Today I’ve got some random thoughts clogging up my brain and need to dump them onto a page before they slip away.  Here they are in very random order.

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1)  Recently I had a discussion with Bret Contreras about a client I had several years ago who was experiencing lower back pain.  At the time, I was reading Eric Cressey and Mike Robertson’s stuff and got my client to stretch his hip flexors, strengthen his glutes, strengthen his abdominals, etc.  What I failed to realize that this was the solution for those with ANTERIOR pelvic tilt and/or extension based pain.  My client had POSTERIOR tilt that was made worse with flexion.  I actually made his pain worse!

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I later worked to strengthen his hip flexors, lengten his rectus abdominus (think cobra stretch), lengthen his glutes, and stretch the hamstrings.  Fixed the problem in short order.

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Take home lessons:

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- Assess your client and make sure that the method you are using is the right one . Eric and Mike had a great protocol, but I was using it on the wrong person.  (My fault, not theirs)

 - If you’re wrong, admit it and make changes accordingly.

- You will almost certainly learn something after talking with Encylopedia Bret-annica.

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2)  Speaking of Bret, he posted a great interview with my good friend Aaron Schwenzfeier.  Aside from having a name that is impossible to spell (I always cut and paste it when I have to write it) Aaron is a wicked smart dude and I’ve been following his stuff for over a year.

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Recently THIS POST by Aaron caused quite a stir in the comments on my Facebook page and I’m curious to hear what you think.  Should we have some sort of mimimum standard for physical fitness to graduate high school as we do with other more academic subjects?

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3)  I have been lucky enough to recieve a sneak peek of Eric Cressey’s new product that is to be released next week.  I’m only a few pages in, but a brief scan has led me to believe that this is going to be a great product for anyone interested in gaining strength AND looking the part.  I’m hoping to be able to lure him on here to ask him some questions about the new program in the near future so if you’ve got anything you want me to ask Eric about getting wicked strong let me know in the comments below.

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4)  I am also currently reading Movement by Gray Cook, playing with my new Rotator, and reviewing Rick Kaselj’s Muscle Imbalances Revealed product that also features Mike Robertson, Bill Hartman, Eric Beard, Kevin Yates, and Dean Somerset.  On top of that I’ll possibly be checking over the lit review on Mike Robertson’s upcoming product as well.  Suffice it to say that I’ve got a lot going on these days on top of my usual chaos. 

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The good news is that after I’m done checking out a product I’ll be able to share my thoughts with you.  The bad news is that with some many things to review, I might start to be percieved as one of those internet marketer types who is strictly in it for the Benjamins (that’s dollars for all of you who aren’t down with my gangsta lingo).  So let me reassure you right here and now that you will NEVER see me endorse a product that I do not support or at least think is worth reading, watching, or purchasing. 

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I honestly figure that this should be obvious since I’ve openly bashed the very popular book Crush It in this post and questioned the even more popular Functional Movement Screen.  To me it should be pretty apparent that I don’t just jump on the affiliate bandwagon to score a few bucks.  But if I do like a product you’ll see a glowing review from me because I consider it part of my responsibility (as someone who has access to a lot of these products) to separate the good products from the garbage.

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Moreover, if I post an affiliate link from I’ll let you know so you’ll have to option to purchase directly from the person who created it if you prefer.  Of course, my family might go hungry if you don’t buy it through me…but don’t feel guilty if you go the other route.  *cough, cough*  I feel so weak… 

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Bottom line: You’ll always get the straight truth from me and I won’t put my name behind something that sucks…unless it is a really good vacuum.

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5)  My wife and I have b en reading some funny stuff at a site we’ve discovered recently and I think THIS is the funniest article on the site.  I laugh so hard that it makes me pee a little every time I read it.  On the other hand, my wife thinks THIS article is funnier.  Which one do you think is the best?  Note: Don’t read the stories if you’re easily offended.  The guy is a little abrasive…and by “a little” I mean “a lot”.

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6)  This is AWESOME!

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 So I’m all over the map today.  Throw down your comments and let me know your thoughts.  Heck, if you’ve got something else on your mind let’s hear it.

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Okay…it has been a while since I posted one of these, but I figured I’d drop a couple things I think are worthy of reading.

1.  Optimal Rest Intervals for Strength and Hypertrophy

 So you’ve probably been told that long rest intervals during training are important for strength and shorter rest intervals are for hypertrophy.  Well, I just found this site this week and Bryan Chung (who writes the blog) takes a solid look at a study that is examining these very things.  He’s not a coach or trainer, but he is a medical science researcher and sits on the board for the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine so he knows his stuff.  Check out the excellent research review HERE.

2.  Movement

As my readers probably know, I can be a little bit of a doubting Thomas when it comes to training and nutrition related information.  At the same time, I can appreciate when someone has contribued a lot of great stuff to this industry and I’m interested to see what Gray Cook will present in his new book Movement.  Recently Laree Draper posted the following three posts by Gray Cook on her blog and I think they made for some great reading.  Check out parts 1, 2, and 3.

3.  Webinar Notice

My friend (and PhD Candidate) Mike T Nelson has just posted a sale on three webinars this week and time is ticking as this is a limited time offer.  Although I have yet to review them, I’m excited to hear what Mike is going to say so I thought I’d share this with my readers as well.  Apparently there is a sport supplement review, a discussion on metabolic flexibility, and another on the neurology of movement.  If you’re interested you can check out his site HERE.   (Note this is not an affiliate link)

That’s it for me.  What are you reading?

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