Strength

When learning to do deadlifts, good mornings, kettlebell swings and many other hip dominant movements what becomes important to learn first are the best positions to train with. Ideally, the vertical shin is the critical component to learn. It doesn't matter if you are swinging, doing good morning variations, deadlift variations or other hinge movements. The vertical shin or "L" position is the first component that is critical to the development of these patterns. If we c

The reality of living on earth is that the brain and the body adapt to the stress of gravitational constraint. Since gravitational force is a constant 9.8 mps what occurs pretty early on in childhood is that the development of the motor system encounters this stress and is influenced by it in significant ways. The challenges of this are that the adaptations are not always the most favorable. Since the body and brain are linked in function and dysfunction what we can not gu

One of the biggest and most important jobs of the personal trainer/strength coach is to assist their clients in identifying muscle imbalances. Now in some cases the imbalances are so great that pain is normal for their gait and general movement outside of training. This is one of those indicators that the musculoskeletal system is severely imbalanced. The length tension dynamics are so at odds with each other that the body is sending the brain a signal that the system is i

The fitness industry is full of quick fix short term solutions that are cheap. The problem is that they are not legitimate in either their ability to create adaptation or influence the capacity of the body to change in any way. This is because your body has a weight. You weigh something and in order to change the dynamic capacity of that structure it's necessary to lift things that are relatively challenging to that structure. Pile after pile of fitness gadgets are not go

One of the big concerns for many people engaging in strength training is that they are going to look different. Which is ironic because for a lot of other people that is why they are starting in the first place. They want to look different. The subtleties here are abundant and profound. What becomes important to understand is that no one starts training and in a very short period of time becomes a version of She-Hulk/Hulk. Biological adaptation on the muscular level does