Acai Berry Hype

I'm sure a lot of you of heard of the new super food, acai berry. How could you not have heard of it? Oprah was raving about it on one of her shows a couple months back and since then the magical powers of acai berry have been touted every where. Wait, you mean you don't watgh Oprah. Doesn't everyone watch Oprah? Anyways, I had clients asking me about it. I had my mom asking me about. I had a friend asking me if he should sell it as some type of pyramid marketing scheme. I knew the hype was too good to be true. So I did a bit of reading and found just that. Yes, acai is everything that it claims to be. But what most people are not getting is acai berry in it's true form. What they're getting is basically a watered down processed form of it. And they're paying a good buck for it. Take a look at this article and read Dr. Mercola's comments at the bottom of the article and you'll get an idea of what I'm talking about.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/12/30/is-the-superfood-acai-worth-the-price.aspx

Don't believe the hype. And definitely don't fall under the magical whim of Oprah.

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: Blast Strap Inverted Row

Technically, my client is actually not using the Blast Straps in the following video. The Blast Straps are a nice piece of training equipment put out by Elite FTS. What my client is using in the video is a piece of equipment called the Jungle Gym put out by Perform Better. Basically the same two pieces of equipment, with a couple of differences, put out by two different companies. But Blasts Straps sounds a lot cooler than the Jungle Gym, hence the Blast Strap Inverted Row.

Merry Christmas

Me and the staff...wait. I don't have a staff. Well may be next year if I have a staff they'll wish you a Merry Christmas. So this year, me and Fenway want to wish every one a Merry Christmas. Have a safe and happy holiday.

Fenway

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: Low Cable Pull Through

You're sure to get a couple of stares from people if you add this exercise into your arsenal. But I hope you do add this exercise in because it's great for a couple of reasons:

1. It hits the posterior chain (hamstrings, glutes and lower back). Nothing looks better than a nice posterior chain, right? Plus posterior chain strength and development is a is must for any type of performance and maintaining low back and knee health.
2. This a great exercise to use a in order to teach someone how to deadlift correctly. Proper deadlifitng should be about driving the force through your heels and powerful hip extension. The way load is set up, behind you, with this exercise will re-enforce these movement patterns.

In order to perform, just find a triceps rope and attach it to a low pulley. Straddle the rope. Grab the rope so that it is between your legs and take a couple steps out away from the pulley. Starting tall, flex your hips and get your butt back. Allow a bit of bend in the knees. Keep a neutral spine and allow your hands to come back through your legs. You should almost feel like you're going to fall backwards in the bottom position. From here, keeping that neutral spine, extend your hips and forcefully squeeze those glutes to get back to that tall position.



A great exercise that a lot of people don't know about.

Random Thoughts....

• Hard to believe that the Patriots could go 11-5 and miss the playoffs. When Brady went down a couple of plays into the first game of the year, I'm sure many Pats fans thought the season was going to be a disaster. I honestly thought they'd go 12-4, because I'm such a homer. But there's no way I thought they go 11-5 and miss the playoffs. If the football gods are looking down on New England this Christmas, they will make sure the Ravens and Dolphins lose their final two games. Go Pats!
• A push up should be a pretty simple exercise, right? But it's amazing to me when I watch how horrendous some people look doing push ups. And these are people who would probably consider themselves to be strong. I saw a high school boys soccer team earlier this year doing push ups and couldn't believe what I saw. Butts in the air. Hips sagging. They looked like they were breakdancing. Even a few kids doing them from their knees!! These are high school boys who are supposed to be in terrific shape. How can it be that they can not do a correct push up?
• Does anyone believe the average American gains 5-7lbs between Thanksgiving and New Years? If that's the average American, I'd like to see the people who are putting on more than the 5-7lbs. Actually, may be I wouldn't.

• New years Resolutions are a joke. I'd say 95% of people do not carry through on their New Years resolutions. I bet by the second or third week of January, most people have given up on their New Years resolutions. If you want to be successful with your New Years resolutions, sit down and take the time to to do some goal setting. Be more specific with your goals, re-enforce your goals every single day and set a time frame for your goals. You'll be far more successful.
• I used to hate deadlifitng. Now I'd rather deadlift than squat.
  
• If you spent 45-60 minutes a day working on a particular goal, wouldn't you expect to get somewhere with that goal? Yet, I still see people moving mindlessly on the treadmills or ellipticals, expecting the weight to just melt off. And it's not. Sorry, people, but there are more effective ways to lose weight.
• Please do not join the gym in January and just go in and use the cardio equipment. If you just want to do cardio, go invest in a piece of cardio equipment for your home. Think about it. The average gym membership is about $75/month in the Boston area. That equates out to $900/year. Over three years that's $2700. You could go out and get a pretty nice piece of cardio equipment for that much. And it's probably going to last you more than three years.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Getting Hurt Staring At Your Computer

I'm certainly not one to read the Wall Street Journal. I'd rather brush up on my knowledge of what's going on with A-Rod and Madonna in the latest issue of People magazine. But this morning as I was waiting for a client and skimming through the wall Street Journal, an article caught my eye:

When Your Laptop Is a Big Pain In the Neck

Funny thing is if you're currently reading this blog post, you're probably sitting in front of your computer. But take a look at how you're set up right now. Where's your keyboard and mouse pad? At what height is your screen? How are you sitting in your chair? Now, how long have you been in that chair? If you don't think about these things, you're just setting yourself up for problems down the road. Most of that back or neck pain you're suffering from is an accumulation of daily stresses, not just one isolated incident.

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: DB Hammer Curl & Press

This exercise could almost be categorized as a low level Olympic lift. Take a look:

Why Wait?

I should have written this post a couple of weeks ago, but hopefully it's not to late. Why do people wait until New Years to carry out their resolutions? Why wait until January 1 to start out on your weight loss or health and fitness goals? Why not start now and get a head start out on it. Even better, you counter act all that damage you're about to do to your waistline by downing quarts of egg nog and plates of gingerbread cookies in one sitting. You'll probably tell me you don't have time. Poor excuse. If your health is a priority you have time. If you're serious about your weight loss goals, you have time. I am not asking you to get in 6-8 hours a week. I'm asking you to get in 2-3. That's about 2% of your week!! If you're not serious about losing weight three weeks before New Years, I find it hard to believe you're going to be serious about losing weight when New Years strikes. Get started now. If you can get through the next couple of weeks by not drowning yourself in mixed drinks, not have to roll yourself out of the holiday Christmas party and get a couple of hours of exercise in each week leading up to new years, then I'll know you're serious.

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: 45 Degree Back Extension

This is a pretty simple exercise that I see done wrong a good portion of the time. First, it's a back "extension", not a back "hyperextension". There's no need to force your lumbar spine into hyperextension. I don't like it and neither does your lower back. In the video below, you'll see my client getting too much hyperextension early on in the set, but as I coach him up, there's less hyperextenison. Second, the speed at which I see some people do this exercise is ridiculous. You're not bobbing for apples here. You're trying to strengthen your lower back. Use a nice controlled tempo. The third thing I tend to see a lot is too much rounding of the upper back. Set the pad adjusted to the right height, so that you have freedom to move and can hinge at the hips. Then try to keep a relatively neutral spine throughout the movement.



Another point to make here is hand placement. I'd usually start a client off with hands placed across their chest, progress to hands behind their head, may be progress to hands overhead at arms length and then add in some external load by having them hold a weight across their chest. Don't hold the weight behind your head!!

Knee Pain

problem is going on. Two places to check if you're suffering from knee pain: your calves and your glutes. Remember, pain is a symptom. It's not the cause. Too many times we look at the pain site to fix whateverStudies have shown that tight calves can result in knee pain. Not only that, but tight calves can result in knee injuries. Some foam rolling, ankle mobility drills and static stretching out to do the trick. As far as your glutes go, check your glute medius area for a trigger point. This to could be the source of your knee pain. If you have a real tender area in your glute medius, chances are you've developed a trigger point. Do some foam rolling or self myofacial release with a tennis ball to take care of this issue.

foam rolling for glute medius

Visit Perform Better Training Zones for the best ideas in equipment and training for functional training, full body training, and rehabilitation.

My Top 5....

...ways to improve your chin up performance:

1. Drop your body fat. Having fat hanging around your waistline is certainly not going to help you get up to the bar. In fact, fat is not going to help you move in any direction except down. Drop your body fat percentage a few points and watch your chin up numbers go up.
2. Improve your grip strength and endurance. Hanging onto the bar by your finger tips is certainly not going to help you get up to the bar. A stronger grip is going to signal more motor units to be recruited allowing you to exert more force. Improved grip endurance is going to help you add more reps on to the end of your sets.
3. Strengthen your external rotators. Your external rotators might be your weakest link and you're only going to be as strong as your weakest link. Add in some side lying, shoulder horn or cable external rotation training into your upper body work.
4. Strengthen your scapula retractors. The ability to do a chin up is not just a function of arm strength. It's also a function of being able to retract those shoulders blades. This past summer I added about 5 reps to my max number of body weight chin ups with out doing a single chin or pull up for four weeks. Instead the focus was on more horizontal pulling work. I went from doing 50 to 55....not bad huh?
5. Count down. Whatever exercises you're having a hard time with, and from what I see everyone has a hard time with chin ups, count down from the goal. For example if your set calls for 10 reps, or in my case 55, count down from 10. The mind-muscle connection here is amazing. When you're counting up in a set, as you get towards the end all you're thinking about is how much work you've done and how good that meat lovers pizza is going to taste post workout. When you're counting down, all you're thinking about is how much work you have left. Much more motivating.

There you go. Five tips to send your chin up numbers through the roof, literally. And no, I can not do 55 chin ups.

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: Single Leg Swiss Ball leg Curl

Once you've mastered the bi-lateral version of this exercise, give the single leg version a shot. You'll find it much more difficult.

Random Thoughts....

• Happy Belated Thanksgiving to everyone. I hope everyone had their share of food and drink. Now go get rid of the leftovers. One cheat day is enough.
  
• It's funny to me when people talk about how much damage they did to their waistline on Thanksgiving. They get so concerned about one day of pigging out. It's not one day that's sabotaging your weight loss plans. How about the other 364 days of the year? Those are the days you should be worrying about.
• Last Thanksgiving thought: The Detroit Lions should have lost the right to play on Thanksgiving day after their woeful performance yesterday. Thanksgiving is about two things: food and football. All I want is a decent game and to sit down and watch as I load up on turkey. And I don't think the Lions have played a decent game in about five years. God bless those Lions fans.
• I hate the hip abduction machine. Actually, the only thing I hate worse is watching a guy use the abduction machine.
• There are more commercial gyms and training studios in every city or town than ever before. Yet, we keep getting fatter as a country. So it's not the ability to exercise that is a problem. It's the exercise programming that is the problem.
  
• Single leg training is a key factor in keeping your knees healthy. So wouldn't it make sense that single arm training would be beneficial for your shoulders? I would like to see more people doing dumbbell or single arm work as part of their upper body training. Some great unilateral upper body exercises are: single arm dumbbell presses, dumbbell rows, single arm cable rows and side lying dumbbell external rotations.
• A stretch that I picked up about a year go that I've been using more frequently as part of my own training and that of my clients is the sleeper stretch. It's a great stretch for anyone with ailing shoulders, overhead throwing athletes or if you're doing your best to stay away from injury. Be careful not to force that forearm to the floor. All you're trying to do is get a light stretch through the posterior shoulder capsule.

Have a great weekend everyone.

What Not to Eat

Before you go and stuff your face with mashed potatoes and apple pie, take a look at this quick Thanksgiving dinner guide:

Eat This, Not That

It may save you from being airlifted from the dinner table.

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: Val Slide Push Up/Pull In Combo

This week's exercise is a combination exercising using the Val Slides. With this exercise you're working two important movement patterns, horizontal pushing and hip flexion. Killing two birds with one stone. I also love the Val Slides as a training tool. They can be used for different push up variations, lunge variations, leg curls and what ever else you can think of. To get yourself a pair visit PerformBetter.com.

A Simple Fix

Bad posture can wreak havoc on you. Not only do you look horrible, but you're also setting yourself up for injury. Most neck, shoulder and lower back injuries are posture related. The further you get away from ideal posture, the greater the chance of injury. As a trainer, I find myself trying to undo some clients poor posture with all types of exercises and verbal cues as they're working out. But what good does 20 minutes of posture related work a couple of times per week do, if you go right back to that that caveman posture as soon as you leave the gym It does you no good. But I heard a pretty good tip from another trainer/strength coach the other day. And it's so simple it never even occurred to me.

Sometimes we get so caught uip in elaborate programs or exercises that we forget about the simple stuff. His solution for correcting his clients poor posture was....having them go for a 30 minute walk each day. Doesn't sound brilliant, right? But think about. Why do most people have lousy posture. It's because we've become very sedentary. We went from being upright human beings to human beings who can't get their butts out of the chair. Take a look at the average persons day. They drive or take the train to work. They get to work and sit at their desk. They go to lunch and sit down and stuff their face with Big Macs and French fries (that's another issue) They go back to work and sit behind their desk again with their head down or forward. They get back in their car or sit on the train for the ride home. They get home and sit at the table for dinner. Then they go to the computer and sit down and check their Facebook page (It used to be email, but that's changed also). Then they sit in front of the TV watching "Dancing with the Stars". After dozing off, they get up out of their chair and crawl into bed.

How much of that day was spent in the upright position? Not much. So go get out for a walk. Get upright. Get tall. Pick your head up. Pull your shoulders down and back. And fix those nagging shoulder and back injuries.

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: Squat Jump, Squat, Squat Hold Finisher

The is a series of squat based movements that I've borrowed from fat loss expert, Alwyn Cosgrove. I'll use this series as a metabolic finisher at the end of a workout with clients from time to time. In fact, I used this series today with a client. I think she's going to be cursing me tomorrow. So what is it?

1. 20 seconds of squat jumps , done rapidly
2. 20 seconds of squats, done rapidly
3. 20 second squat hold, hold the bottom position of a squat

Transistion from the squat jumps to the squats to the squat holds with no rest in between. After the squat holds, rest for one minute. Repeat the sequence 3-4 times. In order make this series increasingly difficult, cut the rest period down 10-15 seconds each week until you can get to the point where you can repeat the sequence 3-4 times without any rest period.

Random Thoughts....

• Funny thing I witnessed today. I saw a guy hop on an upright bike and pedal just hard enough for the bike to start up. So he pedaled casually for about 10 minutes or so, hopped off the bike and then went an grabbed a cup of coffee while his wife (or maybe it was girlfriend) finished up her workout. A couple of minutes later, I saw this guy standing outside the gym door smoking a cigarette!! I guess he thought he deserved a butt after barely braking a sweat.
• I don't want to hear "a calorie is a calorie" again. All calories are not created equal. Are 800 calories of lean meat and vegetables the same as 800 calories of apple pie and chocolate chip cookies? I think not.
• People who need corrective exercise are not doing enough of it and people who don't need corrective exercises anymore are doing too much of it.
• It was great to get out and play 18holes of golf the other day, considering we are in the second week of November. It wasn't so great to post a snowman on my first hole.
• I think most people still don't know what good nutrition is. Good nutrition is not a low fat or low calorie diet. Good nutrition is eating every 2-3 hours, having a protein source with every feeding and consuming 3-5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day amongst other other good nutritional habits.
• Big game Thursday night, Pats vs. Jets. I'd never thought the Patriots would be playing the Jets for sole possession of first place in the 11th week of the season. But I also never thought the Patriots could be 6-3 after losing their Pro Bowl quarterback, starting running back, starting strong safety and their most versatile linebacker.
• Every year around this time, you start to hear that the average person gains 5-10lbs between Thanksgiving and Christmas. And every year I find this hard to believe. I don't call this average. I call this gluttony.
  

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: Barbell Split Squat

What's On My List?

The question comes up all the time when I'm talking to clients about nutrition, "Well, what do you eat?". So, I thought I'd give you a little insight to what I do eat. Let me start by saying that I don't eat exactly like I should. I don't get 3-5 servings of fruits or vegetables per day. I don't drink enough water. I probably do not have enough variety in my diet, with my breakfast of oatmeal and a couple scoops of peanut butter for the last 3-4 years and least five mornings out of the week being evidence. But I think I do alright. So here's what you've all been waiting for, my list of what I got from my trip to the grocery store this past Sunday:

• 2 green peppers
• Strawberries, 16 oz.
• Salad, pre-mixed
• Watermelon chunks
• Chicken Sausage
• 6 boneless chicken breasts
• Turkey burger patties
• Boneless top loin steak
• Swiss Miss diet cocoa mix (this is a first, but it has only 25 calories per pouch)
• Grill Mate marinades
  
• Quaker quick oats (whole rolled oats, not that flavored junk)
• Almonds (used to love cashews until I realized how calorically dense they are)
• Frozen blueberries
• Frozen broccoli
• Frosty Paws (yeah it's ice cram, but it's ice cream for my dog)
• 1 pound of American cheese
• Fage plain Greek yogurt (again, not flavored....plain)
• Egg whites
• Dozen cage free eggs
• Teddy smooth natural peanut butter (I live off this stuff)

Boring. I know. But it's all I feel I need, until Wednesday when my refrigerator is empty again. I don't need cookies, chips and breads. And neither do you!!

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: Medicine Ball Circuit

Who said all interval training has to be done on a piece of cardio equipment? Actually, who said all interval training has to be done with the lower body? In this video, you'll see my client performing an upper body throwing circuit with a 12 pound medicine ball. He'll do:

• 10 forward facing side throws from each side
• 15 chest passes
• 10 side facing side throws from each side
• 15 scoop throws

This circuit took my client a little over 60 seconds. I'd have him rest for about 120 seconds and then repeat the circuit another 2-4 times. Take a look:




Visit Perform Better Training Zones for the best ideas in equipment and training for functional training, full body training, and rehabilitation.

What I Learned, Part Two

This is a continuation from my last post, where told I you about what I took away from the Metabolic Acceleration Training seminar over at TPS last weekend. The first part covered nutrition. This part will cover training. Here we go:

• Pretty simple. You want to burn fat? Then increase your exercise intensity. Not time, intensity. Get more work done in a shorter period of time.
• Look outside the "workout window". Forget about how many calories are being burned or how long you're working out for.
  
• Interval training is superior to steady state aerobics for fat loss. Think about about it. Interval training asks your body to hold onto muscle because of the increased demand. What does steady state aerobics do? It asks your body to hold onto fat because of it's low demand.
• Females who want to lose body fat from the hip and thigh area need to do more lower body strength work. Males who want to drop their beer bellies need to do more sprinting.
• Another reason for interval training: It creates what Cosgrove refers to as the "afterburn". Some other people call it EPOC (Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption). In a nutshell, your metabolism is going to be elevated for a longer period of time post workout.
• Most of your fat burning is not going to come to directly from your workout. It's going to come from an elevation in your metabolism. Again, why strength training and interval work are the top two forms of training for fat loss.
• If everyone is always complaining about how they have no time to workout, then why are they wasting their time on the elliptical or taking a leisurely stroll on the treadmill when they do workout?
• Use incomplete rest periods for maximal fat loss results. You don't want to be fresh to start your next set. You want higher levels of lactate in your blood stream in order to burn fat. If you're testing for a one or three rep max, that's a different story.
• Work on your "limit strength". Work on 1-5 rep max lifts during the early portion of your workout and then get into the rest of your training program.
• Circuit training doesn't mean to lift light weights. Put away the neon colored dumbbells and use a weight that's going to challenge you.
• It's not about soreness, it's about getting results. Soreness doesn't equate to more results.

Some good points were taken away from this seminar, but for me it really comes down to two things when it comes to creating the body that you want: discipline when it comes to your diet and hard work when it comes to your training. I know that seems to be to simple, but it's true.

What I Learned

This past weekend, I headed over to Total Performance Sports in Everett for the Metabolic Acceleration Training seminar. benches, fat bars and "Metabolic acceleration training" is just a fancy term for fat loss training. This is something I decided to attend because the presenters, Alwyn Cosgrove and C.J. Murphy, can be regarded as two of the best in the country at they they do. They get results. The other reason I wanted to attend this seminar was to see what Total Performance Sports is all about. When I pulled up the gym I was a bit confused. It didn't really look like a gym. When I stepped into the gym I realized this is not your average gym. This where people come to work. This isn't where people come to socialize. Lining the wall were tractor tires ranging from 250-850lbs, sledgehammers, dragging sleds and sandbags. The weight area consisted of just that, weights. No selectorized machines. Just some power racks, glute-ham raises, adjustable benches, dumbbells and kettlebells. And if you happen to be a people watcher, there is a cast of characters that are members here. If you know what Everett's like, you know what i mean.

So on to the seminar and some points that I took away in regards to fat loss programming:

• It's not just about your training program. Your nutrition is just as or may be even more important. A crappy diet will always defeat a well designed training program.
• It's not just about calories. Even though your overweight dietician will tell you a calorie is a calorie, they are not.
  
• Three real keys to a successful nutritional program: 1)meal frequency 2) consistency of meal frequency 3)keeping your insulin levels under control by managing your carb intake.
• The only real supplement proven to aid in fat loss is fish oil. Alwyn suggest getting 2-4 grams of high quality fish oil per day.
• Dr. Atkins may not have been practical with his diet advice, but he did understand the effects of insulin on body composition. If you can take control of your insulin, you can take control of your body composition.
• On workout days, especially hard workout days, you can be a bit more lenient with your carb intake, especially in the 2-4 hours after your workout. Just don't go crazy.
• On non-workout days, you may want stay in a lower to moderate range of carb intake.
• You got to eat protein and lots of it.
• Get your carbs from quality food sources. Stay away from anything that comes in a box or a bag.
• If you want to go to extreme measures for fat loss, carb cycling may work pretty good. A carb cycle is made of seven days of the following recommended carb intake: high, low, low, medium, low,low, low. Low means less than 100grams of carbs per day.

So that what pretty much it for the nutrition part of the seminar. In my next blog post, I'll reveal to you the training concepts I took away. Until then, get your hand out of the cookie jar, go throw a steak on the grill and gather up some green vegetables.

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: Swiss Ball Leg Curl

TPI Certified

Just a couple of weeks back I became certified by the Titleist Performance Institute as a Level One Certified Golf Fitness Instructor. What does this mean besides adding another couple of initials next to my name? It means I can help you break 90!!. Kidding. What it does mean, is that I have the basic knowledge to screen you and find out what physical limitations may be messing up your swing. For instance, may be you have poor posture when addressing the ball. Let's say you have "C" posture, the rounded upper back type of posture. Well, this "C" posture can really hurt your ability to make a good shoulder turn on your backswing. This "C" posture could be a result of short clubs or poor instruction. But it may also be a result of some muscular imbalances causing this posture. And then through screening we find out that you're unable to maintain thoracic extension when performing the Overhead Squat Test. This indicates you may have a lat length length issue. So know we know that you may have a lat length issue and part of your exercise program will focus on this. Twelve sessions later, we retest and see if there's been any improvement. That's just one example.

So that's basically my role as a certified Golf Fitness instructor. I will not promise to fix your swing. That's what your golf pro is for. By I will promise to help fix any physical limitations that may be screwing up your swing. Check out www.mytpi.com for more information.

The Ab Roller

You remember this thing? This one of the first pieces of ab equipment sold on TV. I remember my mom picking up one of these things sometime in the mid 90s. I think I actually used it more than she did. I did crunches, crunches with my legs to the side, crunches with my feet in the air. Every imaginable crunch I could think of I did with this thing. Hundreds of crunches a night. What did I know? I was just a skinny 18 year old trying to get a six pack for the beach.

I thought these things were a thing of the past...until the other day. As usualwhen I'm working out, I like to spy on everyone else. I'm either watching someone do something foolish on a Bosu ball or listening to one guy in spandex give out horrible advice to some other clueless guy in spandex. So I'm working out and I see this woman being given a tour of the gym. You know how it goes. "Here are the locker rooms". "We have nothing but the best cardio equipment". Or, "Here is our empty free weight area because most people are terrified of building real world strength". The only thing this woman was concerned about was the ab equipment. "Do you have one of those twist machines? You know the one you sit on and wrench your lower back from one way to the other?". "What about the ab crunch machine where I can make my posture even worse than it is now?". But the one piece she was most concerned about was the ab roller. Thankfully the gym does not have one of these outdated pieces. But from the conversation I overheard going to this was going to make or break the deal for her. No matter what the front desk rep told her she could use or do other than the ab roller, she kept insisting that she wished the gym had an ab roller. And you know what? I don't think she signed up for a membership. Not having some cheap piece of equipment that does nothing for your six pack if you're carrying around 25% body fat anyway, broke the deal for this woman.

Just another day at the gym.

Underground Strength Coach

Check out this video from Zach Even-Esh about grip training:




To learn more about Zach Even-Esh and Underground Strength Coach, clink on the image below:

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: Bulgarian Squat w/Kettlebell

Another version of the Bulgarian Split squat which I posted a couple of weeks back. Here I'm going to grab a hold of a kettlebell with the arm on the opposite side of the lead leg. This contra-lateral resistance is going to place a greater emphasis on core stability. Take a look:




Does you need a kettlbell to do this? No. Use what ever you have at your disposal.

Do Not Make These Mistakes

The seated row is a must exercise in just about any training program. But an exercise that seems to be pretty simple and straightforward can actually be done pretty wrong. Here are some mistakes I see people making that are actually killing the effectiveness of this exercise:

1. Too much flexing and extending at the lumbar spine. This is not a race down the Charles River. This an upper back exercise. It's a postural exercise. Stay in a tall seated position throughout the duration of the set.
   
2. Shrugging of the shoulders. As you're pulling that handle in, focus on bringing the shoulders back and down, not up.
   
3. Curling of the wrists. As that handle nears your torso, avoid flexing your wrists just to bring the handle all the way in. This will take the emphasis off the muscles that should be working and transfer the force to the wrist. Bring that handle all the way in by getting a maximum retraction of the shoulder blades.
4. Jutting the head forward. Handle comes in, head goes forward. I see a lot of this. The last thing most people need to emphasize is a head forward posture. Think about keeping that head back and try to line up your ears with your shoulders.

Most of these problems are occurring because people are so focused on how much weight they're using. I personally don't care how much weight you're using if you're not executing the movement properly. So forget about the weight for awhile and focus on technique.

Come on, Wake!!

What was supposed to be a great weekend for a Boston sports fan, turned into one of the worst sports weekends eva (as they say here in Boston). First, the Sox lose a gut wrenching game in the bottom of the 11th Saturday night. That was supposed to be the night Josh Beckett would prove his post-season dominance. It turned out that the only thing he proved is that he is now mortal. Not only do the Sox lose the game, but the game takes a painfully slow five and a half hours to play. By the end of the game I had run out of beer and it was too late to get anyone to deliver a pizza.

So on to Sunday. I really thought the Patriots had a chance to beat the Chargers. I couldn't have been more wrong. The Patriots put up another stinker. Their offense was terrible and their defense was even worse. The offense has an excuse. No #12 at quarterback. But what excuse does this defense have? They got run over, by and through. I thought the Miami game a couple of weeks back was a fluke, but actually it may have been a sign of things to come.

So on to Monday. The Red Sox lost Saturday night, the Pats got smoked Sunday night, there's no way the Red Sox can lose on the last day of this long weekend we were given by the great Christopher Columbus. Well, may be they could lose, but they sure wouldn't get blown out. They had John Lester going. He'd been pretty much unhittable for a month...until yesterday. Final score, 8-1 Devil Rays. They're still the Devil Rays in my book. What made this even worse was that I actually paid to go to this game. I shelled out $150 for basically an obstructed view seat (even though it's not listed as an obstructed view) in a stadium in my opinion that needs to be blown up. Then watched the Sox get blown up.

So come on Wake. I need you tonight. I need that knuckleball to dance. I need you to lift my spirits. Not just mine, but the spirits of every Boston sports fan.

Exercise of the Week: Med. Ball Close Grip Push Up

The Overhead Squat

Want a pretty simple test that can give you a good idea where you may have some stability or mobility issues? Try the overhead squat. No, you don't need to be able to hold a 45lb Olympic bar over your head. All you need is some type of wooden dowel or broomstick. Get in a standing position with your feet about shoulder width apart and toes straight ahead. Place the broomstick directly overhead with your hands a bit wider than shoulder width. From this position drop down into your deepest possible squat position while trying to keep that broomstick directly overhead.

So what does this simple test asses? A number of things:

• calf flexibility and ankle mobility
• thoracic extension
• shoulder mobility
• core stability
• hip mobility

A couple of examples. If your heels come up off the floor as you descend into the squat position, this may be indication of poor calf flexibility or ankle mobility. If your toes rotate out as you descend, this may indicate tightness in the external rotators of your hip or the peroneal muscles of your lower leg. If your knees buckle in, you may be lacking poor glute medius or VMO strength. If the broomstick falls forward, poor shoulder mobility is usually indicated. If your chest collapses on top of your knees, you may be lacking sufficient core stability.

Now after getting the results from this simple move I know where there may be mobility or stability issues. If I know where there are mobility or stability issues, now I know what to focus on within the training program or what exercises should be included.

Never thought a broomstick could be so useful, did you?

Simple Programming

Too many people think they're advanced lifters. Too many people think they need to follow the latest and greatest training routine. But that mentality and approach doesn't seem to be working, does it? Take a look around the gym. How many people are getting results? How many people are getting stronger and leaner? Not many. Why? Because they're programming stinks. If they just took a simpler approach and increased their efforts, I'm sure the results would be better. If they forgot about whether they should be pointing their toes in or out when doing calf raises and instead did some single leg work, their results would be better. If they stopped worried about which head of the biceps they're targeting and did a couple sets of chin ups, they're results would be better.

So what does an effective training program consist of? Without knowing anything about the individual here are some movement patterns I would consider to part of their training routine:

• Horizontal push and pull
• Vertical push and pull
• Squat or deadlift based movement
• Single leg work
• Posterior chain work
• Core stabilization
• "Weak link" work: rotator cuff, scapular stabilization, grip, etc.

Just choose an exercise that fits into each of these movement patterns and BAM!! There you go, an effective training program. In the next few posts I'll follow up with what I would envision a simple, but effective body comp program would look like.

Train hard, but train smart.

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: Bulgarian Split Squat

Call it what ever you want....Bulgarian Split Squat, Bulgarian Squat, Single Leg Squat, Split Squat w/Rear Foot Elevated. Just know this is a great exercise for developing single leg strength and hip mobility. A great "bang for your buck" exercise.




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Go Sox!!

My Top 5....

....reasons why you should be incorporating a deadlift variation into your leg routine.

1. Posterior chain (hamstrings, glutes, lower back) Development. No exercise targets the posterior chain better than the deadlift. Posterior chain development and strength is a must for everyone, whether you're a weekend warrior or competitive athlete.
2. Grip Training. Performing multiple sets of deadlifting will really tax your grip strength and endurance, a weak link in most novice lifters. Plus you'll have a good looking set of forearms.
3. Upper Back Work. Yes, the deadlift is classified as a lower body movement. But your upper back is performing a ton of work also as your shoulders are staying in a retracted position for the entire set, when done right.
4. Functionality. Can you think of a more functional lift than the deadlift or an exercise that applies to more real life situations? We really don't squat to pick something up, we deadlift it. The load is usually out in front, just like a deadlift, not up on our shoulders like a squat.
5. Bang for Your Buck. It targets your legs, your upper back, your grip. There are too many joints involved to even name. When people list "lack of time" as the number excuse as to why they're not exercising, it's important to include those multi-joint movements throughout a workout program.

You don't need to be a musclehead to deadlift. It's a primal movement pattern that we first developed when learning to stand or walk. Plus, there are plenty of different variations that can apply to certain situations or individuals.

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: Hanging Knee Raise

An exercise that is done wrong 90% of the time. In order for this exercise exercise to be effective there has to be a posterior tilting of the pelvis. It's not just about flexing your hip and knees, which I see done a good majority of the time. Rotate that pelvis back. Aim to bring your knees to your chest. Also, this is an exercise that should be worked up to. A typical progression would be reverse crunches to incline reverse crunches than to hanging knee raises.




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"Are squats bad for the knees?"

This is a question I got from a client the other day. When I asked him where he heard it from, he said "Oh, it's just something I've heard". This is the kind of blanket staement floating around gyms that really bothers me. Ask anyone where they got this evidence from and I'm sure not one person could come up with a legitimate answer. I have never come across any research that shows that squatting is bad for the knees. Squatting is a fundamental movement pattern that we learned as toddlers. But some how as we get older squatting is suppsoed to be bad for us? Usually anyone that tells you that squatting is bad for you, is one of two things. One, they are too lazy to learn how to squat with proper technique. Two, they are still lazy and will not squat because squatting done properly is not easy.

Are squats for everyone? No. There are some individuals that should not be squatting. But this doesn't apply to everyone. Plus, there are ways to modify a squat to fit fit to a particular indivivdual. You can: back squat, front squat, overhead squat, dumbbell squat, single leg squat and the list goes on and on.

But the real point of this post is not so much about squatting and it's effect on the knees. The real point is to not believe everything that you hear. There are still some ridiculous myths out there, which is an article of itself.

A Bit of Cinnamon

Adding a bit of cinnamon into your daily nutritional intake can do wonders for your health. Besides adding a pleasant taste to what ever you add it to, cinnamon can help with insulin sensitivity, glucose metabolism and lowering your LDL cholesterol. It's the perfect alternative to artificial sweeteners, such as Equal or Splenda, that have been linked to numerous health problems. Personally, I can not stand the taste of plain oatmeal or yogurt. Or sometimes I want to add a bit more taste to my protein shakes. In the past I would have used Splenda. But lately , I've been adding cinnamon instead. And I think cinnamon tea might be next as I work to cut back on my coffee consumption.

Aim for about 1/2 tablespoon to a tablespoon per day. Just this small amount can go a long way towards improving your overall health. And, no, cinnamon buns do not count.

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: Band Pull Apart

This is a great exercise to keep your shoulders healthy. Use it as part of your warm up or at the end of your workout in a high rep fashion. All you need is a superband or any type of elastic tubing. Adjust the amount of resistance by sliding your hands in or out. Do not use so much resistance that you are not able to keep your arms straight throughout the set.

More Protein

Over the last couple of months or so, I've had a few clients record a daily food log that I could take a look at. These are clients that are struggling to lose weight or drop their body fat percentage. And something stood out right away when taking a look at their nutritional intake: their protein intake was terribly low. I do not think one of these clients had consumed more than 75 grams of protein on any given day. As a general recommendation, I suggest 0.8-1.0 grams per pound of body weight. If you do the math, these numbers aren't even close. Now for a female, I might scale it back a bit to 100-125 grams of protein per day. Sounds like a lot, but it's really not considering a 5 ounce chicken breast has roughly 30 grams of protein.

Why am I so adamant about about consuming more protein for weight or fat loss? A few reasons:

1. Consuming protein will give you a greater feeling of satiety, making you feel full for a longer period of time.
2. Consuming protein has a stabilizing effect on your insulin levels and hopefully prevents those sudden food binges.
3. Protein has a higher thermic effect of feeding than other nutrients, meaning that it takes more energy to break it down, creating a slight boost in your metabolism.
   
4. If you're training hard, increased protein intake will aid in recovery.

The next question is: what foods are good protein sources? Here are some ideas:

• Salmon, tuna or other types of fish
• Lean poultry or beef (at least 90% lean)
• Eggs or egg whites
• Plain yogurt
• Cottage cheese
• Beans
• Nuts or natural peanut butter

25-40 grams of protein with some of the For some people it's hard to get in the suggested amount of protein through whole foods alone. For those people, I suggest a protein powder supplement. You can easily get an additionalhigher quality protein powders out on the market.

A protein source with every feeding. That's what you should be aiming for.

A Waste of Time

Let me start by saying I'm not a huge fan of the leg press. I personally haven't used or put a client on this machine in about two years. I adapt my training to what I've learned, and I've learned that the leg press does more harm than good and might be pretty useless. Maybe the only thing it's good for is racking weights. And nothing drives me crazier than listening to some buffoon tell me how much he can leg press. Tell me how much you can squat or deadlift. Then I might listen to what kind of workout hero you are.

Anyways, I'm training a client today and out of the corner of my eye I see this guy loading 45lb plate after 45lb plate on the leg press machine. Two on each side. Then three on each side. Then four on each side. I move onto another exercise with my client and this guy is still loading plates on. And this guy is not some jacked up bodybuilder in work boots. This guy is about 45 years old, weighs about 160lbs and looks like your typical computer geek. I think he actually had about seven plates on each side. So now I can't help but watch this guy a little more closely. So after spending about 15 minutes loading it up, the guy hops in and I can't wait to watch what is about to happen. This is the guy who tells the girls at happy hour how much he leg presses. So, he unlocks the machine and....starts doing calf raises!! Calf raises!! Are you kidding me? This guy spent all this time loading up this machine and now he's going to perform a movement where the range of motion is only about a couple of inches. He's getting a better and more functional workout loading and unloading these 45lb plates.

Another example of brainless exercise selection when it comes to working out. It's about 8 in the morning, so I'll assume this guy is a 9-5 (if that even exists any more) working man. He probably has a limited amount of time he can spend exercising each week. And he's going to spend 15-20 minutes loading up the leg press, doing a couple sets of limited range of motion calf raises and then unload the machine? Friends, this what I call workout inefficiency. A complete waste of time.

More tales form the gym to follow. I may actually have to make it a weekly feature.

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: Swiss Ball Plank w/Feet Elevated

The Swiss Ball Plank w/Feet Elevated is just a more advanced version of your standard prone plank. Once, you're able to hold the prone plank for 60 seconds with good form it might be time to move onto more advanced versions.

With the Swiss Ball Plank start of by holding for about 30 seconds and progressively add 10-15 seconds on each week. Take a look:








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Random Thoughts....

• I hate the Jets. I hate them even more this year with Brett Favre at the helm.
• Why do I see people performing squats on a BOSU Ball when they can not even execute a squat proprely on stable ground? Seems backwards to me.
• I think people still believe they can out exercise a crappy diet. If your stuffing your face with cakes and white breads, all the exercise in the world isn't going to help you with weight or fat loss. Sorry, it's the truth.
• No one cares, but I knocked out 16 pull ups for the for a new personal record. This is something you should be trying to do every time you workout. Not 16 pull ups, but setting a new PR. It can be one more rep at a given weight. Or it can be an additional 5lbs from the last workout. Or it can be completing your sprints with faster times. Go set a PR!!
• Why in the world would you join a gym just to do aerobic work? But I see the same people on the same pieces of cardio equipment all the time and that's all they do. Seems like a waste to me.
  
• Dumbbell concentrations curls might be the worst exercise I've ever done or I see being done. One, you're in a seated position. Two, you're hunched over in a seated position. How is this any different than sitting slouched over at the computer? If you really want to work the biceps and get some bang for your buck, go work on some chin or pull ups.
• Did I mention I hate the Jets?
  

I'm Sorry

Last week I posted "My Top 5 Reasons Why the Patriots Will Reclaim the Lombardi Trophy". Less than 48 hours later every Pats fan throughout new England incurs their greatest fear as our Hall of Fame quarterback's ACL is torn. Talk about a jinx. How many more punishing blows can we take as Patriots fans? We suffer one of the most agonizing losses in Boston sports history and then seven minutes into the first game of the next season our franchise quarterback is writhing in pain on the Gillette Stadium turf.

But unlike Jets fans or Steeler fans or Colt fans, I think this team is going to be okay. They have too much talent and too good of a coach to just totally fall apart. That and they may have the softest schedule in the league. Is Matt Cassell as good as Tom Brady? Hell no!! But take a look at the Tom Brady of 2001 when the Pats won their first Super Bowl. He wasn't the Tom Brady of 2007. During that 2001 season he mangaed games well. He passed for about 200 yards a game, threw 18 TD passes, threw 12 picks and had a QB rating of 86. Not great numbers, average numbers. And he was on a team that had far less talent than this 2007 team. Give me those numbers, even less than numbers, and I bet this team wins 11 or 12 games.

I'm already hyped up for Sundays game against those loser Jets and their overrated, aged quarterback. I think it's going to be a special season again, circa 2001.

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: Barbell Step Up

My Top Five....

.....reasons why the Patriots will reclaim the Lombardi Trophy:

1. They have the best coach in the league, Belichek.
2. They have the best WR in the league, Randy Moss.
3. They have the the best #2 WR in the league, Wes Welker
   
4. They have the best defensive rookie in the league, Jerrod Mayo.
5. They have the best QB in the league, Mr. You Know Who.

I could make this an extended list, but I'll leave it at that.

Beware of the Salad

I know you think you're making the right choice when you're looking at the dinner menu at what ever restaurant you're at and you decide to go with a salad. You think you're making a healthy choice. You think that salad has to be so much better for you than those other carb laden sandwiches or entrees. Heck, it has to be better than those delicious, thin crust pizza's that are screaming your name, right? Well don't be to sure of that.

Some salads at some restaurants may be more gut busting and artery clogging than anything else on the menu. How big is the salad? Can it feed a family of five? If you've ordered one from the Cheesecake Factory you know what I mean. What type of dressing is on the salad and how much? Hopefully your salad is not drowned in some type of creamy ranch or Caesar dressing. If the salad includes chicken, how is the chicken cooked? Hopefully grilled and not fried. What else is on the salad? Is it littered with croutons the size of your fist? Or even worse, it might be covered in fried onion ring strips.

Sometimes you might actually be better off with that small pizza.

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: Hand Walking/Push Up Combo

Why not walk on your hands now and then? It can build great upper body strength and endurance, core strength and and endurance and is a great way to train scapular stabilization. This is an exercise I'll use with a client in their plank progression. Once they've shown the ability to maintain core stability in a neutral position, now let's they if they're able to maintain that same stability while moving. Take a look:

RichRuff Training Product Review: Foam Rollers

Don't have a foam roller? Get one if you want to have a good chance of remaining injury free. You can do all the stretching in the world and that's great. But stretching is not going to get rid of the trigger points or adhesion's that may be created from training. You don't have to get hurt in order to develop a trigger point. If you've been training for a period of time, trigger points will just naturally build up. The more trigger points you have, the greater the chance an injury is going to happen. I'll try to get most of my clients to perform about 5 minutes of foam rolling before each session. Some of them have such restrictions through soft tissues, that they need to perform some rolling prior to a workout in order to correctly perform some movements.

Now if you want to go get a deep tissue massage or some Active Release Technique done in order to get rid of these trigger points, you might be better off. But how many of us can get get a massage a couple of times per week? I hardly know anyone that goes for a massage once per week. This is where the foam roller comes into play. It's basically a poor man's massage. A foam roller is probably going to run you no more than $20. And if you purchase the one foot round roller, you can stuff it in your gym bag or take it just about anywhere. $20 is not a bad long term investment in your health.






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Use All Your Tools

Some people will only do machine training. Others may only use bodyweight exercises in their programming. Some people will tell you to only use free weights. Others believe that everything should be done using a Bosu Ball. And the latest thing people are starting to make use of more often is the kettlebell. I say, "Use them all". Increasing your athletic performance or transforming your physique has nothing to do with what tool or apparatus you're using. It has more to do with how you're using that tool or apparatus. If I'm using the tool analogy, I wouldn't use a screwdriver to drive in a nail, would I? Yeah I can, but it's not to effective. There are going to be certain exercises or situations, where one tool is more appropriate than the other. For instance, kettlebells are my preferred tools for performing a single arm or double armed swing. Or if I'm trying to improve my maximal strength, why work on a stability ball where I going to be limited by how much weight I can use because I'm working so hard to stabilize the damn ball. Think about the movement pattern and what you're trying to establish with each exercise then select the proper tool. Use all the tools in your toolbox.

Be Careful

sugar Watch out for those supposedly "healthy" nutritional or protein bars. Don't get fooled by the fancy packaging or all that the scientific jargon thrown on the wrapper telling you just how good that bar is for you. You may think you're doing something good for yourself having one of these bars rather than that Milky Way bar you used to eat, but after a detailed inspection, some of these bars are no better for you than that Milky Way. Yes, they may have more protein or lower carbohydrates than the regular, old candy bar, but take a look at the ingredients. Don't just go by the label. I've looked a somet of these protein bars lately and I've found the first ingredient to be be corn syrup in a good majority of them. Another I looked at listed the caramelchocolate coating as it's first ingredient. These are nothing but glorified candy bars. If the first ingredient is not some type of protein blend, don't even bother with the bar. Also, don't be fooled by bars that claim to have low or no carbs. Most of these bars are going to substitutealcohols in place of the carbohydrates. Forget about some of these sugar alcohols still causing the blood sugar to raise just as it would with carbohydrates. The noticeable side effect they can create is some serious bloating and a few trips to the bathroom. Not a pleasant experience.

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: "Sunny Day" Workout

Going to the gym to get a work in can become monotonous at times. Sometimes you just need to get out of your normal training routine and do something different. And going to the gym on a beautiful, sunny day today here in the Boston area is not what I call enjoyable. So I came up with another plan today. I took a 25lb kettlebell, a 50lb sandbag and a 10lb pound medicine ball over to the park and performed the following routine:

10 minute Dynamic Flexibility/Joint Mobility Warm Up

Sandbag Clean & Press for 30 seconds
Walking Lunge w/Sandbag Pressed Overhead x10 reps each leg
Rest 60 seconds


Sandbag Clean & Press for 30seconds
Walking Lunge w/Sandbag on Right Shoulder x10 reps each leg
Rest 60 seconds

Sand Bag Clean & Press for 30seconds
Walking Lunge w/Sandbag on Left Shoulder x 10reps each leg
Rest 60 seconds

Sandbag Clean & Press for 30seconds
Walking Lunge w/Sandbag Bear Hug Hold x10 reps each leg
Rest 60 seconds

Sandbag Clean & Press for 30seconds
Walking lunge w/Sandbag Zercher Hold x10 reps each leg
Rest 60 seconds


Sandbag Clean & Press for 30 seconds
Walking Lunge w/Sandbag Held in Right Hand x 10 reps each leg
Rest 60 seconds

Sandbag Clean & Press for 30 seconds
Walking lunge w/Sandbag Held in Left Hand x 10 reps each leg
Rest 60 seconds


That was it for the sandbag. Onto to the kettlebell.

Kettlebell Forward Throw: 4 sets of 8 throws and w/60 seconds of rest between each set.


Done with the kettlebell. Onto the med ball. You'll need a concrete wall for this next one.

Split Stance Side Throw: 3 sets of 15 reps each side

And that was it. Got a 40 minute workout in while working on my tan at the same time.

Simply Amazing

I think people who do not follow the international track scene or who've run track at one time in their life, can not fully appreciate what Usain Bolt did the other night. To me, him breaking the 200 meter world record was far more impressive than his world record in the 100 meters.

Up until 1996, the world record for the 200 meters stood for 17 years. For a track record, that's along time. Then in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Michael Johnson put on one of the most impressive displays of sprinting that anyone has ever seen. He shattered the world record by four tenths of a second. In track, that just doesn't happen. Four tenths of a second is an eternity for these world class sprinters. I remember that night in Atlanta, watching Johnson destroy the rest of the field in his gold spikes. When the clock read 19.32, no one could believe it. People thought this was a record that would stand for fifty years. The closest anyone had come it was Tyson Gay in 2007 when he ran a 19.62, still three tenths of a second way.

Then comes Usain Bolt. Twenty two years old. Six foot, five inches. I think Micheal Johnson started to worry about his record after watching Bolt coast to a record in the 100 meters. Johnson predicted a 19.5 from Bolt. So what does Bolt do? He goes out and does something no one has ever done at an Olympics: win the 100 meter and 200 meter finals and establish world records in both. 9.69 and 19.30. The silver medalist in the 200 meters was half a second back!! Amazing.

There's now talk about Bolt going after the 400 meter world record, something I know everyone would just love to see. Congratulations Usain.

Who would you rather look like?

If you've been watching the Olympics over the last 10 days or so, I'm sure you've caught some of the Olympic marathon highlights. Or if you really had nothing to do on Saturday, you sat in front of the t.v. and watched the entire women's marathon. And I'm sure even if you're not paying close attention to the Olympics you heard about Usain Bolt from Jamaica winning the gold medal in the men's 100 meter final and smashing the world record in the process, while showboating for the last 20 meters of the race.

Did you notice anything about the physiques of the finalists in each of these events? Who would you rather look like? The frail marathoner who looks like they haven't had a meal in the last 5 days and wouldn't even have the strength to carry a backpack with their running shoes in it? Or the lean, muscular sprinter with the chiseled six pack who looks like they could run through a brick wall?

Or ask your self who would you rather train like? The marathoner who's logging hundreds of miles per week and hours of continuous aerobic activity at a time? Or the sprinter who's running for 10-20 seconds, 45 seconds if we throw 400-meter runners into in the mix, and then resting before repeating the next interval. How long do you think the total amount of time of work is for a sprinter in a training session? Maybe 10-15 minutes. 20 minutes at the most.

Now think about the appearance and the training approach of these two types of athletes and relate it to your training. Do you see what I'm getting at?

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: DB Decline Press w/Neutral Grip

It's hard to tell from the video, but my client is actually working on a bench here that is set up at about a 10-15 degree incline. This gym does actually have a decline bench, but the manufacturer's design is really poor. If you're over 5'5", you're out of luck unless you want to perform some isometric neck holds while pressing the weight. So here, I just found a Reebok step and a couple of risers and planted them under one end of a flat bench.

I like to throw in some decline pressing from time to time in order deload or take some stress off the shoulders for a bit. Further enhancing the deload on the shoulders is performing this exercise with a neutral grip. Take a look:

Random Thoughts....

....from the first couple of days of the Olympics.

• Can just one of the gymnastics girls smile? I know this is serious stuff and I know this may be the only shot at a medal for some of them, but is it that hard to show just a tiny smile? It might even help their marketability after the games. Who knows?
• What is in the pool water over in Beijing? It seems like during every race a new world record is set. Five teams broke the old 4x100 meter freestyle relay record the other night!! Five!! Imagine breaking a world record and finishing in fifth place. Is there really such a thing as fast water?
• I actually thought China might have a chance against the U.S. mens basketball team the other day, considering the United States poor showing at the last Olympics. I guess not. May be this "Redeem Team" is actually taking this Olympic thing pretty seriously.
• Can't wait for the track & field to start. That's what the Olympic games are really about. Not archery, water polo or synchronized diving.
  
• Back to the gymnasts. It makes me cringe every time I watch them perform a landing. To me it just seems like such a violent act on their knees, ankles or any joint through the lower body.
  
• I guess softball will no longer be an Olympic sport after this year. That's only to bad if Jennie Finch planned on playing four years from now. She's the only reason I knew it was even an Olympic sport in the first place.
  

• I don't think that there will be any question once these games are over, that Michael Phelps will go down as the greatest U.S. Olympic athlete ever. How old is he again?
• The I.O.C has the toughest drug policy in the world. I think. So it amazes that any athlete would test positive for a banned substance. Can you be that ignorant? I read in the paper today that a cyclist tested positive for EPO. Have a half a brain, will ya?
  
• Didn't watch the opening ceremonies and sure won't watch the closing ceremonies.
  

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: Standing Single Arm Row

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How'd That Happen?

I actually amazed myself in the gym today. Probably for the first time and quite possibly the last. I didn't have much time to get in a a workout so I put a brief upper body workout today.

1. Chin ups: 3 sets of as many reps as possible
2. DB Row: 2 sets of 10
3. Suspended Push Ups: 2 sets of as many reps as possible
4. Knee on Elbow DB External Rotation: 2 sets of 12

Not impressive, but I didn't have much time and just felt like I needed to get a workout in. So after about 5 minutes of some foam roller work and another 5 minutes of a dynamic warm up for the upper body, I hop up to the chin up bar and do something I haven't done in years. In fact, I don't know if I've ever done it. I knocked out 15 chin ups on my first set. "Who cares?", I'm sure most of you are saying. But this is important to me for a few reasons:

1. Like I said before i don't think I've ever gotten 15 chin ups in one set. I'm a fast twitch guy and as soon as my reps go over 10 or so, my performance just crashes.
2. With the exception of doing 4 sets of 5 reps of weighted chin ups one day last week, I haven't done a chin up in the last 12 weeks or so. All of my back or pulling work has consisted of mostly rows or any other type of horizontal pulling work.

So I'm left trying to figure out what happened today. One, I think my bodyfat percentage has gone done over the summer by doing more track work. Less fat to pull equals better performance. Two, I think all the rowing work I've done has helped tremendously with my chin up performance. So there are ways to improve performance in one lift by improving performance in other lifts. Third, since I've been doing more deadlifting and rowing than I've ever done before, I think my grip strength and endurance has improved leading to a better performance with my chin ups. The grip is usually the first thing to go with a higher rep set.

16-18 chin ups next week?

Nike Shox

Yeah, I guess they look cool. And when they first came out they even sounded cool, making that "Boing" noise. Or were mine the only ones that did that? But besides their look there is really nothing cool about these sneaks. First, they're over priced. Second, every pair I've ever had (and it's been a couple of years) has broken down so fast. Put my first two points together and that doesn't make any sense. A high priced sneaker that breaks down pretty fast. Makes you want to go out and get a pair, right?

But the real issue with these sneakers isn't the price or how much wear and tear you get out of them. The issue with these sneakers is the biomechanical problems they can cause. Take a look at a pair. It's basically a sneaker with heels, right? Would you ever workout in a pair of heels? I'm actually afraid to ask the question because I'm sure some ladies would say yes. Anyways, you always hear how heels are terrible for your feet and how they can cause problems up your entire kinetic chain. Not only foot problems from shortened calves and Achilles tendons, but also knee, hip and low back problems. Plus having your heels raised causes a forward weight shift and more problems for your lower back. And then think about how we evolved. Mr. Neanderthal Man wasn't chasing down buffalo in a pair of Nike Turbo Shox. He was in bare feet. Watch the track and field events at upcoming summer Olympics. From the sprinters all the way up to the distance runners, they're basically wearing slippers on their feet. Their heels aren't elevated.
They're practically running in bare feet. And some therapists today would even suggest training barefoot to solve some of your joint mobility and stability issues.

So my suggestion to you is not to get sucked in by Nike's fantastic marketing campaigns that have you running out to get the latest pair of Shox. Especially if you're struggling with some foot or low back issues. I was one of those people a couple of years ago. But after realizing how lousy these sneakers can actually before you, I'll never wear another pair.

Stop Sweating the Small Stuff

• "When should I being doing my cardio? Early morning?"
• "What fruits should I not be eating"
• "How can I isolate my upper pecs?"
• "What's the best time for me to exercise?"
• "What supplements can I use to help burn some bodyfat?"

These are some of the questions I get from people who are always sweating the small stuff. And these are the same people who a good majority of the time do not have any of the basic principles in place. They are:

1. Not doing any cardio at all.
2. Not eating any fruit at all.
3. Not able to even perform 10 quality push ups.
4. Not getting any exercise in at all.
5. Not even following a good nutritional plan.

And these people are always getting no where with their results. They are always stuck in neutral. They'd be much better off if they stopped talking about the best strategies are and started getting 3-5 hours of exercise in per week and cut all the crap out of their diet. Are you one of these people? Stop sweating the small stuff and take a look at the big picture.

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: Standing Face Pull

This exercise would fall into the category of horizontal pulling or rowing. And more rowing equals less shoulder problems, making this exercise a great shoulder saver. In order to perform this exercise:

1. Attach a triceps's rope to an adjustable pulley and adjust the height of the pulley so it is above eye level.
   
2. Grip the rope with an externally rotated grip (palms facing each other ) and take a few steps back, getting into a split stance. It's okay to have a bit of a backward lean in order to counteract the weight being used.
   
3. Initiate the pulling movement by thinking about bring your shoulders back and down.
4. Your elbows should go out and your hands should finish right around your ears.

Take a look at the video for a better idea.







Visit Perform Better Training Zones for the best ideas in equipment and training for functional training, full body training, and rehabilitation.

It's No Longer Manny Being Manny

Bye, bye Manny.......




Hello Jason Bay.....



Team. But let's not get crazy folks. Jason Bay is a very good ballplayer, but he is not quite the caliber of the first ballot hall of Thank you Manny for helping bring two World Series titles to Boston, but the headaches just were not worth it any more. Manny wanted out and he got his wish. Good luck to him (and to Joe Torre) out in L.A.. Now we have a left fielder who actually will want to play for the Olde Townefamer who just left town. But may be he'll breathe life life into his club, rather than sucking the life out of it. Let life after Manny begin.

Give It Time

How do you know a program is not working for you if you're constantly bouncing from program to program? Stop being so damn impatient with getting results and give the program some time. If you're always switching up workout routines, it's impossible to know what is working and what is not. If it's a six week program and is supposed to give you "x" results, follow the program for six weeks and see if it's given you "x" results. Most programs are set up to give you the desired results by the end of the program, not in the first week. Being consistent within your workouts is just as important as consistently working out.

Thirsty?

Drink some water or green tea. Don't be fooled into thinking that any of these sugar laden juices or sports drinks are good for you. Chances are that they are high in simple sugars and carbohydrates. Take a look at the ingredients and I'm sure one of the first 2-3 ingredients will be high fructose corn syrup, one of the main causes of the obesity epidemic here in the U.S.. It's no coincidence that since beverage makers starting using this awful ingredient in the mid 1980s that we've gotten fatter as a country and have seen a rise in diabetes and heart disease.

What about diet sodas you ask? Stay away from them to. The artificial sweeteners in these drinks will wreak havoc with your insulin levels helping you pack on some body fat when you thought you were doing something good for yourself.

Juices and diet drinks are not really as "healthy" as you may think they are.

RichRuff Training Exercise of the Week: Single Arm Push Up Lockouts w/Medicine Ball

Did you get all that? Long title, but a great exercise to work into a progression towards being able to do a single arm push up.

And after after going to the Country Music Fest last night, I decide to throw in some country music for this weeks video. Great concert, great time last night.

Row More

If everyone included a little bit more rowing or horizontal pulling exercises in their workout programs, the incidences of shoulder injuries would probably be far less. Most shoulder injuries are posture related, especially when it comes to muscle, tendon or ligament injuries. We live in a very sedentary society. We drive to work or sit on the train. We get to work and sit at a desk or behind the computer. We then drive or take the car home and then sit down on the couch or at the table for dinner. We then sit at the computer checking our email before we go behind. The same cycle starts the next day. And I bet, very few of us are thinking about our posture during that time. We're not thinking eyes, chest up, shoulders down and back. Instead our head juts forward, chin drops down and shoulders rotate forward. Do this for awhile and you're just setting yourself up for some type of shoulder injury.

Then for those who go to the gym, the first workout of the week is usually "chest day". So again the shoulders are internally rotated. After 5 different chest exercises, you might throw one or two back exercises in, right? Oh yeah, don't forget to do some biceps curls. Curls for the girls . Shoulders rotated internally again. Then for some cardio work, you get on the back or elliptical, while reading the latest issue of People magazine. Shoulders rotated internally again.

As I mentioned earlier, there's a simple solution to that shoulder injury that's waiting to happen or already has happened: row more. If more people focused on upper back development and retracting their shoulders blades, we'd see a lot less shoulder injuries. Here are some suggestions:

• Balance out your movement patterns. For every horizontal pressing exercise (bench press as an example) include a horizontal pulling exercise (seated row for instance). And in some cases you might want to do one more horizontal pulling rather than pressing exercise.
• Start your workout with pulling movements. For example if you're supersetting chest and back exercises, perform the back exercise first then move to the chest exercise.
• Perform a couple more reps of pulling exercises than the pressing exercises. If you're doing sets of 8 reps for bench presses, perform sets of 10 for seated rows.

It's a pretty simple concept people. It doesn't require a whole lot more effort, just a little more thinking. And it will save you a trip to the doctor in the long run.