Name: Tyler

Team_Member: Chris Romanow

 

Question:

In your professional opinion...are lovehandles hereditary or can I acheive a ripped "competition weight" herculean barrelchested physique similar to yours by eating nothing but ricecakes and cottage cheese and playing racquetball for 3 hours a day?

 

Answer:

I’m blushing…and a bit uncomfortable with man crush you apparently have for me…

 

No, lovehandles are not hereditary; they are a product of a bad diet and inactivity.

 

NO, it is impossible to attain a physique such as mine; nor would I wish my mutant genes upon even my worst enemy.  My ability to move mountains, lift cars, and crush raw-uncooked eggs with my bare hands are both burdensome and embarrassing.  Imagine having flocks of women being enamored with your every move; my gift is my curse. 

 

In regards to the barrel-chest; when I was 3 I actually consumed an entire Cracker Barrel restaurant.  It was delicious, but I’ve had horrible indigestion ever since and an abnormally large barrel-chest taboot.  Also, the many years of wearing only elastic-waist pants were times I would like to forget.  I think I just answered your question about rice-cakes and cottage cheese.

 

If by racquetball you mean attempting to move large amounts of weights with as much force and speed as possible, then yes.

 

This is ridiculous…

 

Romo

This message is just to inform the people who read our q/a/blog.  If you aren’t on our mailing list than you probably didn’t receive the invitation to our Lift-A-Lot-A-Thon (LALAT) on January 3^rd, 2009 with all proceeds to benefit the Side-Out Foundation (www.side-out.org).  For those who hate running/walking/wobbling/crawling which leads to panting/sweating/chaffing/puking to help support the fight against breast cancer, than our event is right for you.  If you’d prefer flipping monster truck tires, carrying heavy implements, knocking out some pull-ups, repping out some push-ups, and showing off your phone book vertical jump, then attend the LALAT.  Basically, if you wanted to stand on top of your chair and start throwing haymakers and uppercuts watching Rocky train in Rocky 6, then attend the LALAT.  What I’m trying to say is, if you got chills/squirted a few tears when Demi Moore was smokin’ pull-ups in GI Jane, then attend the LALAT.  But seriously, if the end of Rudy makes you weep like an baby, then participating in the LALAT is right for you.  Honestly, if just the site of Chuck Norris prompts you to smash cinder-blocks with your forehead while yelling, “There is no chin behind Chuck Norris’ beard; there is only another fist,” you are cordially invited to the LALAT.  But I digress.  Fun will be had by all who attend the event.  Check out our event page for more information about how to donate and participate!  We appreciate your support!

Romo

Posted by Dr. Yessis at www.dryessis.com

"What does back to basics mean?
Posted on Nov 14, 2008 under Baseball, Baseball skills, Baseball training |
There was an article in the paper the other day describing the opening of a new Frozen Ropes facility for baseball player training. It’s great to see such facilities being constructed as they give many ballplayers, both young and old, a great opportunity to practice and improve their skills.

However, the title of the article bothered me greatly. It was stated that, “At this center, it’s basics loaded”. They may deal with basics but is the instruction accurate and effective? I have never been at one of these facilities nor do I know of anyone who presently works that any of these facilities. But I feel confident in saying that even though they may deal with basics, they are not affectively teaching basics.

How can I say this? Because of my past experiences with baseball training centers and the level of knowledge that is presently available in the baseball world. For example, I don’t think they have anyone on staff who can accurately describe and explain the sequence of all of the joint actions that occur in hitting and throwing and the role that each plays. But yet this knowledge is necessary if one is to do an effective job of teaching.

In essence, you will not find science being used in their teaching. Many of the instructors appear to be high school and college players, who although they may have experience, it does not mean that they understand what they do, why they do it, or in many cases, how they do it. As a result, most of the instruction may be good for the rudiments of basic technique, but not for truly mastering effective technique.

When we talk about teaching the basics, we should have expert, knowledgeable instructors. Just because they play on a particular level or even if they are professional players, it does not mean that they are truly expert in teaching basic skills. For this we need people who have studied the basic skills on a theoretical and practical level for one or more years. This is how long it takes to truly understand what is involved.

It is because of this that I can confidently state that they are not teaching effective technique. Because they teach someone a particular technique and the individual may master it, it does not mean that they will now be a better hitter or thrower, etc. Keep in mind that we are not seeing better players on the professional level. If we did, MLB wouldn’t have to import so many foreign players."

Dr. Yessis makes an extremely vaild point - and it is something we face occasionally. For some reason people think that if you are a college or professional athlete that you are also a qualified coach and teacher of basic (and not so basic) skills. It's not until you spend years analyzing, researching, and watching, that the difference can be understood.

Be wary of sport coaches whose only related experience is that of their playing days.

I'm not a fan of wannabes,

S.

Yesterday was a DE lower.  We worked up to 55% with a blue-band on each side in our briefs.  Box was right at parallel.  We all looked pretty good; Nate looked better than he has in a while since he took it easy last week.  After squats and accessories we had a little fun.

On the pulley system in the backroom we did some dynamic pull-ups on the neutral grip and on the squat beam that holds the machine together.  For a bunch of fat guys we were being pretty explosive.  It was like a game of “horse;” I would lead with the pull-up variation and then Nate and Toan would follow.  We must have done close to 12 different pull-up variations about as explosive as possible.  I estimate we did close to 80 pull-ups in about 5 minutes.  It was a lot of fun.  Yours truly, the pencil-neck of the group, “brought home the bacon.”  Nate and Toan, who are men of larger carriage (even after losing weight), were able to keep-up quite well.

Long story short, training should be fun.  We had no intentions of doing a dynamic pull-up marathon yesterday.  Was it the smartest thing to do, probably not.  Would I do it again, absolutely.  Would I do it every day after my accessories, I wish.  What we need to do at that moment in time was have some friggin’ fun.  Training should be the best part of your day, why make it a grind?

My lats are sore, but I’ve been carrying suitcases all day…

Romo

Most of us humans spend the entirety of our day hunched over a computer, slumped on the couch with our hands down our pants, or huddled around a video game controller.  Besides improving our dexterity or relieving an obnoxious itch, maintaining these lazy positions deteriorate our postural muscles causing us to walk around like a bunch of hunch-backs.  Bad posture can lead to a multitude of problems to your lower back, hips, shoulders, neck, and the list goes on. 

 

At SAPT, we strive to have our athletes maintain an erect posture (suck it in, shoulder back, head up) for the duration of their session.  Besides hammering away at the posterior chain with compound movements including squats, deads, snatches, overhead squats, Turkish get-ups we also incorporate a significant amount of rehab (we call it pre-hab) type movements throughout their workouts.  Simply put, the condition we receive some of our athletes in is less than stellar, and we have to do extra work to correct these issues.  These accessory/pre-hab movements include active T, face-pulls, band-pull aparts, scap-push-ups, push+, weighted supermen, etc.   The idea here is to elicit a significant amount of scapular contractions or isometric holds to correct the slouching and hunched postures that walk-in our doors. 

 

I slouched while typing this article, but I watch TV while doing the superman…

 

Romo

Name: SmileySkulls

Team_Member: All Team Members

 

Question:

 

Hi,

 

Lately I have seen a couple questions/posts about some sort of cardio, whether it is

GPP or skipping to prevent shin splints.  I powerlift on a regular basis and tend to do some light bicycle work before and after lifting sessions for some cardio, but also to help with recovery.

 

My question is about running. I feel that I need to start doing some sort of running and I am unsure what kind of progressions to make to get my body suited for 1-2 mile runs (especially so I don’t die after).

 

FYI I have not run 100 feet in probably close to a year, weigh about 245 and get

those nasty shin splints.

 

Thanks for your help,

 

SmileySkulls

 

Answer:

 

Smiley Skulls,

 

My question to you is WHY?  As a powerlifter, putting your body through prolonged bouts of aerobic conditioning will actually detrain the Type II (fast twitch), drastically change your body composition (body fat UP, and lean muscle DOWN), and prevent you from recovering fully from your training.  Why would you want to elicit changes on your body that you’ve worked so hard to develop while deterring our progress in powerlifting. Smiley, if you want to crush weights you can’t be training your body to be slow. Instead, I would prescribe hill sprints, complexes, sled pushes etc.  These activities will create an “afterburn” effect while allowing you to get stronger and better conditioned.          

 

In terms of progression, I’m not sure what your goals are.  Would you like to be able to run a sub 10-8-5 minute mile, make the Olympic team, have a heart-attack?  Do you still strive to break pr’s with powerlifting?

 

Smiley, the only shin injury you should worry about is grating your shins with the knurling locking out a deadlift!

 

Pulling was rough today,

 

Romo

Some maybe unfamiliar with the term General Physical Preparedness (GPP), but it plays a huge role in any competitive athletes training program.  GPP helps prevent imbalances and boredom with both specific and non-specific exercises by conditioning the body to work (Verkoshanksy, 1988). The greater the athlete’s GPP, the easier it will be for them to adapt to the exercises and demands of a sport (Bompa, 1999).  I am a competitive powerlifter, mainly competing against myself, but I find that if I completely neglect this aspect of my training my body will literally shut-down.  As Verkoshansky stated, GPP can be both specific and non-specific in nature.  This means that I can either do assistance type work to help my lifts, or I can devise a more creative way to actively recover.  While I spend almost the entirety of my week at the SAPT training facility, the last place I want spend my off-day is at a location that houses a squat rack, bench, or platform.  However, I do know that it’s important to still be active on my off-day to improve my mental sanity, get blood flow to beat-up areas of my body from my weekly training, and to simply condition the ole’ ticker that us as powerlifters often tend to neglect. Rather than do a circuit consisting of band-work, sled pulling, or light kettlebell complexes, I prefer to take my GPP sessions outdoors.

 

Sunday was my day of GPP fun, and the following is what I accomplished.  First, I raked both the back and front yard.  Talk about a fantastic wrist, forearm, shoulder, oblique, rear-delt, low back, and scapula workout.  This just kicked off the fun.  Next, I threw my weight vest on and mowed the lawn.  I got my heart rate up and drew plenty of blood flow to my lower-half (which takes a beating during my ME and DE lower training sessions).  I then took the pooch for about an hour long walk around the block.  While in the woods, Fenway (my dog) almost caught a squirrel and ate plenty of deer poop.  As you can see, I was able to combine my chores with GPP which inevitably yields greater time on the couch watching football.   

 

Today, I felt great in the gym.  Although, my neck is still a bit banged up, my joints thanked me for the day of GPP I had given it.  Let us not forget SAPT athletes and parents to get outdoors and do some yard work or eat some deer poop; your body, your mind, and FOX or CBS (depending on if your squad is in the NFC or AFC) will greatly appreciate it.

Chris

I eat A LOT of chicken.  It’s a great lean source of protein, relatively cheap if you buy the 20 lbs bag at Costco, and relatively easy to prepare.  Well let’s just say that if chicken comprises 80-90% of your protein consumption, the yard-bird begins to lose its luster with the taste buds.  While I know I should be more diligent at varying my sources of protein, for somebody who loathes food prep, it doesn’t get any easier than tossing chicken on the grill. 

 

Well Sarah and I are always trying to find ways to disguise our food (specifically chicken) with some kind of calorie free condiment.  Right now I’m on a Frank’s Red Hot Sauce binge like you wouldn’t believe.  After today, I will have gone through my second bottle since Sunday.  Let me tell you, this hot sauce makes every bland piece of chicken taste like you’re downing a bucket of fried chicken wings.

 

Chris

Name: Kayla

Team_Member: Chris

 

Question: Chris I had a quick question...can you squeeze a hard boiled egg until it cracks, with one hand?

 

Answer:

 

Kayla,

 

All I wanted to do yesterday was get home and try this.  So last night I went home and opened the fridge to find, much to my excitement, two eggs sitting alone on a random shelf.  This was enough for me to conclude that one of my roommates had made a couple too many eggs that morning, and the lone soldiers were up for grabs to whoever spotted them first.  You see, we always keep our eggs in the special egg bin; never are there rogue eggs placed randomly on shelves clearly made for milk or OJ.  Anyways, like a crazed 6 year old on Christmas morning, I snatched up one of the eggs and squeezed as hard as I could…only to learn that it’s extremely easy to crush a raw-uncooked egg with my hand...yolk and egg white went everywhere.  My dog and I just stood their staring at each other both thinking the same thing; “Chris, you moron.” Fenway, my dog, then proceeded to “clean-up” for me while I headed upstairs to shower the yolk out of my hair.  But seriously, who puts eggs on the milk shelf?

 

Honest mistake…

 

Chris