You Wanna Progress? Sometimes You Gotta Regress!

Ask my boy Dan Allison about how critical regressing is. He's been powerlifting for the last 4 years or so, pushing his body to the limit. It's a necessity.

The title may sound a bit contradictory to conventional wisdom, but I'm going to breakdown why you should regress at certain times, how to do it, and when to do it.



The Why:
There are two different ways (right off the top of my head) to regress. One way is regressing an exercise due to the fact that you aren't ready to perform the current exercise that you wish to execute. Why should you regress it? Decrease chance of injury first and foremost, also because you want to avoid developing strength imbalances, avoid developing faulty movement and stabilization patterns, avoid looking like an assclown while performing it, and you want to keep getting stronger without sacrificing your health.

The other category has more to do with particulars of a training cycle which include intensity, volume, training environment, and frequency. These measures are usually used as a "taper" pre-competition for an athlete, but they can also be applied to the Average Bro. These all can lead to increased restoration which can lead to bigger lifts, better performance, and overall health. Chyeaaaa Boi!

The How:

In reference to exercise selection here are some ways to know how to regress if you need to:
1. Dynamic -----> Static
2. External Load ----> Bodyweight
3. Maximize Gravitational Pull ---> Minimize Gravitational Pull
4. Open Chain Exercise -----> Closed Chain Exercise
5. Decrease BOS (base of support)---->Increase BOS

Now variables of a training cycle:
1. Decrease intensity
2. Decrease volume
3. Change of scenery
4. Decrease of frequency of training sessions


Recovering from getting hammered with your bros, requires de-load in the form of some GTL with the fellas before going out and doing it again later.

The When:

For exercise selection its fairly simple. For example, if you aren't performing a front lunge properly because you lack the hip mobility and ankle mobility to do it without excessive anterior loading, then you would want to make it less dynamic to work on your hip and ankle mobility, loading your posterior chain, and probably proper stabilization patterns (long and tall spine for abdominal bracing, avoid shrugging, relaxed arms, engage external rotators of hip to avoid valgus of the knee). So a split stance squat would be a better option.

The point is to know when you aren't doing something correctly and know how to regress it. If you don't know how, then just drop me a line. CTPmike@yahoo.com. I'm always willing to help.

For the other variables of a training cycle it is a little bit trickier. Regressing will come in the form of a de-load week and can result in a de-load of all the training variables discussed. Which ones that are taken down a notch all depend on what your goals are. For instance, if you are working on developing max strength in the squat your weekly training split may look like this for someone with a 400 1 RM on the back squat....

Week 1(85% 1 RM): 300x5, 320x5, 340x5
Week 2:(87.5% 1 RM): 300x5, 325x5, 350x5
Week 3: work up to 1 working set at 60% 1 RM, 240x5
Week 4: (90% 1 RM): 315x5, 335x5, 360x5

For week 3 we dropped the intensity and the volume (not as many sets to work up to working sets for the day sine we were working with a much lower percentage). This will allow for full recovery (we hope) of the Central Nervous System, which will allow for our example to squash his weight in week 4 due to higher nerve conduction velocity, the rate at which the motor unit fires, synchronization of the muscle groups firing together, and the contractile ability of the fast-twitch muscle fibers (all of those are interrelated). Now again, this is just an example. And keep in mind, our example worked up to those working sets of 5 reps for each day. Always warm-up to your working sets.

Also, everybody is different. Our example may be ready for a de-load on the 3rd week of a training block while you may not be ready to your fourth or fifth. Keep training hard and get to know your body responds to different training means. Also, have a plan! You can't make progress if you don't have a plan to start from and reference as you go along.

Once Upon a Time in China, There Lived a Large American

This post is completely inspired by a hilarious Facebook conversation I had last night. But, I am also going to throw in a few random things going on with me and Coval Training and Performance, some quality tips, and of course the awesome Facebook convo.

1) I landed my first online client through the contest CTP had last week for the free online personal training. Then this week picked up my second via referral and actually the guy is going to be here in Bloomington today, so I will be able to perform an assessment on him. I can't wait! I will be back home in Michigan this weekend so I will be able to do an assessment for our online contest winner, Shane Rickman. Big things happening!

2) My buddy Mike Robertson (if you don't know who he is, well check his website because you should know) just revamped his website and it looks damn good. Tons of quality information and to be completely honest (and slightly biased) I would say out of all the big name guys in the fitness industry, Mikes website looks the best. Allen Tucker designed the website so if you are looking for a web designer for whatever reason, then I recommend looking him up.

3) If you are having trouble accomplishing task throughout the day, then a good thing you can do is start writing out what you need to do in time blocks. I have been doing this for the last few weeks and it has made me much more productive (although I could be more productive than I am). For instance, I will write out my morning before going to bed the night before and it might look like something like this...
7am-eat
730-750 read ex. physiology material
750-8 check email, respond if necessary
8-820 read Block Periodization
820-830 free time
830-check progress to make sure task are being completed

Now that is only the first hour and a half of my day, but I think you get the picture. It sounds really boring, but the truth is it helps a ton. I have to get better about this and continue to do it day in and day out.


4) Last night I was chatting with a buddy of mine on Facebook. He moved out to China for a job promotion early last year, and has been having quite the experience when he goes to the gym out there. Now mind you Jason is roughly 5'10, is about 230 lbs, has squatted over 555 pounds raw, deadlifted 630 lbs raw, and benched 385 raw. Here is our conversation as it happened. I was laughing my ass off the entire time.

We are entering the conversation after I asked Jason if he had done any powerlifting meets in China:

Jason: No meets over here. Its hard to find a gym to train at. My strength has gone down from what I usually do. They don't like me doing deadlifts. I have bent 3 bars and make too much noise.

But they think I'm some kind of super star freak. It is funny.

Me: lmao that is so fucking awesome

Jason: I tried to tell them that 500 lb bars are cheap and they need to purchase 1500 pound bars.

Me: How'd that go?

Jason: They have no idea that their are different bars. To them a bar is a bar.

Me: oh man this is hilarious. I'm seriously laughing out loud. This is great stuff.

Jason: lol, yeah it cracks me up too. You should see them when I workout. They stand right by me and grunt for me while I'm training
****NOTE****
You read that correctly. They grunt for him while he trains.

Me: dude, do you realize how many hits on YouTube you would get if you taped this?

Jason: I showed them how to do correct form on the bench and the whole gym stopped to come watch me show a couple guys. Seriously they think I'm a God over here. If I had the money to start a gym over here, I would make a killing.


THE END! Hope you enjoyed!

Winner of CTP Free Online Training

So I know I said it would be October 22nd before I announced the winner for the contest. I'm announcing it now because I don't need any more time to think about it and due to lack of response to my advertisement. I wish I would have more responses but what can I do? Just gotta keep showing people that I'm all about helping people and getting them results and that is exactly what I'm gonna do with the winner of the contest....Shane Rickman. Shane is a beast and former college athlete. I look forward to working with Shane and sharing all of his progress with all of you! He will be starting his program at the beginning of November and I hope to have weekly updates to share with everyone! For all of you who are supporting CTP I can't thank you enough, and please do keep it up! For those who aren't, its all good. You eventually will ;-) Hope everyone had a great weekend! If you didn't have such a great weekend, then sorry to hear that but just think your life could be much worse. You could look like Screech Powers.....

Facebook Stalk Me

If you aren't already a member of Coval Training and Performance on Facebook, then you can join here.

New blog post will be up over the weekend! Hope you enjoy your weekend!

The Anti-Broski Exercise Index: Push Up Hold with 3 Point Touch

This exercise is by no means sexy (sorry Mike Robertson, I had to steal that one from ya ;-)), but you can bet they will add a lot more quality to your program. Just don't count on "The Situation" to ever be performing these while gettin' his swell on. You can find him on the pec deck machine. That's how real mofo's get jacked and strong (please note sarcasm).

Exercise: Push Up Hold with 3 Point Touch

My apologies on the video not being directly on the blog page. I can't figure out how to get this mac to upload my videos.



What's the Point?:

There are a number of benefits that can be taken from this exercise. First, we can look at the core stability component. Specifically we are working on the shear forces that many find it difficult to overcome. A lot of times people do not have the proper stability patterns and core strength to perform this exercise properly. You will see rotation at the hips, lumbar spine, and thoracic spine to compensate for weakness/faulty stabilization patterns as well as inability to use the correct musculature to stabilize in the sagittal plane and in this you will see the hips pop up and rounded upper back.

Second, the arm that is in the closed kinetic chain (arm touching the surface) is getting the benefit of scapular stabilization. If you are in proper position (think big chest, avoid rounding the t-spine, and push through the ground as hard as you can), this will have huge benefits for serratus anterior activation, and you can turn your hand out to involve the external rotators of the GH joint as well.

Lastly, in the dynamic portion of the exercise we are getting some scapular mobility with the limb that is in the open kinetic chain (free moving). It may be minimal, but its still another benefit of this exercise.

How To Do It:
Start in the top position of a push-up. Push through the floor as if you were performing a scap-push up. This is where the scapular stabilization will come into play. Think big chest, abs braced (do not draw or "suck" in, think fill the belly with air and push out), and glutes tight. Once starting position is established reach out with one arm and make three touches. Think of it as a compass. So we will touch N, W (left arm), E (right arm), and S. You can reverse the pattern or start in the E or W. Each time you make three touches, that counts as one rep. Aim for at least 5 on each side.

Regress/Progress:

Progressions for this exercise go in this order:
1. Narrow base of support (bring feet closer together)
2. With OKC upper limb, increase the distance that you reach out for your three touches
3. Feet Elevated

Regressions for this exercise include:
1. Widen base of support (move feet further away from one another)
2. No reach. Just a hand lift.
3. Push Up Iso Hold
4. Cut the exercise out. Not everyone is ready to perform this exercise. The are a number of training effects that can be obtained from this exercise, and generally the more training effects we attack in a certain exercise then the more qualified you need to be to perform it. What constitutes qualified? Inability to perform a proper plank, not fully able to achieve scapular "flush"(I'm pretty sure I just made that up, but it sounds cool) in a scapular push-up, and lack of shoulder mobility would be a few red flags that I would say makes you ineligible to perform this exercise. Then again, I am by no means an expert so go ahead and try it hot shot.

Want Some Free Personal Training? You Better Drop Me a Line...QUICK!

To promote my new service of online personal training, I am offering 3 months free of online personal training. This is a $150 value for FREE!

Qualifications:
You must be dedicated, willing to work hard, and comply with a "healthy" lifestyle. This means no going out and getting Hasselhoff drunk on the weekends, not going Homer Simpson on a box of donuts for breakfast (or even worse would be just skipping it all together), etc. Don't get me wrong I want you to enjoy life's privileges, but don't abuse them. A simple rule would be to adhere to a healthy life style 90% of the time.


Don't be like The Hoff

In the e-mail I want you to give me your story on where you are in your training, why you want to train with me, and what goals you have set forth for yourself. I will accept the first 5 emails from people with their stories. From there I will select one winner who will then receive 3 free months of service. Check out my Facebook page to see what those 3 months will consist of.

If you are skeptical I encourage you to check the results that Jake and Ned have obtained via a long-distance training experience with me. They can do it, so can you! There is no catch to this, just simply email me at CTPmike@yahoo.com and give me your story. I will notify the winner on October 22nd. The training will start November 2nd. EVERYONE is welcome to submit their story. Look forward to hearing from everyone!

Testimonial from Another Statisfied Client

Check out the testimonial below. It's from client Jake Sawyer. You saw his before and after pics from two months ago, but he has continued to make progress since then. We hit a couple speed bumps along the way, but overall he has put in the hard work and dedicated himself the way I expect my clients to. Nice work Jake and thanks for the kind words!

"I have been working with Mike for 4 months and I am in my first week of my 5th month. I have been an athlete my whole life and after my fours as a collegiate athlete, I was annoyed and dissatisfied with my ability to get my body back into the shape that would make me happy. I didn't know how to transform myself. That's where Mike came in.

I communicated with Mike that I wanted to lose body fat and increase my lean muscle mass. Mind you, both my schedule and Mike's were conflicting so we hardly ever got a chance to meet up. So we maintained a distant relationship with Mike going the extra mile to make sure that I got the best results possible. He posted videos on his YouTube page on how to properly perform the exercises and lifts if I didn't know them, promptly answered my emails so I wasn't behind on my workouts, and when we were able to meet up he was very insightful and helpful with his coaching cues and ensuring that I was doing everything correct. Despite the distance and lack of face time, Mike made sure I always stayed on track with achieving my goals.

My start weight was 240 lbs and as of the end of my fourth month I am at 212 lbs. It is not only the weight loss that I am satisfied with. I have noticed (and even received compliments from others) on my increase in athletic performance. Playing basketball I have noticed that my lateral quickness, vertical jump, and balance have all improved big time. Not only that I feel stronger at 212 than I did than 240. My mobility in my hips and ankles has also gotten a lot better thanks to the mobility drills Mike threw in at the beginning of my workouts. Overall my body feels better, looks better, and performs better. These past few months have been a great stepping stone for me and I look forward to continuing my growth with Mike."

You can check the progress pics of Jake at the end of July when he was 223 lbs. I'm in the process of getting some up-to-date pics from Jake.