Mike Robertson Interview

Robertson and I hanging out before he gets ready to drop some knowledge bombs on me

For those of you who don't know who Mike Robertson is, well I feel sorry for you. Mike is one of the brightest minds in the fitness industry and has one of the best facilities around (voted as one of the top 10 gyms in America by Men's Health). You can check out his blog and information about him and I-FAST (his and Bill Hartman's gym) here.

Mike has also been the single biggest influence in my life when it comes to being a trainer. He and Bill showed me the way and changed the way I thought and advanced myself in this field. I interned with them back in August of 2009 and knew I was going to learn...a lot. Not only did I learn a lot, but I learned more than I could have possibly imagined. I still have a long way to go, but they helped shape me into who I am today. I consider Mike my mentor and a great friend. Without further delay here is the interview....

1. ME: I don´t have the privilege of being around you all day, everyday like I did last year during my internship. Fill me in on what you have been up to lately as far as Robertson Training Systems and I-FAST go. Any new projects, products, or seminars in the works?

MR: You know me Mikey – I’ve always got a ton going on!

As far as IFAST goes, the gym is really taking off. Tons of new clients coming in, and always working on the business side of the equation as well. Right now, we’re trying to implement an all-in-one scheduling and payment system, which will hopefully make all of our lives easier.

We’re also working on templates for all of our training programs. We don’t just randomly pick-and-choose exercises; there’s a progression and system that we follow with all of our clients. Hopefully this will expedite the program design process, while still giving us the same level of customization.

As far as RTS goes, man, that’s a whole ‘nother can of worms! Obviously, the site overhaul was a huge project. Regardless, it was well worth the effort and I think it looks great. I’m also still working on the lower back manual, and prepping for a seminar in Vancouver.

Busy busy!

2. ME: Let’s touch a little more on IFAST. Eric Cressey dropped in recently for the day. I can only imagine what it would be like with you, Eric, and Bill in the same gym at the same time. What topics were discussed as far as the training realm goes?

Eh, it’s never as exciting as you’d think. Last time Charlie Weingroff, Bill and myself got together, we spent an entire dinner talking about social media and Jersey Shore!

When Eric was around, we spent a lot of time discussing the work of the Postural Restoration Institute. This is probably the “newest” stuff we’re using at IFAST, and we’re really like the results we get with their information. Definitely check them out if you’re interested.

Otherwise, it was really just another day at the office.

3. ME: Any trainers/coaches/physical therapist that are new to the scene/not well known that I and my readers should know about and start following? Any good reads lately? DVDs?

MR: Well, again the PRI people are definitely smart, so check that stuff out.

In all honesty, I’m always a bit leery/skeptical if someone new just shows up on the scene. It’s one thing if they’ve been coaching for 10 or 20 years, but now we’re living in the age where people are “Internet-made” and simply riding on someone else coat tails.

Rather than looking for “new” people, I’ve actually cut my blogs in half so I’m only reading from people who actually “teach” stuff – not just regurgitate the same old stuff.

If you want some smart people to follow, read up on anything by Charlie Weingroff, Carson Boddicker, Patrick Ward, Mike Reinold and Joe Kenn. Those are five guys that don’t get the press they deserve, but they’re all wicked smart and bring quality information to the table.

4. ME: I remember when my internship ended you were just getting back into lifting heavy. What`s your training looking like nowadays?

MR: Really just trying to get stronger and this point in time. Right now I’m following what I call “Bastardized 5-3-1,” which is basically Wendler’s 5-3-1 program modified to my own needs and goals.

Lifting is going well, body feels good, and we’ll just see what happens in the future.



MR back in his powerlifting days

5. Is there anything that you have dropped from or added to your arsenal that is worth noting since I interned? Why did you do it?

The PRI is the big thing that we’ve added, but mostly it’s just getting better at the basics.

I don’t think we can ever be skilled enough at teaching basic exercises and body positions. I think mastery of that stuff isn’t sexy, but great coaches know how powerful they are and are willing to trade sexy for useful.

I want to be a great coach, so that’s what I’m doing: Always working on and refining the basics and foundational stuff.

6. ME: Looking back on the path you travelled to get to where you are now, is there anything that you would have done differently? It doesn’t even have to be something major. It could be something very minute, yet could have really made a big difference.

MR: Rather than looking back with regret, I look at my life as a series of challenges and opportunities.

I was miserable when I lived in Ft. Wayne. I didn’t tell a lot of people that, but other than powerlifting I just really didn’t like what I was doing. But rather than dwell on that, I used it as a source of motivation – I poured my heart and soul into learning about the body, and how to use exercise to get people moving and feeling better.

I went into that situation with ZERO experience with therapy, rehab, corrective exercise, or whatever you want to call it. Now, if people think of Mike Robertson, for better or worse they think of someone that understands the body and how to get it moving and shaking correctly.

So while it was a trying time in my life, I made the most of it and I’m a better person now because of it.

Not sure if that answers your question, but hopefully it gives you some of the insight you were looking for!

7. ME: Of course I gotta save the best (well in my opinion), for last. What’s some advice you have for me and any other up and coming trainers?

MR: You realize I could go on forever with this, right?

Here are the pieces of advice I try to give to all up and coming trainers, assuming they’re willing to listen.

1 – Shut your mouth and use your ears

Too many young people (and saying this makes me sound really OLD!), don’t want to listen. They assume because they know a few fancy words and trained a few people that they know more than everyone else.

WRONG!

I think I know a thing or two, but when I’m around Bill Hartman, I shut up and listen – there’s stuff to be learned.

If you are willing to take the time and listen to others, it’s amazing what you can pick up. Even if you don’t agree with everything, at the very least you can firm up your own resolve as to why you believe certain things.

Nothing irritates me more than when an intern assumes they know everything.

2 – Stop and be present

Not just for young coaches, but for everyone – slow down and just watch your clients. How are they moving? What needs fixing?

Their body is telling you a story – the question is, are you listening?

The saying goes, “If it looks right, it flies right.” So many people come in with horrible posture and movement mechanics, it doesn’t take an expert to see these things. They lay person can often see them when they take a step back and look at the big picture.

At the end of the day, learning to trust your eyes and what you’re seeing is a huge step in the right direction for young trainers and coaches.

3 – NEVER stop learning

Self-explanatory – you’re never as smart as you think you are.

On top of that, we’re constantly learning more about the body. If you’re not fascinated by this stuff, you’re in the wrong field.

4 – Don’t be afraid of being great

This is just a general comment, but don’t’ be afraid of being successful, or even being great.

Sometimes, I think people have this negative connotation of what it means to be a “personal trainer” or “strength coach.”

They don’t realize how powerful they are in other people’s lives.

If I can take a young athlete and improve their performance, teach them how to lift weights properly, and improve their self-confidence, do you realize how powerful that is?

As trainers and coaches, we have the ability each and every day to impact people’s lives in a positive way. Take this job seriously – I’m not saying don’t have fun – but take it seriously and do your best to help people out.

The rewards are beyond anything you can put a cash value you on.


Can't thank you enough for the awesome interview MR! Again make sure you check out Mike's blog and if you are ever in the Indianapolis area, be sure to drop-in and meet Mike and Bill and check out their awesome gym!

Tempo: Often Neglected, Never Should Be

EliteFTS founder/owner Dave Tate

A lot of times, tempo is a missing ingredient in strength training programs. This can be very detrimental to a trainee when looking to achieve a desired training effect (muscular hypertrophy, strength, etc.) Some of you may asking what the hell is tempo? And that's cool cause I'm going to explain what it is, why it's important, and how to implement it into your training.

What is tempo?:

Simply put tempo is how fast or slow you lift the weight/perform the exercise. There are a couple of ways that you may see tempos prescribed. For example, for a back squat you could either see it written as:
301 or 3011
In the first example the 3 stands for how many seconds the muscle will be under tension during the lowering portion (eccentric) of the lift. The 0 indicates the the time spent in the bottom position of the lift (isometric contraction) and the 1 represents how many seconds to exert the force necessary to get the weight up (concentric) and back to starting position.

In the second example all the numbers mean the same except there is a 4th number. That number represents the number of seconds spent at the top of the lift before going back to the eccentric portion of the lift. This tempo has been popularized by strength coach Charles Poloquin.

Why is it important?:

Tempo can elicit any number effects on whatever exercise you perform depending how fast or slow (controlled) you perform it. For example, if you are looking to improve your hip stability by doing the split squat, but perform the eccentric out of control and allow your knee crash to the floor, then you will not improve your hip stability. You would perform this with at least a 3 second eccentric; in some cases longer depending on how poor your hip stability.

Another example would be a trainee training in an accumulation cycle (basic movements and developing the training targets with the longest residuals are the goal during this, with those targets being maximal strength (neural) and aerobic capacity). If the trainee were to perform their lifts that were aimed at improving aerobic capacity with a tempo that did not mesh with the goal, then this would be detrimental and there would be very minimal (maybe even zero) transfer of that lift to one's aerobic capacity.

So as you can see, if your tempo doesn't coincide with your goals then you might as well stay home and catch episodes of The Office.


It's all about tempo....that's what she said

How to implement tempo:

This will all depend on what your goal(s) are. Here is a number of common training effects that trainees strive for and they are paired up with their proper tempos (some tempos are not set in stone and can be manipulated to further enhance the effect).

Explosiveness ---> explosive (yeah nothing fancy)...however bar speed is going to have to be fast. Do not use loads that significantly slow the bar speed. Remember the heavier it is (in relation to your 1 rep max), the lower the velocity.

Maximal Strength ----> 301 (muscular) fast, yet controlled (neural)

Stability ----> 511

Isometric Strength ---> 151

Aerobic Capacity(slow twitch hypertrophy) ----> 202

Wu Tang Wednesday

Random title I know. This is a random post and I happen to be listening to Wu Tang Clan right now so "Wu Tang Wednesday" sounded catchy and now as I write it, it just sounds corny and stupid, but I'm in a rush so I'm leaving it as is.

-For those of you who read my blog you will notice I haven't posted in like a week. My laptop crashed on me last week. I'm in the library typing this one up right now, but hopefully I will have it back and running in the next week or so.

-The Mike Robertson interview has been delayed for now also. But, it will definitely happen.

-I moved back to Ann Arbor this past Saturday. I've found two gyms, Anytime Fitness and 1on1 Athletic Club, that I will be working out of as an independent contractor. Needless to say I am very excited and can't wait to get my business going.

-I also will be promoting my business, Coval Training and Performance, at the Vitamin Shoppe on Washtenaw Ave in Ann Arbor from 2-4 PM on November 20.

-Going to be attending a networking session put on by the Ann Arbor Chamber of Commerce on November 11. Hoping to get the Coval Training and Performance name out there and starting to kill it here in the Ann Arbor area.

-After a whole year of wanting Anatomy Trains by Thomas Meyers, I finally think I am going to be getting it for my birthday. My girlfriend asked me what I wanted and that's the first thing I thought of. Can't wait to read that damn book!

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!