22 Aug Tucker: Seminar recap
Athletic sustainability meets 10/20/Life…. Or physical therapy meets powerlifting
The seminar went off without a hitch, and we delivered the best thing possible – reinforcing positive habits and opening eyes to new possibilities.
Most of the group this time were trainers and PT/chiropractors from the area. A lot of them were familiar with Craig’s work as a rehab specialist, as well as being interested in powerlifting, or at least perfecting their squat, bench and deadlift technique.
We started off with a few hours Saturday evening giving an intro to what’s to come, and a little coaching on squat techniques. Sunday we had some PowerPoint presentations that Brian and Craig put together, and then we got to work on the bench and deadlift, a little bit of squat work again to reinforce what we worked on the day before, and Craig did a couple hours of his mobility and stability work too.
The main cues were universal for all the lifts – root into the ground to create stability, find and maintain a lifter’s wedge for optimal leverage, and never take a lift lightly no matter the percentage you’re working with…. There are a few more main cues but you gotta get the book for those!
Overall I stayed pretty quiet besides when Brian had me demonstrate or when we broke into groups and I could wander around and help people with each exercise, but I tried to be as helpful as possible when appropriate.
One of the biggest things I tried to get through to people was the idea of rooting into the ground and creating stability and stiffness. A lot of people from athletic backgrounds who transition to lifting weights have similar patterns – they are used to being athletic and bouncy, and that doesn’t translate well to maximal weights.
This was my same problem for a long time too so I knew all the cues to look for –
1 – a slight wiggle or shift in the feet and toes before the lift
2 – a loss of tightness just before unracking the bar or if the bar is unracked then just prior to beginning the lift
3 – an overexaggeration of the coaching cues that seems graceful and athletic, but is detrimental
Number one is pretty straight forward, I saw their feet move. Number two is just watching for the upper back or core/hips to shift just enough that you know they lost tightness. Number three is more tricky because you need to know how the lift should look when done right in order to know what’s wrong. The squat is a great example, in an effort to get their hips back and hinge well, they totally hyperextend their lower back, disengage the core, have a nasty butt-wink at the bottom and on their way up they squeeze their glutes and push their hips through too far to the point they tuck their tailbone a little bit. If you don’t know what you’re seeing it looks very athletic, like they are handling the weight with ease, but in actuality they are putting needless strain on their lower back.
Many of these issues stem from being good at other sports. In a run/jump/throw environmental you want to be light on your feet, and supple and mobile while moving. In powerlifting, you want to be heavy. You want your heaviness and stiffness to be greater than the weight you’re using, and this is a very foreign concept for a lot of people.
We had a lot of fun dispelling dogma and myths – especially that the flat bench would be bad for you. We had a couple guys, one who was older who hadn’t benched for 20 years because of shoulder surgery, and another who was young who had hurt himself benching before who were both able to bench without pain after just a few corrections.
Hearing some of the people say “OMG my glutes and legs are so tired after benching” was extremely fulfilling, because I knew that as trainers they would be able to pass that along to their clients and a lot of people would be positively affected by learning about proper stability and leg drive.
Besides the powerlifting training people got, they also got to see a lot of Craig’s work and theories and how to apply it to themselves and their clients. Craig game-ifies as much as he can to keep the boredom of stability work at bay, and he does a great job. One of the funniest points was something he’s done for me, which looks totally strange on the outside until you try it. When you’re doing an exercise and he notices you not breathing well, he will make you hum, or sing, or even break out into maniacal laughter. “Do your best Jack Nicholson in the Shining laugh!… Okay now Joker laugh! Mwahahahaha!” Just thinking back makes me smile because it seems so silly, but it’s very effective.
Beyond the seminar we had a great time team building outside of work. I got to hangout with Brian and Ria a little bit when they were free on Friday and before they left on Monday, and we all went out for some great Korean food on Saturday night. Craig is quickly turning into my health and wellness guru, similar to Stu McGill for Brian, so it’s nice to be able to apply and teach some of the things Craig and I have worked on with other people.
Overall it was an awesome time and I’m looking forward to working with them again soon!
Latest posts by Tucker Loken (see all)
- Tucker: Another Normal Log Update - March 1, 2019
- Tucker: A Normal Log Update - February 16, 2019
- Tucker: Making Do - February 4, 2019
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.