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The Warmup is the Workout

You warmup is your workout. When done right it can be uncomfortable, get you fired up for your session, and should directly relate to what you are about to do.  A great warmup directly relates to your workout. If your warmup is not preparing you for the movements that you will be doing the rest of the session, then it is time to change things up. It does not have to be complicated either. Take the activity you are doing that day, take squats for example, and do activities that mimic that movement. For squats things like toe touch squats, overhead squats, box jumps, and light weight squats can be great choices for preparing you for your squat session.  A great warmup can be a tone setter for your workout. Bringing the right focus and execution to a warmup can bleed over to the rest of your session. None of those muscles are going to stretch themselves. None of those joints are going to mobilize themselves. None of those dynamic movements matter if you are not being DYNAMIC whil...
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A Brief Summary of the Facial System

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"You have a body and you are working with it." - Thomas Myers.  "Movement is food, movement is medicine." - Thomas Myers "Has anyone taught you how to use a chair?" - Thomas Myers   What is the Fascial System? The “Rules to the Game” developed by Tom Myers help maintain professional consistency as we discover and present new myofascial lines. In simple terms, the rules claim that an “active myofascial meridian must proceed in a consistent direction and depth via direct fibrous connections capable of force transmission." In more details they state:  1. Myofascial Meridians must proceed in a fairly consistent direction, without jumping levels, or crossing over intervening planes of fascia.  2. Myofascial Meridians must enmesh themselves into the inner osteoarticular wrapping (i.e. the muscle’s epimysium continued with the bone’s periosteum).  3. Myofascial Meridians may join and diverge like switches at one junction, multiple junctions, or a roundh...
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Hydration thoughts going into Aug.

With the dog days of summer approaching, our hydration should always take center stage to make sure we perform our best. This August the gym I am working at is offering a challenge to help us maintain, and potentially improve, one of the most underrated contributors to our overall health - our Total Body Water.  FAQs: Why increase your Total Body Water (TBW): Increasing our body water and maintaining a well hydrated system can improve muscle and fascial function, decrease joint pain (especially in the discs in our back), improve the functions of our endocrine and digestive systems, improve skin tone and elasticity, and lastly improve brain function! Water intake recommendations:  Remember that this is a marathon and not a sprint. We are looking to gradually acclimate to drinking more water. We can not make up for lost time, we can only look to improve our future selves. If you try to over indulge and binge water in the last week, you will put yourself at risk for water toxicit...
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Fat loss thoughts going into summer...

I have been getting a lot of questions about fat loss leading into summer from my clients. I first want to mention that this is FAT loss not WEIGHT loss. If we want to create a lean body, we need to keep our lean muscle mass. I never want to have any client say weight loss due to the effects of the diet and fat free cultures that came before us. Crash diets and starving yourself to be "thin" or "skinny" is not a great way to set yourself up for a strong and hearty life. Our scale weight is only a representation of our caloric intake, our bodyfat percentage is a the true representation of a strong and healthy body. Here are a couple of the main points I have been making sure clients are prioritizing leading into a fat loss phase. Prioritize protein! Proteins are the nutrient that helps us with recovery. It is used to repair tissues and also is more satiating. When we consume an adequate amount per day we are providing the body building blocks to a lean body. I recom...
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Part-Part-Whole vs. Whole-Part-Whole Coaching

When it comes to learning/coaching a new movement pattern, or in the case of team sports a skills development activity, in the gym or on the field there is more than one way to get there. Two useful strageties for the coaching process are Part-Part-Whole (PPW) and Whole-Part-Whole (WPW). Now while the two methods both use the DDCDD ( DESCRIBE it, DEMONSTRATE it, and CUE it; athletes will DO it; and both will DEBRIEF it)  Coaching Loop found in Language of Coaching  (https://humankinetics.me/2021/02/10/what-is-the-coaching-communication-loop-and-how-can-you-use-it/).  PPW coaching takes the movement you are looking to correct and breaks it up into its base parts before returning to the whole. For this discussion we will use the example of a Lateral Med Ball Throw. The big benefit of this method is that you allow the athlete to find the feelings they need to have without the distraction of the Med Ball. If the athlete has issues with more than one component of the movement ...
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Program Outline: Burlington Rugby Football Club's 2022 Offseason Strength and Conditioning

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Strength & Conditioning Packet 2022     Rugby Union is a sport that requires strong anaerobic and aerobic capacities from the players. 15 players for each team play 40 minute halves running like soccer players and hitting like football players. Over 13 weeks this program looks to focus on developing many of the necessary qualities of the athletes, while also meeting the athletes where they are at due to varying training ages. This concurrent program can have the flexibility to be implemented by novice to advanced athletes.      This training program is broken down into a standard triphasic model where three week blocks are used to progress the athlete from owning the patterns to explosively executing the lifts with confidence. Given the schedule of the club, the program is designed with two 90 minute sessions per week. This program can be modified to a four days per week program. One would do this by moving the conditioning to its own 45 ...
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