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.

Never Give Up

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By the time of this post I’ll be in Denver, Colorado for the Great American Beer Festival. I’ll also have been in the wilderness by myself for a couple of days, but that’s neither here nor there.

I’ve always wanted to teach and entertain through 70’s Big, but I also like to help you stay motivated, inspired, and ready to kick the wall down every time you train. Mike linked me the following video, and I thought it was powerful enough to share. If we can all keep this drive, motivation, and consistency in our lives, then impossibility is no longer in our vocabulary.

“It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.”
–Walt Disney

 

“If it had not been for the wind in my face, I wouldn’t be able to fly at all.”
–Arthur Ashe

 

 

Ode To Bacon

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Ode to Bacon
by Tom Vale

Light the burner, woosh,
the pan clatters to the grill.
Unwrap the paper, treasure awaits inside.
Black and silent burns the pan, this witches cauldron about to perform magic.
In mere moments, the silence turns to sizzling, cracking, popping.
The aroma wafts up, intoxicating,
but only a false phantom of the true blissful taste which awaits.
Turning, browning, crisping.
The anticipation is agony, an exercise in patience and restraint.
It is time, the tongs lower in and victory is pulled out.
Lowered to the plate like a newborn.
It is time.
You are mine.
Bacon.

Play The Hand You’re Dealt

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That’s a 220 pound guy legitimately strict pressing 260 pounds overhead. For four. His knees don’t move and he’s not whipping his torso around. Impressive.

At USAPL Raw Nationals, AC had a shoulder tweak and was only able to bench 386 on his second attempt (at a 215ish body weight). In the meet write up, I said, “We’ll get the issue taken care of.”

Obviously the video above shows that we did. That and the fact that AC benched 405×2 on his final double recently. The major cue I gave him was to keep his elbows in on both movements (it maintains external rotation, distributes force across the triceps and anterior deltoid better therefore reducing stress on the A/C and glenohumeral joint, and allows for more efficient force application which makes a stronger press or bench). He’s also been using close grip bench as an assistance (I talk about the benefits and programming in The Texas Method: Advanced) as well as some direct triceps work (i.e. push-downs).

The reaction most people have to AC lifting is, “Wow! He’s a freak! I can never be like that!” There was a similar discussion a few weeks ago on /r/weightroom (here) about me. People think guys like AC, Chris, or even me are genetic freaks capable of unheard of feats. While we may lift well, it’s not because we have innate ability. It boils down to having an innate consistent and determined approach to training. All of my friends not only train with reckless intensity (with the exception of Brent who meanders to the barbell), but we aim to make our lifting, programming, and recovery better every day. I remember when AC pressed less than 185 and Chris deadlifted 440×5 — we are not genetic freaks. If anything, say that our obsession and focus is freakish.

At the same time it’s true that you may not ever get to press 260 for reps. That’s just reality. And it’s okay! If you started training in the last few years, most of us have many years on you. However, you shouldn’t gripe about it and feel like a bitch every time you go into the weight room. It’s okay that you’re squatting 230 while some fucking MASTODON is out there in the world doing his light volume work with 545 raw to full depth. We all start somewhere. Instead, decide to train your fucking dick off so that you can be the best at whatever your goal is.

There’s an amazing quote from The Lord of the Rings that had a profound effect on me when I first read the books in high school. Basically Frodo is bitching about the predicament they’re in and Gandalf lays down some Old Man Knowledge:

Frodo: “I wish none of this had happened.”

Gandalf: “So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”

 

Being weak is definitely a disparaging situation. Are you going to let your weakness consume you, or are you gonna get up and find that fucking dog? Make a decision to not give a shit what other people are doing; we all start somewhere. Decide to be the best you can god damn be with what you have. God damn it.

 

 

The Battle for the Boobs – Fundraising for Breast Cancer

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Ladies. Gentlemen.

I can’t tell you how much I love boobs (SFW). They are joyously loved by toothless children and men. They bring more joy to the world than Christmas and more smiles than a farting dog. Yet boobs are under attack.

Boobs are under attack by cancer in what is now called The Battle for the Boobs. We’re talking about un-checked aggression here.

THIS AGGRESSION WILL NOT STAND.

This year 70’s Big will participate in fundraising for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. If you have a spare doll hair, please donate to the 70’s Big Breast Cancer Fundraising Page. My goal for us is to raise $5,000 before 31 October. Do not feel pressured to donate large sums of money, but even a single doll hair will count towards the aggregate.

Remember: every doll hair counts! Especially in The Battle for the Boobs.

Edit: I forgot to mention that you’ll get a discount for the books after donating (and it will work this time).