For all those who are planning to attend my boy Mike Robertson’s Midwest Performance Enhancement Seminar, the deadline for the early bird rate is THIS SATURDAY!

I mention this because:

You’ll save yourself 50 bucks AND you’ll also be able to attend a FREE seminar by fitness biz guru Pat Rigsby the day before on how to build a business in the fitness industry.

Moreover, the recent addition of Evan Oscar to the lineup is awesome!  If you don’t know who Evan is, rest assured that his stuff will be definitely worth seeing.

So if you’re interested in this great event check out the full details HERE and sign up before the price goes up and you miss out on Pat’s seminar.

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As some of you may already know, my good friend and colleague Mike Robertson is hosting a day long seminar coming up in August and the lineup is going to be SICK!

Check this out:

Brian Grasso – Youth performance superstar

Lee Taft – Speed expert extraordinaire

Mike Robertson – Some guy with a blog

Pat Rigsby – Fitness business maven

Bill Hartman – Corrective exercise and performance genius

Brett Jones – Kettlebell guru

If you can make it out I’d definitely suggest that you take a day and learn from some of the best in this industry.

Check out the complete schedule and sign up HERE.

As many of you are probably aware, I’m a big fan of Mike Robertson’s work so it probably isn’t a big surprise to see me reviewing his latest product here.  However, if I’m being honest, I’ve read almost everything he’s ever written so when I heard he was putting together a single leg training product I was pretty certain I already had a good handle on his single leg progressions.  While I tend to support Mike whenever I can, this wasn’t going to be an immediate purchase for me.  (Sorry Mike)

About a week after the launch Mike sent me a copy and having just finished checking it out I can say without a doubt the I was dead wrong.  I can honestly say that I was totally shocked at how much I learned!  As I told Mike in an email yesterday, his progressions using offset loading to reflexively train the core and other loading variations have changed the way I incorporate single leg lifts into my workouts to complement my core programming.

Moreover, the step up progressions in The Single Leg Solution are very similar to my own in many regards, but his rationale for where is places them in the overall progression of single leg programming has now forced me to overhaul all of my lower body workouts.  Despite the fact that I want to kill him for making me do this, I’m certain it will make my programs so much more effective.

So this review really serves two purposes.  First, it is to remind you (by way of my mistake) that just because you THINK you understand something doesn’t mean that you do.  And more importantly, The Single Leg Solution is a great tool for improving how you implement single leg movements into your programs.

If you include any of these movements in your training and you were on the fence about purchasing this product, let this be the deciding factor to push you over the edge.  You can grab The Single Leg Solution manual and DVD HERE.

You won’t be sorry you did!

A few weeks ago Mike Robertson asked me if I’d be willing to do a guest blog for his site.  Given my disdain for the recent explosion  of “Tabata” protocols, the topic was easy.  Check it out HERE and let me know what you think.

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.