You read the title correctly; we are currently in the process of setting things in motion to hire a new strength and conditioning coach at Cressey Performance.

This is the first time we’ve ever posted a job externally, as all previous hires have been from our internship program. In this case, we’ll be opening this opportunity up to the masses.  A few quick notes:

1. The application deadline is March 10.

2. We’ll be selecting a candidate by April 15, and the position will begin on May 15 (this date is negotiable).

3. Please, please, please read the application instructions carefully!

We have a specific email address in place for all job-related submissions and inquiries, and it will be a big bottleneck if applicants start emailing and calling us directly via our normal business email and phone number.  Thanks for understanding in this regard.

You can learn everything you need to know by downloading the application instructions and job description PDF at the following link: CP Job Description and Application Info

Hope to hear from you soon!

Today, I thought I’d share some of the info I presented.

……….but first, a story.

I had a few weeks to prepare the presentation, but on Monday night I went through everything with a fine toothed comb to (hopefully) cover my bases with any grammatical errors and to double check to make sure all the videos worked.  As well, I tinkered with the slides – adding and deleting ones I felt would make the presentation flow a little more smoothly.  And if the next question you’re asking yourself is whether or not I actually DID include a reference to Optimus Prime in my introduction.  I totally did.

Anyways, I was up late the night prior, and for some reason chose to get up early to fiddle with the presentation even more.  Around nine in the morning, after driving myself bat shit crazy, I decided I’d rather get my training session in early rather than wait till after the workshop like I had originally planned.

I squatted.  Life was good.

The workshop was slated to start at 2:30, and since I knew I’d have to allot myself a good 30 minutes to take the T in, as well as wanting to give myself enough of a buffer to touch base with Peter (who was responsible for the whole shebang) in addition to setting up, I showered and was out the door by 1.

I showed up to the BSC and talked some shop with Peter, as well as met Joe, a trainer who drove FOUR HOURS from NYC to attend the workshop.  That’s pretty cool.

We headed over to the conference room, and after a few minutes, people started to slowly make their way in.  I pulled out my Mac to hook it up to the projector, aaaaaaaaaaannnnndddddd…………

The projector ISN’T Mac compatible!!!!

Wait a second.  You mean to tell me I can launch nuclear missiles from my Mac, but I can’t get it to project onto a screen? I thought Mac’s made everything easier?

Almost immediately I start to hyperventilate into a brown paper bag.  Okay, maybe a slight exaggeration, but I was sweating bullets to say the least.

After about ten minutes of scrambling and fiddling around with no solution in sight, the room was full, and I was thiiiiis close to busting out shadow puppets or reenacting the “I will find you, and I will kill you” speech from Taken.

Thankfully it didn’t come to that and two things happened:

1.  I was smart enough to not only email my presentation to Peter, but I also saved it on a flash drive which I brought with me.

2.  One of the BSC trainers in attendance was kind enough to let me borrow his PC.

WHEW, crisis averted.

In the end, what was supposed to be a 2:30 start time, turned into 2:45ish.  No biggie.  After a soft introduction and a few ice-breakers (I joked that if anyone had ever seen Dave Tate speak, he literally has his own entry music. I, on the other hand, am not nearly as ginormous or badass as Dave), we were off.

 A few key points I hit on:

• I made sure that I wore matching socks, shoes, and belt.  BOOM!

• I don’t care what it is – whether it’s the FMS, NASM, Assess and Correct, or having someone jump one one foot while patting their head – if you’re not assessing, you’re guessing.

• At the same time, the objective of the assessment isn’t to showcase or highlight EVERY weakness or imbalance the client presents.  Rather, the objective is to give you a better understanding of how well (or not well) they move, and if anything elicits pain.

• As a trainer, your job is NOT to diagnose anything.  That’s the physical therapist’s job.  Speaking of which, you should go out of your way to build professional networks with local therapists, massage therapists, manual therapists, in your area.

• At Cressey Performance, our assessments tend to start more specific (given we deal with a lot of baseball players), and gravitates towards more general tests.

• Assessment shouldn’t take two days (is it really necessary to test big toe dorsiflexion????), nor should it be as mundane as showing someone how to place the pins in a machine.  But there are several key “screens” I like to use with the general population.

• Seated Hip IR/ER, Supine Hip IR/ER (as a corollary to that:  how to differentiate between a muscular vs. capsular hip issue), Thomas Test, Adductor length (short vs. stiff muscles), t-spine shenanigans, shoulder flexion, etc.

Here’s a brief clip on testing adductor length:

•  In addition to the tests, I also went over corrective strategies to implement based off one’s findings.

• As well, I also touched on programming modifications with regards to sports hernias and shoulder impingement, and even discussed what the “real” role of the rotator cuff is (to center the humeral head in the glenoid fossa), and delved into a TON of scapular and t-spine exercises that can easily be implemented to help improve overall shoulder health and function.

All in all it was an awesome experience.  Despite a few subtle bumps I really felt it was a worthwhile experience and I can’t thank everyone enough who went out of their way to take a chunk out of their schedule to attend.

It’s no secret that I’m a movie nerd.  I mean, how many dudes try to talk their girlfriends into going to see The Artist?.  For those not in the loop:  The Artist is up for Best Picture this year (as well as a slew of other awards including Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Most Likely to Force Tony to Hand In His Mancard, etc), and not only is it filmed in black and white, but………..

………………….it’s a SILENT film.

No explosions. No light sabers.  No ninjas.  Not even a gratuitous side boob shot.  No nothing, except for a cute dog, lots of dancing and stuff, and one of the most uplifting, feel-good, movie experiences of the year.

Anyways, I became a member of The Coolidge (the name of the theater) shortly after moving into our apartment last year.  As a member – they have different tiers of membership – I get discounted tickets during the week, as well as FREE tickets Fri-Sun.  What’s more, I get free popcorn no matter what!!!!

Furthermore, I also get email notices of special events and happenings that take place on a weekly basis. For instance, every week they have special midnight showings of past movies like Back to the Future or Indiana Jones. They also do their fair share of promoting things like the Sundance Film Festival, and it’s not uncommon for them to premiere certain movies or host advance screenings with an open discussion afterwards.

Even cooler: in two weeks they’re honoring actor Viggo Mortensen with their annual Coolidge Award. Meaning, freaking Aragorn is going to be in the house……..for an entire day……..chilling.

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG THEPRECIOUS

Leading up to the event, The Coolidge is playing a a bunch of Mortensen movies – A History of Violence, The Road, A Walk on the Moon, and even holding a Lord of the Rings marathon this weekend, playing all three extended-cut editions back-to-back-to back starting at 11 in the morning.

See?  I told you this place is pretty baller.

Then, on March 5th, after showing Eastern Promises (a film which Mortensen was nominated for Best Actor for a few years back), Viggo will be there in the flesh to discuss his life and career, and most likely  have to file a restraining order against me.

Holy shitnuts this is going to be so epic.  I can’t wait, and I’ve even started to prepare a few drafts of what question I’m going to ask him.  So far I’ve got this:

Hey, what’s up Viggo?

Needless to say, it’s a work in progress and I can’t even express how excited I am to go to this, and………

…….wait, what was that babe?  We’re going to be in Florida on vacation that week?  I won’t be able to go to it????

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Well, I guess there’s always next year.  Fingers crossed they’ll invite Kate Beckinsale or something.

2. And while we’re on the topic of movies, a few weekends ago, after being told by numerous people that I HAD to watch it,  I finally sat down to watch Fat, Sick, & Nearly Dead.

Admittedly, going in I was a bit skeptical.  I knew there was going to be a “meat will kill you” vibe, and it’s actually a topic I touched on not too long ago HERE.

That said, it was a really, really, really, eye-opening documentary, and I can’t express enough how everyone should take the time to watch it. For the record, you can watch it for free on Netflix streaming.

For what it’s worth:  I’m thiiiiiiiiiiis close to possibly purchasing a juicer in the near future. I’m still eating dead, furry animals of course.  But I certainly don’t see the harm in adding more nutrient dense fruit/veggies juice into the mix.

Something to think about at least.

3.  I just finished reading an interesting book on how to improve your memory titled Moonwalking with Einstein – The Art and Science of Remembering Everything.

If you ever wondered why you seem to forget where you put your keys and why you can’t remember what you had for supper last night, yet, there are some people who have memorized 50,000 number of pie, then this book is right up your alley.

4.  Okay fellas (and girls too), I need your help.  Well, my cousin needs your help, actually. She’s the Director of Photography for Maxim, and she informed me that they’re currently planning their annual Maxim Hot 100 list – otherwise known as the best day of the year.

Anyways, she informed me that they’re opening up the voting process to the general public and she asked that I share THIS link, which will take you to their voting page.

You’re welcome.

5.  Like most couples, Lisa and I celebrated a belated Valentine’s Day this past weekend.  As is the case, a few weeks ago she explained to me that she was taking care of Valentines this year, and that all I had to do was take a shower make sure to block out the Saturday night AFTER actual Valentine’s Day.

Done.  Easy peezy.

Going into it, I had absolutely NO CLUE what we were going to do.  The only hint I got was that it would be decadent and that we had to dress up, which basically ruled out a Star Wars Convention.

Leaving out the details we got on the T, headed into the city, and ended up getting off near the waterfront, which is an area that we don’t visit nearly enough.  We turn a corner and BAM……………..it’s a steakhouse!!!!!!!!

And not just ANY steakhouse:

Morton’s Steakhouse!!!!

Okay, now some stuff that’s actually training related.

6.  For all those people out there who make every excuse imaginable not to train:

It’s too crowded

I’m just not in the mood

I have a headache

I have a hang-nail

NCIS is on tonight

You should take a page out of Ben Bruno’s book.  The guy had freaking KNEE SURGERY a few weeks ago, yet he’s still getting after it training on a consistent basis.  He’s made a few cameo appearances at CP the past few weeks to train with our staff, and it’s pretty cool to see that, despite only having one working leg at the moment, he’s not using it as an excuse to “lay low” or “take some time off and rest.”

In fact, if anything, he’s using it as an excuse to prioritize other things – like chin-ups.

While he still has his list of rehab exercises to do for his knee, he’s not letting the monotony bring him down.

In fact, I’d argue that he’s still training harder than most “healthy” people.

As an example, the other week after each set of a rehab exercise, he’d walk over to the chin-up bar and bang out ten reps.  In one session alone, he did over 200 chin-ups.  Pretty sick if you ask me.

Moreover, he’s still training his non-injured leg fairly aggressively with various exercises like 1-legged step-ups, 1-legged squats, and 1-legged goodmornings:

So, I guess what I’m really trying to say is……..stop being a pussy.  Quit making excuses why you can’t train.  No matter what, you can ALWAYS train around an injury.

7.  Nia Shanks is going to love this.  Hill sprints are the bees knees.  I don’t care who you are or what kind of shape you “think” you’re in, hill sprints will suck the living life out of you.

I’m lucky in that I have a fairly long (and steep) hill right behind my apartment, and I take advantage of that fact at least once a week.

Hill sprints serve as an excellent conditioning exercise for me because 1) like I said, I have decent sized hill right behind my apartment so it’s waaaaay convenient, and 2) they’re easily one of the more “knee friendly” modalities I can implement.

Try not to make it any more complicated than it has to be.  There’s no set “program” I follow, or some super secret Russian algorithm I utilize.  All you need to do is find a hill that will make you hate life, run up it (15-20 seconds), walk down, and repeat.

Shoot for anywhere from 6-10 total sprints, 1-2 times per week, and you’ll definitely see why those cute elliptical sprints you do every week are a joke.

And that’s about it.  I’m heading into the facility now to film what should be a pretty cool video blog for tomorrow: chin-up progressions for women. BOOM!

Needless to say, I’m really excited for the opportunity, and it should be a great presentation.  I’ve even prepared a shadow puppet show and everything!

…..Okay, not really. The bulk of it is going to center around assessment, which is an area I feel many personal trainers need to step up their game in. Of importance, though, is reiterating that assessment DOES NOT mean seeking out dysfunction.  Far too often I feel trainers go into “corrective mode,” and fail to recognize one crucial factor:  PEOPLE NEED A TRAINING EFFECT!!!

Adding to that, realizing that coaching proper exercise technique (as well as having a rationale for choosing “x” exercise) ranks high on the list of “stuff you shouldn’t suck at.”

Okay, deep breaths Tony.  No point in getting all fired up just yet.

Did I mention I included a reference to Optimus Prime AND He-Man in my talk? BOO-YAH!

Take 2 ZMA, Dress as Harry Potter, and Kill Darth Vader – James Garland

Inspired by a wall post I placed on my Facebook page last week, a friend of mine and fellow strength coach, James Garland, wrote this article which I felt did a great job of describing the benefits of supplementing with ZMA.

Vivid dreams aside, you might be surprised.

6 Tips from 6 Coaches – Ben Bruno

I always enjoy reading articles that elucidate on the thought processes of different coaches on varying topics, and I was fortunate enough to be included into the mix of some top-notch dudes in this one.

Some Myths About “Toning” – Todd Hargrove

‘Toned,” “sleek,” “trim,” or whatever the word of choice, they’re all equally as likely to make a small piece of my soul die every time I hear a woman utter them.

In this fantastic post, Todd cuts through the BS and offers some insight as to what “toned” really means as well as debunking other shenanigans.

[insert slow clap here]

Real quick, what would your suggestions be on how to get featured in magazines like Mens Health? I have a blog and am going to be writing locally in Philadelphia.

I wrote a Masters Thesis on Golf Biomechanics…and now I love to write about physiology and fat loss….any advice is much appreciated!

A: Great question, and it’s a topic that I’ve been meaning to dive into for quite some time now since I receive one of these emails every few weeks or so.

In light of this, and before I offer my own thoughts, two of my good friends – Mike Robertson and John Romaniell0 – recently wrote similar posts that I feel would be great starting points.

HERE Mike offers some sage advice to a young up and comer with some lofty goals.

And HERE, Roman writes an amazing response to someone who clearly made a major boo boo.

Now, I am in no way insinuating that either of the two scenarios above are relevant to YOU – I checked out your blog and you seem like a good dude who’s approaching things the right way, and with a sense of humbleness I might add. A rarity nowadays – but I felt it was a nice way to open up the conversation to other fitness professionals who may be reading this and wondering the same thing:

How can I become more of a bigger deal?

In all honesty, it comes down to one simple fact: When it’s ready for you, the industry will let you know. In other words, when you’ve put out enough great (good doesn’t cut it here) content, and have put in the time and effort to hone your craft, the higher ups in the industry will seek you out.

Contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t happen over night. I had my first article published on t-nation.com in the spring/summer of 2006 (a big deal in it’s own right) after having been rejected a handful of times.  Before that, I had been writing articles FOR FREE for various websites in an effort to just get my name out there.

In fact, my first article ever published was a two-parter titled You Are What You Eat that appeared on a small, no-longer existing website called RuggedMag (which, coincidentally enough, was run by a few dudes you may have heard of:  Joel Marion, Eric Cressey, and John Romaniello).

Trust me, don’t read it.  It sucked.

Which brings me to my first piece of advice.  While a blog is a nice start (more on this below), it’s in your best interest to reach out to other sites/publications/local newspapers/etc to write for them…….FOR FREE.  Editors are ALWAYS looking for unique content, and if you approach them with some solid ideas, you’ll undoubtedly garner some attention.

An important note however: PLEASE actually take the time to familiarize yourself with whatever publication you’re going to pitch to. The last thing you want to do is pitch an article idea on How to Swolify Your Biceps when their target demographic is middle-aged women who train on BOSU balls.

That said, above all, content is king. Having a blog that’s informative and consistent is important!!!!  People need easy access to YOU and what you have to say. In my case, I did it backwards.  I was published on t-nation before I started a blog.

I think I had a handful of articles published before I put two and two together and realized that everyone who read them had no way to contact me.  Yeah, that was a brain-fart moment if there ever was one.

I started small, opening an account on blogspot. On a good day I had like 30 views.  I wouldn’t be at all surprised if 25 of them were my mom.

Soon thereafter, an opportunity came up where I “graduated” to The Boston Herald (a client of mine worked for them and she reached out to me when they needed someone to write their fitness/health blog).  Those who are long time readers of this site may remember the good ol’ Step-Up Blog days.

And this is where Men’s Health comes in.  You see, not surprisingly, you don’t just say “Hey, Men’s Health, I want to write for you!”  It’s not quite that easy.  Remember what I said above:

When it’s ready for you, the industry will let you know.

I had been writing a blog for close to two years (and had a handful of articles on t-nation) before MH even gave me the time of day. I liken it to the hot chick in high school whom I sat next to in “Home Room” for four years, but never had the balls to ask out.  Then, one day, I had a “get your damn hands off her” moment.

Except, that’s a horrible analogy and instead of punching Bif in the face, all I did was respond to an email one of their writers sent asking me if I’d provide a short blurb on an article he was writing on gynecomastia (AKA:  man boobs).

I know, not the sexiest topic in the world……but I was in baby!!!!

Apparently their then fitness editor, Adam Bornstein, had been reading my stuff for a while and eventually reached out and asked if I’d be down with providing some expert insight? Does Dolly Parton sleep on her back?  Hell yeah I’d be down.

What started as a blurb here and there (holy shit, my name is in the second paragraph of page 57!!!!) turned into writing a handful of 15-Minute workouts, which then turned into my first full-blown article that should appear in the mag in a month or two.

The key points to remember, though, are that when you ARE given the opportunity, you need to do a few things:

1.  Be concise and, I can’t stress this enough, know the target audience.  For instance, how I write on t-nation (as well as this blog) is completely different than how I write for publications like MH or Livestrong.  You won’t find me making any references to poop or drop kicking kittens with the latter examples.  Believe me, I tried. They weren’t fans.

2.  When given a deadline, do your best to meet it – especially in the beginning.  I’m sure both of my editors – Adam Bornstein (now at Livestrong) and Bryan Krahn (for t-nation) are LOL’ing right now, because I’m notorious for procrastinating.

But they also know I’m coaching 8-10 hours per day as well as have other responsibilities like writing programs, running my own side business (blog, consulting, other writing endeavors, crushing protein shakes), as well as being the best boyfriend in the history of the world.

Needless to say, they’re both VERY accommodating and understanding (not to mention ungodly good looking and smart).

Of course, all of that is jumping the gun a bit.  The real question is how do you get your foot in the door in the first place?

• Keep up with the blog. The only way to get better at writing, is to write.  At the expense of sounding like a broken record, content is where it’s at.  If you write amazing content, people will find it and read it.

• Again, write for free. It seems you’re already doing that, so run with it.

• Moreover, it never hurts to reach out to editors. Hey, you never know! Pitch them ideas that you feel would be a good match for their respective publications, but at the same time, you need to be unique and as to the point as possible.  Remember, they get dozens (if not hundreds) of inquires a day.  So, in the end, you need to somehow separate yourself from the masses.

• If you choose to go down that road, though, I’d highly encourage you to be professional, to-the-point (don’t write a dissertation), and maybe most important of all, don’t make any grammatical errors. As an example, nothing turns an editor off more (and makes you come across as a little douchy) than not knowing the difference between their/there/they’re or you’re/your.

• Do a search on Google for “query letter,” and start there.

• As well, as far as ideas are concerned, make sure you have several to share rather that just one or two. Editors like to have several options to choose from.

• Additionally, in terms of exposure and how it relates to income, LOCAL media trumps national media any day of the week.  The fact that you’ve already got an “in” in the Philly area is pretty freaking baller.  This isn’t to say that MH isn’t something to strive for, but don’t underestimate the power of local media and the exposure that that can bring you.

And that’s about all I have to say at the moment.  My apologies if my thoughts were kind of all over the place on this one, but hopefully I was able to shed some light and point you in the right direction.  I’m sure there are some major points I forgot to mention, and maybe others would like to chime in, but like I said, you’re definitely on the right track, and you’re doing the right things. Hopefully, in the end, it will all work out.

Given that we train a lot of baseball players, it’s safe to assume that we take their shoulder health pretty seriously.  Likewise, even when working with a general population client, the shoulder is often an area of concern.  More specifically, and as I touch on in the video below, the pec minor can be a sonofabitch.

Getting geeky for a second, if you follow some of the Stecco research on fascial manipulation techniques (I don’t, but our manual therapist Nate Tiplady does), throughout the body we have what are called Zones of Convergence: dense areas of ligaments, tendons, fascia, and muscle that meet at one point and apply force around a specific area.  Because these convergence points create so much friction, they lay down a lot of dense, nasty, fibrotic tissue that can eventually create an ouchie down the road.

To give you an idea, some of the more common Zones of Convergence are the pubis where both the adductor complex and rectus abdominus meet (think: sports hernias), as well as the elbow, which my business partner, Eric Cressey, has appropriately named the most claustrophobic joint in the body.

More applicable to today’s discussion, however, is the coracoid process, where the pec minor, short head of the biceps, and the coracobrachialis meet up, and for lack of a better term, wreak some shit.

In dealing with the coracoid process, 99% of the time it’s the pec minor that’s being a jerk.  When it’s short or stiff (really no such thing as “tight”), it will anteriorly tilt and abduct the scapulae, which in turn, will effect the joint kinematics of the glenohumeral joint as well.  So, simply stated, the pec minor is an important muscle to address in terms of overall shoulder health and performance.

That said, it’s important to try to break up the tissue, lengthen it, and then “cement” that new length with proper strength training.

So today, that’s exactly what the video blog demonstrates.

My apologies if the video seems rushed.  There was literally like five minutes of battery life left when I filmed it last night, it was late, I hadn’t gotten anything for my girlfriend for Valentine’s Day yet, and to make sure I got everything in, I was talking like a bat out of hell.  Anyways, boobies are awesome!

For those who need to catch up:

1.  I wrote an article five years ago.
2.  It got sucked into some sort of internet blackhole, and no longer exists.
3.  I used part of the article for another blog post HERE.
4.  I had several people contact me to ask where they could find the rest of the article.
5.  Since I had the original draft saved on  my laptop, I decided to re-post the article on my blog.
6.  Apparently, to some, I’m a chauvinistic a-hole who thinks women are dumb, and don’t deserve the right to vote.
7.  Wait a second…..women can vote?????????
8.  Just kidding.
9.  See what I just did there?  That’s called sarcasm.

Anyways, even though it was a piece I wrote a while go, it was obviously new to a lot of people, and I was surprised at how extensively it made its rounds throughout the blogosphere.

All told, the article was received very well, but as to be expected, there was some backlash, and that’s cool.  I certainly don’t expect everyone to agree with me.

Some women felt I was insulting them and they didn’t like my tone. Well, to be honest, the article wasn’t originally intended FOR women; it was intended (as another reader commented) for the men who hear a lot of the same complaints from poorly-informed women ALL the time.

More to the point: my goal was to convey that, when all is said and done, lifting heavy things = sexy, regardless of whether you’re a Victoria Secret model or just someone who likes to train for the hell of it.

Nonetheless, my girlfriend and I had a really great discussion about all of this over the weekend during our Saturday “date night.” As far as conversations are concerned, it definitely ranked up there as one of our most intellectual (poop).  Afterwards, we kept the momentum and went and saw a subtitled film.  Totally not kidding.

She’s kind of smart, finishing up her doctorate in sports psychology in a few short weeks, so I asked her if she’d be willing to write down her thoughts and share them here. This is what she said.  Enjoy!

[Smoke bomb, smoke bomb, exits stage right]

Unplugged From the Matrix

Women’s fitness is controversial. Women’s fitness is confusing. Women’s fitness may or may not even exist. Learning that women and men should be doing the same basic movements to be fit, healthy, and in shape is the same as being unplugged from the “Matrix”, if you will.

For those non-sci-fi-readers, it is the same as learning that the earth is round, when you have been told your entire life that the earth is flat. Tony’s article on 4 Things Your Girlfriend Should Know is controversial because it unplugs us from the Matrix – it exclaims that the earth is round!

The beauty of the article, aside from its truth, is the passion and controversy it provokes. I say bravo, in small part to Tony, but more so to the men and women who responded to the article – who have feelings about ‘women’s fitness’ – and who, most importantly, are insulted by ‘Women’s Fitness’.

To ‘Yuck’, I am glad that you are insulted…. Say more! What language does the industry have to speak to women? To educate women? To help women to be healthy and efficacious in their fitness endeavors? At present, and in my humble opinion, the language of bullshit. Women, and men, harangue us on television, in magazines, and on the internet with promises of “toned” “thin” “longer” muscles and body parts.

‘Yuck’, are you insulted by Strippercize? By Yoga Booty Ballet? By the Pussycat Dolls Workout? I am. I am insulted that the industry has tried to convince me all my life that steady-state, low-impact, sexualized strutting is the key to me becoming healthy, sexy, and thin.

I am insulted that I am bombarded with false information at my every turn, and I am angry that I believed and followed bullshit advice for so many years. What I love about your comments, and your message, is that it is insulting to be spoken to as if we are “stupid”.

What it means to be a woman, and what is acceptable for a woman to be, has changed dramatically in the eyes of both society and the fitness industry since the 1960’s. Unfortunately, not enough. We may not sit back and wait for popular culture to hand us true, evidence-based, ulterior-motive free information. We must ask for it. We must demand it. And we must make it known that we are pissed off, indignant, and insulted when we are given otherwise.

“NOBODY EVER TAUGHT US!” I applaud “Ambition” for putting it so plainly, and truthfully. In light of the language of bullshit that pervades the fitness industry, how can we expect the average American women to respond differently?

I agree with Kelsey’s suggestion that Tony submit articles to Shape and Fitness magazines – several sources that insist, month after month, that the earth is flat.

Note from TG:  I’ll actually be making my first cameo appearance in Women’s Health this Spring!

Indeed, there are more effective and nicer ways to unplug women, and fitness-ignorant men, from the Matrix.

Christine, I agree that Tony, boyfriends everywhere, and fitness professionals alike could all catch more fitness “flies” with sugar, than with vinegar – But that is another topic altogether.

Sweet or sour, women need to hear the truth

We deserve to hear the truth. How truth is served to us, is up to us, to flavor. “Yuck”, “Well”, Christine, and other readers, tell Tony and the rest of the fitness industry what you want – and how you want it. Don’t stay quiet. Influence the information you receive, and demand what you deserve!

One of the great blessings of my life is that somebody taught me. My father, a bodybuilding, protein-shake-drinking, Arnold Schwarzenegger-admiring man, taught me about and included me in his most beloved hobby for as long as I can remember.I loved him, and in turn, I loved lifting weights.

I was always interested in being strong, in looking strong, and in pulling, pushing, and pressing more. I was never intimidated in the gym, and was often labeled intimidating. I realize that my experience is outside the norm. Most women have never been taught how to take care of and strengthen their bodies, and that is a shame.

Lisa V. suggested that it is shameful for women to be intimidated to lift weights, but the reality is that many are, and that’s not their fault – it’s the fault of society and the fitness industry. We can judge intimidated women all we want, but until we influence them, and until we empower them, we are only part of the problem.

Judgment doesn’t make change… education, communication, and action make change. Bravo to Lisa V., and many other women, for getting to Cressey Performance to train (and Amen that many men are as ignorant as women about how to train!), but the fact remains that you are a beautiful, powerful, exemplary exception – not the rule.

For Lisa V., and “Ambition”, “Yuck”, “Well”, “Speed”, Kelsey, and all of the other women out there who are not intimidated by weights and strength training, who are hungry for the truth, and who are insulted by stupidity and Bullshit – I implore you to keep saying it! It is only through writing, talking, confronting and considering that we can evoke the evolution of the fitness industry – and in turn, of women’s fitness… Whatever that is.

Confront Tony, other fitness professionals, the media, and the images, programs, and bullshit that we are bombarded with.

“Well” expressed her belief that the pictures of the women on Tony’s article were horrible – and I think she may feel this way because these are thin, idealized models who do not appear physically muscular. However, the point of the pictures is to demonstrate that thin and thick women alike lift weights and strength train.

No matter what we look like, or what we want to look like, being fit and strong is elementary to our goal. Personally, I feel that Serena Williams has the hottest, sickest, most amazing body on earth. Will I ever look like her? Unfortunately for me, no. Do pictures of her speak to me? Encourage me? Inspire me? Hell yes.

Whether it’s Serena or Giselle, seeing images of women who weight train is important to women of every shape and size, who aspire to change their body into any shape or size.

Bodybuilders and others who make a career out of their musculature aside, in my opinion, there is no such thing as too muscular. If seeing lots of muscles on a lady is too much for you, than that is you. If a woman wants to kill it in the gym, build muscle mass, and create a physique “outside the box” of acceptable female appearance, good for her! I celebrate her. I admire her. I think she is a badass.

She is healthy, fit, and she sure as hell feels fabulous. As far as I am concerned, saying a woman is too much of an athlete, too masculine, or too far away from the societal standard is chauvinistic, and judgmental. It’s no different than suggesting we should all look like Victoria’s Secret models.

Prakash, and all the others frustrated by the topic of ‘Womens’ Fitness’ – don’t give up! We can create and change the language of the fitness industry – but only if we are active, only if we voice our opinions, and only if we are willing to say over and over again (sweetly or otherwise) that the earth is round!

There is so much more to say on this topic. Thank you for being some of the few who have unplugged from the American Fitness Matrix that is ineffective and insulting.  I hope we will all keep talking – and criticizing, comparing, and kvetching. It is the only way to make change. To make it better. To make us stronger.

In passing, too, I had mentioned how I experimented with IF a few years ago, but didn’t really realize it at the time.  Yeah, I was smart like that.

Nevertheless, when John sent me an advance copy, I read it – in one sitting – and was thoroughly impressed.  So impressed, in fact, that I am now on day #3 of my own intermittent fasting extravaganza.

Okay, extravaganza is a little bit of an indulgence. Really, all I’ve done is push my breakfast back a bit in the morning (essentially taking myself through a 12-16 hour fast), and then pwning my first meal after I’m done picking heavy things up and putting them down – which, is generally around 12PM

I’ve always had the tendency to crush a HUGE breakfast every morning, and often wondered whether or not that affected how I felt heading into my workout.  I have to say, after a few days, I feel spectaculous!!!!

I can’t say for sure whether or not I’ll do it long-term, but at the very least, I wanted to try it out.

Fat Loss Forever  – John Romaniello and Dan Go

Anyways, today (2/10) is your last chance to purchase Roman’s opus to intermittent fasting at the discounted rate of $50 OFF the regular price. He’s has gone out of his way to include a TON of sweet bonuses – including a training manual and supplement guidelines, to name few – but I’m going to sweeten the pot.

1. This kind of got lost in the shuffle earlier in the week, but for anyone who purchases FLF from this site, and emails their receipt to me (tgentilcore18@yahoo.com), I’ll send you a TG written and Roman approved strength-based, 2-day-per-week workout that acts as an adjunct to the program.

2.  In addition, I’ll also throw anyone who emails me their receipt into a raffle for a free DIGITAL copy of Muscle Imbalances Revealed – Upper Body. And, if you play your cards right, maybe a bologna sandwich.  Winning!

Performance Training:  Adaptations for Femoral Acetabular Impingement (FAI) – Kevin Neeld

This was an excellent post by Kevin detailing the intricate and complicated mechanisms behind FAI – how to recognize it, and more importantly, how to go about implementing training modifications.

While it’s generally accepted that FAI is more prevalent in the athletic population, it’s something that we’ve witnessed creep into other less common populations as well – including your typical gym rat population.

If you’re a fitness professional, I HIGHLY suggest you give it a read, and don’t ignore the other links in the article as well, as Kevin as a TON of information to share on this topic.

5 Questions with a Girl Gone Strong:  Julia Ladewski - Trey Potter

Continuing his series interviewing the amazing Girls Gone Strong crew, here Trey speaks with Julia Ladewski, wife, coach, mother of two, and formerly the world’s #1 ranked female powerlifter in the 132 lb weight class.  Yes, she’s probably stronger than you.

Then, of course, those who fall into the latter category wake up the next morning and realize their hamstrings feel like they were put through a meat grinder.

*strokes evil strength coach beard*

Muhahahahahahahaha.  I win.

Anyways, getting right to the point, there are quite few inherent benefits to this exercise.

1.  It’s a single leg movement.  People need to do more single leg work. Nuff said.

2. Thing is, single leg work can be about as exciting as watching Gossip Girl. More to the point, it’s a hybrid single leg movement, combining both the reverse lunge and the 1-legged Romanian deadlift, so I’ve found it’s a nice change of pace, and a bit more palatable for most trainees.

Note:  I will say, though, that this is a more advanced variation so I’d be reticent to encourage newbies to throw this into the mix right off the bat.

3.  With regards to the reverse lunge component, it’s more knee friendly compared to forward lunge variations.  With forward lunge variations you have to decelerate the body, which can be problematic for those with a history of knee pain.  Conversely, with the reverse lunge, it’s more accelerative (I think I just made a word up) in nature, and thus less stressful on the knee joint in general.

4. On the flip side, with respects to the 1-legged Romanian deadlift component, I just like it because it trains the lateral sub-system, and it really forces the trainee to focus on his or her hip stabilizers.

5.  Maybe a little less obvious, but nevertheless an important point to consider, is that this exercise – being hybrid in nature – kicks your ass! It’s not uncommon for peeps who perform this exercise for the first time to be fairly winded by the end of their set.

So, what does this bad boy look like?

Key Coaching Cues:  First and foremost, don’t be a hero.  You won’t need a ton of weight with this particular exercise, and given most people butcher the 1-Legged RDLanyways, I’d be more inclined to start conservative with the weight selection.

Secondly, while the reverse lunge part is pretty self explanatory, the 1-legged RDL is a different animal altogether. That said, I’d HIGHLY encourage you to click HERE to get a little more insight on how to be less sucky at it.

I generally keep the reps in the lowish range and shoot for 5-6 per leg, which is really 10-12 reps per leg because you’re doing two exercises in one.

AC/DC in the background is optional.

Try it out today, and let me know what you think

In it, I used part of an old article I wrote years ago titled 4 Things Your Girlfriend Should Know, where, in the first part of that article, I kinda of threw yoga under the bus.  Okay, there was no “kinda” about it.  Not only did I throw yoga under the bus, but I also somehow managed to challenge it to a wrestling match (it’s my blog, and shit like this happens all the time), where I jumped off the top rope, grabbed it from behind, and suplexed it out of the ring.

It was a one-sided affair, and I think I won pretty convincingly.

My main beef then, and now, is that yoga is often marketed in a way that promises everything to women.  It’s somehow the magic pill that will result in long, lean, sexy muscles. In addition, unicorns will fly underneath rainbows with Leprechauns on their backs, and Greys Anatomy will never, ever, ever, never, end.

See what I mean?  It promises everything!

Anyways, in the years since I wrote the original article, and as something I went out of my way to touch on in the blog post linked above (as well as elucidate in more depth in Part II)………I’ve changed my mind to an extent.

Yoga ain’t so bad.

I’ve had several people contact me asking me for the rest of that 4 Things Your Girlfriend Should Know article.  It was originally published on t-nation.com back in 2007, and subsequently moved to FigureAthlete.com.  That site no longer exists, and as a result, the article has vanished into some kind of internet blackhole.

Luckily, I saved the original on my laptop and thought I’d re-post it here for everyone’s viewing enjoyment.

A few notes beforehand:

1. Again, the yoga part is omitted. But you can read it in the Tony Takes a Yoga Class link above.

2. I wrote the article five years ago, so forgive me for the dated pop culture references.

3. To reiterate, I wrote the article FIVE YEARS AGO, so please take that into consideration before you go a head and call me out on anything I said back then that doesn’t jive now.

4.  Did I mention I wrote the article five years ago?**

4 Things Your Girlfriend Should Know

*** with the yoga part omitted.  So, really, this is 3 Things Your Girlfriend Should Know.

Being a man in today’s society is darn tough.  We are constantly inundated with constant struggles and frustrations:

1. Deciding which is the best trilogy ever made:  the ORIGINAL Star Wars or Lord of the Rings?
2. Which Jessica to choose from:  Jessica Biel, Jessica Alba or Jessica Simpson?
3. Trying our very best to not throw the television out the window every time we see Jared (from Subway) espousing the benefits of eating a low fat diet.
4. Trying to convince our girlfriend or wife that lifting weights won’t make her look like a she-man.

Alba: the obvious answer

Being a guy myself, I feel your pain.  I know how frustrating it can be to try to convince a woman (let alone your significant other) that doing endless hours of aerobics or spending the majority of her gym time using those hip abductor/adductor machines is a fruitless endeavor from a body composition standpoint.  If you’re in the same situation as most guys, the likelihood that your girlfriend will accompany you to the gym on deadlift day is about as slim as Rosie O’Donnell keeping her big yapper shut.

Needless to say, this is for all the guys out there who are losing the battle.  This article is going to serve as your ammo to try to convince that special lady in your life that what she has been doing in the gym week in and week out is flat out wrong.  You can thank me later.

Low Reps vs. High Reps

I’m not going to sugar coat anything.  I’m going to cut right to the chase.  I love low rep training.  I love low rep training almost as much as I love Justin Timberlake’s “D**k in a Box” parody he did on SNL not too long ago.

Unfortunately, most women (including your girlfriend) are obsessed with “dieting” and love the color pink.  As a result, they love to perform endless repetitions with those 8 lb pink dumbbells every chance they get thinking that that will elicit more fat loss.  This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Memo to your girlfriend: 

Ditch the light weights (especially when you’re dieting).  You’ll just end up with a fragile, weak, and soft looking body; otherwise known as the “skinny-fat” look.  Your muscles will lack what is known as good neurogenic or myogenic tone (basically fancy words used to express muscle hardness).

Simply put, there are two types of muscle tone:  myogenic and neurogenic.  The former refers to your muscle tone at rest, the latter refers to muscle tone that is expressed when muscular contractions occur.

Low(er) rep training increases the sensitivity of various motor units resulting in increased neurogenic tone.  Myogenic tone on the other hand, is correlated with the overall density of your muscles (specifically the contractile proteins myosin and actin) and is vastly improved by lifting heavier weights.

This is going to come as a shock to most women, but utilizing light weights (anything above twelve reps in my book) while dieting will likely result in loss of muscle, which is the exact opposite of what you want to happen.

When dieting, the body will adapt to the caloric deficit by down regulating many of the hormones involved with metabolism (T3, T4, leptin, etc), as well as getting rid of metabolically active tissue – muscle.  Obviously one would want to prevent this from happening in the first place, which is why I always recommend that women shit-can the 20 rep sets and start training with heavier weights.

The Inevitable Retort from Your Girlfriend:  “Whatever.  All the fitness magazines say I should use high reps for fat loss when I’m dieting, and they obviously know what they’re talking about.  When are you taking the garbage out?”

When someone goes on a diet, catabolic hormones, which promote muscle breakdown, rise (bad) and anabolic hormones, which promote muscle growth, decline (also bad). Your body is smarter than you, and as I alluded to above, your body will “slow down” to work at your reduced caloric intake.

As a result, it will reduce whatever is metabolically active- muscle.  With regards to training, a great way I like to explain things is from a conversation I had via e-mail with Erik Ledin, a well known figure coach I know.

If you train light, you’ll keep enough muscle to be able to continue to train “light.”  But given this doesn’t take a lot, from a relative and individual standpoint (ie. it takes more muscle to lift a weight that limits you to 8 reps, than it does to lift a weight that limits you to 20) you’ll keep what you need to accomplish these generally ‘easier’ tasks.  The key to a lean, hard body is a nice balance between nutrition, cardio and low rep, heavy weight training. What builds muscle is what keeps muscle.

Chances are she didn’t use Power Pump Classes to Look Like This.

Train More Like a Man

Question (from you):  “Babe, how bout I teach you how to squat today?”

Answer (from your girlfriend):  “But I don’t want to get big and bulky.”

Newsflash ladies:  you WILL NOT get “big and bulky” just because you’re doing squats and deadlifts.  That statement is akin to me saying, “eh, I don’t want to do any sprints today because I don’t want to win the 100m gold medal next week.”

Getting big and bulky isn’t easy, just like winning the 100m gold medal isn’t easy.  If anything, it’s quite an insult to all those people who have spent years in the gym to look the way they do.  It didn’t happen overnight, which is what you’re assuming by saying something so absurd.

And lets be honest, most people (men AND women) won’t work hard enough to get “big and bulky” in the first place.  It’s hard enough for a man to put on any significant amount of muscle, let alone a woman.  Women are physiologically at a disadvantage for putting on muscle due to the fact that they have ten times LESS free testosterone in their bodies compared to men.

That being said you still need to get the most out of your training buck, and that includes ditching the glute buster machine and focusing more on the compound movements.

Joe Dowdell, owner of Peak Performance in NYC trains many of the top female models in the city and their programming includes squats, deadlifts, chin-ups, bench variations, sled dragging, and tons of energy system work.  Yes, Victoria Secret models are doing squats and deadlifts.  And yes, that is completely hot.

If Giselle can do Romanian Deadlifts, so can you.

Guess what they’re not doing…watching Oprah every day while walking on the treadmill for 60 minutes.

Just because you’re a woman doesn’t mean you can’t train like a man and lift some serious weight.  I never bought into this whole mindset that women are these delicate creatures that can’t hang with the boys.

Steady State Cardio/Aerobics (Not the Fat Loss King You Thought It Was) 

Not to beat a dead Barbaro (er, I mean horse), but steady state cardio/aerobics is not the most efficient way to burn body fat.   I like lists, so I am going to use a list to prove my point.

1. Steady state cardio doesn’t elevate EPOC all that much, which again is one of the main factors in fat loss.  Sure, one hour of steady state cardio will probably burn more calories than one hour of resistance training, but it’s the calories you burn in the other 23 hours OUTSIDE of the gym that really matter.

Essentially, once you’re done doing steady state cardio, you’re done burning calories.  However, with resistance training and/or with high intensity interval training (HIIT), your body’s metabolism will be elevated for upwards of 24-48 hours.  Thus, you will burn a TON more calories.

2. Speaking of metabolism.  Your metabolism is in direct correlation with how much LBM you have.  The more LBM you have, the higher your metabolism.  Given that long duration, steady state cardio actually eats away muscle; you’re shooting yourself in the foot in that regard.

3. The fat burning zone doesn’t exist.  It’s true that your body will burn a greater percentage of fat at lower intensities, however the TOTAL calories being burned is so small, that it doesn’t even really matter.  Again, it all comes down to EPOC.

4. As Alwyn Cosgrove has pointed out on numerous occasions; your body adapts very well to cardiovascular exercise (in this case, steady state cardio).  This is a bad thing.  As you get more efficient at running a certain distance, the work required to complete that distance will become less and less as you get fitter.

To improve you have to go further in order to burn the same amount of calories. What once took you 30 minutes to burn “x” amount of calories, now takes you 45 minutes.  Doesn’t sound too efficient in my book.

5. The majority of your fat loss should come via diet, not copious amounts of steady state cardio/aerobics.  From a time efficiency standpoint, which makes more sense?  Not eating that bowl of cereal at night (300-500 calories) or spending 60 minutes on a treadmill to burn that same 300-500 calories every single day?

6. Steady state cardio/aerobics does little to change how your body looks.  Sure, you may lose 20-30 lbs, but you will still be the same “shape.”  You won’t look leaner, only smaller (not to mention weaker).

7. Lets be honest…do you really enjoy spending 45-60 minutes on one piece of equipment?

Some Other Random Thoughts

*Women need to eat more protein.  Cassandra Forsythe says it best, “when in doubt, eat meat.”

*You can’t be on a diet forever.  Learn to incorporate dietary breaks.

*Ladies, you’re four times more likely to have an ACL tear compared to men.  Get off the leg extension and leg curl machines and train your posterior chain more!  Various deadlifts, box squats, Anderson squats, pull-thru’s, glute-ham raises, one-legged back extensions, and lots of single leg work.

*Train with your man.  He secretly loves it.

*Get off your cell phone, for the love of god

 I’m Done

Okay fellas, there you go.  All you have to do now is click the “print” button and strategically place this article in a place where you know your girlfriend will see it.  Your best bet would either be in between the pages of this week’s People Magazine or inside the dvd case of any of the following movies; Steel Magnolias, Dirty Dancing, or The Notebook.

** I wrote the article five years ago.