IOL Strength and Conditioning

The topic of squatting comes up in various forms in our IronOnline forum. Yesterday, the question was, “What’s up with the less squatting trend? Why am I hearing from multiple sources that things like sled dragging and hill sprints are better than squatting?”

Glenn Pendlay, the speaker for our 10th Annual IronOnline bash event in Kansas City October 8th & 9th (and yes, we’re filming for DVD), provided the following thoughts.

Glenn writes:
I recently answered a similar question on my forum, so, I think I will give this whole squat thing the ol’ college try.

The first assumption I will make is that we all have goals, and are looking to work upwards in terms of physical capacity to reach these goals.

Next, I would like to bring up a situation regarding shot putters that I have read. I can’t find the source, but will try to be as accurate as I can. And YES, I will eventually tie all this together!!! Seems that a shot putter’s improvement shows some correlation to his bench press strength as the bench goes from 300 to 400lbs, but little or no correlation is shown as the bench press goes from 400 to 500lbs.

This is very interesting! Seems that for a dynamic and fast athletic event like throwing a 16lb ball, a certain amount of basic strength is needed to do your best, but past that, further increases don’t seem to matter as much.

Now let me postulate the following. For any physical activity, there is a certain amount of pure brute strength needed to perform one’s best. In general, the level of strength needed goes down as the speed of the movement increases and also goes down the longer the event drags on. Yes, anyone could find a few holes in this—I am speaking in generalities here.

Let us also consider—and this might be the most important concept in this post—there is such a thing as opportunity cost. For those who have never taken economics, this means that the cost of investing your money in one instrument is the subsequent inability to invest it in other instruments. Same thing applies to your time, and… wait for it… your RECOVERY ability. Yes, you have a finite amount of recovery ability, and every single thing you do in training means that there are other things that you can’t do.

Now to tie it together. The squat is probably the best single builder of brute strength in the lower body that exists in the planet earth. But does that mean it is the best exercise for everyone, or, that increasing the squat should be the prime goal of everyone? After all, squatting probably makes demands on the body that exceed almost every other exercise out there in terms of recovery.

At this point, I am betting that if there are 100 people who read this, 99.5 of them get where I am going and I shouldn’t have to type another word. But in the interest of the other half a person who still doesn’t get it, I will tie it together.

Whatever your goal in life or sports, there is a minimum amount of basic leg strength you should have in order to be your best. For an elite-level shot putter this might be a 500lb squat. For an elite-level 94kg weight class Olympic weightlifter, this might be a 600lb squat. For a 160lb dude who likes to hike up and down mountains, this might be a 300lb squat. I am just making these numbers up, keep that in mind, but rest assured, such numbers do exist even if we can’t actually account for them.

If you don’t have whatever basic amount of strength is required to be your best at your sport, more squatting is rarely a bad idea. If you already have this adequate amount of strength? Well, remember what opportunity cost is, and how it applies to training?

Above all, remember the concept of opportunity cost. People have gotten really, really strong squatting once a week. Yes, squatting three times a week puts muscular weight on like nothing else, but is that your main goal? Is that important enough to you that you are willing to sacrifice all the other training that you now can’t do because you are squatting three times a week?

I hope this is well enough presented to make sense to everyone. If not, maybe Dan John can simplify and improve on it. He obviously writes MUCH better than I do, and I am reminded of that every time I try to communicate anything that requires more than one or two sentences.

~Glenn Pendlay

For part two of this overview of the new DVD series, Reifkind, Whitley, Reifkind, here’s another set of video clips to give you a taste of what you’ll learn from the DVDs.

Here Dave discusses using the art of perfect practice:

Next, let’s watch Rif talk about the lats as the bridge between the upper and lower body.

Tracy introduces the concept of equal work to equal rest in kettlebell swings progressions.

Dave next tells us what to expect when luck meets opportunity.

Quick links to review the contents, perhaps to place an order:

Full set of 4 DVDs (5 discs) of the Reifkind, Whitley, Reifkind workshop, saves $20

IronTamer Dave Whitley, Lessons from the Old-Time Strongmen, Kettlebell Fundamentals: Deepening your Getup Skills, or both Whitley DVDs at a discount

Mark “Rif” Reifkind, Lats, the Super Muscles, or combined with Tracy’s Swings Progressions at a discount

Swings Queen Tracy Reifkind,  Programming the Kettlebell Swing, including 40-minute panel discussion, or combined with Rif’s at a discount

In case you missed it, here’s the link to last week’s kettlebell workshop video clips.

A year and a week ago, Dave Whitley dropped by the IronOnline forum to post his fall 2009 workshop schedule. That triggered a casual, “Hey, let’s put something together here in central California,” which expanded to include Mark Reifkind, then Tracy. We made arrangements with Greg Everett to rent his gorgeous Catalyst Athletics for the day, and that blossomed into a DVD plan and we were off hiring a film crew to get the gig on tape. Winter turned into spring, the workshop became history, the videos got edited and tomorrow the DVDs ship from the replicator… project complete.

In the midst of the tangle, I grabbed a few video clips to upload to YouTube so you could have a look.

Here Rif discusses using the lats in pressing

Next, let’s watch Dave talk about hip mobility, especially as it pertains to the kettlebell getup.

Tracy, as you know, is the go-to gal about progressive swings training.

I have a few more clips I’ll upload for next week. The YouTube site and my cable connection seem to be at odds, and each clip is taking about six hours to upload. I’m fairly sure that’s not the norm for a five-minute video, so I’ll try again another day.

“If you searching an brutally effective fat loss and conditioning regimen, you have found it: Programming the Swing. I was so impressed with Tracy Reifkind’s innovations that I am incorporating some them into the RKC curriculum.”—Pavel Tsatsouline, Chief RKC Instructor
And now, after this year of babblng about it, allow me to give you the links to review the contents, perhaps to place an order:

Full set of 4 DVDs (5 discs) of the Reifkind, Whitley, Reifkind workshop, saves $20

IronTamer Dave Whitley, Lessons from the Old-Time Strongmen, Kettlebell Fundamentals: Deepening your Getup Skills, or both Whitley DVDs at a discount

Mark “Rif” Reifkind, Lats, the Super Muscles, or combined with Tracy’s Swings Progressions at a discount

Swings Queen Tracy Reifkind,  Programming the Kettlebell Swing, including 40-minute panel discussion, or combined with Rif’s at a discount

The DVDs are in stock and shipping now. And I’ll be back next week with more audio/visual sharing. [Late edit: the next set of kettlebell dvd video clips is here.]

You’ve heard what an outstanding job Perform Better does with their conferences—and after my trip to Long Beach last weekend, you can add my voice to the cheers of others. It was wonderful to spend the time tagging along with Dan, seeing old friends, meeting some new, learning and laughing. I even got to introduce him to a couple of people.

“Hi, folks, this is my friend, Dan John, you may have heard of him.”

My first opportunity to pull this off was when we bumped into Chris Poirier, the head of Perform Better, the guy behind all the goodness about to unfold. Attendees and speakers alike tell what an enjoyable guy he is, and what a good job he and his staff do creating these weekends, but what I hadn’t heard was how easy he makes it look. Big events are not easy, and it’s monumental for him to always take time to stop and talk, and be paying attention to the conversation in the midst of what must be chaos in his head. He made us welcome, even that first night when he’d probably been going 12 or 14 hours on no rest and perhaps no food.

A few minutes later, I got to run through the Coach John introduction again when John Brookfield and Ingrid Marcum walked through the glass Hyatt entryway. I hadn’t seen Ingrid since she visited us in 2002 on her way home from two weeks training with Olympic coach Jim Schmitz, and it’s been a few years since we last saw John during which he did one of his many feats of strength before a rocking Arnold Classic crowd. Over dinner, John told us of his plans to stun the Perform Better group by rolling a 20-foot bar into a ball small enough to stow in a box the size of a briefcase, which he did the next night under the WWF-quality announcing of his spur-of-the-moment MC, Martin Rooney.

Let’s stall over breakfast for a sec, because I want you to picture this as I saw it, sitting there watching Michael Boyle and Dan John meet. These guys, who’ve appreciated each other’s work from opposite sides of the country, perhaps for decades, were instantly friends, joking, with an instant bond of mission clarity. And here I sat, watching it all. I just love this stuff—enjoying the personalities more than the lecture education.

The Perform Better events are a conflict of decisions: By choosing one presenter, you’re deciding to take a pass on three others. There are a total of 13 session decisions to be made, and not a single one easy. Session number one, I stood in the middle of the hallway trying to decide between people I knew and people I wanted to know. The truth is, I stood there conflicted until Dan walked up, saw my dilemma and offered an easy choice, “Just come with me.”

So, we started the day in Josh Henkin’s lecture room, where Dan practically pulled me to the front row (heels dragging but no match for the beefy Coach John), a pattern that was to continue throughout the weekend. Amid my own misery of being in the front, there was time to feel a little bad for Josh, Dan sitting there, pen in hand, eager as a puppy. But Josh took it in stride, and the audience was never the wiser that one of his heroes was watching his every move.

Now this front row bit was interesting. Dan was so eager for information that we moved from the second row to the first when the spots opened up. Bit quirky, but endearing. And it definitely says something when a 31-year veteran teacher races to the front row.

Compare that with my norm: When I travel with Dave, we arrive late, slip in the back door and stay there… in the back… near the door. The truth is, that suits me just fine, but since I’m trying to step out just a little more, you’d have to say Dan was a good influence.

The next session was Michael’s lecture, and honestly, when you combine our friendship with his engaging speaking skills, I really didn’t mind sitting in the front.

Now this was interesting: Because I’d worked on Michael’s book, Advances in Functional Training, and since we’d discussed much of the content, his material wasn’t new to me. That left time to observe and enjoy him as a person and as a speaker, and guess what? He’s terrific at both. I watched him and reflected on how lucky I am to be able to work with him, and then realized all that reflection was while seated next to Dan John, waiting for Gray Cook to show up. Amazing combination of talent!

But Gray was still en route, and Michael decided over breakfast that he’d sell out Gray’s book before he got there, a friendly little challenge that only the one friend knew about. I have a feeling Michael doesn’t lose many self-challenges, and this one was no different. The debut of Gray’s new book, Movement, was over before noon, five hours before Gray arrived. Sort of sad at the time, this will be a Boyle vs Cook story they’ll poke at for years to come.

Later that evening, the keynote speaker, our old friend Thom Plummer, surprised Dan by including him as a part of his “Lessons of Success” lecture. There we were, sitting, as you know, in the front row, and onto the overhead flashes an image of Dan, hauling a rock off the cover of Never Let Go.

This was just after Thom talked about Dave’s contribution to our field, complete with enough stirring personal thoughts about Thom and Dave’s friendship and Dave’s character to have me fairly choked up. And those were followed by Thom’s discussion of both Michael and Gray, two other pillars of fitness education. I love being a fly on the wall, standing aside, while knowing I helped these guys make a contribution. It’s an extraordinary feeling, and Thom gave it to me in spades that night.

From there, another highlight: Meeting Gray. The Perform Better events include a free-beer social, and because of the flight cancellation this was Gray’s first appearance at the event. Gray and I have logged probably dozens of hours of phone time, but hadn’t met. I knew what he looked like, and that left him at the disadvantage of knowing only my voice. I got a kick out of standing nearby, making a couple of comments while knowing he had no clue who I was.

That reminds me of another intriguing contrast. Working on Dan’s book involved passing notes back and forth in a private section on our IronOnline forum. With Gray’s, we used email when it was necessary to exchange text, but did the bulk of the work by phone. Michael’s book was done entirely by email. Check this: We’d never even spoken before Friday.

The next morning, Gray, his wife Danielle, and his two daughters, Jessica and Kayla, invited me to breakfast. After breakfast, the womenfolk hiked over to the battling ropes workshop, definitely groggy and possibly intimidated knowing Ingrid had a plan for them, while Gray and I made up for the work we missed the day before.

After that, we were off to Gray’s lecture on dynamic stability training. Gray has so much insight into human movement that it just slips out between his thoughts, in writing and in conversation. So picture this: Throughout the weekend, Dan was taking notes in everyone’s lectures, big note-taker, that guy. Every few minutes I’d hear a “hmmm” or an “oh, that’s good,” as he scribbled a thought, followed by the sound of paper rustling to make way for another page.

At the opening of Gray’s first talk, Dan made a single note, then no more.

Now you know it wasn’t because there was nothing to write down. No, it was because there was so much to write down, he’d have never caught up. When you’re listening to Gray lecture, you want to stop and think about a concept, sort it out in your head, but there’s no time— you know you’re going to miss five more intense thoughts while you’re off pondering. I’d be willing to bet there were few notes taken anywhere in that standing-room-only crowd.

Gray had four contributors to his new book, one of whom is Greg Rose, a chiropractic doc who co-founded the Titleist Performance Institute. Home for the first time since mid-May, Greg is a sought-after speaker on golf mechanics, and he was next on my lecture schedule. His topic was based on the golf swing, but more than that it was a discussion of the joint-by-joint approach to movement, specifically as it relates to rotational sports. Because Dan’s a thrower—primarily a rotational athlete—I was disappointed to find Dan’s unattended notepad there next to me in the front row, Dan having been waylaid in the hall on his way back from the water fountain.

The upside there was that I got to sneak over to the sideline to sprawl on the floor, unnoticed.

Getting the spine flat for a bit was a welcome relief, because our next stop was Gray’s hands-on lecture. It’s no stretch to say there wasn’t a person in the room thinking there’s never enough time to listen to Gray and to test his techniques. Subtle tips, a fraction of an angle or a turn of the head, these all make up a fascinating difference you can feel. The trainers, coaches and medical pros all left that room with at least a couple techniques to use this week, and a few others to experiment with as they learn the nuances.

The event vendors lined the edge of the presentation room, and as Gray finished, Dan and I hurried over to visit with Anthony Carey, the creator of that fabulous CoreTex I fell off during last year’s IDEA expo. This year, no fall, nor even a close call; even Anthony, whose swift move last year stopped me from knocking over a nearby apparel display, would have to say I’d made a bit of stability progress. I’m going to have to spring for one of these things—it’s truly a blast, fun and effective at the same time.

By this time, we’re coming to the end of our trip, but not before we get a half-hour of personal attention from Gray. In the dim light of a secluded hallway, Dan and I took turns rolling around the crummy convention hall carpet as Gray pushed and pulled on bodyparts to offer a few corrective suggestions. Beyond doubt, I’d have gone to Long Beach for those few minutes, just that alone.

Sadly, Summit attendees miss as many great speakers as they see, in fact, more than two times as many! I missed a couple of good friends talk, and missed a few stellar educators. Lee Burton, another of Gray’s co-authors, arrived at LAX the same hour as we flew home, and I missed Sue Falsone talk about the thoracic spine, surely the biggest problem area in this 54-year-old body. But, hey, this is why Perform Better schedules three such weekends each year in addition to their one-day events.

Next stop: the San Jose airport, where in a bit of a tsunami I tried to tell Dave this story over a span of about five minutes.

Amazing from start to finish, the three Es— educating, entertaining, and finally… exhausting.

Guest post by Dan John
Author of Never Let Go

It’s funny, because years ago a young man told me, “Squats hurt my knees.” I asked him to demonstrate his squat. He did and I said, “Squats don’t hurt your knees; whatever you are doing there hurts your knees.” I told Breon, “Swings don’t hurt your back; whatever the hell you are doing hurts your back.”

Ah. Great coaching again! I knew something was wrong and stated the obvious. Breon then asked the million-dollar question: Well, then, what am I doing wrong?

Thank you, Breon. You see, I could SEE the problem, but I had no ability to fix it. Oh, I knew drills and we could have pushed, pulled and prodded her to a better movement, but I knew that I knew that I didn’t know what to do. Like that famous exchange in Mystery Men, and, yes, I think it is the greatest film of all time:

Capt. Amazing: I knew you couldn’t change.
Casanova Frankenstein: I knew you’d know that.
Capt. Amazing: Oh, I know that. AND I knew you’d know I’d know you knew.
Casanova Frankenstein: But I didn’t. I only knew that you’d know that I knew. Did you know THAT?
Capt. Amazing: Of course.

So, I knew Breon was swinging wrong. But I didn’t know much else. For a few minutes, we waved our hands around, did some drills and actually fixed her swing. But, I still didn’t know something. Did you know THAT?

She was bending her knees too much, which let the ‘bell go too low, which tossed all the forces on her lower back. It is sometimes called the “Squatting Swing.”

When I said that out loud, my little world of lifting had absolute clarity. You see:

The Swing is not a Squat.
The Squat is not a Swing.

To which, you may reply: So? It is the greatest insight of my teaching career. We went to a white board and began talking about this notion. It soon became known as the Hip Displacement Continuum. Within a few minutes, I posted this first tickler on the idea at my forum at davedraper.com. The picture comes from a later discussion when I decided the SWING is the king of the hip moves… live with it!

Breon and Josh Vert asked a good question and I already called Mark Twight, but somebody else will claim it later…

Breon was taught to do Swings from a “deep squat” and “you are cheating if you don’t deep squat.” Well, no…

Put this on a “rainbow” curve or continuum.

On the far left:
Vertical Jump
Standing Long Jump
Swings (all variations)
Romanian Deadlifts
(Tackling in football would go here)

In the Middle:

Bootstrapper Squat
In a narrow beam: snatches and cleans and DLs
Back Squats
Front Squats
Overhead Squats

On the far right:
Goblet Squats

The most powerful movements the human body can achieve are from this swing position or, as it has been called more recently, the hinge movement. If you are walking and a rattlesnake crosses your path, that “leap” away will be more on the left side of the continuum. If you first wish to kiss the rattler, that movement would be a squat. You decide, as I have no question about what I would do.

Bad jumpers start with a lot of knee bend and diminish the pop of the hinging hips. Bad squatters bend their knees a lot and ignore the hip movement. The continuum clarified this thinking for me. Forever. It is one of the few times that some mental effort can actually improve physical performance.

As a test, we added a series of Standing Long Jump tests. First, we encouraged the athlete to use a lot of knee bend, really use your legs, and tested three jumps. Then, we asked for nearly no knee bend, but a snappy hip movement. Most athletes are within three inches of their best with this style and many athletes actually do better. Finally, allowing some additional knee bend but emphasizing the explosive hip, the athlete takes a few more attempts. It is more common than not to reach personal records here.

Pavel recently added much to this concept at the HKC presentation in St. Paul.  “Hinge” movements, like the swing, are movements with deep hip movement and minimal knee bend. Squat movements have both deep movements in the hip and the knee.

So, to memorize:

Hinge the Hips (Swings, Jumps): Deep Hip Movement, Minimal Knee Movement
Squats: Deep Hip Movement, Deep Knee Movement

As you move across the continuum, you might note that the knee bends more and more, but never “NEVER.” There always needs to be a slight bend in the knees during any movement. Pavel calls the stiff-legged swing The Tipping Bird,  like those old bar standards where the plastic bird swings back and forth into a drink. One of the great errors of beginning squatters is to lock the knees out at the start or top of the movement. No need to jack up your knees for life, my friend: Keep a slight bend.

It is interesting to think about the popularity of leg extension and leg curl machines in the Seventies and Eighties. These are movements with technically no hip movement and deep knee movements, but there has been some research indicating that these movements are terrible for the knees. Mother Nature seems to know best when it comes to training.

When someone complains that swings hurt the back, it is often because the movement was turned into a Squatting Swing. Always keep the bell above the knees, “attack the zipper,”  hinge the hips, make the hips fold… or whatever clue is going to help you. When someone complains squats hurt the knees, take a moment to clue the hips.

Once you understand the Hip Movement Continuum, teaching the body to move powerfully becomes much simpler, safer and sounder.

For more from Dan, you can catch up with him in his Q&A forum, sign up for site updates on his blog, or order his book and dvds.