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10/29/2019

That Shiny Exercise Over There

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​Here’s the thing folks, if you are or want to be a quality coach in the fitness/S&C world, there’s one thing you absolutely must do. Perform the exercises yourself, that you are programming for your clients & athletes before you program them. If you want to take it one step further, you should also understand where they fit in and keep in mind that, it’s very likely, that cool new exercise you found on some random “fitspo”’s instagram page or youtube channel, is not meant for your whole roster of clients, if any.

(Spoiler alert; if it involves a bosu ball or balancing on a stability ball, just keep walking.)

Even something a simple as this 90/90 Hip Switch, is something you need at least give a trial run once, before you even consider what piece this is to a client’s puzzle. Once again, if you want to take it a step further, try doing that new movement as apart of your workouts for a few weeks at least. Now am I super proficient with these? No, as you can see, I kind of suck at them (on my list of things to work on this off-season), but I at least have experience with them, so I know what the point of them is and who they are going to best for.


I've stated before, I’m thankful to have a smart guy that not only programs for me, but also shows me the way when I need my head knocked back into place like Mike Anderson. When he programs something new for me, I know that he was smart enough to do this, so I’d be muddying his name and anyone that has educated him, if I didn’t go about the same process.


Can this lead to some somewhat vanilla programming? I suppose, it depends on a couple of things;

  1. How creative you are with your tempo’s, your pauses, your variations and your set/rep schemes. I’m not saying don’t be a little creative, because doing something really vanilla is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, so you’ll have clients that will get a bit bored. Just use the brain space you've been given.
  2. What are you doing as a professional to continue your education? Seminars, journals, webinars, blogs, courses, podcasts, books, etc… should all be things that help you learn new movements and drills properly.

Let’s just not be throwing them in to a some asshattery that you found on the inter webs, just for the sake of it. So next time you want to throw an exercise in a program because it looks cool ('likes' aren't worth it), maybe try it yourself, or if you're someone that's just working with a coach or trainer, have them take a look at it first. We can all save ourselves a little pain and anguish by slowing it down just a breath or 2 here.

Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to read my tangent/rant/lesson today folks. Find yourself a good exercise that's useful and makes sense for you (or your clients) and get after it!

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10/10/2019

1/2 Kneeling Mistakes

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Hello all, happy end of the first week that actually feels like fall! Since I know some of you would rather listen to me babbel (wait what?)...I mean talk about things and are more visual I have this little nugget for you all today with a bit of clarification below it. Have a good one and enjoy!

​While my spoken word could probably use a bit of work, my written 🖊 word has gotten better. (Side note: I promise 🙏 to try to get better at these.) The point I’m trying to get at with this is don’t just hang out on your hips/lumbar spine when you do these. Tension, despite what you might think, makes exercises, like a 1/2 kneeling overhead press, way easier to do. Squeeze the glutes like you’re turning coal into diamonds 💎 and be mindful of where those hips are going kids.

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10/4/2019

The Mental Me Time

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Howdy ho everyone, I know everyone has missed seeing posts from me the last couple weeks...right? Well in either case I'm back to address your boredom while your staring at the screen of yours. You're welcome and enjoy!
Picture
Let’s talk about a type of health that, thankfully, is coming more and more into the limelight and being talked about more. Your mental health. Above you’ll see a rough estimate of what one of my busier days during the spring looks like. To be clear, this is not a post about how busy I am, I’m not comparing me to the next person or asking you to compare yourself to me, those types of people need not apply. Back to it, as most of you know, that have been following me for longer than a hot minute, I coach a high school rugby team in the spring. Now, some of you will say, oh that’s not THAT busy. You might be right, but there’s a few things to consider. The percentage of my time being free pretty much goes in half. What you don’t see above is the time it takes to prep for and travel to these things (my residence is about 30 min from work and the high school field). Also, consider I should probably be doing that thing at the bottom (sleeping) somewhere in there for 8 or so hours, eating every so often and trying to get a lift in here or there, oh yeah and spend time with the my wife. Also, these aren’t just your desk jobs where you can mindlessly waltz through them when you’re tired, you HAVE to be ON.

With all this in mind, I knew I had to seek help for myself to deal with the approaching months, so last February, with The Boss’ help, I sought out help from a professional.

Before I continue you here, let’s get this out of the way. THERAPY, say it again, therapy! It’s not a dirty word, and it does not mean that people should treat you differently if you’ve decided it’s time to address issues with the help of a professional. We are moving away from this stigma, but still it’s a little absurd. Compare these 2 instances, if someone seeks out a strength coach or personal trainer, they say, "hey good for you". However, if you seek out a psychologist they say, "oh that’s nice", while quietly thinking, "oh damn is this person going off the deep end?"

Now, where were we? Oh right! This was a move I made for the health of myself and my relationships, especially Catherine. This is what some would call “me time”, and it is. This is the type of self-care time we ALL should carve out to help us be the best we can be. I see mine once a week and I don’t feel shame, what I feel is mother-effing relief! If there’s nothing else is going on, it’s just a safe space to hash out the thoughts traveling through my skull.

Of course there’s much more that goes on than that quite often, but the point being, if you’re someone that tends to juggle 10 things at once or just needs someone to help get their thoughts straight, therapy isn’t a dirty word. I mean hey, you all probably knew I was batty already, so what’s the difference, right? It comes in rather handy when you bump into a situation with a client or an athlete that you can’t quite get into with too many people, and they’ll help you unpack all of that, as it’s called. Seriously though, the quicker we can stop turning our nose up at this stuff, the better we will all be and folks will be much more likely to seek help.

To recap, you're likely doing yourself a disservice by not admitting you could use some outside help (as in any case when it comes to literally everything), so park that pride of yours for 5 minutes and consider others in your life. If for no other reason, cut that beast off at the head, for them. Hopefully this didn't come accross as too preachy or ridiculous and you all got something out of it. Until next time team First XV, go out and get after it!

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    Jarrod Dyke, CSCS

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