Sunday, July 26, 2015

Call Me Coach Pollenator

My resistance training journey started off humbly enough, in the dirty basement weight room of the local YMCA. With Bill Pearl’s Getting Stronger in hand, I plowed through every exercise in the book -- or at least the ones I was able to do given the congenital absence of my left leg. Back then, I never would have thought my hobby would one day blossom into a career.



My goal at the time was largely performance-based (and perhaps a little aesthetic -- whose isn't?). I had my sights set on the Paralympics for swimming, and I knew resistance training would be an integral component of my training. I had no idea I was following a bodybuilding program, though. I thought lifting weights was lifting weights. I was getting stronger, and that was all that mattered.

Over the next few years, I read more books -- on heart rate monitoring, stretching, and the psychology of peak performance. I thought I knew all there was to know about training. Then, in the summer of 2009, I joined a new gym. The sign-up deal included two free training sessions. The cocky bastard I am, I doubted I would learn anything new, but I jumped on the freebies anyway.

Monday, July 13, 2015

Biofeedback: Bogus or Brilliant?

Key Concepts:

  • Biofeedback is an autoregulation, or self-monitoring, technique. It provides information about the “agreeableness” of a particular movement with your body.
  • Range of motion testing, like the toe touch, and handgrip strength are two of the easiest ways to apply biofeedback.
  • To find the best variation of a movement for you on a particular day, simply establish your baseline measurement, then repeat the test in between a few variations of the movement to see which one tests the highest.
  • Biofeedback can be used to individualize and optimize training, help get out of pain, or just become more in tune with your body.

Sunday, July 5, 2015

RobertsonTrainingSystems.com: Putting the C in S&C


Let's say you're training a pro American football lineman who needs to develop an aerobic base. At upwards of 300 pounds, running for hours on end would be ill-advised due to the principle of specificity, the risk of injury, and the effects of interference.

In order to develop the lineman’s aerobic energy system safely, effectively, and in accordance with the types of movements required in football, you're going to have to get a little creative.

In our new article for Robertson Training Systems, my coauthor, Marc Lewis, and I tackle this issue and so much more.

Read Putting the C in S&C: An Energy Systems-based Approach here: