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Using the Ground Prep Series to Unlock Your Back, Knees and Hips
Are you looking for a mobility series you can do in 5 minutes to improve how virtually EVERY JOINT in your body moves and feels? If so, you need the Ground Prep Series in your life! This is a mini-circuit I created years ago because, unfortunately, I keep getting older… …and my body keeps reminding […]
Continue ReadingWhy I Hate the “Hips Down” Cue in Sports
As someone who has coached athletes of every shape, size and ability, it annoys me to no end when a coach randomly tells an athlete to “get their hips down.” And keep in mind, I know it’s well-intentioned – they want to help this athlete be more athletic and/or explosive in their respective sport. But […]
Continue ReadingBetter Set-ups for Better Single-Leg RDL’s
For almost 15 years now, I’ve talked about the benefits of including bilateral, split-stance, AND unilateral activities in your programming. All of them have a place depending on the client/athlete you’re working with, their level of development, their needs and goals, etc. So with that being said, just know that I love the single-leg RDL. […]
Continue ReadingIn-Season Program Design
Okay my friends, it’s time for a little Wipe Board Wednesday! Today we’re going to talk about in-season lifting. For many years, lifting in-season was vilified…but should that have been the case? Too often, as the competitive season goes on we see lean body mass and force production go down, while overall fatigue and the […]
Continue ReadingThe Reload Week
When it comes to program design people like to talk about de-loading, or deloads. A deload is a period of time – generally one week – where you strategically drop volume and/or intensity to reduce fatigue and improve overall fitness. But something I’ve used with great success over the years is what I call a […]
Continue Reading1 Set-up and 1 Performance Cue
As trainers and coaches, we REALLY want to help our clients and athletes. We want those squats to be deep. We want those deads to be strong. And we want those split-squats and lunges to be stable and balanced! But sometimes those good intentions get the best of us. Instead of letting our clients and […]
Continue ReadingThe Extended Warm-up
One of my favorite programming tricks is to extend the warm-up. Maybe you’ve got a few more years under your belt and need a bit more time to get warm and loose. Maybe your R4 work isn’t super intense, but you want to maintain some power and athleticism. Or maybe you want to get a […]
Continue Reading13 Push-ups for Athletic Dominance
Hey friend this week I’ve got a 2-for-1 for you – a new article AND a new video to go along with it! If you’ve followed me for any period of time, you know that I LOVE push-ups…but that wasn’t always the case. Back in my powerlifting days, I thought if you weren’t doing heavy […]
Continue ReadingHow to Program Offset Activities
Today I want to do a little customer Q&A! Here’s a question I received from Matt who is going through my Complete Coach Certification: Hey Mike! I’m going through the cert and I’m hoping you can help me better understand a few concepts: A) When and how to “load” vs “propulse,” B) The concept of […]
Continue ReadingThe Scissor Cue for Swaybacks
Let’s talk a little bit of coaching and cuing today my friend! If someone is dealing with an anterior pelvic tilt/anterior orientation, I like to use two cues to clean that up: Soft knees, and Belt buckle up. However, we get ourselves into trouble when we cue all of our clients and athletes the same […]
Continue ReadingThe WORST Program to Write
Without giving the whole video away, do you want to know the single WORST program to write? Easy…the program for a client with no real goals! Because if we’re being honest, being “fitter” or “healthier” – while commendable – is pretty darn hard to track, measure or quantify. So how do we fix that? How […]
Continue ReadingWhat Trunk Position is Best for Split-Squats?
When it comes to split-squats and lunges, many people think there’s ONE torso position that’s best. For instance, you’ll often see me cue a tall, upright posture if I’m trying to get someone to load their hips more effectively. OR if I’m trying to get the hip flexors and quads to chill out a bit. […]
Continue ReadingCuing in Bullet Points
Unless you’re recapping the latest episode of The Boys or Bridgerton, your clients don’t want to hear you monologue – it’s a sure-fire way to have your clients and athletes tune you out. And this is especially true when it comes to coaching and cuing exercises. Eventually your voice starts to sound like that teacher from […]
Continue Reading3 Types of Recovery Lifts
The longer I write programs, the more I interact with people who want to train DAILY. But here’s the rub: We all know you can’t train “hard” every day without breaking yourself down. So what gives? How do you reconcile the idea of training regularly without burning yourself out? Easy – you need to get […]
Continue ReadingThe Reverse Workout
Let’s be honest with ourselves for a minute: Unless you’re some sort of fitness lunatic, you don’t walk in the gym every single day EXCITED to train. Sometimes it’s low energy or motivation. Sometimes it’s an ache, pain or boo-boo that might be holding you back. And sometimes, you just feel like you need a […]
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