building a better back

5 Supersets to Add to Your Program

5 Supersets to Add to Your Program When you think of supersets, you likely envision a gym bro with a tank top on doing 12 sets of curls while sipping his gallon water jug in between. While supersets do seem synonymous with bodybuilders, they have use in any training program. Why Use Supersets? The first… Read more »

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The 5 Most Impactful Decisions I’ve Made for My Business

The 5 Most Impactful Decisions I’ve Made for My Business Since opening in 2012, I’ve certainly learned a lot. Back then, I didn’t have a fucking clue what I was doing business wise. I did not take any business courses in college, nor did I have any experience managing finances, marketing, pricing, etc. As with… Read more »

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Hip Rehabilitation in a 50+ Client vs. Pro Athlete – More Similarities Than Differences

Hip Rehabilitation in a 50+ Client vs. Pro Athlete – More Similarities Than Differences I have a love/hate relationship with doing “rehab.” Yes, I know, rehab is just training in the presence of injury. And while that does have merit, it undermines the intricacies of rehabilitation. If I’m working with an athlete who maybe strains… Read more »

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Four New Ab Circuits

Four New Ab Circuits To actually see your invisible abs, you’ll need to diet. To improve their strength and capacity though, you’ll need to train/challenge them appropriately. Where you place this in training is up to you – between sets, on off days, before you train, etc. I constantly move them around in my clients’… Read more »

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Simple Changes, Powerful Results – Improving My Clients’ Programs

Simple Changes, Powerful Results Fitness content is at a nauseatingly high level these days – more and more of the same bullshit and influencers begging for views. Daily posting and water-downed messages in an attempt to “keep up” and demonstrate competence. When I first met Buddy Morris back in 2005, he was writing under an… Read more »

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3 Different Trap Bar Blocks (4 weeks)

3 Different Trap Bar Blocks (4 weeks) My affinity for the trap bar has grown over the years. I could care less about the argument between squatting or trap bar deadlifting with regards to athletes, it’s a waste of time. Neither of these movements are specific to any sport, and are only used to develop… Read more »

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Programming Pitfalls

Programming Pitfalls Chasing speed. Chasing strength. Chasing performance. Too often, coaches and athletes chase the adaptation. More volume, more intensity, higher frequency. Stimulate, stimulate, stimulate.  Most articles or training videos focus on the stimulation –> adaptation phases of training. The internet only cares about novelty. It doesn’t matter how utterly useless it is, if it’s… Read more »

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Lower Body Speed Session (Using Dynamic Effort)

Lower Body Speed Session (Using Dynamic Effort) This is an acceleration-dominant session I wrote for a hockey player. At this point, we were in an accumulation period, two lower sessions + two upper sessions (high/low), with one recovery session. Roll / Perform whatever makes you feel good Movement Prep Ground-based warm-up Active/Dynamic Warm-up Hurdle Mobility… Read more »

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Your Movement Screen is Probably Wrong

Your Movement Screen is Probably Wrong If you wasted thousands of dollars securing some utterly meaningless three letter acronym next to your name, the title likely upsets you. I don’t blame you. Nobody likes throwing money in the trash. People are infatuated with perceived “complexity.” If it’s complex and seemingly difficult to understand, it must… Read more »

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New Workout

New Workout Depending on where we are in the training plan, Saturday’s are optional workouts that break the monotony of the weekly training and allow us to explore new movements. This past weekend I wrote up what I thought was a medium-level difficulty circuit, but ended up kicking everyone’s ass. Give it a try. *… Read more »

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Training Q&A

Training Q&A Should you have baseball/overhead athletes bench press?  I think it’s important to view each sport through its own unique lens. We have a lot of things to consider – from the energy system demands, chronic positions they spend their time in, to the time of year (off-season vs in season).  I don’t like… Read more »

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