Functional Strength Coach 4.
If you are a young strength coach getting into the field, I feel that FSC4 will be a worthwhile investment.
Stay Strong,
RB
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Evolution of a Strength Coach
By Mike Boyle
Functional Strength Coach 4
A few recent events have made me realize that all strength coaches will eventually evolve to the same place. Like many of us, I listen to and read a great deal from the internet. One trend that I have seen is that some of the previously “hard core” guys are gradually embracing the corrective exercise/ functional training side of the coin. This made me realize two things:
1. Why I think the way I do
2. Why others make fun of me
The reason I think the way I do and the reason lots of the “hardcore” guys make fun of me is because I am old. I am further along the evolutionary trail of the strength coach. You see, we all start at about the same place and we probably all end up at the same place. I just started my journey sooner. In fact I am in year 32 of my evolution. For me phase 1 of the Evolution of the Strength and Conditioning Coach, The Bodybuilder, was actually in the 1970’s. I saw Boyer Coe guest pose at a show in Connecticut and wanted to be the next Frank Zane. If you don’t know who those guys are, it’s OK. You are just too young. The truth is almost all male strength coaches and personal trainers go through the evolutionary process listed below.
Stage 1- The Bodybuilder.
Face it, we all started here. Maybe we wanted to get better at sports but what we really wanted in our teens was to look better for girls. To do this we picked up a muscle magazine, joined the local gym , copied the routines and began bodybuilding. The beauty of this stage is that we knew it all. We bombed and blitzed our way to success as Joe Weider looked on from the pages of Muscle and Fiction.
Stage 2- The Powerlifter
At the onset of stage two the bodybuilder realizes that the really strong guys in the gym don’t give him the time of day. In fact, the truly strong guys laugh at him in his tanktop as he admires his arms in the mirror. The young bodybuilder and future strength coach is determined to get some respect so he really works on his bench press to gain that respect. What he then realizes is that these strong guys don’t respect anyone with no legs and a big bench. The bodybuilder soon evolves to the powerlifter. As in stage one we still know it all but what we know is different. We realize that what we thought we knew in stage 1 was not quite as true as we thought. At this stage we never admit any mistakes though. Stage two last for 2-3 years or until the first major injury. In this time period you really fall in love with the weightroom. You become diligent about diet and not missing training days and you get stronger almost every week. Your training partners cheer you on. Your technique is not perfect but you are moving big weight. Usually in stage 2 you also decide to enter a meet. A meet is great reality therapy. Your 315 bench done in “all you” form with just a bit of an arch and bounce becomes a 275 pause bench. Your “parallel” squats suddenly expose your lack of knowledge of geometry. Usually you bomb in the squat in your first meet and resolve to return a much better lifter. In stage two you are at your most macho. You laugh at anyone doesn’t do back squats and deadlifts and you post frequently to internet forums. All posts mention how strong you are and usually some line that belittles those who don’t lift heavy iron.
Stage 3- The Injured Powerlifter.
This stage begins with a bad back or a sore shoulder and usually lasts through one or two surgeries. Stage three is like denial in the substance abuse world. You realize that your days of lifting huge weights are coming to an end but you refuse to say it out loud. Your searches of the internet now focus on healing your wounds. You vow to make a comeback. Often, you have surgery and attempt to lift in a meet again. Like a guy repeatedly slamming his fingers in the car door, you can’t wait to get back under the bar. You learn about ART, MAT and a bunch of other therapies that seem to have guys names. You also begin to sneak a few looks at books on injury prevention and heaven forbid, you begin to explore things like warm-up and mobility. At the end of the injured powerlifter stage you begin to apologize to those older and wiser that you made fun of and called names. You realize that much like your parents the guys you taunted on internet forums were just older and wiser.
Stage 4- The Functional Training Guy.
Most of us end in stage four. Usually we have a few scars from our time in stage three putting off the inevitable. In stage four we realize that we can still train however, the days of trying to pick up the heaviest thing you can lift goes by. You become an innocent bystander watching car wrecks as you see the young guys move from stage 1 to stage 2. You try to warn them but they laugh at you and go into their chat rooms and make fun of you. All you can think of is “call me when you are fifty and we can talk”. The truth is evolution and development are both inevitable. Young men will always want to impress young women. They will also, in a very primal way, want to impress other young men. We can only hope to speed the evolution and save people some pain. As you read this hopefully you will see yourself in one of these stages and intervene. Next time you get ready to “lay it on the line” ask yourself why.
P.S. – Mike Boyle is releasing his new program, Functional Strength Coach 4 on Tuesday, April 24th. Functional Strength Coach 4 is Coach Boyle’s most up to date system cultivated from over 30 years of coaching everyone from general fitness clients to athletes ranging from junior high to All Stars in almost every major sport, that will guide you to better results with your athletes and clients. Click here to be the first to know about the all new Functional Strength Coach 4
Functional Strength Coach 4
A few recent events have made me realize that all strength coaches will eventually evolve to the same place. Like many of us, I listen to and read a great deal from the internet. One trend that I have seen is that some of the previously “hard core” guys are gradually embracing the corrective exercise/ functional training side of the coin. This made me realize two things:
1. Why I think the way I do
2. Why others make fun of me
The reason I think the way I do and the reason lots of the “hardcore” guys make fun of me is because I am old. I am further along the evolutionary trail of the strength coach. You see, we all start at about the same place and we probably all end up at the same place. I just started my journey sooner. In fact I am in year 32 of my evolution. For me phase 1 of the Evolution of the Strength and Conditioning Coach, The Bodybuilder, was actually in the 1970’s. I saw Boyer Coe guest pose at a show in Connecticut and wanted to be the next Frank Zane. If you don’t know who those guys are, it’s OK. You are just too young. The truth is almost all male strength coaches and personal trainers go through the evolutionary process listed below.
Stage 1- The Bodybuilder.
Face it, we all started here. Maybe we wanted to get better at sports but what we really wanted in our teens was to look better for girls. To do this we picked up a muscle magazine, joined the local gym , copied the routines and began bodybuilding. The beauty of this stage is that we knew it all. We bombed and blitzed our way to success as Joe Weider looked on from the pages of Muscle and Fiction.
Stage 2- The Powerlifter
At the onset of stage two the bodybuilder realizes that the really strong guys in the gym don’t give him the time of day. In fact, the truly strong guys laugh at him in his tanktop as he admires his arms in the mirror. The young bodybuilder and future strength coach is determined to get some respect so he really works on his bench press to gain that respect. What he then realizes is that these strong guys don’t respect anyone with no legs and a big bench. The bodybuilder soon evolves to the powerlifter. As in stage one we still know it all but what we know is different. We realize that what we thought we knew in stage 1 was not quite as true as we thought. At this stage we never admit any mistakes though. Stage two last for 2-3 years or until the first major injury. In this time period you really fall in love with the weightroom. You become diligent about diet and not missing training days and you get stronger almost every week. Your training partners cheer you on. Your technique is not perfect but you are moving big weight. Usually in stage 2 you also decide to enter a meet. A meet is great reality therapy. Your 315 bench done in “all you” form with just a bit of an arch and bounce becomes a 275 pause bench. Your “parallel” squats suddenly expose your lack of knowledge of geometry. Usually you bomb in the squat in your first meet and resolve to return a much better lifter. In stage two you are at your most macho. You laugh at anyone doesn’t do back squats and deadlifts and you post frequently to internet forums. All posts mention how strong you are and usually some line that belittles those who don’t lift heavy iron.
Stage 3- The Injured Powerlifter.
This stage begins with a bad back or a sore shoulder and usually lasts through one or two surgeries. Stage three is like denial in the substance abuse world. You realize that your days of lifting huge weights are coming to an end but you refuse to say it out loud. Your searches of the internet now focus on healing your wounds. You vow to make a comeback. Often, you have surgery and attempt to lift in a meet again. Like a guy repeatedly slamming his fingers in the car door, you can’t wait to get back under the bar. You learn about ART, MAT and a bunch of other therapies that seem to have guys names. You also begin to sneak a few looks at books on injury prevention and heaven forbid, you begin to explore things like warm-up and mobility. At the end of the injured powerlifter stage you begin to apologize to those older and wiser that you made fun of and called names. You realize that much like your parents the guys you taunted on internet forums were just older and wiser.
Stage 4- The Functional Training Guy.
Most of us end in stage four. Usually we have a few scars from our time in stage three putting off the inevitable. In stage four we realize that we can still train however, the days of trying to pick up the heaviest thing you can lift goes by. You become an innocent bystander watching car wrecks as you see the young guys move from stage 1 to stage 2. You try to warn them but they laugh at you and go into their chat rooms and make fun of you. All you can think of is “call me when you are fifty and we can talk”. The truth is evolution and development are both inevitable. Young men will always want to impress young women. They will also, in a very primal way, want to impress other young men. We can only hope to speed the evolution and save people some pain. As you read this hopefully you will see yourself in one of these stages and intervene. Next time you get ready to “lay it on the line” ask yourself why.
P.S. – Mike Boyle is releasing his new program, Functional Strength Coach 4 on Tuesday, April 24th. Functional Strength Coach 4 is Coach Boyle’s most up to date system cultivated from over 30 years of coaching everyone from general fitness clients to athletes ranging from junior high to All Stars in almost every major sport, that will guide you to better results with your athletes and clients. Click here to be the first to know about the all new Functional Strength Coach 4
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Learn From One Of My Mentor's
As many in the strength and conditioning field who know me know, that I interned at Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning in the fall of 2009.
The coaching experience I gained at MBSC was priceless! To work along side the MBSC staff for 4 months was a privilege. I am now very lucky to be able to Mike, and everyone else at MBSC a friend for life.
If you want to gain an insight into my experience of the MBSC training philosophy and Mike Boyle himself, than save up your pennies and purchase Mike's newest DVD set - Functional Strength 4.0.
If you are a young and aspiring strength coach, it will be an investment you will not regret.
Functional Strength Coach 4.0
Stay Strong,
RB
The coaching experience I gained at MBSC was priceless! To work along side the MBSC staff for 4 months was a privilege. I am now very lucky to be able to Mike, and everyone else at MBSC a friend for life.
If you want to gain an insight into my experience of the MBSC training philosophy and Mike Boyle himself, than save up your pennies and purchase Mike's newest DVD set - Functional Strength 4.0.
If you are a young and aspiring strength coach, it will be an investment you will not regret.
Functional Strength Coach 4.0
Stay Strong,
RB
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Out of rhythm, out of health!
I know, I know. I have been very lazy on the blog lately.
Honestly my mind has just been racing lately with a lot (and I mean a shitload) of thoughts.
I have evolved from a strength coach/physical therapist into a extremely holistic human being, and practitioner. I am now at a stage of putting everything together to 1) make me a better person, and in turn love myself and find out what my purpose in this universe is, so that 2) I can in turn help others, and show them love also.
I have been studying my different fields and disciplines outside of human performance, such as, functional nutrition, and functional medicine, health and wellness, biology, spirituality, philosophy, agriculture (its all connected), and many more. I am of course still staying in touch with my roots by still studying strength and conditioning, and physical therapy.
So out rhythm, out of health! What do I mean by today's blog title?
I recently finished a book called "Lights Out" by TS. Wiley, and Brent Formby. The moral to the story is we humans now as of the last century are completed out of sync with our circadian rhythm. This in turn is leading us to complete hormonal disaster. Our ancient physiology has evolved to a feast/famine, light/night, summer/winter cycle, but now we never have a famine anymore, because we never have night anymore because we have the lights on 24/7, 365 days of the year.
According to Wiley and Formby, weight gain, insulin-resistance, and high cholesterol are completely normal! Yep! These were the needed adaptations that we humans had to have going into the long hard winters ahead, were food was going to be a lot more scarce. Over this winter period the weight gained in the summer would normalize, and we would start running our bodies on ketones as their were no carbs present in the winter, so the insulin resistance would be reversed.
But now as we know,there is no winter to prepare for anymore. Its ALWAYS SUMMER. We always have the lights on!! This in turn stimulates the stress response which stimulates sugar/carb cravings, and now thanks to modern technology, carbs are in abundance all year round. Starting to get the picture.
Everything in this universe is dualistic - Yin/Yang, Man/Women, Hot/Cold, Good/Bad, Right/Left, Day/Night!
In the summer we were meant to feast more than fast, and in the winter we were meant to fast more than feast. But now the famine NEVER comes.
Even more recently I have come across the work of Dr.Jack Kruse. Part of Kruse's work is on something called Cold Thermogensis. Basically Dr. Kruses talks about the fact that we humans have now lost our ability to be cold adapted creatures that our ancestors were, and this is greatly affecting our metabolism, and tries in with the hormone leptin.
He also tries this cold adaptation in with circadian Biology that Wiley and Formby wrote about in "Lights Out", and a seasonal/Paleo type diet, that Wiley and Formby also spoke about to a degree. Dr. Kruse though has gone a step further with the Cold Thermogensis.
A lot of Dr. Kruse's writings on his blog are very scientific and can be hard to follow fully, but are without question fascinating. He calls what he has discovered "the ancient pathway". He has been getting unbelievable results with patients in his clinic apparently, and his own weight loss story is nothing sort of amazing. Dr. Kruse dropped 133lbs in 11 months using his leptin prescription.
Take away points:
-Circadian Biology seems to be a critical area to consider in health, and longevity
-Eating seasonal seems to be something else to consider. Dr. Kruse gives examples of what he terms "Mis-Matches", like eating banana's in the middle of winter in a country like Canada.
-Cold adaptation and leptin = Very interesting
Links:
JackKruse.com
TS Wiley
Underground Wellness Podcast Interviews:
Jack Kruse
TS Wiley
Stay Strong,
RB
Honestly my mind has just been racing lately with a lot (and I mean a shitload) of thoughts.
I have evolved from a strength coach/physical therapist into a extremely holistic human being, and practitioner. I am now at a stage of putting everything together to 1) make me a better person, and in turn love myself and find out what my purpose in this universe is, so that 2) I can in turn help others, and show them love also.
I have been studying my different fields and disciplines outside of human performance, such as, functional nutrition, and functional medicine, health and wellness, biology, spirituality, philosophy, agriculture (its all connected), and many more. I am of course still staying in touch with my roots by still studying strength and conditioning, and physical therapy.
So out rhythm, out of health! What do I mean by today's blog title?
I recently finished a book called "Lights Out" by TS. Wiley, and Brent Formby. The moral to the story is we humans now as of the last century are completed out of sync with our circadian rhythm. This in turn is leading us to complete hormonal disaster. Our ancient physiology has evolved to a feast/famine, light/night, summer/winter cycle, but now we never have a famine anymore, because we never have night anymore because we have the lights on 24/7, 365 days of the year.
According to Wiley and Formby, weight gain, insulin-resistance, and high cholesterol are completely normal! Yep! These were the needed adaptations that we humans had to have going into the long hard winters ahead, were food was going to be a lot more scarce. Over this winter period the weight gained in the summer would normalize, and we would start running our bodies on ketones as their were no carbs present in the winter, so the insulin resistance would be reversed.
But now as we know,there is no winter to prepare for anymore. Its ALWAYS SUMMER. We always have the lights on!! This in turn stimulates the stress response which stimulates sugar/carb cravings, and now thanks to modern technology, carbs are in abundance all year round. Starting to get the picture.
Everything in this universe is dualistic - Yin/Yang, Man/Women, Hot/Cold, Good/Bad, Right/Left, Day/Night!
In the summer we were meant to feast more than fast, and in the winter we were meant to fast more than feast. But now the famine NEVER comes.
Even more recently I have come across the work of Dr.Jack Kruse. Part of Kruse's work is on something called Cold Thermogensis. Basically Dr. Kruses talks about the fact that we humans have now lost our ability to be cold adapted creatures that our ancestors were, and this is greatly affecting our metabolism, and tries in with the hormone leptin.
He also tries this cold adaptation in with circadian Biology that Wiley and Formby wrote about in "Lights Out", and a seasonal/Paleo type diet, that Wiley and Formby also spoke about to a degree. Dr. Kruse though has gone a step further with the Cold Thermogensis.
A lot of Dr. Kruse's writings on his blog are very scientific and can be hard to follow fully, but are without question fascinating. He calls what he has discovered "the ancient pathway". He has been getting unbelievable results with patients in his clinic apparently, and his own weight loss story is nothing sort of amazing. Dr. Kruse dropped 133lbs in 11 months using his leptin prescription.
Take away points:
-Circadian Biology seems to be a critical area to consider in health, and longevity
-Eating seasonal seems to be something else to consider. Dr. Kruse gives examples of what he terms "Mis-Matches", like eating banana's in the middle of winter in a country like Canada.
-Cold adaptation and leptin = Very interesting
Links:
JackKruse.com
TS Wiley
Underground Wellness Podcast Interviews:
Jack Kruse
TS Wiley
Stay Strong,
RB
Monday, April 9, 2012
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