similar individuals. This is one concept I teach when I travel to do 70’s Big Workshops along with providing the thought process behind programming.

Peter Upham of Shire Speed and Strength hosted a workshop again, and on Tuesday I was working with one of his athletes. Sean is a “gridiron” (AKA American football) player who is on an interesting training template. It’s a template that fits his available schedule and needs. Peter is unique in that he is the head coach of his gridiron team in addition to owning a gym that coaches many different types athletes. He likes to utilize the Olympic lifts for football players, and it is clearly paying off since Sean’s older brother, Blake, started at left tackle as a freshman at the University of Hawaii. (On a side note, I saw Blake lift last year, and he’s pretty impressive).

These athletes aren’t doing the full Olympic lifts to compete in the sport, but instead to improve their explosiveness and flexibility for football. In other words, they aren’t specialist. The program that Sean is on still has him low bar back squatting and benching along with two days of conditioning that prepare him for the sport. Watch the following video for a description of the program:



The first conditioning day is more focused on all out efforts with complete rest. The second day is more of a work capacity day, and as it gets closer to the season it emulates the intervals of a football game (resting 35 to 40 seconds between sprints up a sand hill, for example). Notice that the program is simple, trains the whole body, and accomplishes the goal of turning a young, lesser experienced fella into a powerful, strong football player. The only thing I suggested as an addition was some more posterior chain work (perhaps in the form of good mornings with the band around the neck — more on these later).

Programs don’t have to be complicated to do well. This is an example of one for a specific individual in a specific situation with specific goals, yet the program could be followed by general strength trainees with equal success.

PR Friday
Post your training updates and PR’s to the comments. If you’re a regular poster (especially if you’re funny), then I take more of my time to help you if you ever have any questions. Plus, when you actually post, you get immersed into this community. The guys that loiter here are all really good guys and can help you with your training. Let us know how this week went in the comments.

Week In Review
On Monday I did the first Mobility Case Study on a female lifter named Tamara. The post includes two videos (long and short version) explaining her mobility prescription, yet most of you could benefit from the same “mobs”. On Tuesday, Dr. Kilgore, co author of FIT, climbed out of his Scottish ale/research house to write an editorial on risk management and how it relates to fitness. On Thursday I gave you some insight as to why it’s important to learn and use anatomy in the fitness or strength and conditioning realm. Then I traveled for about 30 hours and my luggage didn’t make it with me, so I’ll just keep wearing the same clothes, it’s fine.

CONTINUE READING THE Q&A Continue reading →

I’ve had pain in to the left of my spine, a little inferior (below) the scapula and just lateral of the vertebrae, off and on over the last year. It’s often not debilitating, but it will get worse when I sit for long periods of time. I have strained several times where I couldn’t train for a few sessions. I did it in January when I was playing Skyrim, and another time it happened when I was front squatting in Texas (2010, I think). The earliest I ever strained it was before I even did CrossFit, so that must have been in 2007 (I was doing a dumbbell row). I have a slight curve to my thoracic spine which would probably explain why the erector spinae muscles on that side have issues. Most people have a small degree of scoliosis that is hardly noticeable without an x-ray.

I’ve tried a lot of different things from Mobility WOD, and they helped, but the pain still lingers. I used two parts from “5 way shoulder” (specifically a) flexion and external rotation to stretch the lats and b) the cross-chest stretch in external rotation that pulls the scapula away from the spine. They helped, and my thoracic flexibility improved (to the point that those stretches don’t accomplish as much anymore), but I still have the pain. I’ve noticed that sometimes I tend to slightly over extend at my thoracic/lumbar junction and my sacro/lumbar junction in an attempt to not slouch. This could be something that makes it worse. When I laterally flex to my right side, the left side feels stretched and alleviated. Also, if I push my left ribs to the right, and push my right hip to the left, I get an overt stretching sensation along the lower erector muscles.

All of the above is to give you an idea of the data I’ve collected on this injury and how it could help me work on it to improve it. Deep rooted types of pain or injuries will not respond as well to merely stretching them, and there aren’t really any joints to approximate in the spine (like you can do with the shoulder, elbow, hip and knee). This is a long term issue, so if I’m going to penetrate deeper into the tissue, I will need to use a lacrosse ball and at least my own body weight laying on top of it. I can increase the amount of weight by using a weight (plate, dumbbell, dog, etc.) on my chest. However, what I do while on that lacrosse ball is important.



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I am leaving today to fly to Australia and will arrive on their Friday. I’ll get a Q&A done during that day, yet I will not see Thursday with the time change.

There are still spots available for this weekend’s 70’s Big Weekend Workshop. CLICK HERE for the information and payment page.

Today’s post is written by Dr. Lon Kilgore, research leader and senior lecturer at the University of the West of Scotland and co-author of FIT, a no-nonsense book on effective fitness that we wrote with Dr. Michael Hartman.

Risk Managed out of Health & Fitness
by Dr. Lon Kilgore

I was recently told by a university administrator that I wasn’t allowed to move classroom desks (weighing in at a whopping 5kg) as it was a health and safety issue. Check nervepainguide.org for the best health related advice. Apparently, as a faculty member, I’m not trained or qualified to safely move physical objects of any mass greater than a dry erase marker. If I was to be injured moving something as simple schoolroom chair, I would not be eligible for sick leave benefits.

The basic principle this illustrates is that we live in an aggressively and progressively risk averse world. The fear is upon us. The fear of risk exposure, the fear of litigation, the fear of failure, the fear of injury, the fear of disease, and the fear of pain. I should say that the fear is thrust upon us by those who believe they know what is best for us; politicians, lobbyists, law enforcement, professional organizations, lawyers, clinicians, insurance companies, the press, and even our neighbors.

So how does fear and risk management relate to compromised health and fitness?
CONTINUE READING Continue reading →