Guest Blog today

brought to you by Jason Ferrugia.

This guy is a total bad ass. He is definitely one of the few coaches whose work I love reading because its all about lifting heavy ass weight and getting hee-uuuuuuuge.

Jason has a great newsletter today talking about training your abs:

Although most people continue to rely on exercises like sit ups and
crunches when it comes to training the abdominals, research has
proven that these movements place excessive loads on the lower back,
leading to a lot of pain for a lot of people. Repeated, loaded
spinal flexion is one of the leading causes for disc herniation.

In fact, the traditional old school, slow speed sit up has been
shown to place 730 pounds of compression on the spine! Other
commonly used ab exercises place over 1,000 pounds of compression
on the spine!

Boy, do I wish I knew all this in my teens and early 20's when I
did thousands of spinal flexion exercises per week, eventually
leading to two herniated discs.

Not only are you risking long term back problems by doing all
those sit ups, crunches, and all their useless variations but you
are not even providing optimal stimulus to the abdominals. Research
has proven that bracing actually trains the abs much more
effectively than spinal flexion.

To properly employ this technique you need to brace your abs as hard
as you can like you are preparing to take a punch. You don't push
your abs out and you don't suck them in. In fact, sucking them in
and trying to activate your transverse abdominis is one of the worst
things you can do.

You simply want to tighten and flex the abs as hard as possible. Be
sure that there are no energy leaks and that your entire core is
braced tightly. You can have a partner poke you or lightly whack you
with a stick from different angles to ensure optimal bracing.

Never in real life will you consciously flex your spine and contract
your abs like you do in a crunch, so why bother doing it in the gym?
If you are on your back in most athletic endeavors, it's usually
because someone put you there. It's usually not where you want to
be. So why try to train your abs in that position?

Starting today, you are going to stop wasting your time and
destroying your lower back with traditional ab training and instead
focus your energy on the exercises listed below and their many
variations.

Be sure to train without a belt, brace the abs and contract the
glutes as tightly as possible when doing these movements. This will
lead to optimal abdominal development and the avoidance of lower
back injuries.

- Plank aka Abdominal Bridge
- Side Plank aka Side Bridge
- Bird Dog
- Deadlift
- Military press
- Pushup
- Hand Walking with the Power Wheel
- Farmers walk
- Squat
- Chin Up

I'm stealing this from Tony

If you don't know who Tony Gentilcore is, you should. He is co-owner of Cressey Performance based in the greater Boston area, contributor to T-Nation and the Boston Herald Step-Up blog and one heck of a good writer/trainer.

Here is a good piece of info I found on one of his recent blogs:

In quoting an interview by Dr. Arthur De Vany regarding his insights on early human activity:

“My cardio is the fast-pace of my workout. And it’s sprinting in a field or on a stationary bike. I never put in miles or time on a treadmill. It’s boring and worthless.

Look at joggers and distance runners. They aren’t slender; they simply have no muscle mass. They’re weak, they can’t generate power, and in spite of their slender appearance, joggers aren’t lean. The average body fat content of jogging club members was twenty-two percent in one study. Anything above thirteen percent is deleterious.

I wouldn’t jog for health, but playful runs are wonderful. Vary the speed and terrain and you have a really great activity that’s fun and healthful. Routinized jogging is factory work, not natural activity. If you log long miles on a track, I believe you’re compromising your health.”

TG Comment: Again, you need to get fit to run, not run to get fit. If more people followed this simple piece of advice, I’d be less inclined to want to stab myself in the face with a machete.

Post 4th of July Hangover, literally

Ya, I went a little big over the weekend, but it was our nation's birthday and like million's of other fellow Americans, I indulged.

Big time.

Now, like every one else, I have to rebound and get back on track. As part of a coaching program I'm on, we were taught what they call a "Wipe The Slate Clean" policy, where if you slip up on your diet and you didn't follow the 90% rule, it's okay. Just wipe the slate clean and start fresh tomorrow. Didn't get your session in today or didn't have the session you wanted? It's okay, just wipe the slate clean and get after it on your next session.

See, I think too many people get caught up in trying to do everything perfect, when in actuality, perfection is truly just an illusion. It's nice to strive for sure, but it's not attainable. Training and fitness is no exception. Nobody can diet 100% perfect all the time, if you did, you would go mental!

The point is, if you have a slip up every once in a while, remember the clean slate policy or institute one like it for yourself. You won't feel so damn guilty if you do slip up.

Just don't make the slip up's a common occurrence. If you do, that's a whole nother set of issues all together.