Every so often I hear someone say something that really forces me to think seriously about why I train people the way I do.  Last week was one of those times and Mike Boyle was one of those people.

If you know anything about Mike Boyle at all you’re probably aware that he’s pretty big on single leg training.  Split squats, single leg split squats, and step ups are a huge part of his programming.  But last week when I was listening to his audio interview at RobertsonTraining Systems.com he said something that kicked my brain into gear.

He said that a lot of people can’t squat properly.  I definitely agree with that since a great number of people I’ve worked with don’t have the hip mobility to squat properly at first.  However, he also said (I’m paraphrasing here so don’t crucify me) that when a lot of people do a bilateral squat that their core gives out before their legs so their leg workout suffers as a result.  I also have to agree here to some degree.

The question running through my head though was why on earth can’t mobility be increased, form be instructed, and the core be strengthened to allow someone to perform a bilateral back squat???

Then it struck me.  I haven’t done a back squat in over 2 years.  In fact, I have some clients with back injuries involving compression that have done just as well for fat loss without any bilateral lower body movements at all.  And, their legs are just as developed (aesthetically) as those of the people doing front or back squats. 

We still work on hip mobility and strengthen the core.   We also hit their glutes, hams, and quads hard to bring about hypertrophy, but they just don’t squat.

I guess the point I’m making here is that you can build a great set of wheels without bilateral movements no matter what HyoogeArms21 is telling you on the forums.  As Mike Boyle says, “don’t get married to a movement”.  Just use what works in your specific situation.

If you’re a powerlifter, you HAVE to squat.  If you like squatting, go ahead and squat.  But if you’re training purely for aesthetics and you hate squatting or have an injury that prevents it, don’t worry about it.  All too often I see people trying to squat who shouldn’t be just because someone told them they can’t get jacked without them.

In the end there are plenty of other options for single leg training that you can use and as long as you bust your ass (Mike Boyle has guys doing single leg split squats with over 200 pounds) you’ll still get great results!

Have your  own thoughts about the importance of squatting?  Feel free to disagree.  Post them in the comments below!

I was chatting with some friends in the fitness industry and one of the things that plagues almost everyone is what to write when it comes to content for our website and future articles.

Often times we think we know who we’re writing to or that we know exactly what you want to hear, but we’re usually just making and educated guess.  So I figured what better way to find out than to actually ask you?  (Brilliant, I know.)

So that’s what I’m doing.  Today I’d like you to introduce yourself, let me know a little about you and what you’d like me to address on my site.

Where are you from?

Are you a trainee, coach, therapist, or whatever?

Do you want to get crazy lean, improve performance in the gym, reduce injuries, get wicked strong, or just be  look good on the beach?

Drop me a note in the comments section below and let me know what YOU want to read.  After all, I write this stuff for you so why not tell me what you want to see?

Fire your questions and I’ll do the best to provide answers.  If I can’t…chances are that I know someone who can and maybe I’ll get them to do a guest blog.

Recently fellow strength coach Nick Tumminello has been revamping the whole notion of the popular YTWL shoulder circuit and I really love his logic.

As this process has been going on I’ve had an opportunity to test  this revised circuit on my clients and the results have been awesome!  Just today Nick dropped me an email saying he’d just created a post detailing the whole process so you can learn how the famous YTWL circuit has become the LYTP circuit.

This series will change how you think about scapular stability!  Here’s just a little piece to wet your appetite.

Check out the rest of this awesome series and even more information HERE.  I guarantee that once you try this you’ll be hooked.

Anyone who has ever had plantar fasciitis can tell you that it flat out sucks.  The first step out of bed each morning can cause excrutiating pain in the underside of the foot.  Some people report that it feels like someone stabbed a knife into their foot just in front of the heel.

As you might imagine, walking can be difficult here so any type of sprints or  exercises that require putting weight on your feet (think squats and deadlifts) would be pretty much out of the picture here.  Lunges and similar exercises also tend to be terribly affected.  If you’re not adept at changing your routine to maintain a training effect while you’re injured you can start to lose progress.  Personally, I’m a big fan of working around injuries to maintain a training effect, but in the meantime we need to deal with that foot.

What is plantar fasciitis?

Simply put, the underside of the foot has a long ligament-like structure that runs the length of the foot.  This structure is called the plantar fascia.  It is very dense and fibrous and provides support to the underside of the foot.  When this structure experiences small tears it can become inflammed and pain is a result.  Each night while sleeping the fascia is allowed to shorten again and when weight is placed on the foot in the morning more tears occur in the fascia causing the pain to continue.

In the early stages, a common treatment for this condition is NSAIDS like ibuprofen (see HERE for a sneaky trick you can do with this) and ice.  This is a standard treatment for any inflammation and it generally works quite well to reduce the pain.  It is also usually recommended to stretch the plantar fascia and the calf in the morning before getting out of bed.

However, I’m going to take it one step further.  If you want your plantar fascia to clear up in record time you NEED to get yourself a Strassburg Sock.  Instead of letting the plantar fascia shorten on a daily basis and working all day to stretch it back to normal length, you need to maintain a stretch in the fascia and allow it to heal that way.

The Strassburg Sock (which is often available at stores that sell running equipment) holds the fascia in a prolonged stretch while you sleep.  Granted, most people will tell you it is quite uncomfortable to wear at first, but the results are usually much more rapid than would be expected with the usual routine of daily stretching and icing.  Within weeks the pain is usually gone or significantly reduced.

I should note here that just as there is a difference between tendonitis and tendonosis, there is also a difference between plantar fasciitis and plantar fasciosis.  After a couple weeks the acute inflammatory response to the injury on the bottom of the foot starts to go away and NSAIDS and ice cease to be terribly beneficial.  If you’ve failed to catch this early you’re probably starting to develop plantar fasciosis and the NSAIDS are probably just serving more as pain killers than anything else.

As plantar fasciosis develops the blood supply to the fascia decreases and the fibrous tissue starts to thicken.  If you’ve been experiencing this for a while, you’ll need to take the next step and roll the bottom of the foot daily with a ball of some sort.  This will help to break up the thickened tissue so it can be restored to normal length.

Personally I would suggest a massage ball such as those you can buy at some drug stores, but if you don’t have one handy you can try a tennis ball.  Some people prefer golf balls.  If this is you, remember to take it easy as you’re trying to cause healing not total destruction.  Try rolling the bottom of the foot for 1-2 minutes concentrating some of that time just in front of the heel.  I like to have people do this right before they go to bed and put on their Strassburg Sock so the tissue is less restricted and ready to be lengthened.

If your feet have been bothering you, give some of these tips a try and you’ll be back to training normally in no time.

Today I had the good fortune to contribute alongside some other incredible strength coaches like Dave Tate, Charles Staley, and several others in part 7 of the Mythbusters series by Nate Green.

Today I tackled the idea that when a muscle is weak it isn’t always weak.  What on earth does that mean?  Check out the article HERE to find out.  *Hint - This one is great if you have a bum shoulder*

Oh yeah, some of the other myths that are busted just might send you into a fire spitting rage if you’re dead set on eating 6 meals per day.  Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

And one more thing…if you signed up to the newsletter recently and you didn’t get the promised report just drop me an email at admin@markyoungtrainingsystems.com and I’ll make sure you get it.  On the other hand, if you got a whole bunch of emails I apologize for that as well.  I’m getting that sorted out as we speak.