Michael Boyle's Strengthcoach.com Blog

The Swine Flu is everywhere you turn in the news. I have received at least 1-2 emails a day for the past 3-4 days regarding the Swine Flu. As many of you know I am a big fan of Dr. Joseph Mercola. Although he is a bit unconventional I think he is generally accurate and not afraid to take an unpopular stance. Check out Dr. Mercola’s ten page article on Swine Flu.

One of my athletes, Grant Covington, forwarded this article to me. It was actually from a UK website. The content will make you think. There is no question that the “nutrition” info we’ve been given the past decade hasn’t worked. What do you think?

Click to read

Another big key to ACL injury prevention is single leg strength. More specifically a type of strength we refer to as single leg unsupported. The clip below demonstrates a single leg squat. We refer to this as an “unsupported” exercise as the back foot is not in contact with the floor, bench etc. The key to unsupported exercise is that the muscles that stabilize the pelvis behave differently in a true single leg stance. This is essential for injury prevention and for rehab, in fact this is our “return to play” standard. If you can’t perform this exercise. regardless of your size or gender, you are not strong enough to return to play.

This is an advanced version of the the one leg squat that adds an element of instability via and Airex pad. The Airex pad increases the demand on the hip stabilizers, particularly in the frontal plane.

The progressions can be found  at

www.performbetter.com

This is the ultimate example of not judging a book by it’s cover. My sister sent me this clip ( it has made the internet rounds today to the tune of 12 million views). The woman is no relation.

If you haven’t seen it, please watch. It will make your day. I watched it three times yesterday.

This week we are back with a theme week.  Training the Endurance Athlete is one of our articles and is also the topic for the week. Training endurance athletes is not something we have talked about enough on the site. Endurance athletes are great customers, if you understand them.

The first article is called Interval Training HIIT or Miss. I wrote this a while back and based it off my Interval Training Lecture and DVD.  You can buy the DVD at www.performbetter.com if you like the article. Some of you might have seen it already. I used it a month ago to generate some interest in Strengthcoach.com so it appeared previously on a few select websites. I know John Berardi ran it on his Precision Nutrition site.

Next up is the article referenced in the first paragraph Training the Endurance Athlete. This article was also based on a lecture and appeared previously at www.ptonthenet.com. I am reprinting it for those who did not see it.

Our third article comes from a new author, Carson Boddicker. Carson is a student-athlete at Northern Arizona University, where he runs track and cross country and is currently pursuing a degree in the Biomedical Sciences. Carson has experience in the strength and conditioning field with a particular interest in optimizing performance in the distance events. This is an interesting article because I agree with the concepts but, not necessarily the tests. The article is titled Three Tests Every Endurance Athlete Should Do. 

I’m also working on a fourth piece called Handicapping the Perform Better Summit that will give you my recommendations for the upcoming Perform Better Summit May 8-10 in Providence. For those who have never attended a Perform Better Summit, this is the best educational event of the year.

Video of the Week

Video of the week is up in the air. Sorry, the BU victory has me a little behind schedule. I’ll try to find something that ties into our endurance theme.

As always don’t forget to check out the StrengthCoach Podcast  at www.strengthcoachpodcast.com. 

Hope you enjoy the week.

Michael

This is one my clients, Steve Belkin, running barefoot intervals at 60 years old. I love to post videos of my clients doing things that many trainers might think are not possible based on age or gender. I think it is important to empower our clients with demonstrations of what you “can do”.

This type of running is best described as intensive tempo. Not a full sprint but, a good long stride. I think that tempo running has great corrective value and can “undo” much of the damage done by jogging.

Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning would like to invite strength and conditioning coaches, personal trainers, physical therapists, athletic trainers, and other health professionals to participate in its Strength and Conditioning Mentorship Program May 11-14. The program will run the week after the Perform Better Summit in Providence so think about spending a week on your education.

This program was designed to educate industry professionals on current training techniques through physical participation, workout observation, and in depth discussions with me and my staff. . Other mentorships allow access to the facility but, not the owner. The feedback that we received from previous attendees is that our mentorship is unique because you spend time in Q+A with me every day.

Participants will be introduced to the latest injury reduction and performance enhancement methods.

Applied Topics Covered in Program:

• Soft Tissue Techniques
• Muscle Activation
• Pre-movement Stretching
• Active Warm Up
• Plyometrics/Balance
• Speed/Agility
• Core Stability/Strength
• Explosive Training
• Innovative Strength Training Exercises
• Conditioning Techniques
• Injury Rehabilitation

Schedule

The Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning Mentorship Program is offered during selected weeks throughout the year.  This will be the only opportunity in the next six months to participate. Participants can expect to partake in four workouts within that week in order to physically experience the training concepts taught during the program. It is asked that participants come prepared for activity with proper performance apparel.

Mentorship participants will have the option to stay at the Best Western New Englander in Woburn at our corporate rate. Please call to book your room at 781-935-8160

To register go to www.bodybyboyle.com and click on participate or simply click the link. Cost is $995.

Alwyn Cosgrove is one of my best friends in the field, and in addition is one of the best coaches and fitness business minds out there. You may also know that Alwyn is a two-time Stage IV cancer survivor, having beaten lymphoma not once but twice. Alwyn’s emails during his cancer fight often left me in tears. He is a friend I appreciate every day because I almost lost him.

 To help the fight against cancer, Alwyn put together a great collection of articles and programs from the world’s best strength coaches and personal trainers. ALL proceeds go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The project is called, “Lift Strong”, and it’s one of the best investments you’ll ever make. To get your copy go to

http://liftstrong.com

For less than $25 you get to be smarter and fight cancer.

 First up this week is an article originally published on Anthony Renna’s  site BetterGolfwithFitness.com . The article is by David Ostrow and is titled simply Low Back Injuries. I thought it was a great basic piece that would benefit our readers and, Anthony and David were nice enough to let us reprint it.

Next up is another from Aaron Brooks called Your Quadriceps and Calfs are Hip Extensors- Is it Possible?. I love Aaron’s stuff, it really makes you think.

Last but certainly not least in another article from Nick Tuminello called Joint Friendly Lifting. Nick is another great young coach who is developing some great progressions.

No theme this week, just a lot of food for thought that will hopefully produce some great forum posts.

Video of the Week

Video of the week comes from our good friend Tim Vagen. Tim is another great contributor to the site and has sent some t-spine mobility videos in. I know you’ll enjoy them.

As always don’t forget to check out the StrengthCoach Podcast  at www.strengthcoachpodcast.com. 

Hope you enjoy the week.

PS- Please take a minute and tell your friends about StrengthCoach.com. We are changing the way a lot of people think about sports performance training all over the world. 

Michael