As many of you know, I’m a huge advocate of reading (or learning) for at least an hour per day.  Since my beautiful daughter was born almost 8 weeks ago she and I have been putting in our time reading and watching some great stuff.

Outliers - By Malcolm Gladwell

This book provides a very insightful look at what makes people successful in their respective fields.  Despite what you might think about working hard, Gladwell suggests that this is only part of the equation.  Although I’m not 100% sold on every single assertion that was made, it certainly was enough to open my eyes to the possibility that there are other factors at play.

More importantly, Gladwell’s writing style is interesting and easy to read which is refreshing if you’re looking for something thought provoking, but not overly intense.  If this isn’t enough to convince you, consider that I’m now reading another Gladwell book called The Tipping Point and have his other books Blink and What the Dog Saw on my bookshelf already.

Fast Food Nation - By Eric Schlosser

Honestly, I could probably tell you all about this book and how it explains the production, flavoring, and marketing of your food, but it really wouldn’t do justice to the vast amount of information that is covered about the effects of corporate power on our food supply.

Consider that companies like Nestle make baby formula (Gerber), food (Cheerios, Lean Cuisine, Stouffer’s), coffee (Nescafe), chocolate (Kit Kat, Smarties), and then when you get good and overweight they can sell you food replacements like Boost, Powerbar, Jenny Craig, and even the medically managed weight loss product called Optifast.  Need some water for that shake?  No worries, they sell that too.  Pure Life, Perrier, Vittel, and S.Pelligrino are all Nestle products.  And by the way, they are also feeding your pets.  Nestle makes Alpo, Friskies, and Fancy Feast.   Once they start making caskets they’ll have us covered from cradle to grave.

Imagine what would happen if the goverment tried to mandate changes to the foods we eat to make them healthier.  Imagine the power of corporations to resist.  Although the observations about Nestle are my own, I’m sure you get the idea.  Fast Food Nation is well worth the read.

Note that this book led me to investigate further the treatment of animals during the commercial production of the food we eat.  Check out the galleries on THIS SITE if you’re interested.  Consider this fair warning that the images there are graphic and disturbing.  They also are not intended to convey that I think all industry operates like this…but it certainly opens your eyes.

StrengthCoach.com

Recently I’ve spent a fair bit of time on Strength Coach.com and I really enjoy the content.  The weekly articles are great, but I have to admit that the forum is really where it is at.  

Unlike many other web forums that are chock-full of nonsense by written by any idiot with a keyboard, here you can often read and participate in discussions bright folks like Mike Boyle, Bret Contreras, Mike Robertson, Alwyn Cosgrove,  Nick Tumminello, Charlie Weingroff, and many others that I’m probably forgetting to name.

Personally, I’ve read some people’s responses in the advanced forum and had to look stuff up or ask questions just so I could understand what they’re talking about.  As a result I’ve learned a ton of new stuff in a short period of time.

I think this is an incredible resource and totally worth checking out.  It’ll cost you a buck to try it for 14 days and if you don’t like it you can bail.

Oh yeah…while I’m on the Mike Boyle front I should also mention that I just watched Functional Strength Coach Volume 3 and think this is a great resource for any up and coming coach.

Fat Is Not Your Fault

After interviewing Dr. Bryan Walsh a few weeks back I decided to check out his Fat is not Your Fault Program.  Frankly, I’ve grown a little tired of the overhyped rapid fat loss programs that are basically just some variation of a low carb diet which is why I think this program is so interesting.  Dr. Walsh not only emphasizes the importance of diet, exercise, and mindset, but he also identifies several other possible roadblocks to fat loss success that you’re not going to see in your typical fat loss program.

I’ve already read the manual and am currently about half way through watching the videos and am loving the information so far.  Never have I really given as much thought to adrenal health and gastrointestinal function as I have since seeing this product.  If you’re successfully navigating the fat loss world, I’m not sure you’re absolutely in need of this program, but if you or a client have ever had difficulty losing fat despite being totally on plan, this would be a worthwhile investment.  Personally, I’m thinking of making Dr. Walsh’s screening questionaire (which is included) as part of my battery of forms for my clients.

Z-Health R Phase Manual

At the persistent enouragement of Mike T Nelson I’m checking out the Z-Health system.  To be honest, I have yet to start reading/watching this, but it is next on my list so hopefully I’ll steal a few pearls of wisdom from this as well.

What great stuff are you reading right now?  What’s next on your reading list?  Drop me a comment and let me know.

In Part I of this series I dissected a pig spine to demonstrate the risks of rotational movements like Russian Twists.  In Part II I talked more about crunches and why I think they’re a terrible exercise.

In light of all the controversy lately over Mike Boyle’s no squatting comment I thought it would be a shame if I didn’t include something on that subject as well.  Please watch and enjoy.

I should note that some people have commented previously that pigs do not stand upright so this doesn’t necessarily apply.  Unfortunately, when I asked my friends to use their spines them seemed unusually resistant to the idea.  The good news is that pig spines are a pretty decent model for human spines which is why many spine researchers actually use them in their research.

 As usual, please share your thoughts, comments, and questions below.

Recently there has been a lot of talk about the spine and the way it responds to different exercises.  I wanted to share my two cents, but I also wanted to make my points crystal clear.

This week I got my hands on a pig spine to illustrate exactly how the spine responds to different forces.  In this 3 part series I’m going to take a look at 3 different exercises and how they impact the spine.

Okay…so that was a bit serious.  And it is Monday after all so let’s have a little fun shall we.  I created this little video to have a little fun with the current discussions on whether or not we should squat.

Let me know what you think in the comments section below.

As many of you may know, I believe that reading for an hour per day is paramount if you hope to become a leader in any field.  Fitness and nutrition are no different.  Here are a few things to get you started for today.

My Ah-Ha Moments - By Mike Boyle

I especially like points one and two.  While many believe that the nervous systems governs the body (which it obviously does) I concretely believe that if the body has been in a certain state for some time, the muscle itself will have adapted and needs to be addressed as well as the nervous system for optimal function to return.

Self Ankle Mobilization - By Bill Hartman

If you’re having pressure or pain with your ankle mobility drills or your ankle mobility just isn’t what it should be you should check this out.  And just to save you time, this is a short video instead of making you read more.   I know…you’re welcome.

Thoughts?  Comments?  Light up the comment section below.

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!