A couple weeks back I celebrated my 33rd birthday.  This past weekend I spent a night with my family and friends to share in the joy of a new year of life.  In doing so it got me to thinking that everyone who reads this blog are part of my “online family” so to speak.

I spend so much time pouring my thoughts and ideas out there that I think people really don’t get to know me at all.  So…I thought it would be fun to share a few things about myself interspersed with plenty of my thoughts on topics to do with strength, flexibility, fat loss, and whatever else comes to mind.

1.  I was born with 6 fingers on my right hand.  Well, it was actually 4 fingers and two completely functional thumbs.  This is called polydactylism and apparently it is a dominant gene.

Had my parents not had it removed at 9 months of age I may have been the greatest concert pianist that ever lived.  However, I believe that by having it removed they spared me from being called “The Six Fingered Man” when the movie The Princess Bride was released.  Thanks Mom and Dad.

 2.  I haven’t done or had any of my clients do a single crunch in over 5 years.

3.  I do not believe that squatting is essential when fat loss and body composition is the goal.

4.  When I was a teenager I had the worst haircut on the planet.

5.  Frankly, I am getting fed up with strength coaches and trainer who are bashing other coaches and trainers.  I have to admit that I’m guilty myself of publicly attacking others like Jillian Michaels, but I have decided to stop.

If you have a problem with a specific element of my philosphy then I’d be happy to discuss the issue so we can all learn something.  Saying you’re going to put other coaches out of business is just plain arrogance.  Ah shit.  I did it again. 

6.  Chrisitian Thibaudeau’s Black Book of Training Secrets is one of my most referred to ebooks.  Hands down.  Actually sitting on the desk beside my computer right now.

7.  I met my wife when I was 15 years old at a local roller skating rink.  And no, she didn’t see the haircut.  Thank God!

8.  If you can’t assess a client you have no business training that client.  This is akin to a doctor writing a prescription without a diagnosis.

9.  Along the same lines, I have just purchased Assess and Correct.  Since it just came out today I’ve only had a few minutes to read over the manual that accompanies the DVDs, but the content looks awesome!

As soon as I’ve watched the DVDs I’ll do a full review, but if you’re thinking about it, the product is on sale this week and then the price will jump.  Given that Mike, Eric, and Bill put this together it was really a no brainer for me.

10.  My wife and I are having our first child in just under a month so we’re incredibly excited!  However, I can’t believe how much space newborn “accessories” take up.  The living room is more like an obstacle course.

11.  I worked in the fitness industry for almost 10 years before I sent my first article to a major online publication.  Thanks Tmuscle!

12.  I used to think stability ball training was completely useless.  Now I only think it is moderately useless.  There are some exercises that I might consider in the right circumstances.  But mostly I think that there are usually better options.

13. I hate brussel sprouts, turnip, and portobello mushrooms.

14.  When it comes to nutrition people are almost always too fixated on details.  You must consume less than you burn for fat loss.  This is THE most important factor.  Anyone who says anything else is selling something.

15.  I recently interviewed Brendan Fox, Jim Smith, John Paul Catanzaro, Leigh Peele, Lyle McDonald, Jimmy Smith, Martin Berkhan, Mike Robertson, Nick Tumminello, and Scott Abel for an upcoming audio series on core training and fat loss that you’ll be able to listen to for FREE.

Oh yeah, I also interviewed Dr Stuart McGill (author of Low Back Disorders & Ultimate Back Fitness and Performance) and Thomas Myers (author of Anatomy Trains).  More bonuses still to be added.

16.  Last weekend at Walmart I accidentally walked away with someone else’s cart and discovered this about 15 minutes later when all the stuff in the cart certainly wasn’t mine.

17.  I cannot be near Nutella, chocolate chip cookies, or carrot cake with icing.  These 3 items result in a terrible case of eat-way-too-many-calories-itis.  They are my “can’t have in the house” foods.

18.  My favourite television show right now is Criminal Minds.

19.  I believe that an emphasis on the nervous system is the next big area that needs to be explored in the fitness industry.

20.  Books I purchased last week: Fast Food Nation and Outliers

21.  I don’t think that need nearly as much protein as people think for muscle gain.  Fat loss, on the other hand, is a different story.

22.  Compressive injuries to the end plate on a vertebrae can and do occur even when spinal alignment is in neutral.  You’ll usually hear a popping sound.  Back squats impose a huge compressive load. 

23.  I think the “starvation response” to fasting may be overrated.  I’m not totally sold on this, but my reviews of the research in this area are leaning this way.  If this is the case, it has incredible implications for how we could design nutrition plans.

Maybe less than 6 meals per day?  Blasphemy!  Note that I said MAYBE so don’t get pissed off and start sending me research on protein pulse theories. 

24.  I think this video is funny.  The powerlifter guy kinda reminds me of a Dave Tate type character.  If swearing upsets you, then you won’t enjoy this video.

25.  I also think this video is hilarious although not as funny as the first.  If you are into Crossfit this video may upset you.  That’s what you get for being into Crossfit. 

26.  The flu vaccine cannot give you the flu.

27.  If you’re sick don’t go to the damn gym and give it to everyone else!  Seriously, stay home and get well.  Train hard next week.

28.  There is no such thing as a time machine (except the one that I’m secretly building in my basement).  Don’t train stupidly in pursuit of a goal.  If it hurts back off and get it treated.  Training is a marathon and not a sprint.

29.  If you’re 20 or younger you probably don’t understand the last point.  If you’re 30 or older you’re probably wishing that you did when you were 20.

30.  Consistency with training and nutrition is more important than the plan you’re on.  It is better to go at 60% forever than it is to train at 100% for one week.

31.  I love to read, but generally hate fiction. 

32.  I detest coffee and drink tea often.  Green tea at least 2 times per day.

33.  I am so thankful for my friends, family, all of you for reading this blog.

Since I’ll be around the computer a bit in the next few days I figure I’m going to open this up.  Drop me any comments or questions you have below on any topic (training related or not) and I’ll try to respond.

Recently I recieved a series of questions and I thought the answers  may be of interest to some so I’ve decided to post them for your reading pleasure.  Enjoy!

Q:  I read your section of the TMuscle article “Mythbusters 7” by Nate Green and thought that your section was quite informative. However, it brings up a lot of questions for me.

How do you know if a muscle is weak? You bring up the example of one shoulder being weaker than the other. Usually the non-dominant side will be weaker than the dominant side, but at which point do we consider it “weak”? 
 

A:  I personally use manual muscle testing to assess all of my clients at our first meeting and I try to determine as many imbalances as possible prior to even touching a weight.  If a muscle fails my manual test (such as the one in the article) then I make a note of it and try to address it before we get started or at least work around it until we can sort it out.
 

If there is just a good old fashioned strength imbalance, such as the one you described, I would then just do more work on that group to bring it up to speed.  However, I’d rule out other causes of weakness first.

Q:  You say “weakness isn’t always weakness”. How do you know when weakness is weakness, and when it is NOT weakness?

A:  I’m probably really oversimplifying here, but here goes.  When I’m testing a weak muscle the process essentially goes like this:
 

Test -> Try Treatment -> Retest 
 

If there is improvement we’re done and we’ve figured out the cause.  If not, we repeat the process by trying a progression of treatments until we do.
 

For example, I might do a muscle test on the suspected weak muscle.  If it fails my test I do an exercise for that muscle first.  Then I wait about one minute and retest.
 

Since a brief bout of exercise can increase the strength of a properly functioning muscle to perform better on subsequent sets (called post activation potentiation) this provides a lot of information.
 

If the muscle passes the test or seems stronger after this treatment I know it is most likely due to plain old weakness and the muscle just needs to be strengthened.  If the muscle still fails, I’ll proceed to identify other possible causes.
 

Often the improvement is immediate and sometimes dramatic so this provides a perfect negative feedback loop to tell you if the treatment has worked.

Q:  You say that weakness can be caused by tightness of the opposing muscle, trapped nerve, or unstable joint. So how do you identify the weakness? After you’ve identified the weakness, how do you identify the cause of the weakness?
 

A:  As I mentioned above, I do my test and then proceed through a series of different exercises, stretches, and drills to see which one causes an improvement in the strength of the muscle.  Sometimes one thing causes a moderate improvement and it turns out that two factors are causing the weakness.
 

For example, when a glute tests weak I often find that the piriformis on that side is tight (compression the gluteal nerves) AND that there is lumbar spine compression on that side (compressing nerves higher up).

Usually the lumbar spine compression is improved with moderate spinal traction, but sometimes the lat on that side is tight and is causing the compression so no amount of traction will work by itself.  In that case the person has to stretch the piriformis and lat on the weak side and do some daily traction drills afterwards.

Q:   How do you rule out other weaknesses?

That’s a big question as weakness can come from so many sources (many of which I’m still learning to this day).  Generally speaking, I just try to account for any source of weakness that I can when doing testing.  For example, dehydration, having the head flexed downwards, opposing muscle tightness, nerve entrapment (by a muscle or at the spine), joint instability, muscle strain, or just plain old weakness can cause a failed test.   I’m sure there are more that I am forgetting.

For the most part, I know what the common causes of failure are at each joint and I test those first.  That solves the problem 90% of the time.  Otherwise I just use logic to help me figure it out.
 

I always do a postural assessment first and often I can tell just from that what is going to test weak.  For example, a high hip on one side likely means that adductor is tight.  When the adductor is tight, it is probable that the abductors (i.e., the glute medius) will test weak.

Q:  You say you usually do manual muscle testing. How long does this usually take?
 

My whole testing protocol can take minutes to hours depending on the person.  Sometimes I test someone and almost everything passes so the process is short.  On the other hand, some people have several issues that present during testing and we have to attempt different treatments and retests until we get it all done for the whole body.  The more injuries and imbalances the more time it takes.  Mind you, the results are almost instant in a lot of cases so it is worth it to take the time.
 

It is important to keep in mind that my testing protocol can also include body composition testing, body measurements, postural assessments, flexibility/mobility assessments, and so on.  Everything is dependent on the client.

However, if I’m just doing a test on the fly (i.e., the client has a problem during a workout) it’ll take less than a minute or two to sort it out.

Q:  Where can I start learning more about this stuff?  Are there any good resources out there?

A:  Unfortunately, there isn’t much else out there on how to use muscle testing for fitness.  There is a lot of stuff on the Applied Kinesiology uses for muscle testing, but some of them can get pretty “out there” and are not based on physiological or biomechanical principles.

My colleague Brendan Fox and I are aiming to put out a muscle testing product in late 2009 that will be exclusively geared towards muscle testing for fitness so I’m anxious for that to come out. 

In the meantime, I’d suggest starting with Kendall’s book called Muscles: Testing and Function with Posture and Pain so you can learn how to test various muscles.

Otherwise, products can be pretty limited and it can take a long time to learn this stuff because you’ll always be tracking people down to learn it.  We hope to change all that with out product and make testing and treatment for fitness more widespread.

More importantly, once you know this stuff you can individualize routines beyond belief to bring about results and prevent injuries along the way!