Better Is Better

Dumbest Things I Saw In The Gym Today

Gyms aren't all bad. There are lots of useful things you could be doing in a health club. Of course, you know that I think the majority of your time would be best spent outdoors or at home with your bodyweight, a Clubbell, a kettlebell, a sandbag or any number of other exercise modalities that take you closer to the movements of life and sport. But that's for another time.

The point here is that there are some downright dumb things that happen in gyms. Some things are just sad because they represent so much wasted time. Others are just plain d-u-m-b!

Today was a beautiful day here in Quebec City. There were tons of people outside on bikes & rollerblades or just out for a stroll. It was great to see. I had to be in the gym for some clients for a while. The place was almost empty (bravo). But our number one dumbest thing I saw in the gym today was...

Somebody climbing steps!

For one thing, it was beautiful outside. For another, Quebec City has more flights of long steep steps than any other city I've ever seen. So if ya wanna climb steps, get out of the gym!

The other thing they were doing wrong is just climbing, climbing, climbing at the same slow pace the whole time. Why not hit them hard for a bit, then slow the pace for a while. Or better yet get off the climber between intervals and do some joint mobility or flow yoga (à la Intu-Flow and Prasara).

Training with intervals has been proven time and again to outperform steady state cardio for fat loss and cardiovascular benefits. Why do we insist on maintaining our clutch on the chronic cardio?

The prize for the second dumbest thing I saw in the gym today goes to someone who was confident in the "functionality" of what he was doing.

Heavy biceps curls with each foot on a balance disk.

It looked like a circus side show.

First off, I'm not too keen on biceps curls to begin with. They have their uses for certain people at certain times. But if I'm using them with someone, it's to specifically address certain concerns related to hypertrophy or strength of the elbow flexors. At that stage, we're a long way off from applying that strength functionally. So why would you add instability to such an isolated exercise? I thought about that all the way home in the car and couldn't come up with any decent reasons.

And even if I was trying to add functionality to an exercise, rarely would I add the balance challenge to the bottom of the feet. It is very rare to a apply force in real life or in sport from a position of instability at the contact point between the ground and the foot. Even in sliding sports like skiing we create a solid platform between the snow and the foot through the edges of the ski. In cutting during field sports the foot is planted solidly to allow the application of force.

Very rare are occasions when the foot is not in solid contact with something. So why are so many trainers using instability under the foot? Doesn't it make much more sense to apply instability from the other end of the chain? That's why I love Clubbells so much. They're the perfect tool to add instability and chaos to the structure while working through a solid foundation underneath.

Anyhow, those are the two dumbest things I saw in the gym today. What have you seen lately? 

Salma Hayek & The Beauty of the Butt - Training the glutes is sexy

Salma Hayek and French businessman Francois-Henri Pinault got married over the weekend in Paris. I don’t know what other guys think about this, but I’ve long been of the opinion that Salma has one of the nicest butts in Hollywood. It’s not one of those emaciated rear ends we often see on the silver screen. She has a round, full and firm butt that bespeaks a balanced foundation of muscle mass.

For most of us, to get that full-bodied butt, you have to train for it. A visit to most gyms these days will reveal a regrettable trend. Most gym rats are ignoring their lower bodies entirely. And those that are training their legs are often neglecting their gluteals in favor of the more mirror friendly quadriceps.

Not only have well developed glutes –– both for females and males –– been shown scientifically to increase attractiveness and desirability, they are also crucial for injury prevention and high levels of sport performance. Well firing glutes provide tremendous power for running, jumping, pedaling, and pretty much any other movement you can think of. Proper glute function also supports the health of the knees and the low back.

One of the best exercises for the butt muscles is a well performed squat. To keep the focus on the glutes, follow these cues.

Execution of a good bodyweight squat:

• Keep weight balanced between mid-foot and heels
• Send the butt back first (breaking at the hips)
• Keep a slight arch in the low back
• Once the butt is sent backwards, begin dropping it towards the floor
• Knees stay lined up over your feet and track in the direction of your second toe
• Go as low as you can while maintaining your lower back arch and your weight on the heels
• Exhale and press through the heels to return to the start position

There are many ways to add weight, and challenge, to the squat. In the weight room, my favorite is the front squat. I find it provides the best benefit to risk ratio given the posture involved in the lift. It also provides excellent stimulation of the core, giving you extra bang for your buck.

Training at home, my favorite way to add challenge to the squat is to use one-legged variations. There are many levels and options for one-legged squats, but the ultimate test is the Pistol Squat. And when you get really good at it, you can add weight. This video features the Pistol Squat using the Bruiser Clubbell:

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So if you are looking for a well defined derrière, make sure you don’t neglect the gluteals. It’s the muscle mass that gives the beautiful shape to this defining body part.

Bruiser Clubbell Swipes 4x7 - 56 Days to 1000% Increase in Personal Best

Continuous Bruiser Swipes 4x7

A little over 56 days ago, I had worked myself up to being able to do a grand total of one Swipe with my Bruiser Clubbell®. For some reason, it’s one of those exercises that I could never work up the courage to tackle. Well, enough is enough I thought to myself.

So I made a plan. The pillar of the plan was Scott Sonon’s 4x7 protocol. It cycles through an intensity wave of No, Low, Moderate and High intensity over the course of four days, and repeats seven times. The secret sauce in this formula is the cycle of waving intensity which often allows you to hit a Personal Best (PB) on most of the High Intensity training days.

In this case, I managed PBs on every cycle over the course of two full 4x7 rotations. The end result, after 56 days, was a 1000% performance increase, taking my PB from a grand total of 1 to a new record of 10 consecutive Bruiser Swipes.

This is how it played out:

4x7 #1

1. 5 sets of 1/1 reps per arm
2. 5 sets of 2/2 reps per arm
3. 4 sets of 3/3 reps per arm
4. 5 sets of 3/3 reps per arm
5. 6 sets of 3/3 reps per arm
6. 4 sets of 4/4 reps per arm
7. 5 sets of 4/4 reps per arm

4x7 #2

1. 4 sets of 5/5 reps per arm
2. 5 sets of 5/5 reps per arm
3. 6 sets of 5/5 reps per arm
4. 7 sets of 5/5 reps per arm
5. 5 sets of 6/6 reps per arm
6. 6 sets of 6/6 reps per arm
7. Set of 10/10, 8/8, 6/6, 4/4, 2/2 reps per arm

The power of the 4x7 formula –– married here with a progression which echoes CST’s approach to the Density Cycle –– is a recipe for impressive results with minimal breakdown of the body’s tissues. Throughout the entire process, I never felt that my training was interfering with my daily life through fatigue or soreness. By making recovery a planned and integral part of your training, health-first outcomes are much more consistently attainable.

For more reading on the 4x7 phenomenon, you can check out this 4x7 Squidoo lens. It also provides examples of what activities can be used to achieve the various exercise intensities required of the program. Enjoy!