Category Archives: Q&A

Q&A – 46

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PR Friday is an opportunity to be a part of this amusing and fun community. You don’t “need” to be a certain strength level — post your progress or weekly PR’s. Everyone is on the same quest of strength, muscularity, and performance.

Beer brewed with bull testicles.

I forgot to list a Weekly Challenge last week (oops — sometimes I write the rest of the post before I’ve decided on one). I offered a shirt for the “Manly Deeds” challenge a few weeks back and have a winner — will do a post next week on that.

Next Week’s Challenge comes from a friend who just got out of the “professional soldiering for Uncle Sam” business, and it is: complete as many trips up and down a set of monkey bars — note how many monkey bars one length is. Don’t do this wearing a ski mask and don’t do it during recess.

Week In Review: On Monday I started the 70’s Big Breast Cancer Fundraising campaign. Help us raise money in the Battle for the Boobs. Tuesday was a reiteration of the idea that instead of comparing yourself to someone strict pressing 260 for reps, be the best you can be with what you have. Wednesday was a quick beautiful piece titled, “Ode to Bacon“. Thursday was an inspirational post about never giving up.

Meanwhile I’ve been solo adventuring/camping around Colorado and am now in Denver for the Great American Beer Festival with some friends. Beers I tasted include: bacon beer, peanut butter beer, combining the peanut butter beer with a blackberry beer (essentially creating a PB&J), a beer made with BULL TESTICLES, and a beer that was so spicy I had to pray to the old gods to ask for forgiveness so that my soul would stop burning.

Q&A

Justin,
I’m about to graduate this December with an exercise science degree. I’ve been interning since May with my school’s strength and conditioning staff and will continue until next May when I go to get my CSCCa. I don’t want to go to grad school in order to work at a college, but since I want to open up my own gym, I feel like I need to get some collegiate experience so I can better train people. What is your advice on this? Also, what certifications do you think are most important for a trainer to s&c coach to have?

Thanks for your help,
“chief” on 70sbig

 

Dear chief,

It sounds as though you’re doing the internship to satisfy your undergraduate requirements, but why do you have to wait that long in order to sit for the CSCS exam? Either way, it isn’t necessary to work in the collegiate realm if you want to own a gym. It certainly wouldn’t hurt, but it’s not necessary. I helped out (like an unofficial internship) in my university’s S&C program, but I was already owning/coaching CrossFit and had been personal training for a while. It’ll give you good experience for running classes, working with performance athletes, and seeing the logistics of a goal oriented facility.

All that being said, you could get in the gym industry without anything at all. I mean, look at all the people who start CrossFit facilities with just a few months of training experience. Sure, there are many CrossFit places that provide quality training, but there are also other facilities with coaches who have no business doing what they do. My only point is that the success of a gym business sadly isn’t solely dependent on the capability of the coach — this is a business that is dependent on the local market and the actions of the owner. If you are curious to talk more about business, I’m sure there are readers willing to do so (including friends of mine).

You already stated you don’t want to go to grad school so definitely don’t do it. It’s a slog, and you should only do it if you’re committed. As for certifications, I would sit for the CSCS as soon as you can. That really is the gold standard in the conventional fitness realm. I’ll point out that I don’t have it, but if I was going to get one to establish “credibility” for certain types of jobs or positions, that would be the one I would get. A certification doesn’t prove much, but some other good ones to have are USA Weightlifting and USA Track and Field.

Coaching and training isn’t about the letters after your name. And technically, education level (particularly S&C knowledge) isn’t dependent on certifications either. Your success in a business will be decided on how much you care for your clients. Your success as a S&C coach will depend on your ability to critically think, and I try and teach this skill through this website. Whatever you do, don’t stop learning.

 

NolanPower on  said:

Justin, I have a very important question. I wore short shorts to a crossfit competition this weekend that I attended as a spectator (for those who have never been/hate crossfit/whatever, go, it’s awesome) and I went to watch my friend compete but I was constantly surrounded by girls attempting to tear off my clothes. What can I possibly do to avoid this horrible side effect of manly short shorts?

Dear NolanPower,

This is a normal, albeit unavoidable side effect. Recently I went to the grocery store right before midnight in short shorts and a tank-top. This funny guy I see regularly was there that night. A few weeks later he was checking me out at the register and I reminded him of that night (because I bought a three-foot banana squash because I thought it was funny). He says, “Oh yeah! You had those shorts on. We didn’t know if you were in a hurry or…if you were gonna kill us all…”

But then he said that the females enjoyed it. I say this because The Revolution is important. Every time a female sees you in short shorts, it provides a(n orgasmic) stimulus that alters her perception of manliness, masculinity, and attractiveness. Expose her with enough frequency, volume, and intensity, and she will soon forget that skinny guys have any relevancy in her life. This means that she’ll naturally select a mate who is burly, strong, and muscular. They may eventually mate and produce more stout offspring, thereby reducing the “skinny” variation from the gene pool. No, we’re not talking about ethnic cleansing, but we’re talking about fully capable humans and men in a time where frailty — both physically and socially — are glorified.

 

Justin, I have an athlete belt from Bestbelts which I’ve been using for the last two years or so.  I’ve developed a chronic lower rib (floating) pain on the back a few inches from the spine.  I’ve posted about it a couple times and someone asked if I had hyper lordosis but then never explained why they asked.  To answer their question, I do have hyper lordosis.
In my limited knowledge of the body, I’m guessing that perhaps the lordosis causes most of the belts pressure to be applied to the top and bottom of the belt since it probably isn’t entirely touching my back, perhaps causing undue pressure/stress on the ribs?  Does that sound right? If so what are my options?  At this point I’ve stopped deadlifting with a belt and plan on taking it off for squatting as well to see if it feels any better after a couple of weeks.
At this point I wake up with my ribs aching, they ache at work and especially ache when wearing body armor.
What are my options? Learn to live with squatting and deadlifting without a belt?  Nylon belt? Thinner belt? I’m well into correcting my hyper lordosis with daily couch stretches and frequent psoas releases.  Would stuffing a shirt or towel in the hollow spot of my back between the belt help?
Thanks for your time and keep writing great articles!
-Kev B.
Dear Kev B,
First, you are correct that your first priority should be improving the hyperlordosis. Review this “Hyperlordosis” post. You should also be looking to improve your posture by tightening your lower abs and glutes. In the post I talk about doing this every time you go through a doorway to help make it a habit. Keep the daily psoas and hip flexor work.
As for lifting, you need to start lifting with a correct spinal position. On deadlift, it can help if you tighten your abs before starting the lift. If you consciously contract your abdominals, you won’t be able to anteriorly rotate your pelvis (see the above post to see what this means) and will avoid the position that is not only making your belt ineffective, but also irritating your ribs.
I would need you to describe your rib pain clearly — is it the base of the rib at the spine or the intercostal musculature that gives you fits? Either way, this needs to be rectified because it will either reduce your stability because it’s not 100% or provide enough pain to the point that your stability will be hampered (the body usually tries to avoid pain, and this can put you in awkward positions and induce other problems in lifting). I would put a premium on side planks and rotational assistance exercises to see if it helps with the rib issue.
It’s possible that your torso is short and a normal 4 inch belt is irritating your lower ribs. If this is the case, you can get a 3 inch suede belt or get a Harbinger nylon velcro belt. If you need to wear these in the short term, that’s fine. I would think that if you correct your mechanics that your regular belt will suffice (assuming a normal torso length). Whatever you do, the priority should be NOT hurting when wearing body armor at work.

Q&A – 44

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PR Friday is a celebration of training. Get active in the 70’s Big community and talk about your training. If you aren’t “as strong as everyone else”, it doesn’t matter. We all started somewhere. Post training updates or the week’s PRs to the comments.

The Weekly Challenge was directed at women and was a photo contest. I neglected to post about it on social media, and therefore there were zero entries (despite one gal putting a submission for the manly contest!). Nevertheless, this will make me rethink gender fairness for contests in the future.

Next Week’s Challenge: Cook at least one meat-based meal in the crock pot. Post the recipe to next week’s PR Friday comments.

Week In Review: Monday started with a female post about muscular imbalances. It’s relevant to guys, but it’s common for females to have muscular limitations in their training. On Tuesday I provided a progression and programming parameters for someone who wants to train for a GoRuck Challenge, though most of the advice applies to backpackers and hikers too. On Wednesday I posted a video that shows and corrects the three common mechanical faults with the press. I’ve also started consultations back up and have talked to some very cool people, including a Scot and Australian in the same day (I wish I had a cool accent).

Q&A 

Chad H. asks:
Hey Justin, couple of questions for the Q&A:1. Is there any marker to determine when would be a good time to switch to the TM Split? Just when you feel like it?

2. Think it’s possible to push up both the Press and Bench every week? I know you give a couple of scenarios in the TM Advanced but I’m talking Bench and Press Volumes and Intensities on the same day.

3. I’ve been hearing a lot lately about doing a single heavier than your workset weight as part of the warmup so as to make the workset feel lighter. Any thoughts (specifically doing these on Volume and Intensity days)?Thanks

 

 Dear Chad,

1. Typically when things slow down in a linear progression. Should the linear progression be run until it’s a life destroying affair that renders the lifter useless for a week or so after their final workout? Probably not. As you know, I did that, and I don’t recommend that people do it anymore. However, if there have been several resets, and the lifter gets to the same weight every reset, then yeah, they are probably due for a programming transition (assuming there aren’t extraneous factors like technique or recovery that are causing this).

2. Hmm. I think it would be possible for an early stage intermediate. I’m not a fan of the “alternate the weekly emphasis from press to bench” in stock TM programs. Chad is referring to how in The Texas Method: Advanced I provide many template examples of how to do both in the same week, though usually one day is “press day” while the other is “bench day”. But if someone were going to do try and get volume and intensity work with both exercises, they would probably need to only use a 3×5 for the Volume Day, and doubles or triples on the Intensity Day. Press may need to come first (since it’s less invasive than benching), but that would depend on what the trainee considers more important (perhaps their order could be alternated every week?). The second movement on the Intensity Day could be several sets of doubles instead of triples to avoid inducing any more fatigue on the muscles that would be there from the preceding exercise. Perhaps both lifts could just use doubles so that the total number of reps are lower for better Intensity progress? It’s interesting, and I’ve never done it, but I kind of like it for early stage intermediate and TM users. Or at least I like it better than the stock recommendation of alternating the lifts every week.

3. Doing a single before the work set would provide a neurological effect of making the work set feel lighter, but I would not recommend this. There is still a physiological effect of getting a rep at a higher intensity. If I had Chris, Mike, or AC do this, then they would have less in the tank for their scheduled session, and it may even throw off the weekly stress. By getting a higher intensity rep on the Volume Day, it’s applying a different adaptive stress than what I’m going for. I see this being problematic for them.

Now, if we’re talking about people who are focusing their training on lower intensity with more volume or reps, then it may not matter. Yet, someone in this position would be a) lesser advanced or b) training just to maintain strength or muscularity within the context of their goals. If someone were regularly working to lift heavy weights every week (as in a Texas Method), I don’t see this being helpful and potentially being harmful. There’s a reason volume and intensity are fluctuated for raw, un-drugged lifters.

Besides, the warm-ups are supposed to appropriately neurologically prep the lifter. I would assume that some proponents of this method may not warm-up properly. Some of them probably warm-up fine enough, yet their program may not be finely tuned where a higher intensity single will disrupt progress.

 

Michael L.
Hey Justin, I had to workout with suboptimal weights for my latest intensity day. Weighed all the plates on a scale, some of them were accurate with less than half a pound difference, but some of them were off. 45’s weighed 40 lbs, the 35’s weighed 30 etc.Anyway, I made up for the difference in weight, and I think because I had to use steel instead of the bumpers I’m used to it messed everything up. Squat and press were hard, but I got through them. Deadlift I only got 2 out of my 3 reps.

27 Male 235 lbs

For reference, today I did the following:Squat: 375×5
Press: 182.5×5
Deadlift: 460×2 (wanted 3)

Should I repeat the same deadlift next week when I’m back to the bumpers I’m used to? Switch to 2’s? Or move up? This is my 4th week on the Texas Method. Before this, I did 5-3-1 for 10 cycles, before that Smolov, before that Starting Strength, before that Crossfit. I have both eBooks so if there is a section you can point me to that works as well.

Thanks!

Dear Michael,

Your volume is at 84% of your Intensity Day and you’re only in week 4. Typically the “cap at 85%” applies to 3×5 as opposed to 5×5. This means that the volume is higher than it probably should be at this point.

I think that you started with weights that were too heavy on both the Volume and Intensity Days, especially since you are coming from 10 cycles of 5/3/1. Given that all of your plates were dicked up, you need to account for that in the progression (especially if bar weight is 5, 10, or 15 pounds different). If you are returning to a non-crappy gym with better equipment, then do what you can until then. Otherwise, do not increase your Volume Day and try and let the Intensity Day increase. Since your ID is hard already (as a result of you picking weights that are too heavy), it may take a weeks to normalize. If you think that the Intensity Days should not be hard, then you are probably doing too much volume (since you are doing a 5×5 and just came from a lower volume program like 5/3/1, a 3×5 on Volume Day is probably more appropriate).

Lastly, if you have both books, then review the Intensity Day rep schemes. There are plenty of options you can transition to with clear instructions on how to use them. That means that you could probably use triples, or doubles, or another approach to allow you to hit get decent intensity work in.

 

Brian45 asks:

What are your thoughts on this uncoordination regarding movement patterns? and how to address it (especially in a group setting) without holding back other kids that pick up things faster?

 

Dear Brian45, 

This is where the art of coaching a group comes in. CrossFit does a pretty good job of teaching their coaches to take the group through the progression of a movement together. This allows you to get some eyes on people during the progression. If someone has an issue, you can cue them simply enough. If it’s really bad, then you may or may not have the time to correct it, depending on the severity and length of time the correction would take. In such a case, continue the group’s progression, and you can focus a bit more on that person once the individual portion starts (if there is such a portion).

The effectiveness of this process is dependent on the quality of simple, concise progressions to achieve the goal of a given movement. Rippetoe’s teaching method of the power clean differs from USAW’s power clean progression, but it’s incredibly simple (I taught a 65 year old cyclist to power clean in about three minutes in Rip’s gym). This particular power clean is good for general strength and conditioning, but may not be the best for Olympic weightlifting. On the weightlifting side, Pendlay’s progressions for snatch and clean are very simple and concise as well, yet they put different emphasis on the movement. In other words, the Rippetoe power clean puts an emphasis on jumping whereas the Pendlay clean/snatch puts an emphasis on proper positioning for optimal weightlifting.

The above paragraph’s tangent provides two examples of good progressions that are simple, concise, and accomplish the intended goal. If you lack a progression, you’re not setting up the trainees for success. If the progression is poor, then you’re only going to make it difficult from a mental or physical standpoint.

 

wayniac asks:

Justin, I posted this question under another topic and I’m hoping you’ll give me your thoughts: Do you think that a male having a 5rm that is a higher percentage of their 1rm could be a symptom of low testosterone? When I was younger (25-29) I used to be able to use the (reps x work-weight x .0333)+work-weight = max for bench and come really close. Now that I’m older (37), I’m finding that I can’t bench what my reps at 225 would suggest under that formula. One other fact is that I used to test my max relatively regularly and stopped doing that for a very long time. So, my question is basically: Am I turning into a woman, or do I just need to start lifting more at higher percentages of my max? Have you ever seen this before?

 

Dear wayniac,

Short answer: yes, probably. As males age, their testosterone levels decrease. It’s part of life, and it does not mean you’re turning into a woman. Sure, there could be a variety of factors that are inhibiting your lifting ability, but you know that each five year aging period will result in decreased recovery capabilities. This isn’t just because of the number of years you’ve been alive, but the physiological effect of aging, and lower testosterone does occur.

I’m not going to pretend to know much about aging and hormonal supplementation, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing to consider for men getting into their 40s. Testosterone is what makes a man a man, and when it goes down, tons of health issues erupt. I’m not even referring to performance, but health, and nobody is going to look after you other than you. Just a thought.

If anyone has anything to add or information to provide, throw it in the comments.

Q&A – 43

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PR Friday is a celebration of training. Let us know how your week went, whether you hit new PR’s, and what upcoming events you’re preparing for. Ignore the timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.

The Weekly Challenge asked you to accumulate manly deeds. The person with the most deeds will win a 70’s Big shirt. This includes wearing short shorts as part of The Revolution. Post your deeds to the comments.

Next Week’s Challenge will be directed at the womenz, because I excluded them with “manly deeds”. You gals will compete in a training photo contest — whoever has the ‘best’ training photo will win a t-shirt. Make it funny, make it cool, or whatever. Submit them to the Facebook Fan Page or Twitter.

Week In Review: It started with a clarification post about the lack of neuromuscular efficiency in females. There’s a difference between the gender result of not being as efficient and the ability to improve a given efficiency in training. On Tuesday I talked about the benefits of warming up, specifically for athletic endeavors (I pulled my hamstring because of a lousy warm-up). Wednesday took a look at why the Anglosphere population is fat and what we can do about it. Thursday celebrated 70sBig.com’s third birthday (which is actually Saturday, the 22nd); thank you all for the kind words.

Q&A

This question comes through a friend of a friend (female):

“My blood results show high cholesterol and high triglycerides. I eat mostly Paleo and train heavy 3-4x/wk. I will tighten up the Paleo and reduce cheats, but what else should I work on?”

 Dear Friend of Friend,

First, I want to point out that having a poor looking lipid profile may or may not be a bad thing. It’s more so the composition of the types of fats you have. I highly suggest you read Robb Wolf’s The Paleo Solution. He goes into depth on this issue. I’d also recommend The Great Cholesterol Con by Anthony Colpo as well as Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes. Wolf’s book will give the simple “this is what the situation is, and this is what you do”. Colpo and Taubes will give you a tons of background explaining why the fat hypothesis is just flat-out wrong. Let’s assume you’re on par with the last two books.

Second, I don’t have much information on you. If you have a more unhealthy body composition (i.e. you’re a bit fat), then fix that.

Third, I don’t know what “mostly paleo” means. If you’re not actually doing it, then it’s pretty easy to see why your lipid profiles aren’t where you would want them. Again, check Wolf’s book because he actually gives some ranges on what they should be (the medical doctor’s ranges will probably blow). If the lipid profile concerns you, then commit to 30 days of no shit paleo, then get re-tested. If they improve significantly, then there ya go.

Fourth, are you consuming quality fats? Fish oil is a standard recommendation for a reason as it’s rich in Omega 3 fatty acids and helps the 3:6 ratio. If you’re eating lots of nuts and seeds, then decrease that stuff and increase the fish oil, coconut oil, and olive oil. I’d have to guess that “mostly paleo” means you’re still eating bread or other non-paleo things more than once a week. Give it a month and see what happens. Don’t bullshit the month otherwise you’re wasting your time.

rburak asks:

Joustin’,

Have you ever done specific neck work? Do back squats really isometrically work the neck? I want dat yoke.

Thanks

 

Dear rburak,

I’ve only done specific neck work a couple of times, and it was playing around with light bands to see if they could be used. I would say that back squats are not enough to have a significant effect on your neck thickness. Instead, things like power cleans, deadlifts, and shrugs will. If you didn’t have a neck harness (I do not), you could try using light bands to extend your neck (I’ve stood on the bands, bent over, and worn a hat to keep the band on my head). Note that lots of reps are recommended since the neck muscles are postural and usually activated throughout the day.

An Australian friend, named Stuart, does neck bridges. You can bridge on a bench or couch, but I recommend ensuring that the neck is in neutral alignment (i.e. not extended back). You would push your heels through the floor (like you’re doing a hip thrust for the glutes) and get the whole torso horizontal as the back of your head is on a surface. My Aussie friend, however, would do bench presses from this position and told me he worked up to 70kg. His neck got too big to fit in shirts, so he stopped doing them. I probably should start doing neck bridges.

 

Stonewallwells asks:

Anyway, I have been working on the TM for about 6 months now and have made some pretty decent progress. Recently I have only been hitting the Volume day and the Intensity day due to the birth of my son and not having the time to do much else. I am fine with this for now because I am still making progress; however, I am intrigued by the Smolov squat program and would like to give it a shot in the next few months(when i have more time in the week to lift or have a bar and rack at my house.) My question is if it would make sense to go through a more volume laden program (thinking of Poliquin’s 10×10 idea) for a few weeks to get adapted to increased volume, or should I just forget about the Smolov idea and continue blasting away on the TM?

For reference:
Male / 27 / 5’9″ / 188lb
recent PR lifts (no older than 8/19):
Squat 380×3
Bench 275×3
DL 440×2
Press 187×1

Last Volume squats was 285x5x5 and i would say it was easy to medium difficulty
Last Intensity Squats was 355x3x2 and this was pretty easy as well

Dear StonewallWells,

Before I answer this, I want you to understand my frame of mind. As someone climbs through intermediate programming of strength training, I’m of the mindset that they will need to lift heavy regularly to remain adapted to hitting the big numbers. I’m also not a fan of excess volume (which is the premise behind the Texas Method books and how the model has progressed into the advanced stuff).

I look at Smolov programming as typically having a lot of volume work. Yes there are different cycles of it for different instances, yet the volume does remain high. I also (possibly unfairly) reduce it to a program that is more so benefited from extracurricular supplementation since PEDs use is accepted and prevalent in Smolov’s regional birthplace. Not that it doesn’t work for a raw un-drugged lifter, but that it would be augmented by additional recovery capabilities.

That means that I’m less likely to be supportive of using Smolov. Especially in this situation. You’ve got limited time, man. You’ve got a family and work. Smolov is a rough program. It requires perfect recovery. Sleep. Food. Even soft tissue work to really recover well. I see it as a program that a competitive lifter would use in their off-season knowing that they were going to transition their training too much higher intensity work. Remember that one of the girls that I handled at nationals ran a volume-focused Smolov program and I thin it inhibited her ability to hit heavier loads since she wasn’t adapted to high intensity.

The argument with the TM style of programming is that you can still get that higher intensity work regularly and not have to have that build up period. And you can do it by using relatively less volume (when compared to a hard squat program in Smolov). You could emulate Smolov with squatting higher frequency, but still, you told me that you have a family and limited time.

Does this mean that I think Smolov sucks and that TM is king and I am god? No, but given your life circumstances, I don’t see Smolov as something that’ll be optimal. Especially when you have a lot of progression potential given your numbers (your Volume Day is only 80% of your Intensity Day, and you said the ID isn’t hard). Smolov will work well to boost someone’s squat, especially if it’s lagging, but I’d only recommend it enthusiastically for certain people.

 

Dear Justin,

 

Been a big fan of the site for a few months now and I believe I am fully indoctrinated into the 70’s Big way of life and am quickly becoming less of a hyper-kyphotic, internally rotated douchebag – – But enough about me, this question is actually about my wife…here’s a little background:

 

About 8 years ago, she started experiencing constant pain, soreness, lack of energy, etc…  She was ultimately diagnosed with fibromyalgia AND chronic fatigue syndrome and has steadily gotten worse.  Last week, after a routine blood test, her Doc diagnosed her with full-blown geriatric osteoporosis and a severe vit.D deficiency.  She still has to work (cleaning houses) 5 days a week ‘cause we’re poor and doesn’t have much energy to do much else at the end of the day – – BUT she is willing to try a workout routine in hopes of feeling just a little bit better.  Since I’ve been talking nonstop about the things I’ve been learning on 70’s Big and MobilityWOD, she wants me to tailor a plan for her.  

 

Now, I know you’re not a doctor and you’re one busy dude, but I was wondering if you’d give me some pointers on where we should start out and what she could reasonably progress to.  I was thinking of just starting her out with unweighted or broomstick variations of the main lifts (e.g. – third world squats) and then maybe adding some band resistance as she gets a feel for them.  I currently train at a globo in Gettysburg, PA and have absolutely no weights at home for her to use, but am not averse to purchase some if need be.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

Anyway, keep up the great work and stay safe.

 

-Joel (aka. Blister)

 

 P.S. I totally forgot to mention that she is only 32 years old and ~120lbs, since her story makes it seem like she is more like 72 and 240lbs. 

 

Dear Joel,

My mom was told she had fibromyalgia and thoracic outlets syndrome, so I’ve done some reading on this issue. Given the age of your wife, I have to assume that she has some pretty severe nutritional and muscular deficiencies. My stock answer for the fibro and chronic fatigue is to immediately go paleo. Recently my friend Renee sent me this article to forward to my mom. It explores the idea that fibromyalgia is a result of a mineral deficiency. They specifically looked a magnesium citrate, which is in Natural Calm. Magnesium is a mineral that almost everyone is deficient in because of the normal, shitty American diet.

Also, magnesium is critical for bone density (and therefore osteoporosis). Not to mention a lower pH diet (like a paleo diet) facilitates the absorption of calcium and magnesium, which would only help the osteoperosis and fibro. And of course she has the vitamin D deficiency which is going to make all of this worse.

Eat stone cold paleo, supplement with vitamin D and magnesium. I’d have a teaspoon of Natura Calm (it dissolves in water) twice a day. I’d have a gel cap of 5,000 IUs of Vitamin D at least once a day, and I’d consider it twice a day. I’m not a fucking doctor, but if this was my wife, this is what I’d do. She may even feel worse initially if she is used to eating shitty carbs, but she will feel better eventually. I’d say do the 4 week “challenge” and commit to it. I’ll remind you both that complications from these “conditions” are going to be MUCH more costly than buying vegetables and meat.

Your proposal for training is a good one. When she’s ready, you can find weighted objects around the house for her to move around (hold for squatting, press overhead, do push up progressions, hold for lunging, row, hold for RDL/good mornings, etc.). She needs to commit to it yesterday. I’d recommend at least four days a week of at least 15 minutes of this kind of stuff. I’d have her squat, lunge, row/pull, and press in every “workout”. If you need to make it a circuit, then so be it. You could even time it like CrossFit but stress proper technique. Buying PVC and filling it with sand will cost only a few dollars and provide a bit of weight. They also have pipes at hardware stores that you could buy for weight. She will feel absolutely shattered from these sessions initially. Accept it. Fight through it. She will get better. But you and her need to commit to this together.

If you guys need ANY help, any at all, then give me a text or call (my number is in the signature of the e-mail I sent you). I’ll send you Wolf’s Paleo book, send money for quality food, get you some used dumbbells, or just talk to your wife on the phone. She can beat this. It’ll be hard, it’ll take time, and it’ll hurt, but she can do this. I’m going to ask a friend who is a natural physicist to comment — he might be able to be more precise the supplementations. I’ll also be doing a podcast with him eventually, so keep us updated on your situation.

 

 

 

 

Q&A – 42

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PR Friday is a celebration of training, a chance for you to exalt in your weekly triumphs or to simply share your hardships. Chances are that hardly anyone in your life understands what you do in the gym. Come, tell us your story, because we fathom and appreciate your trials.

Weekly Challenge

Last week we urged you to purchase a quality pair of short shorts and proudly do your part in The Revolution. Report your experiences and continue wearing them until winter forces you to prevent testicular freezing.

Next week’s challenge is to do something manly. A man is respectful, strong willed, and multi-talented. Build a fire without matches, grill a meat and potatoes meal, or help those in need. The person with the most manly deeds will win a t-shirt. Deeds will be judged by the readership and/or me. You can probably get some inspiration from The Art of Manliness website.

Week In Review

The week started with The Short Shorts Revolution…oh wait, that’s EVERY DAY. On Monday we started a discussion on the effect of birth control (and hormonal supplementation) and its effect on female training. There was also an admirable vid of Summer Krasinski front squatting 100kg for 3. Tuesday was the 11th anniversary of 9/11. Wednesday had some cool pictures. Thursday was a descriptive post on the treatment, prevention, and anatomy of shin splints.

Q&A

Hey Justin big fan of the blog and the layout of your S&C Program in FIT intrigues me. I am curious if your current layout would work, but with a TM bent where Monday and Tuesday act as a volume day to drive Thursday and Friday to keep conditioning in?

 

Also would throwing power snatches in before power cleans be counter productive? Don’t really want to run myself into the ground.

 

Also my conditioning would simply be barbell complexes and then jump rope on the optional Saturday conditioning day.

–Rory B.

 

Dear Rory, 

Yes, the S&C program can be tweaked in many ways to facilitate an intermediate approach to the strength training. The simple way to do that is to shift the Monday squats to Volume Day and the Thursday squats to Intensity Day. All of the options and peculiarities of different rep schemes are in the two Texas Method Books. The only potential problem I see is whether or not Tuesday’s conditioning will have an effect on the Intensity Day, but this is easily modified.

I don’t think power snatches prior to power cleans would be a problem. It would depend on your overall goal. Is the goal to get as strong as possible while maintaining or improving conditioning? Then keep an eye on whether the additional power snatches interfere with the strength work later in the week. Also note that I’m more of a fan of power cleans than power snatches for general S&C programs. One reason is that power snatches seem to reinforce a “vertical jump” component in the lift which is a terrible method if efficient Olympic weightlifting is a goal in the future. Un-learning the “jump” is possible, but difficult (I know, because I have had to do it).

Lastly, your conditioning approach is fine given that I don’t know what your goals are. It’s easy to modify what you do to support your goals. This “S&C Program” is a really good template that can be modified in so many ways.

 

Hey Justin,

I keep whacking myself in the dick when I Power Clean. Is the bar too high or too low on my thigh, when I jump? Looking at some Pendlay Clean instructionals on Youtube, he seems to indicate that the bar should be very high on your hips, which would be above the dick. But, in Starting Strength Rippetoe seems to indicate that the bar should be significantly lower on the thigh – probably a couple of inches below the dick. Could you help clarify this for me?

 

Thanks!
Tom

 

Dear Tom, 

As someone who has hit their dick before. I sympathize. Check it out:

The first thing to note is that the way Pendlay and Rippetoe are teaching the clean are very different. This post (“Jump/Shrug” vs “Catapult”) may help differentiate between the two. First I’ll point out that the position Pendlay shows you — in which the knees are bent, the hips are not bent, and the bar is high on the hips, isn’t something you’ll slowly arrive at. I would have to guess that one of two things is happening: 1) you are not “staying over the bar” when at the second position. This position is where the bar is right at or below the knee and the shoulders are out over the bar. This stretches the hamstrings out right before they violently contract to complete the pull. If you are more vertical here, with the knees bent and shoulders behind the bar, then finishing the pull won’t be efficient and I could see the bar travelling directly into your downstairs mix-up. 2) Maybe the bar is out front. I’d have to see the lift, but I suggest this because that’s what happened to me in the video above.

Regardless of which style of lifting you’re attempting to do — jumping or “getting under the bar style” — you shouldn’t be whacking your baby maker. Stay over the bar.

 

John P asks:

Quick question if you don’t mind.

What do you think of using a Heavy/Light set up (Starr Model) for an athlete (rugby) during the season with one training day and one game day?

 

Mon- Heavy
Wed- Light
Thur- Practice
Saturday- Game
(Not sure whether swapping the heavy/light days around would be better)

 

Heavy –
Squat 5×5
Bench 5×5
High Pull 5×3

 

Light –
Squat 4×5 (Top set 80% of Heavy top set)
Press 5×5
Power Clean 5×3
Weighted Chins 3×5

 

Ramping sets (60,70,80,90,100%).
Every 6 weeks alternate between 5′s and 3′s on the squats and presses.
Deload every 4-6 weeks.

 

Is it unreasonable to think an athlete could progress throughout the season using this method in the given situation?

 

Dear John P,

First, I’ll point out that Sousa directed John P to IronGarm because Shaf has some good in/off season rugby programs. Shaf is a good dude and I’ve always liked the things I’ve seen him write. Regarding the question, I’ll address the specifics of this proposed program briefly and then talk about in/off season programming generally.

I like the weekly approach you have to the program where the Heavy session is early and the Light session is second. If you were beat up from the games, you could always reverse the two if it didn’t interfere with your practice. I do not like High Pulls in the program. I suspect you have a reason for their inclusion, but I’d rather you do something else like power cleans. I wouldn’t have a problem if you power cleaned both days. You could even do them first on the “Light Day”. On both days you could add in some band pulls or side planks as quality prehab accessory work. Feel free to vary the power clean work to doubles or singles. Use a watch and do them on the clock if you feel they take too long.

As for programming in-season, it would be nice if you could make progress and strength train on this set up. But an in-season program should primarily aim to prevent the body’s degradation. In high school I would routinely get stronger regardless of in or off season of football, but I was 14 to 18 years old and full of puberty. Your goal is to get training on your body to help it hold up over the season (i.e. prevent injury), prevent performance degradation as a result of the pounding of the season, and, as a cherry on top, get stronger. I’d love to be wrong and have you not really get beat up from your rugby season and have a really great strength increase, but you need to prepare to be in the mindset that training serves a different purpose. This is the same thing for deployed soldiers or any other athlete.

 

Q&A – 41

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If only he squatted…

PR Friday

Post your training updates and PR’s to the comments. More importantly, tell us how you are joining the fight for La Revolución de Pantalones Cortos! The fight for the right of manliness! (source)

Weekly Challenge

Last week’s challenge asked you to “Learn about a specific muscle group that gives you problems in training. Learn how it functions as well as what you can do to improve the problem.” Share your findings in the comments.

Next Week’s Challenge: If you do not own a pair of short shorts and you qualify to participate in The Revolution, then buy a pair. Proudly wear them. Report your experience in next week’s Q&A comments.

Week In Review

Monday was a bullshit government holiday called Labor Day, so there wasn’t a female post. Tuesday was a post about Lance Armstrong and PEDs. I started the article by talking about Armstrong because I felt bad, but I think my opinion has changed on him. He’s allegedly a dickhead who still used drugs when he was told not to, and then lied about it. I still think overcoming cancer and fundraising hundreds of million dollars are redeeming qualities, but I guess I’ll file this into the, “He’s a dickhead who does some nice things” category. Wednesday talked about the benefits of foam rolling as part of a warm-up and how using a hard foam is usually better than PVC.

Finally, Thursday, WE STARTED A REVOLUTION. Read about The Short Shorts Revolution

Story Time

Yesterday in honor of The Revolution, I wore my short black shorts and a black tank top with shoes out into public. This is standard ops for short excursions, yet for longer trips I usually wear shorts with pockets and a belt. I think the site of a guy in short shorts with shoes is particularly alarming to the public than a guy in flip-flops. I guess it’s because such a guy made a deliberate decision to go out in that attire instead of just easily throwing on some flip-flops. Make no mistake: you will receive stairs when you do this. Assuming your shorts aren’t dangerously short (to show ass cheek or scrote), ignore these stairs and proudly go about your business. Most of the In-N-Out customers were wearing pants, but their stares didn’t register on my “give a fuck” meter. Because we’ve got a god damn Revolution to run, that’s why.

Q&A 

ashkanjah sent 16 hours ago
Hello, Justin. I’m currently going through the archives of your website, and it is incredibly informative and inspiring. I am in the middle of linear progression after a bout of fuckaround-itis. I weigh 156 pounds. I am 17 years old. I made a bet that I could become 190 pounds by March 4th. I am eating at least 5 or 6 hamburgers, innumerable bananas, a pound and a half of wild salmon, and half of a chicken every day (I take psyllium husk, creatine, and vitamin-d. Fish oil rarely if I run out of money for salmon for a few days). Please tell me this is not only possible, but with a strong devotion to constantly performing compound lifts, it will be mostly muscle. On a side note, you have convinced me that a belt and shoes are practically necessary tools despite how much lifting barefoot feels badass. But how often do you use the belt? Every time you train? Thank you very much, and sorry if I’m bothering you.

 

Dear ashkanjah, 

I’d be pretty impressed if you were eating that much. How much is this bet worth? It’s entirely doable to reach 190 by march; people have gained much more in much less time. I don’t know if you’ve read the recent dietary advice on the site, but it revolves more around a “meat and potatoes” regimen and is modeled after the paleo diet (with the occasional allowed splurge).

That being said, you have two strategies: a) get to 190 ASAP or b) steadily gain quality weight and see where you’re at in the beginning of 2013. In the latter example, if you were, say, 10 or 15 pounds under, you could just do a dirty bulk for a period, hit the 190 weight, collect your winnings, and then clean it up and reduce your body fat.

You have plenty of time before March 4th, so distribute the necessary gain per month and stay consistent with that. Most of all, be sure to train consistently.

As for the belt and shoes question: training efficiently and safely is more important than subjectively feeling like a badass. “Badass” is squatting 500+ pounds weighing 190 pounds, not squatting 250 pounds barefoot at any body weight.

P.S. I, like most people, wear a belt on work sets. I don’t wear one during snatches, but I do when front squatting or clean and jerking. Sometimes I do for rows. Presses, squats, and deadlifts, I’ll wear one.

 

Hey Justin-

I’ve noticed more so lately that I tend to be extremely quad dominant in my squatting (my FSQ #s are basically equal to BS, primarily HB squatting) and feel like I am having trouble activating the hamstrings on those lifts.  I’ve partially attributed it to some ankle mobility and inability to stay in my heels, do you have any tips for making sure I get the full utility out of the hamstrings in those lifts?
Thanks, Roy

Dear Roy, 

First, it sounds like your front squat frequency is pretty high relative to your high bar frequency (or you have some technique limitations). I’d make sure you’re high bar squatting twice as much as you’re front squatting. Second, when people use vertical styles of squatting I like to have them put in a heavier posterior chain exercise, and the best for this purpose is the RDL (Good Mornings can’t be loaded as heavy). While I amusingly get mocked for the high frequency of RDL recommendations, they are extremely beneficial for people that are more in the “beginner” stages, as Roy is (I’ve met him before, he trains at CF East Decatur with my homie Shana). Third, if you’re having trouble staying in your heels, then I want to double check that you’re wearing lifting shoes (I assume so).

Fourth, make sure that you’re working on your ankle and hip mobility. If you don’t have the mobility to hit proper positioning, then you won’t have proper muscle activation. Work on your ankles, anterior hip, and external rotators (ask Shana if you’re at a loss). Lastly, the two most important fundamental cues for vertical squatting (high bar or front) are “knees out” and “heels”. If you are not maintaining either of those, then reduce the weight so that you can do so. If you’re allowing your knees to bow in on the ascent, that’s not training the musculature correctly and, in the long run, will be worthless. You can also think about keeping your weight on the outer third of your foot — this cue can help effectively bring in the external rotators and prevent the knees from coming in.

Hey,
I’m curious what your thoughts might be regarding pre & post op exercises for a herniated disc surgery. I’ve got a herniated L5-S1 disc and a bulging L4-L5 disc. I’ve been working with my chiro for several weeks in the hopes that the herniated disc would start to move back into place, but no such luck. It looks like surgery is unavoidable. It was recommended that I focus on ab and stability work going into the surgery to help lessen the load on my spine coming out of the surgery. Do you have any recommendations for pre and post op ab or stability work that might benefit? This will be my second discectomy, and I don’t want to do this again. I’m looking to get my torso as strong as possible to avoid any future disc problems.
–Jonathan

Dear Jonathan,

This is a fuzzy topic since it’s a bit out of my forte and it seems to be a reoccurring issue. Primarily listen to your doctor, because I don’t have all of your information in front of me.  Right away I have two assumptions: a) your mobility is not good and b) your lifting technique is not good. I would start daily mobility work on your anterior hip, external hip rotators, and rotational based mobility. Also hit up any other areas that you know you are lacking in (potentially thoracic spine and ankles); other areas can cause problems whenever you do start to lift or exercise again. If you think your mobility is bad, then it’s probably very bad, and I would have you work on it twice a day.

As for your lifting technique, you’re gonna need to find a good coach. If you are not currently lifting (due to the injury), then you can still do some basic stuff like planks, side planks, Pallof presses (google it) and possibly some torso rotations. Even if you do not want to or can’t squat or deadlift, I would think you could still do light RDLs.

I’m actually surprised surgery is the only solution. It’s not uncommon to have disc issues (some folks aren’t even aware of it) and I’ve had some people come back from herniated disc, didn’t have surgery, and squat and deadlift easily over 225×5 (this person was a female). However, that is dependent on quality coaching and proper technique.

As for post-op, do the standard approach of taking it through a full ROM when you can, lightly load it (this would be body weight initially), and then when ready, start with light, properly executed lifts. I can’t really be more specific without seeing you in person.

My name is Zach. First off, I’d like to say that i appreciate your posts, they’ve helped me out a lot with my training and have granted me a lot of knowledge. I’m writing to ask for help on a recent issue I’ve been having with the lateral side of my gastrocnemius. My issue is that in the bottom of my full squat, I’m experiencing slight pain and numbness in my left calf as I ascend upward. It spreads from the knee down to above the ankle on the lateral side. I don’t have any pain other than when I’m in that position. I tried to do some research to the best of my abilities and what i found that described the symptoms the best was intermittent claudication, a peripheral artery disease that is common in runners. This however seems a little intense of a diagnosis, I’d like to not jump to an extreme conclusion nor be a hypochondriac. Have you had any experience with this problem, or can you think of a simpler diagnosis?
Thanks for your time,
Zach P

Dear Zach, 

Thanks for the kind words and I’m glad the site has helped you. Point blank: I don’t think you have a peripheral arterial disease. You would probably  have a host of other symptoms other than “I have pain down my leg when I squat”. Instead, this is probably a nerve issue.

The sciatic nerve is the major nerve that travels down the back side of the thigh. It then splits into the tibial and peroneal nerves. The peroneal nerves travels by the lateral head of the gastrocnemius (your indicated area), winds around the head of the fibula (the lateral bone in the shin), and then travels down the leg splitting into superficial and deep nerves on the lateral (outside) part of the shin. It’s actually hard to get a good picture of this, but this pic shows you how the tibial and peroneal nerves split (this is a pic of the left leg, the split on the left is the peroneal nerve). You can kind of see how it travels down the outside of the shin in this pic.

In any case, when you’re going into full knee flexion, you’re probably clamping down on that peroneal nerve and just reverberating pain down your shin. A friend of mine in the Army has a similar thing going on, and he has recently dealt with a lot of sciatica pain (RDLs helped make this go away, by the way). Anyway, my suggestion to both of you is that you should “mob” above and below the knee, especially below it. If you have some tight, inflamed, and swollen tissues, knee flexion would press into the tissues which would press onto the nerve to create your pain. The following video is what I recommended to my friend, and it is a good starting point for you: