As a coach or personal trainer, you are limited by your knowledge and skillset. Therefore, certifications are suitable; however, one could become too heavy-handed and lose sight of their focus.
The purpose of this article is to give insight into why I chose to go into physical therapy in contrast to obtaining more certifications.
Read From Coach to Student of Physical Therapy at its original source Breaking Muscle:
http://breakingmuscle.com/fitness/from-coach-to-student-of-physical-therapy
Put yourself in your potential client’s shoes. Why would they fork over a large amount of cash to train with a person they barely know? Or, when they become clients, how do you keep them coming back? The answer is in the buy-in.
Are the clients buying what you’re selling?
Read 5 Ways to Get Client Buy-in and Increase Client Retention at its original source Breaking Muscle:
http://breakingmuscle.com/fitness/5-ways-to-get-client-buy-in-and-increase-client-retention
Jamie Simmonds, 2019, the Third Fittest Woman on Earth, is an international CrossFit Games champion and ambassador for plant-based nutrition company Nuzest.
Formerly a gymnast and rugby player, Jamie made her name in the CrossFit competition scene in 2016 when she became a podium finisher with team CrossFit Yas.
Read From Being a Mom to the Podium at the CrossFit Games at its original source Breaking Muscle:
https://breakingmuscle.com/fitness/from-being-a-mom-to-the-podium-at-the-crossfit-games
My college roommate told me that he thinks of me as a guy who listens to moody, poetic, eclectic music alone in his room. He told me this after I shared my existential crisis during my early twenties with him.
Read Lifting Big, Dylan, Jazz, and Skinny Jeans at its original source Breaking Muscle:
https://breakingmuscle.com/fitness/lifting-big-dylan-jazz-and-skinny-jeans
Summer is near, and you’ve felt caged for far too long. No, I’m not talking about the quarantine. I mean locked in your life—the 9-5 job, the commute, the nightly TV, and a disciplined workout routine. It is all so typical and, yet, so inhuman.
Throughout most of human history, there has been no need to work out. Life did that for you. Between hunting, foraging, building, climbing, and playing, burning calories was never a concern.
Read I Challenge You to Train Like a Human at its original source Breaking Muscle:
https://breakingmuscle.com/fitness/i-challenge-you-to-train-like-a-human
A good workout starts with a good warm-up. As Breaking Muscle podcast guest Dr. John Rusin says, a warm-up should accomplish two things:
Read Do World Class Warm-Ups for World Class Performance at its original source Breaking Muscle:
https://breakingmuscle.com/fitness/do-world-class-warm-ups-for-world-class-performance
Electromyography (EMG) is a scientific method of testing muscle activity. It is well regarded, some say, in the non-scientific community because of the simplicity of a stronger reading means stronger muscles. However, it is neither popular or as well-studied as it could be so, the question remains as to its effectiveness.
Considering EMG is not a popular choice, the following questions may come to mind:
The purpose of this article is to supply a brief overview of EMG, its application to exercise, and lastly, should everyone undergo EMG specific training, or will journals/articles suffice in exercise choice?
Electromyography (EMG) is an experimental technique concerned with the development, recording, and analysis of myoelectric signals. Myoelectric signals are formed by physiological variations in the state of muscle fiber membranes.
Peter Konrad1
This can be further classified into neurological and kinesiological EMG.
This article will discuss kinesiological EMG only as its function most closely relates to training regimes, voluntary neuromuscular activation, and functional movements. Unlike neurological EMG tests, kinesiological EMGs are non-invasive.
In short, we are looking at how muscles fire during movement, and in the case of exercise, what movement innervates the intended muscle group more for the said individual.2
The other inherent risk is who conducts the study.
Time can be wasted if the professional does not set up a movement properly or does not understand the output data.
It is best to hire someone trained, such as a physical therapist, sports medicine doctor, or specialist with certification in EMG or even NEUBIE devices. Benefits extend into the competitive sector for bodybuilders and active sports’ athletes.
Lastly, an unintended risk of EMG testing for exercise choice is narrowing one’s variation in exercises.
Take Olympic lifting, for example; the movements tested during competition are the clean and jerk and the snatch.
However, during training, front squats, back squats, overhead press, deadlifts, and pullups (to name a few) are executed during a program.
It will be to the practitioner’s detriment if an EMG result causes a psychological effect.
The foci of exercises orbits around these core exercise ad infinitum, avoiding the ones that improve mobility, plyometric work, and balance.
The safest way to begin EMG training is to:
In recovering effectively between sessions, primary muscle groups can fire more effectively, thereby improving the study’s effectiveness.
In the said study, the professional learns to ascertain which movement pattern presents the greatest bang for one’s buck.
It accomplishes this by measuring the mean and peak activation during contraction of the intended muscle group while shifting positions.
For example, in the gluteus maximus muscle group recruitment, one can look at the sumo deadlift, which places the trainee in a static abducted stance versus the glute abduction machine, versus a resistant band fire hydrant movement.
The professional then walk through the data and identify these two values, and compares them per movement.
In discussing with the client, the professional would opt to perform one movement over another to have the maximal effect during a training session alone.
EMG sessions should not be treated as an intense workout session.
Instead, it should be akin to a laboratory test or doctor’s visit where you are liable to spend either a brief time due to the muscle areas in question or a significantly longer time due to optimizing larger muscle groups.
One might ponder if EMG training is right for them.
It is understood that Instagram pages are littered with gurus and trainers who have all the answers and are obviously doctors of kinesiology, physical therapists, and orthopedic surgeons.
The authority I am referring to is legitimate coaches in the field with experience and degrees who contribute to science.
Within this body of science, articles generate pearls on EMG studies, illuminating why certain movements are performed in contrast to another.
Nevertheless, in practicality, no one has time to read all those studies, and unfortunately, unless you’re in that niche, no one cares. They want to be given the answers.
So, if you want the answers, pay for them.
Pay for it by a structured process, consistency in the gym, hiring a coach, and reading summarized literature from reputable resources (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).
EMG studies are beautiful, and they take away the guesswork.
Lucy will perform heavy hip thrusts, RDL’s and sumo squats to make her booty pop.
Meanwhile, Andrea modifies her hyperextensions and resistance band glute work.
Does EMG serve us well across the board, or is this a luxury only to be spent on competitors or athletes?
The questions I would like you to think about are as follows:
If you answer the previous questions accordingly, you may want to consider EMG.
1. Konrad, P., “The ABC of EMG. A Practical Introduction to Kinesiological Electromyography,” Version 1.4, Mar 2006, 5-30.
2. Basmajian, J. V., DeLuca, C. J. “Muscles Alive: Their Function Revealed by Electromyography,” Pub, Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore, 1985. 2 – p1.
3. Dr. Arthur Kornblit, MD., “How Much Does an EMG Test Cost?” Spend On Health, accessed January 20, 2021.
There aren’t many quick and dynamic exercises that I’d recommend everyone learn and practice. But the landmine push press is something I’d suggest for almost anyone.
Once I’ve taught someone what I call the foundation movements that teach skill and body control related to every type of movement and exercise, I’ll pick movements that are best for them given their ability, background, and focus on physical fitness.
If you instill these foundation movements firmly from the start, learning more complex athletic movement and exercises becomes more intuitive.
If you want to understand these movements and the principles behind learning them with this particular strategy, I’m offering a comprehensive course teaching the why and how. If you live in or around New York City, you can sign up and learn in person at my gym JDI Barbell or run through the entire program online.
Once I help my clients build a bedrock without holes, I choose exercises that are easy to process and progress quickly. It’s different for everyone, but I do like to see everyone practice a couple of exercises.
One of these is the push press. I’ve raised a few eyebrows by saying this.
The push press is thought of as a secondary lift for Olympic weightlifting. I haven’t exactly been quiet about my opinion that Olympic weightlifting movements are best left alone unless you specifically want to dedicate time to that practice.
I have some clients who do a traditional barbell push press, but with others, I prefer to have them use kettlebells or dumbbells to build more stability or mobility.
The best version for field athletes, beginners to weight training, or those with restrictions, is the landmine push press.
When you learn the push press, you learn how you can and should move in one coordinated athletic effort to move something heavy.
To do this right:
But pushing weights directly overhead can sometimes do more harm than good.
Some athletes can’t stress their shoulders in this position if they want to stay healthy and strong for their sport, and some of the rest are just trying to be strong and fit and need to work out flexibility limitations first.
The landmine push press works around all this.
Pushing at an angle puts the shoulder and elbow in a position that can still train a more vertical pushing pattern without the same stress and flexibility demands on the shoulder.
If you have had shoulder pain when pressing overhead because of an old injury or just from inactivity, the landmine push press is the perfect tool.
While you should keep working to recover the shoulder complex’s full dexterity, training for physical balance means you need to build athletic strength in pushing movements besides the bench press.
As you rebuild and push weight directly overhead, which indicates you again have your full natural mobility and stability in every movement direction, you will still improve strength and ability with this exercise.
Do both until you’re ready for the traditional push press, and continue doing them as a variation to continue building shoulder health and strength.
Just doing a strict landmine press builds a good deal of strength with total stability.
The upper-back muscles that control scapular movement and the shoulder’s stabilizing muscles are called to keep the barbell’s path straight.
This is especially true because you’re only holding the end of the barbell in this exercise.
As you press, it’s free to move in every direction, and it isn’t easy to keep in place. So those stabilizing muscles really have to do their job. You also need to create just as much stability from your trunk to get the shoulder to maintain the movement’s integrity and push the weight.
When you add the push press’s dynamic leg drive, you learn to produce stability and strength quicker and more efficiently because the movement is quick and explosive.
Turning a strict upper-body focused press into a full-body push also makes it possible to load yourself heavier overhead.
The weight that may be too heavy to press just from the shoulders can be heaved overhead with the momentum created from your legs extending and quickly locked out.
All of the upper back and shoulder supporting musculatures can then learn new static stability, strength levels, and improved coordination.
If you can find a landmine press holder, that’s great. If you can’t, it doesn’t matter all that much. You can wedge it in any corner where it won’t cause damage or set it up as I do here:
I prefer the landmine push press with two arms because of how much you can overload yourself with it, but single arm variations can be better for some people.
If you really need to recover balance in the body or work on single-side strength and stability to improve a nagging injury or reduce some glaring asymmetry, the single-arm landmine push is one of the best and safest ways to accomplish it.
Just place the head of the bar in one hand directly at the head of your shoulder and do the exercise the same way you would with two hands.
Both the single and double arm variations of this exercise are great at building strength with less risk.
The scapula moves in a position along the rib cage that keeps it in a more anatomically strong and stable position when you press with a neutral grip (thumbs facing up).
The angle at which you push the bar fixes you in a position where you can’t contort your body to grind through a rep that you really shouldn’t.
You either lockout smoothly or not at all.
However, you should do these over some matted area so that if you do fail a rep, you won’t hesitate to let the bar drop in front of you instead of lowering it in a bad position.
If someone hurts themselves doing this exercise, they most likely did so when lowering the bar back to the ground.
You can stay braced and squat to lower it to drop it at waist height with matting underneath.
Learning the timing for the push press is challenging, and it develops athletic ability. Transitioning to a push jerk can test you further.
The push press and push jerk are similar with one difference.
In the push jerk, you lock your arms out and receive the bar with your legs bent in a quarter squat.
The timing of the dip and drive is the same, but instead of ending with your legs straight and standing fully as you do in the push press, you use the weight to push you back into a quarter squat, then, stand from there, having already received the weight supported with locked elbows.
Not only is this going to challenge your speed of movement and coordination, but it will also let you handle heavier weights and build even higher levels of total body strength.
It cannot be easy to learn if you’ve never practiced it, but if you understand the basic principles of stability and balance, it just needs a little practice.
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