Archive for June, 2010

News from Automobile U- The Talent Code

Posted in Uncategorized on June 30, 2010 by mboyle1959

For those who don’t know Automobile U is Zig Ziglars term for audio learning in the car. I’ve become a big audio book guy.

I have to admit I started to read Talent Code and didn’t like it. I think all the stuff in the beginning about “building myelin” is just BS. However, don’t let it stop you like it stopped me initially. All the “myelin” stuff aside, there are some great tips for coaches and for parents. I particularly liked the chapter on John Wooden’s methods. Listening to this vs. reading really changed this book for me.

I also loved the chapter on the KIPP program. I got lots of great ideas for myself and for my coaches. This quote alone made the book worth it.

Education is not the filling of a pail but, the lighting of a fire

WB Yeats

This is a great one to add to your library along with Talent is Overrated and Outliers.

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The Past Week on StrengthCoach.com

Posted in Injuries, Low Back Pain, MBSC News, Random Thoughts, Seminars, StrengthCoach.com Updates, Training on June 24, 2010 by mboyle1959

I’m beginning to catch up a bit. However, it’s now Thursday again. Week one is ¾ over at the new MBSC and things went great. However, there are just not enough hours in the day right now. I’m off to Chicago for the Perform Better Summit. My Handicapping article is third this week.

First up last week was our last review from Providence from Bruce Kelly:  Saturday & Sunday at The Perform Better Summit Providence, RI

Next up, was an article I wrote:   Dealing With Hamstring Injury This was based on three recent forum posts all asking about dealing with hamstring strains.

Also, we added Elsbeth Vaino to our expert panel. Elsbeth has been a great contributor and as Thomas Myers mentioned in Providence we need more good female representation.  http://www.strengthcoach.com/public/2128.cfm

Last up this week is the article I mentioned above. Handicapping Perform Better Chicago. If you are going, take a look. Tough choices but, tough choices means a good seminar

If you haven’t been on the site this week, make sure you log on and check out another excellent week of articles.

Video of the Week

Somehow there was no video of the week, sorry.

Make sure you check out the StrengthCoach Podcast Anthony interviewed Charlie Weingroff on Thomas Myers, “How Do We Get Length” and “Where Do We Go From Here?”  Episode 59

Also, make sure to check out Strength and Conditioning Webinars http://www.strengthandconditioningwebinars.com

Site Notes

Please let us know via the forum if there are things you want to see on the site.

Also, your credit card statement will show a charge from RylanLee.com, not StrengthCoach.com. Hope you enjoyed the week.

Shocker- Winner Calls Biggest Loser UnHealthy

Posted in Fat Loss, Media, Nutrition, Training Females on June 22, 2010 by mboyle1959

What’s next. Someone will report finding an honest politician? Maybe  a Unicorn?

Sorry to be so crass. As I a have said before The Biggest Loser is the worst thing that has ever happened to our industry. Here’s more evidence why

Biggest Loser “Winner” Comes Clean

No Evidence That Organics are better?

Posted in Nutrition, Random Thoughts, Uncategorized on June 21, 2010 by mboyle1959

I hate it every time I see this headline . This review was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. It was conducted by researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. These are the same people who conducted a review that led to the same conclusion last year. In the earlier review, the researchers examined 162 studies and found no evidence of nutritional benefits from organic foods.

This a perfect example of “figures lie and liars figure”. The key is not what’s in organic food from a macronutrient standpoint, it’s what’s not in it from a poison standpoint. This type of “research” is just designed to confuse people. My feeling is that you will live longer the more high quality food you eat. The big food companies don’t like this idea. Read the entire studies, not the headlines.

Another Great Move by the NSCA

Posted in Guest Authors, Seminars, Uncategorized on June 19, 2010 by mboyle1959

I just got this email from my friend Pat Rigsby. The NSCA might be America’s most out of touch organization.

Read this from Pat:

“On August 28th I’ll be speaking at the Midwest Performance
Enhancement Seminar that my buddy Mike Robertson is
hosting.

But I did get a bit of ‘bad news’ from Mike last week about the
event.

He’d applied for .6 CECs from the NSCA for the event’s
6 presentations.

He got .5 CECs.

The NSCA told him they wouldn’t provide continuing education
credits for a business related presentation.

Really?

It doesn’t matter if your members can feed their families or
pay their bills…

…or maybe their NSCA renewal fees?

Maybe I’m being naive, but I don’t think that becoming a
better business person and becoming a better trainer or
coach should be mutually exclusive.

In fact, we’ve worked hard – and continue to work hard –
to develop ways for IYCA members to improve in both
areas.

Because being a good coach matters a lot less if you
don’t have any clients.

We’re holding our Bootcamp Bootcamp Weekend beginning
today and even though it is primarily a business event
we’re making certain to help people become better coaches
too – we’re covering everything from assessments to training
with bands and kettlebells.

Like I said – to have a successful career you probably need to learn
both.

But since I don’t like ‘bad news’ I came up with a plan:

The day before the event I’m going to hold a fr.ee
Fitness Business A-Z Workshop for all the attendees
that register by Mike’s early bird deadline.

I figure that if someone is the type of trainer or coach that
invests in their education and comes to an event like this –
then they’re the type of person I want to help.

So if you haven’t registered for the Midwest Performance
Enhancement Seminar yet – here’s the link:

http://robertsontrainingsystems.com/blog/The+2010+Midwest+Performance+Enhancement+Seminar+IS+SET!/

This is not an affiliate link – just a recommendation for an
awesome event with presentations by Mike, Brian Grasso,
Brett Jones, Bill Hartman, Lee Taft… and me.

And a bonus Fitness Business A-Z Workshop that has cost over
$500 itself anytime I’ve done anything similar to it.

So hopefully I’ll see you in Indy August 28th for the Seminar
and also on the 27th for my A-Z Workshop.

Dedicated to your success ”

Pa

NSCA Justifies Censorship with Inaccurate Information?

Posted in Uncategorized on June 18, 2010 by mboyle1959

Rather than provide individual responses from board members those of you who wrote a letter to the NSCA are getting a letter back purportedly from the Board of Directors but more likely from the NSCA attorney. I will state clearly at great risk that portions of this letter are wildly inaccurate. The NSCA letter states:

“in the specific issue at hand you do not have all of the facts at your disposal.”

This is the first of a series of statements designed to make you think I overreacted to a simple clerical error. Sponsors are in fact allowed to recommend speakers that is accurate. In this case Perform Better was the sponsor. This relieves the NSCA of their pay policy of $150 per presentation and allows them to get the top speakers in the industry. I was the first speaker ever suggested by Perform Better to not be approved by the committee so, we are back to the first issue. Whether they had sent me their standard contract is irrelevant as they had verbally agreed to have me present. Why did they elect to “ban” me when I have been a popular and highly rated speaker. The NSCA is once again hiding from the real issue, which is the NSCA trying to control the information provided to members.

The letter continues to say:

Boyle “proceeded to attack the NSCA and the Board of Directors on his website.”

My blog posts may have been perceived as an attack on the NSCA but clearly I only appealed to the Board of Directors to do their job. I never said a negative word about the Board of Directors. Feel free to review the blog posts.

” he has been speaking quite negatively about the NSCA at many of the public forums that he attends. He in fact has acknowledged these attacks on his website. Considering his actions, we decided that we were not going to provide him a forum to espouse his rhetoric.”

This is also inaccurate. I acknowledged that I had been honest on my website about my feelings about the CSCS exam. I think my comments were not in the “quite negative” category. In fact, if reviewed you can see that I have always recommended the CSCS even though I question the content. As far as public criticism, this simply never occurred. Strengthcoach.com is a private paid website. I have never maligned the NSCA in public and would challenge them to prove these accusations.

“we examined Mr. Boyle a bit further and realized that he is not certified, and he is not a member of the NSCA”

This is more accurate information that is again manipulated by the NSCA. I was a member for nearly twenty five years but recently elected to not renew my membership. In fact my first NSCA National Conference as an attendee was in 1984. In addition I have been informed that only a Masters degree is required and the NSCA has often had speakers who who are not members or certified. I have never taken the certification exam for the same reason I criticized it. As an ATC we had to accumulate 1500 hours of practical experience before we were allowed to sit for the NATA exam. In addition the exam had a practical component that forced you to demonstrate your skills in front of examiners. My objection to the NSCA certification is based on the fact that it has no practical component as part of the certification process.

These are four examples of the NSCA inaccuracies put forth to appease angry members. Well I was not angry before but, I am now. There is an organized effort going on at the NSCA to avoid the truth. Is that censorship?

Another Mentorship Review

Posted in Guest Authors, MBSC News, Training, Uncategorized on June 17, 2010 by mboyle1959

Lark Miller was another mentorship of our MBSC attendees. I like to share their reviews from time to time.  This is what Lark wrote in his blog about his experience:

“A few weeks ago, I went Back East to spend some time learning from my personal training mentor, Mike Boyle. He’s hands-down the most influential personal trainer on the scene. He knows how to take the precise science of personal training and bring it to a conversational level that is accessible for anyone. And then he translates that into a proven exercise system that works.

I’ve been competitive and athletic my whole life, but I’ve only been training others professionally for a few years now. Mike Boyle has been at it for 25 years longer than I have. He knows what he’s talking about. He’s smart; he gets it; and I can’t say enough good things about this guy.

So, I went back and spent a week interning with Mike at his strength and conditioning center in the Boston area. He taught me a lot of valuable information that I brought back with me and have been integrating into my personal training sessions and my bootcamps. Probably the most important thing I brought back with me is a deeper understanding of the sequence that Mike uses in all his sessions.

Here it is, in a nutshell:

  • Foam rolling (addresses tissue density)
  • Stretching (addresses tissue length)
  • Mobilization (We concentrate on mobilizing the ankles, hips, shoulders, and thoracic spine, but we purposely work on stabilizing the knees and low back.)
  • Agility (basic athletic movement, footwork and coordination)
  • Explosive lifts (Olympic lifts)
  • Major lifts (to develop strength and hypertrophy)
  • Conditioning (known as “intervals”)

So that’s basically it. Over the next couple of weeks I will be breaking down each component with a short video demonstration and explanation. Stay tuned…”

If you are interested in an upcoming mentorship:

Fall Mentorship September 20-23rd

Winter Mentorship December 6-9th

to register online go to www.bodybyboyle.com

The Past Week on StrengthCoach.com

Posted in Uncategorized on June 16, 2010 by mboyle1959

I’m beginning to catch up a bit. It’s only Wednesday. Hopefully I’ll consistently get these emails out on Monday from here on in. Our new MBSC location is open and things are beginning to run smoothly. We actually posted 4 articles this week instead of three.

First up last week was The Truth About Yoga This is a reprint of an old piece I wrote that as always riles up a few people. Take a peek.

Also, check out   A Breakdown of the 3 Day Training Summit and   Day One at The perform Better Summit, Providence These are two reviews of an event that was outstanding.

Last up this week is: The Last two Months http://www.strengthcoach.com/members/2125.cfm This was a look at what the last two months looked like for, I originally just ran it as blog post but, the consensus was that it is a good lesson for young coaches so I ran it here also.

If you haven’t been on the site this week, make sure you log on and check out another excellent week of articles.

Video of the Week is Junior Obstacle Course

http://www.strengthcoach.com/members/2122.cfm from Anthony Renna. This video is based on the TPI Cyclone circuit and gives some great ideas on training kids.

Make sure you check out the StrengthCoach Podcast Anthony interviewed Joe Dowdell and Dr Brook Kalanick about their new book. http://www.strengthcoach.com/members/2117.cfm

Also, make sure to check out Strength and Conditioning Webinars http://www.strengthandconditioningwebinars.com Anthony just added Dr. Perry Nickelston’s webinar, “Soft Tissue Strategies for Fitness Professionals”. Learn to assess the four primary joints which relate to soft tissue dysfunction and a system for restoring soft tissue elasticity. Discover how movement dysfunction plays a role in soft tissue injury and how the SFMA (Selective Functional Movement Assessment) and FMS (Functional Movement Screen) can beused to evaluate problem areas.See how deep tissue laser therapy is used to accelerate myofascial tissue repair. You will learn the how, why, and when to incorporate soft tissue therapies for your clients and when it is appropriate to refer them to a qualified medical professional for evaluation and treatment.

Site Notes

Please let us know via the forum if there are things you want to see on the site.

Also, your credit card statement will show a charge from RylanLee.com, not StrengthCoach.com. Hope you enjoyed the week.

Vern Gambetta on Finding Your Compass

Posted in Random Thoughts, Training, Uncategorized with tags , , on June 12, 2010 by mboyle1959

There was an interesting exchange on Charlie Weingroff’s Facebook page that I wanted to share with you between Charlie and Vern Gambetta. For those of you that don’t recognize Vern’s name he was a pioneer in our field in the eighties. The text is below. Let me know what you think.

Charlie- I wish people would listen to all of Mike Boyle’s message and not just hear bits and pieces. I think his message is a relentless seek and find for best practice for his training environments. Best practice as anyone would define it is indeed absolute at that moment. My best practice is not the same as Coach Boyle’s, but I think green folks can do a lot worse than copying him. As we know, I do many things differently than and even contrary to Coach, however, at the core of it all, we are in the same camp.

Vern- All I seem to hear is absolutes. What is his real message? Let me explain – I have respect for people who are consistent in their message and hold to their core beliefs. You must have your compass oriented to true north, not magnetic north that changes all the time.

Charlie- Coach [Gambetta], your statement’s brilliance is on the figurative nature of magnetism. My magnetism is to be the greatest at what I do that has ever lived. If I happen to see an unexpected new tool on the way to my true north, my compass draws me to pick up this tool. If I have to remove a tool I am already carrying, then at least I know where I left it if I need to go back and get it.

Vern- I am all for seeking a better way, that is something I have been trying to do for 41 years in coaching and some 8 years before that as an athlete. I am concerned about “experts” creating confusion for profit. We all need to raise our standards and expect more from each other. I am not attacking anyone, I learned a long time that it gets you nowhere, but I will call someone out if I think they are off base.

I only post this to illustrate how a guy who showed many of us how to reorient our compass in the 80’s now is critical of those of us who continue to do it. Vern was the father of functional training. He moved many of us, me included, away from a powerlifting and bodybuilding mentality. Now as we continue that move we get criticized for creating confusion for profit. Funny thought coming from one of the first guys to do seminars and videos for profit. I think Vern created the industry he now criticizes. What do you think?

The Last 8 Weeks

Posted in MBSC News, Random Thoughts, Seminars, StrengthCoach.com Updates on June 10, 2010 by mboyle1959

It’s been a long time since I got a blog post up and this is a long one. How’s is this for a two month stretch. I can’t believe my schedule from April 12th through June 7h. This might have been the busiest eight weeks of my career.  The worst part is that the BU Hockey off-season had started and workouts were M-W-F at 6 AM. Thank god for Karen Wood, Anthony Morando and Bob Connors who covered for me when I was away. The best part was that I namged to get some family time worked in around a tough travel schedule.

April 12-15 marked our last mentorship until September 20-23. Well have another week from December 6-9th.

Although we had a small group it doesn’t change the time commitment. We finished with a two hour session on Thursday at 11 and then at 4 my family and I headed to Phoenix for five days. Because it was school vacation we tacked a few days on in front of and after the Perform Better One Day April 17th at the Phoenix Convention Center. I was able to meet up with Todd Durkin on Friday and then spend a half day at AP. Mark Verstegen was nice enough to show us around himself which was cool. My family and I stayed at the Arizona Grand Hotel which had awesome food and a full waterpark for the kids complete with a wave pool, a lazy river and a huge scary slide. Yes, my daughter did get me down the slide a few times.

I got back on April 20th, got two workouts in with the BU guys and then on April 22nd headed to the Andrews Institute Injuries in Football Conference. Pensacola, Florida is a tough place to get to but the chance to meet the legendary Dr. Andrews was a huge draw. To top that off, an invite to present from Mark Verstegen and Kevin Wilk was more than I could pass up. This was an interesting conference as all the talks were only twenty minutes. I presented once on Testing Football Players and once on Developing Flexibility and definitely stirred up some controversy advocating static stretching and single leg strength testing. Kevin Yoxall of Auburn and Mark Verstegen also presented as well as few of the AP guys from the Gulf Breeze facility.

The next weekend it was off to Naples, Fla for the American Hockey Coaches Convention. I have to admit that this is primarily a vacation although you get a chance to interact with the best collegiate hockey coaches in the US. Naples is always a great place to see former players and old friends.

We were back for three days and then spent May 9-15th in Germany.  My good friend Jim Setters is the National Coaching Director for Germany and invited me over to give two presentations at conferences held in conjunction with the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships. The conferences were attended by coaches from all over the world. I presented on Training Young Hockey  Players and then did a general presentation similar to our last webinar on hockey training. In fact it was almost the exact presentation from the webinar. This was a family trip and lots of fun.  We got to see three hockey games as well as zoos in Heidelberg and Cologne.

The week of May 17 -23rd was a big one.  Dwight Daub of the Oklahoma City Thunder invited me out to speak to the NBA Strength Coaches group at the NBA Combine in Chicago on Thursday May 20th. It’s a real honor to get to speak to groups like this. We addressed The Joint by Joint Approach and Single Leg Training options.  On Saturday the 22nd Art Horne and Dan Boothy had their Boston Sports Medicine Group annual seminar. I actually spoke on Death of Squatting from Functional Strength Coach 3 for two hours on Sunday. Before that I gave an 8 AM talk to the USA Hockey Level 4 Coaches clinic in Framingham, Ma. I basically gave the same talk I did on the webinar again. This is an important group to get to as they are the grass roots youth hockey people.

On May 27th I got to go to the NHL Combine and present to the NHL strength coaches. Another great honor. John Pallof presented first on Femoracetabular Impingement and I did a talk I have done a few times on Hips and Sports Hernias. On Friday AM I was able to spend some time observing the NHL Combine, another first for me.

We finished up this weekend with the Perform Better Summit on June 4-6  at the Providence Convention Center. This is a great event that I really look forward too. I gave one talk on Warmup and Flexibility from Functional Strength Coach 3.0 , did a one hour practical with about 250 participants and then settled in to being a participant just like everyone else.  What a great event. Anthony Renna and I threw a great party for StrengthCoach.com members on Friday. It was great to hang out with everyone.

My long stretch is almost over. I spent Monday moving equipment into our new facility at 29 Draper St in Woburn, Ma. After a long day of moving I had one more talk to do. I had promised a friend I would speak a group of DPT students at Mass General Hospital School of Physical Therapy so it was Joint by Joint one more time from 5 to 6:30.

Tue is was up to personal train at 4:45, NHL/AHL players at 8:20  and more move in. Lots of fun. Wednesday was more moving. Today Chris Poirier and Rob Milani from Perform Better are bringing up the last of our equipment for the new facility. What did Frost say “and miles to go before I sleep?”

PS- Thanks to all the coaches who stopped by to visit over the past few weeks. I had a chance to chat with Anthony Belza from the Toronto Maple Leafs, Mike Curtis from UVA, Nate Baukol and his staff from UND, Sean Skahan from the Ducks,  Anthony Renna and Dewey Neilsen , as well as groups of coaches from Canada and Switzerland led by former MBSC interns Josh Ford and Pieter Smeets.