“Hey Guys”
There is a better way to speak to groups.
I’m a believer that language matters and that words have meaning.
As such I am working on removing the word “guys” from my vocabulary when speaking to groups.
Growing up “guys” was used a lot as a group term while playing sports.
Then I noticed it even more in the military (a male dominated culture).
Then I started hearing (and using the term) even more in gyms (also a male dominated culture).
To keep things simple, I believe the term needs to be removed when speaking to groups, because it is very often a false statement.
When using the term, are we actually speaking to guys? Are we 100% sure?
I believe it to be important to address and speak to people the way they want to be spoken to.
This is not my lived experience but I imagine that women do not want to be addressed as men.
I also imagine that a transgender woman would not want to want to be addressed as a man.
Even if we feel like we are talking to a group of only men, how can we possibly be 100% sure? It’s none of our business, so don’t bother asking the question.
There are more inclusive words we can use. This could be “folks” or “everyone”, or “class” or “team”. It may also be a filler word that needs no substitute.
So much of this has become internalized and will require unlearning. But it is also such a simple change. A change that would recognize that we respect others.
Note: This also applies when speaking to groups and saying things like “hey ladies”.
There is Only One You
Take care of yourself.
There will always be more work.
There will always be something on your to do list.
There will always be things that didn’t get done.
There is only one you.
Make sure you take time for yourself.
The Gym Should Improve Your Life
What should the gym do for you?
What you do in the gym is not about pullups, squats, deadlifts, thrusters or running.
It’s about what you can do outside of training.
It’s the ability to feel more confident.
It’s the ability to do your favourite activity in retirement.
It’s the ability to run around with your grandkids.
It’s the ability to get up when you fall.
It’s the ability to feel more energized.
It’s the ability to see improvement.
You invest time, energy and money into training. When done well it can be an investment with very high returns.
Workouts Should Improve Your Pain
Train to improve your pain, not cause it.
Your workouts should leave you feeling better.
Yes they should be challenging. Yes they should require effort.
But they should not make you experience more pain.
They should improve it.
If your workouts are leaving you in additional pain, something needs to change.
If your knees start to hurt while running, your back starts to hurt squatting, or your shoulders start to hurt with pushups, then something needs to change.
This isn’t to say that pain is bad. Pain will happen. You can train with pain. But thresholds are important.
If your pain starts at 4/10, we want to keep it there, or even better improve it.
Worse is not better.
If your workouts are leaving you in more pain here are some steps you can take.
1. Find a coach who can assess how you move and evaluate what your training is like. Maybe you have some areas of your body that could use some additional attention in your training. Or maybe you have some things that you have been doing too much of and you need a break.
2. Prioritize your recovery. This includes sleep and nutrition.
3. Listen to your body. Maybe you start a workout using a 20 pound weight, but your pain worsens. Try a lighter weight, see if that feels better.
Workouts Should Not Make you Puke
Puking is not a badge of honour.
When you are training, you should not need to puke.
I’m not talking about that puking feeling you get when you ate 10-day old leftovers for lunch.
I’m talking about that puking feeling you get after going too hard in a workout.
You are TRAINING. You don’t need to puke.
There are a variety of responses your body could have in response to too much intensity. These include but are not limited to: pain, anxiety, disordered breathing, nausea, dizziness, and vomiting.
All of these responses can be adjusted. By appropriate volume and intensity, nutrition, and recover
If you are competing I would understand it slightly more. Only slightly. There is something you are trying to win.
How do you win training? I would say you win training by recovering and improving.
How can you recover and improve if you are puking during training?
From a recovery standpoint, it just doesn’t make sense. It rids your body of the fuel it would use to recover. If you can’t recover your progress will be so much less.
So how can you improve this?
1. Pre-workout nutrition can play a role. You can play around with meal timing and quantities.
2. Manage your pacing. If you start feeling unwell in a workout, listen to that signal your body is giving you and back off the intensity.
3. Evaluate your workouts. Are they all high-intensity sprints? If so this is likely not sustainable. Give your body a break and try some lower intensity workouts.
When Advil is Dumb
That time Advil said something really stupid.
“Pain says you can’t. Advil says you can”
This quote is from an Advil commercial that popped up on my feed today.
One of their other messages is “pain will get you soon enough”.
It’s clever marketing. Saying that pain is going to get you eventually, might as well buy some Advil.
It’s also a band-aid. A temporary solution. Nothing that will address the underlying issues that would lead people to have problems doing the things represented in their commercials.
Activities like lifting a tire, walking to work, picking up your mail, playing with your kids at the park, building furniture or opening your oven.
There are issues there that Advil will not permanently solve. Sure maybe it helps short-term. But it’s not a solution.
What could be the solution?
Maybe the person is doing too much too soon and needs to address the workload.
Maybe they are stressed and have too much on their plate or are unable to effectively respond to stress.
Maybe the person has some range of motion limitations that are affecting their daily activities.
Solutions require a process, not a short-term pill.
Solutions require assessing where someone is currently at, to find the most appropriate path towards results.
Cooldowns
What’s the best cooldown? It’s more simple than you probably think.
How should you cool down?
Do you need a cool down?
Should you stretch in a cool down?
Should you use a foam roller during your cool down?
For general health I think this is a topic that has become way too complicated and overly emphasized.
Is it important? Yes.
Does it need to be long and complicated? Probably not.
So let’s keep it simple.
If you are training for general health this should be your cool down:
Do what you were doing for training, but slower, lighter, and at less intensity. Keep moving but move less and move slower.
The goal of a cool down is to bring you to the state needed to do your next thing and assist in recovery.
Basically don’t go from 100% to 0% right away. Do this gradually.
Some of this can happen naturally.
Were you lifting weights? Cleaning and deloading your bar is a part of your cool down. You are still moving things but at much lower intensity.
Finished a run? Gradually slow down to a walk and keep walking until your heart rate reduces.
Finished a CrossFit workout and then need to head home right away? If you walk to the gym, that walk is a part of your cooldown.
When training for general health, cool downs don’t need to be complicated. It’s unlikely you need any crazy foam roller, lacrosse ball or stretching routine. You need to move on to the next thing in your life. If you are spending a good percentage of your “training” cooling down, it's very likely that time could have been spent in better areas.
Cool downs become more intricate and important if you are a competitive athlete that needs to repeat their competition at regular intervals. But that is such a small percentage of the population.
What’s your cool down? Comment below.
Are You Getting Too Much Intensity?
Do you need to train harder?
Intensity is not only about how hard you exercise.
Fitness has no claim over intensity.
Intensity can be anywhere.
It can be in your work, your relationships, your responsibilities.
Intensity can be important to see some progress. But it’s even more important to make sure we aren’t getting too much and that we are managing the intensity that we have.
So do you need a ton of intensity in every workout you do? Do you need to fall on the flow after every workout? No.
Let’s say you have a very stressful job. You feel needed to be available at all times. You have stressful things going on in your life.
You already have a good amount of intensity! So it’s unlikely that you need a lot of intensity in your training.
Yes you can use training to improve your ability to respond to the stresses you face in life. But training is also a stressor. It’s important that we don’t push too hard and take huge steps back.
Monitor your training intensity based on how you are feeling that day. Adjust weights, reps, volume when needed.
You may see others go crazy in a workout. That’s ok. You don’t need to be like that. Do what’s best for you, your health, and your goals.
Weight ≠ Pain
Is weight the source of pain?
You’ve been dealing with back pain. It’s been on and off for years.
You’ve been told you should lose weight.
But is it your weight?
That person that told you to lose weight, do they know that you’ve been trying with little success, and are still dealing with back pain?
That person did they assume you needed to lose weight based on your BMI? The Body Mass Index was created by a mathematician in the 1800s who knew little about weight loss. Can we stop using dated information?
That person who told you to lose weight, did they assess how your body moves and the tasks you want to be able to do pain-free?
There are so many possibilities for why someone could be experiencing pain.
Let's say you start to make some changes. Maybe you do it by eating different foods, maybe in different quantities. Maybe you start sleeping more. Maybe you start to exercise more. You start strengthening your body.
Those can all be great achievements.
So was your weight the sole reason you were experiencing pain? I really doubt it.
Maybe you stopped experiencing pain because you improved your body's strength and tolerance to activities. Maybe it was because you fuelled your body more optimally and improved your recovery.
It wasn’t your weight. No one can be sure of that as a cause and no one should shame you or place blame on your weight. You are more than a number on a scale. People need to acknowledge that.
So how would I address that pain?
We would assess your current abilities.
We would assess your current lifestyle (sleep, stress, work, nutrition)
We would identify the low-hanging fruit that is limiting you. (It’s probably not the weight)
We customize your training to get you the results that you have been looking for.
Pain can be complicated. Training and your path to results doesn’t need to be.
Are You Out of Shape?
Are you out of shape? What is “in shape”?
“I’m so out of shape”
This is a phrase I have heard so many times in the gym.
Whether it’s a person's first exposure to a training program or if they’ve been training their entire life.
So here’s the question: What is in shape?
In shape for what task?
In shape based on what standards.
Let’s use the Olympics as an example. There are multiple events and sports. Take Olympic Weightlifting, marathon running, and gymnastics as examples.
Athletes who participate in those sports all have different body shapes.
So are any of them out of shape? Absolutely not. They are in the ideal shape to perform their sport.
What if your body shape is someone else’s goal? And they hear you say that you are out of shape. How would that affect their mindset toward that goal? Unlikely that it’s helpful.
Want to change the shape that you are in? Go for it! Find the best version of yourself.
But you are and will always be in shape.
Are you Tight?
Should you be concerned if you are tight?
Have you been told that “insert thing” is tight?
Maybe it’s your IT band. Maybe it’s your lats. Maybe it’s your traps.
After hearing that “insert thing is tight” I hope that there is more of a conversation.
If not, I feel for you. I’ve been there. Someone is saying that something is a “problem”. Without giving a solution.
But is it a problem?
Tightness is a sensation of how something feels. It doesn’t mean anything is wrong with you. It doesn’t mean you will experience pain. If you are experiencing pain it also does not mean it is the source.
Tightness can even be good! If we want to be explosive, we need some relative tightness to be able to demonstrate power. Think of how a spring works. If it is loose and bent it won’t be very powerful.
The way your body and your muscles feel can be influenced by so many inputs.
Crazy workout the day before?
Stressful day at work?
Poor sleep last night?
On a family roadtrip?
Those are just a few examples that could influence the way your body feels.
Are there times we want to address some tightness? Absolutely. But not always. There need to be sound logic and a good plan moving forward to address whatever we want to improve long term.
Just because when you use a foam roller or get a massage and something feels tight doesn’t mean anything is wrong.
Could it feel good to have that area worked on? Totally.
Do what feels best for you.
But tightness ≠ problems.
Soreness ≠ Progress
Do you need to be sore to progress?
Do you need to be sore to make progress?
Short answer: No
Can soreness be a part of your training process while you make progress? Absolutely.
But you don’t need to be sore after every workout.
Soreness does not need to represent how hard you worked in the gym.
In training I want the results to speak for themselves.
I recently had a client mention that they were concerned that they weren’t working hard enough because they weren’t waking up as sore as they usually do.
But in two months they were able to double the number of pushups they can do, which is one of their goals. All while not being as sore.
That’s progress. And working hard.
This can be a challenging mindset to change. Society can often preach the “No pain no gain” mindset. That if you aren’t rolling on the ground afterwards, you didn’t work hard enough.
But why put yourself through pain if it’s not necessary. You can achieve results without pain.
I like to train smart. Training to improve your life and your health is a lifelong process. Let’s make that process as enjoyable as possible.
Could you be sore after a workout? Absolutely! That’s a normal outcome of the training and recovery process.
Do you need to be sore after every training session? No. If you are, this could be an indication of a recovery and training process that could be improved.
This is not to say don't work hard. Just work smart.
Spending Time
How effectively are you spending your time in training?
It’s called spending time for a reason.
Time is finite. We only have a certain amount.
Like money, we only have so much.
Unlike money, we can not make more.
Your time can be an investment that pays you in results.
So how do you spend your time in the gym?
Are you spending 20 minutes foam rolling, but not seeing any results?
Are you spending an hour of your day in a fitness class but not seeing any progress with your pain or limitations with specific movements.
How do we spend our time better in the gym?
First, think about what is important to you. Think about what you would like to prioritize in the gym. Do you want to feel less pain? Feel less stressed? Accomplish a specific movement?
Second, identify the low-hanging fruit. Find what things get you the most out of the time that you are spending.
Is that 20 minutes of foam rolling the most cost-efficient use of your time if you only have 1 hour to train. Very unlikely that it is.
Not sure what your low-hanging fruit is? That’s ok! That’s the role of a coach. To learn about you and assess your needs and goals so we can find a starting point.
Are You Privileged?
How you can quantify your privilege.
Using public restrooms without fear of verbal abuse, physical intimidation or arrest.
Being able to walk through the world and generally blend in, not being constantly stared at because of your gender expression.
Using public facilities such as gym locker rooms and store changing rooms without stares, fear or anxiety.
Being able to receive medical care, including emergency medical care, without worrying that your gender will keep you from receiving the appropriate treatment.
Being able to feel like an affirmed and included member of the LGBTQ+ community.
Having multiple positive celebrity and/or TV role models who you personally identify with.
Being able to go shopping for clothes without hesitation or fear of being mocked, questioned, or made uncomfortable.
Raising children without worrying about state intervention.
Being able to feel unthreatened in your interactions with authority figures and police officers.
Having your gender identity recognized and validated by your family and extended family.
Having your gender identity recognized and validated by neighbours, colleagues, and new friends.
Being able to travel without worrying about your safety due to your gender expression, identity or sexuality.
Kissing/hugging/being affectionate in public without discomfort, threat, or punishment.
Freely being able to discuss your relationship(s) with others.
Having medical procedures that you deem essential covered by your insurance.
Having others legitimize your relationship(s) and comfort you when a relationship ends.
Being employed as a school teacher without people assuming you will "corrupt" their children.
Being able to go to a doctor visit and have the doctor understand your sexual orientation/gender identity and respond appropriately to questions regarding your sexual health.
Having new people assume and use your pronouns correctly.
Having legal documents that accurately represent who you are and how you identify.
Being comfortable around coworkers/friends/family to discuss relationships.
How privileged are you?
A privilege is a right or immunity granted as a peculiar benefit, advantage, or favour.
To the right, you will see 21 statements. This information is taken and adapted from a group exercise from @safegymtraining education on inclusion in the fitness space.
Based on your lived experience, read through those 21 statements. How many would you say are true for you? Comment below.
For me 20 of those 21 statements are true. I am very privileged.
I believe privilege can be useful when we acknowledge its existence and use it for good. To change the policies and systems that were designed to our benefit so that they can instead benefit everyone. With this hopefully, more people can say that more of those 21 statements are true to them.
Missed Workouts
What happens when you miss a workout?
So you missed a workout.
Does this mean you failed? Does this mean you need to catch up?
Absolutely not.
To me, it doesn’t matter if you had no reason to miss that workout or if you had the best reason in the world.
The response is still the same.
It’s OK. We move forward.
There are 365 days a year. No one is perfect. To expect perfection is unreasonable.
For any goal, consistency will lead to results with a thought-out process. Just because you missed one day does not mean you are inconsistent. It doesn't need to define you.
Missing a day could mean that your body needed rest.
It could mean that life happened.
And for me as a coach, it means the next steps are important. And dwelling on the past isn’t a step I want us to make.
Sure, let's learn from the past if we need to. But we need to move forward.
Moving forward means we continue the process that we have already committed to together.
That process doesn’t include trying to add more to your plate because of something that happened in the past.
Gendered Workouts. Why?
Why are there gendered workouts?
Does your gym or training program have gendered workouts?
Does your gym or training program say that they are for everyone?
To me those two things, if both true, are at odds.
Some will use gendered workouts to assign a prescribed weight or volume to an athlete. It is said that if you cannot yet do that weight or volume that you can scale or modify to meet your ability based on gender. For some this could be motivating and give them direction for progression.
Not everyone fits into the mould of being male or female. As such gendered workouts are not for everyone. They are for those that identify as those genders.
We need more inclusive gyms.
When we assign genders to exercise, we exclude those that don’t fit a bias.
Sure progression is important. But that is the role of coaching. Progression isn’t writing a weight for a gender and saying this is what you can eventually get to based on your gender.
Progress based on goals, not gender.
How can you indicate the difficulty or intensity of something without using genders?
I use RPE or Rate of Perceived Exertion. It’s completely individual because everyone perceives events or tasks differently. It’s how difficult something feels to you on a scale of 1-10.
There are other ways to do this. It could be % of a previous lift. It could be a pace based on a previous measured task. It could be based on heart rate or breathing.
It just doesn’t need to be based on gender.
If we are going to say we are for everyone, let’s make sure we aren’t excluding anyone.
The Roadmap
This is the roadmap to results.
You’ve hit a fork in the road. There is an obstacle in your way. Your training isn’t progressing the way you want it to.
This process is for you. This is how we achieve your goals together.
Step 1: Locate.
What good is a map or GPS if you have no idea where you currently are? Maybe you can see the end destination but you have no idea where you are. This gets us nowhere or even going in the wrong direction.
So we assess. We look at your current abilities and other factors that play a role in your progress (lifestyle, stress, sleep, food, support, etc). This is our starting point.
Step 2: Move.
We chart our course. We address the roadblocks that you have. Sometimes this requires taking 1 step back to take 2 steps forward. We find the most optimal course for you. This is the direction that we feel the most confident in being able to execute on.
Step 3: Cruise
We continue making progress. Some goals take longer to achieve, while some can be achieved rather quickly. We trust the process and find our cruise control. No need to push the limits if we don’t have to. Very few goals require a rushed process.
What to know more? Comment below!
PROCESS = PROGRESS
Process is progress
How do you achieve your goals?
Is what you do random or is there a purpose?
Are procedures in place to identify and overcome challenges?
Or are you hoping that the challenges resolve themselves?
Do you measure and assess your current abilities and chart a course towards the goals you have?
Or do you do random things hoping that they get you where you want to be?
I believe that if you are going to invest your time, money and energy into a goal, that our actions should be guided by a process. An effective process leads to more effective results.
Sure random workouts could get you results. But I believe it’s important for both coach and athlete/client to know what it was that worked, even if it’s a combination of multiple factors.
Maybe it’s consistency and accountability.
Or addressing weaknesses.
Or improving stress responses.
Or adjusting training volume.
Or “insert thing”.
We can’t identify what it was out of randomness.
We can identify what it was from a process.
I’m here to help people with my process.
Sissy Squats?
Sissy squats. Is this an appropriate name?
First off. I have made the mistake of using this name for this movement.
Occasionally I will get people asking me why certain movements are named the way they are. This is one of those movements.
I have heard two reasons for this naming.
The first is that it was named after Greek legend, King Sisyphus. He was punished for cheating death twice by being forced to roll an immense boulder up a hill only for it to roll down every time it neared the top, repeating this action for eternity.
The second is from bodybuilder Monte Wolford. While warming up for a competition he was performing these squats. A competitor said “what is that Sissy exercise you are doing”. He challenged the competitor to do 3 sets of 10. After completing them the competitor fell off the stage due to muscle fatigue.
Now, who knows which reason came first. But here’s the thing: the word “sissy” is not our word to use.
From @safegymtraining
The words “sissy” or “fairy” were often used in reference to a feminine man, in appearance or mannerisms. This term is now being reclaimed by Drag Queens who emphasize the feminine aspects of their performance, an example is “sissy that walk”.
So let’s stop using the word in the fitness space. Or as a derogatory term for that matter.
Let’s call it what it is: A knees over toes squat. Because that's what you do.
By letting knees go over toes in this fashion while assisted or assisted (harder), we can train our toe strength, our knees tolerance to loading and our quads.
Scaling is Stagnant
How long have you been scaling?
You’ve scaled the same movement for months due to pain with ZERO progress.
You’ve listened to the scaling or modification options provided by your gym.
And you keep showing up and putting in the work. You are making progress in certain areas but that one movement still causes you pain.
That’s frustrating, I’ve been there. You invest your time, money and energy into that gym or that fitness program.
This is important to you. You are ready to make this a priority.
You want results! You want to do that movement that you see others doing.
How do we change this and get you on the path to progress?
We look at what is required from that movement. We assess your capabilities. We find the important areas to work on. We ask each other questions to learn more. We commit to a customized plan to set us on the path to the results.
Scaling options that aren’t specific to you are not specific to your needs or your goals.
Scaling is stagnant. It’s the red light that keeps you at the intersection, delaying your progress to your intended destination.
Customization>Scaling.