Correcting Bad Posture, Part 2

Here is part two of the "Strategies for Correcting Bad Posture" article by Eric Cressey.

Strategies for Correcting Bad Posture, Part 2 by Eric Cressey

Get big or die tryin'.

This Past Week (12/5-12/11)

This past week was a complete deload week for me. Normally I am very precise with my deloads, using a calculator to tell me every weight, but this week I let my body tell me what weight to lift. Most of the time the weight ended up being between 40-50% of the weight I was using the week before. It was clear that I was very fatigued.

At the start of the week my RHR was in the low 60's. As a comparison, when I am rested and my nervous system is fresh, my RHR is in the mid 40's. By Thursday my RHR was in the mid 50's, so while I was recovering, the process was taking longer than I had expected. Finally by Saturday I was back into the high 40's after not training at all on Friday.

Sunday I had two basketball games to finish out the men's league I was playing in every week. Monday was my leg lift, Tuesday was chest, Wednesday back, and Thursday arms. I would have spaced the week out Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, but I was planning on being out of town Friday through Sunday. Those plans, however, fell through, but I just stuck with my initial plan of having Friday and Saturday be off days.

Work wise, I sent out the December issue of The Source on Monday. If you are interested in being put on my mailing list for this newsletter, please click here. On Thursday I began adding articles to the blogthat I have written over the course of the past year and a half. My plan is to add "This Past Week" postings every Sunday; articles from other authors on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays; and articles written by myself on Tuesdays and Thursdays. This way there will be updates six days a week, so check back often!

I finally got around to editing the footage from the morning that Shalvoy and I did 100 pull-ups. The video is up on YouTube, as well as on the Self Made Facebook page and the videos page on the website. But, in case you don't want to go to any of those links, you can also watch the video right here:

I began studying for the CSCS again this week as well. I have already read through the text book once, but now I am going back through it again and really studying it this time. I am planning to be ready to take the exam in March 2011. Finally, the last big thing of this past week is that I started working on an e-book that I am planning on releasing in January 2011. It is something that, as of right now, I am planning on giving out for free when people sign up for my newsletter. Those who have already signed up will receive it with the January 2011 issue of The Source.

That's all for this past week. Now it's time to go live this one.

Get big or die tryin'.

Correcting Bad Posture

With the increase in jobs that require people to sit all day hunched over a computer screen, it is no wonder that so many people are suffering from bad posture these days. Check out this article by Eric Cressey on simple changes you can make to your lifestyle and training routines that will help to correct bad posture.

Strategies for Correcting Bad Posture: Part 1 by Eric Cressey

Get big or die tryin'.

Jumping Rope: Quick, Easy, Effective

If you are looking to improve your overall quickness or jumping ability, or even if you are looking for an alternative form of cardio, one simple tool that is often overlooked or forgotten about is the jump rope. While jumping rope is a skill and does take some coordination and rhythm, it is a very versatile and affordable piece of training equipment. After you get the basic rhythm down you can incorporate all different types of jumps and footwork drills to not only increase your athletic ability, but to make sure your heart rate stays up as well. If you have a couple training partners, you can even try out some of the old school-yard jump rope games from back in the day; or if you’re feeling extra springy and coordinated you can give Double Dutch a shot.

As an athlete, I love throwing jump rope into my exercise routine for a couple reasons: first, I definitely notice a difference in my jumping quickness as well as my jumping height between the times when I do jump rope and the times when I haven’t jumped rope for a while. Second, after just a few minutes of jumping rope my calves are on fire, not to mention the burn in my shoulders and forearms, and I’m definitely winded. Now I’m not talking about jumping rope at a leisurely pace for ten minutes. I’m talking about intense interval training with a slightly greater than 2:1 work to recovery time.

The routine I do on a semi-regular basis is I go as hard as I can for 80 rotations (roughly 30 seconds), then I bring it down to a much more moderate pace for 40 rotations (roughly 30 seconds). I complete this pattern twice, rest completely for 45 seconds, and complete the whole set again two more times. The entire routine takes less than ten minutes, but if I push myself hard enough I’m feeling it by the end. This is just one example of how you can use a jump rope to get in shape.

Something else you can try would be different footwork drills while jumping rope, such as stepping over and back across a line, doing the “Ali Shuffle”, or crossing your legs front to back. You can do single leg hops and you can do double jumps, where the rope rotates around twice before you land. Basically the only thing limiting what you can do as far as footwork with the jump rope is your imagination. Throw in a few minutes of jump rope into the end of your workout sessions and you’ll be feeling better and moving more explosively in no time!

Get big or die tryin’.

Charlie Cates

Self Made, Owner

Charlie Cates is a human performance specialist and the owner of Self Made (http://selfmadefitness.com/), as well as a Certified Personal Trainer and Performance Enhancement Specialist through NASM. He has worked with athletes of all ages and ability levels, from 9-year-old kids to NFL MVP's. He can be reached via e-mail at charlie@selfmadefitness.com.

This article may be reproduced with biographical information intact.

Cratos Training

Boredom. It happens to all of us. It happens in all areas of our lives. It happens at work and at home, but one area we need to make sure it doesn’t happen at is the gym. If you’ve been going through the same monotonous routine day in and day out and feel like you are no longer making strides towards your goals you have two options: either take a break from your workouts, only to come back a week or two later and be bored again a month after that, or you can keep reading.

Step in Cratos Training. There have been many similar training methods developed, but none as complexly simple, and none as effective, as Cratos Training. Cross-fit and Caveman workouts are great, but you can only put a rat in a ball and watch it run around so many times until it says, “Forget this.” Not only do you need to create an environment with unique and challenging exercises, but you also need to be able to work the body in multiple ways, and not just from a biomechanical standpoint.

ratos Training developed, ironically enough, out of boredom, plain and simple. I was bored with the power-development day of my strength-training program. I needed something new, something fun, something that was a completely different challenge from any other that I had faced. Then I had an epiphany, and all it needed was a name. There was some thought about just continuing the Caveman trend, but there was a lot of apprehension as well. This training was different, and it needed to be recognized as such. It was then that I looked to the Greeks for help, and they undoubtedly delivered. Cratos, the Greek god of power and the personification of strength, would lead the title of my new training.

The beauty of Cratos Training is that it trains everything—every major muscle group, every plane of motion, every energy system. It trains speed and acceleration, explosiveness, power, strength, and endurance. It works all of the muscles you see in the mirror, as well as the ones you didn’t even know you had. The reps are limited so the sets are short, but the rest times are short as well so by the end you won’t be starting a set in complete recovery. It is a hybrid of traditional strength training and functional-movement training. It is malleable and fluid so as to prevent peaking and boredom. It is strength. It is power. It is speed. It is explosiveness. It is Cratos Training, and it is a workout like you’ve never had before.

Get big or die tryin’.

Charlie Cates

Self Made, Owner

Charlie Cates is a human performance specialist and the owner of Self Made (http://selfmadefitness.com), as well as a Certified Personal Trainer and Performance Enhancement Specialist through NASM. He has worked with athletes of all ages and ability levels, from 9-year-old kids to NFL MVP's. He can be reached via e-mail at charlie@selfmadefitness.com.

This article may be reproduced with biographical information intact.