The overhead press is an important and fundamental movement, but lots of people can’t overhead press pain free. This could be because of;

• Poor form
• Poor rotator cuff activation
• Poor positioning

If you are one of the people that tend to have shoulder pain when pressing, give the KB Bottoms Up Press a shot. Generally allows for pain free pressing along with numerous other benefits;

• Teaches Irradiation – the KB demands you grip tighter, leading to more stability in the shoulder girdle.
• Greater Rotator Cuff Activation
• Improved Shoulder Stability
• Improved Grip Strength
• Teaches overall core stability

Happy Monday! Here are a few thoughts bouncing around in my head after a week of reading, podcasts and other continuing ed. Enjoy!

1. “Leave a little bit in the tank.” As I start to plan out some of the training going forward with the teams I work with, especially in-season, that’s my thought process. I would much rather have the athletes leave with the ability to perform a little more quality work then try to push for that little extra. You can always do more if need be, but you can’t do less.
2. I always find it interesting when I hear people chalk injuries up to the nature of the beast or that they are just a part of the game. Contact injuries are one thing, but there is always a reason for a non-contact injury.
3. Consistency is the number one factor when it comes to making progress in the weigh room. Finding a program or style of training that allows you to go to the gym, train on a consistent basis, and make progress while having fun is the key.

Another week, another group of podcasts and articles to read and listen to that I have dived into this past week. There was some really good stuff put out there, especially podcasts.

For podcasts, I really enjoyed the newest Strength Coach Podcast with Brandon Marcello. A lot of talk on sleep, which I think is an can be a game-changer for you and the people that you work with…plus there is a lot of good talk with Gray Cook and Mike Boyle as well, which is always a good thing.

For articles, the one written by the FMS team on regional interdependence is great. It expands on the joint by joint theory and talks about how certain areas of the body you may feel/have pain yet that area of the body is not the issue. I think this thought process is becoming more of the norm but can be huge for someone that hasn’t been exposed to it before.

Enjoy!

Podcasts

Strength Coach Podcast #235 with Brandon Marcello

Vigor Life Podcast #56

School of Greatness Podcast with Rory Vaden

Cut the S#it Get Fit Podcast with Charlie Weingroff

Articles

It’s OK to Struggle by Brett Jones

The Most Important Three Words in Strength and Conditioning by Eric Cressey

Do Athletes Need More Anterior or Posterior Chain Work? by Mike Robertson

Why Your Back is Often the Victim, Not Culprit by FMS

Adding bands to some of your jumps, like broad jumps and lateral bounds, are a great way to not only add an accommodating resistance but also a great way to decrease some of the pounding that the landing places on the athlete, eliminated potential lower extremity injuries and soreness.

Coaching Cues: toss the band around your waist, step out to the point where there is a little bit of tension, jump or bound.

Thought of the day…you should feel better as a result of your training, not worse.

I am the classic trainee that suffers from low back pain/issues whenever I had previous back or front squatted. Because of that I went a LONG time without doing much bilateral squatting, besides tossing in some goblet squats every once in a while.

In the last couple months I have been incorporating more 2KB Front Squats to get some bilateral squatting in my program. The results have been great;

✔️Zero low back pain/issues the days following
✔️A lower over load on the system and not feeling beat down the following days allowing me train more consistently
✔️I can add a little extra volume of days I feel like it without any negative consequences the following days
✔️Lights up your core way more then any other bilateral squat
✔️No spinal loading or compression, something my body will probably thank me for years down the road .

I highly recommend you give it a shot if you suffer from low back pain after squatting like I do.

Happy Monday! Here are a few thoughts bouncing around in my head after a week of reading, podcasts and other continuing ed. Enjoy!

1. I think it is imperative that we as strength coaches remain positive with the athletes and/or clients we are coaching. People beat themselves up enough as it is – I don’t think what they need is a coach beating them up even more. People want to be in a positive environment where they are allowed to learn and fail. Be positive, make people feel valued and then watch them get better.
2. We as an industry can do a better job when it comes to regressing the people we are working with. We do a great job of progressing from step to step but we don’t do as well when it comes to regressing. We always want to push forward but need to also know when to pull back. Some athletes/clients just aren’t ready for what you want them to do, even though you may think it isn’t a difficult movement. Meet people where they are, which may be more regressed then where you had hoped they would be.
3. A good coach is always growing. A good coach always thinks they are the dumbest person in the room. A good coach is always learning, from everyone and anyone they can. A good coach also has a great filter when learning from other to decide what is BS and what isn’t. A good coach makes everyone around them better. A good coach shows people possibility. A good coach is positive. Be a good coach.

Have a great week!

Another week, another group of podcasts and articles to read and listen to that I have dived into this past week. There was some really good stuff put out there, especially podcasts.

For podcasts, without a doubt, listen to the Joe Rogan Experience with David Goggins. David Goggins entire story is unreal as is what he has gone through and accomplished over the last few years. This was one of the most motivational things I have ever listened to.

For articles, I enjoyed Mike Robertson’s article on coaching cues. One of the things that I think watching and learning from other coaches is hearing their coaching cues and how they coach their athletes. Its always a great way to learn.

Enjoy!

Podcasts

Vigor Life #55 with Martin Rooney

Joe Rogan Experience with David Goggins

Vigor Life #54

Physical Prep with Lee Taft

Articles 

11 Best Books for Smart Meatheads by T-Nation

3 Benefits Football Players get from Running Track by Joe Frollo

My Top 5 Coaching Cues by Mike Robertson

12 Ways to Know if You Should Include an Exerice in a Strength Training Program by Eric Cressey

It’s fairly simple to develop vertical power in the weight room with traditional Olympic lifts and traditional vertical based plyometric movements, but developing horizontal power becomes a little trickier, especially if you are like me and don’t love traditional broad jumps because of the shear forces of the landing, which scare me a little.

One of my favorite ways to train the movement pattern is with the band broad jump, which is a safe and effective way to develop horizontal power, allowing for a high concentric horizontal force but also decreasing the eccentric stresses and shear forces cause by the landing.

The other no brainer is just sprinting.

Or sprinting with a sled.

Or pushing a heavy sled.

And swinging heavy Kettlebells. Maybe even band resisted swings sometimes.

Our goal as Strength coaches should be to find the exercise that yields the highest possible result with the lowest possible cost. Because of the demands of the sport, the exercises we choose will change at different times of the year.

Perfect example; both men’s and women’s basketball have returned for their summer session. With that, their time on the court has gone from virtually nothing to very high, meaning they have gone from small amounts of eccentric hamstring stress on a daily basis to a much higher amount through running, cutting, decelerating, landing etc. during this timeframe we’ve made some small changes to our lower body strength training with the goal of eliminating as much eccentric hamstring stress as we can to keep them healthy and not overworked.

💥 Band Resisted Broad Jump for less eccentric stress when landing

💥 Glute Bridge Walkout which is very isometric in nature

💥 Concentric only trap bar Deadlift

💥 Sled March which is essentially a concentric only movement

💥 Isometric Hip Bridge

One of the biggest dysfunctions we see when we bring athletes through the FMS is a poor score on the active straight leg raise, meaning someone is having trouble engaging their core while their legs are moving – something that is kind of important in sports. Here we have added a band around the bottom of the feet to add a hip flexor component to really get the core firing.

It’s also obvious that most athletes (anyone really) are living in an anterior pelvic tilt, which is why dead bug and their variations always seem to make their way into the program.