Here we are again folks and I have some good stuff to entertain you this week while you try to get through your Friday.

Perfect Supersets for Strength, Muscle and Spinal Health- There's good coaches and there's good coaches that are also really friggin smart on top of it. D.r John Rusin definitely fits that mold. I am a huge fan of supersetting in my programming and have been for many years. I won't say I've never been guilty of any of these mistakes, but I like to think I've learned over time things to pair and not to pair together. Give this article a read and you too may see some error in your ways.

What I Learned Listening to Unicorns About the Business of Fitness- The point of this one isn't necessarily to point out what Tony is saying, because really it's stuff Mark Fisher and company said. If you want people that are off the wall, are fun, will help you, that really GET IT and are also a great group of coaches, Mark Fisher Fitness is the place to go. They definitely have found themselves an identity that works amazingly for them, something many of us should be jealous of.

3 Steps I Teach I Teach Trainers and Health Coaches to Help Fix Any Diet Problems- Yes it's another JB article and no I don't care if you think this is a cop out. I'm sorry but the dude puts out some really good content. Seriously check this one out and tell me that you aren't at least a little smarter, if so maybe you should hit up JB for a job.

Fall is officially here everyone. As much as I like the comfortable conditions, I know what's lurking around the corner...but let's not think about that too much right now. I got something fun for all of you today.

When it comes to movement and trying to correct certain faulty patterns the biggest thing we focus on is the hinge. He can loosely connect the hinge to bending over to pick things up. Usually we focus on make sure we include a hinge pattern in a strength program or if the person’s hinge isn’t clean, focusing on ways to clean it up.

Now most that know what I’m talking about, hinging, their brains will go right to the deadlift, RDL or the Dan John classic Goat Bag Swing, as an exercise. I think we can go a little deeper and simpler than that, for the most part. Thanks to Brett Contreras (really smart dude) the popularity of the hip thrust has gone to new heights. Among it's many benefits, I love it for patterning a hinge, while keeping the risk low. If you’ve paid attention to the research coming out, you’ve probably seen that Hip Thrusts has been proven to be more bad ass than things that we know and love like squats and deadlifts. For those looking for aesthetics, these babies will kick those selectorized machines to the curb any day too.
 
Upping the ante just a bit brings us to 1-leg hip thrusts. I once heard a friend tell a new client, when these start to suck less then you’ll know you’ve made serious progress. Yes they’re difficult in terms of how much effort is required to do a set of 10-12 each side, but as far as coaching and technique, they’re fairly simple. A drunk monkey could coach them essentially and boy do they work well.

As far as progressions go, these aren't right at the beginning, but near it. Before that I'd consider your standard bridge, then 1-leg bridge, then a hip thrust (2 legs) then these suckers.

Once you've got those progressions mastered you can do things like put a band over the lap, put a KB in your lap, or even more fun barbell 1-leg hip thrusts. Down the line after that you can start to do stuff that's to an intergalactic. Things like adding chains and raising the level of the surface your pushing off of, like Lisa Lewis is doing here.

Bottom line here is, a variation of these (or some regression) should be found in every strength program. 99% of my programs have some variation, you can ask the Strength Campers all the variations I know. It doesn't have to be a barbell hip thrust for a million pounds like Contreras does either. When trying to pattern the hip hinge, make sure you keep this guy in your toolbox. 

​That's all there is today guys, go out there and get after it!

Back for more are you? Good because there's some good stuff here today. Hope everyone is enjoying this first Friday of....Fall? Maybe someone should tell the weather it's fall? Not complaining, just putting that out there.

Fitcast With Lisa Lewis- First off if you're a trainer or coach and haven't heard of the Fitcast with Kevin Larabee, what planet have you been living on? Second Lisa Lewis is a really smart lady, especially when it comes to how the 6 inches between the ears works. If you're in the car for an hour or something like that, I just gave you something to listen to that you won't be disappointed in, you're welcome.

Can Personal Trainers and Health Coaches Give Nutrition Advice?- This is a subject that I've seen people absolutely lose their minds over. People really expect the fields to not over lap and it is absolutely mind boggling when I get someone berating me that I shouldn't talk about food with my clients. I know where the line is and I'm not prescribing much more than exercises and that's within my right. This read by J.B. (Dr. John Berardi) really can help clear up the gray area that this subject is.

How Wide is Too Wide for Squats and Sumo Deadlift?- Sticking with the question themed post, Tony Bonvechio hits an issue I think many don't consider when getting into either of these exercises. Everyone knows the issue with a narrow stance, but take a few minutes and let Tony teach you there is such thing as too wide.