Things I've Found That Are Awesome #51

Well happy Independence Day weekend to both those north of the border in Canada and here in the U.S. Yes I realize the U.S. technically won't fall into the weekend, but I'm not one to get caught up technicalities, I mean have you met me? Everyone enjoy their food (you won't "fall off the wagon" if you enjoy your festive food intelligently I promise.

This week's random Insta post of the week isn't from me, but I wanted to highlight it because it pulled at both the mind and the heart for me, thanks Mike;

I had a FaceTime call with my buddy and former intern @hendaad last night to talk about his post-grad school plans and the general state of our industry. I was thinking about how weird it is that someone would call ME for advice, because the fuck am I? I'm a clown who barely knows anything about anything! It got me thinking about my "coaching tree" and the people who've influenced my career directly and indirectly. There are the typical coaches that everyone looks up to wether they've met them or not: Eric Cressey, Dan John, Cal Dietz, Mark Watts, Jud Logan, Derek Woodske etc. I've been fortunate enough to have Tony Gentilcore as a personal mentor for probably close to 8-9 years, and more recently Greg Robins when he started coaching me. (Funny thing is 7 years ago I thought Greg and I were peers, didn't know he was a genius then). I'm also extremely lucky to have some friends that I can talk to at almost any point to say "what do you think of this?" or "is this too many biceps exercises?". Guys like Dave Rak, Jarrod Dyke, Miguel Aragoncillo and Brett Kokoruda (to name just a few) will always answer a text or email from me. Unbelievably there are even some people who refer to me as a "mentor", which seems like poor planning on their parts. Henry Gilbert, Rob Watson, Brandon Strausser and Jarrod Dyke are coaches who've thrown that title at me before and it's an amazing feeling. Keeps me on my game knowing someone is watching how I do something. Can't stress the importance of relationships in our industry! #andersonstrength #healthygreenathlete #strengthandconditioning #mentor #mentee #teaching #learning #coaching #strengthcoach

A post shared by Mike Anderson CSCS (@andersonstrengthfitness) on Jun 30, 2017 at 9:07am PDT

Deadlift Technique: The Solution is in the Set-Up- When it comes to games or competition, your preparation in the days before hand will usually determine your performance. Why would setting up for a lift be any different then? For more insight on this thought check out Eric Cressy's thoughts on this with this post/video.

The 6 Best Trap bar Exercises You Aren't Doing- By this point, if you're reading this site you are pretty acquainted with the trap bar (more than likely). Well give this nice little compilation of trap bar exercises that you probably haven't done a read. Dr. John Rusin assembled an all-star cast to contribute including the big cat of CORE, Tony Gentilcore (yes it rhymed, terribly, deal with it).

What does a coach even do?- A nice little insight on what coaching is, at least what good coach is, from David Dellanave here. He's a man with way more experience than myself and many of the average joe trainer's you see at your commercial gym. That said, when he's got something to say, you listen. Look for these things if you want a good coach at ANYTHING in life.

Don't Forget Free Workshop! 

Lift and Learn is Sunday July 23rd, spots still available, but it is limited space. Register to hold your spot today.