It’s been few weeks and it has been a busy few weeks at that. Not much in the way of climbing, but I’ve spent some time at the beach, attended a mind blowing Plan Strong seminar in Pittsburgh taught by Pavel Tsatsouline himself (currently working on a recap/reflection of some of the elements that struck me from that weekend, so stay tuned) and recently became a Precision Nutrition Certified Coach (more on that later). Any how, let’s get into the bullet points.
The Bullet Points
I’ve had the pleasure of working with Dr. Stowers and the rest of the physical therapists over at Peak Fitness and Physical Therapy a few times now. In this short article, Allison briefly discusses warming up for climbing and provides a video sample of a warmup. There are an infinite amount of ways to warm up, but the one thing I really liked about this approach is that her warmup includes multi-joint, total body, non-climbing specific movements. Warming up should not just be lacing up your shoes and running some laps on some easy lines.
A huge amount of folks out there lack thoracic extension. Thoracic extension helps you reach overhead, and an adequate amount of upper back extension can work wonders on relieving and preventing lower back overuse. When you lack extension in your Thoracic Spine (upper back), the lower back must pitch in to help you achieve the goal of your task. Often times, this means your lower back moves through a range of motion that is far past optimal (optimal lower back range of motion is roughly 8 degrees). When you use your lower back too much, your lower back might start to hurt. Don’t use your lower back too much. There are countless drills to regain your T-Spine extension, but I like this one because its simple and requires no equipment. Check it out.
Kettlebell Press, 5 sets of 5. Bench Press 5 sets of 5. Squat. 5 sets of 5. While a static plan like can be effective, there are so many other ways to structure a training session. Dan John, who I hope everybody has heard of, wrote this article detailing how to use one of my favorite training protocols, the ladder. Ladders are a great way to sneak in some extra volume and keep the intensity high. You can do more repetitions with more weight. It’s awesome.
The Brew
Barrel Aged Kaldi Coffe Stout, Quest Brewing Company
Excuse my terrible pour. The beer was way foamier than I expected it to be. This was a solid stout with a nice coffee aroma that blended well with the bourbon notes from the barrels the beer spent some time in. Nothing incredible, but a solid coffee stout. Always nice to pick up new beers when traveling around.
That’s it for this week’s BPB, stay tuned for some good stuff comin’ at ya shortly.
On October 1st, the Strong First Tactical Strength Challenge will be held at various facilities around the world. I’m excited to announce that we will be hosting it at Scenic City Strength and Fitness. We will be the only facility in the Chattanooga area that can hold this event! Contact me if you’re interested.
I’m proud to announce that I recently became a Precision Nutrition certified Nutrition Coach. Precision Nutrition is a world-class nutrition coaching organization, and I have spent the last 6 months or so learning from them and figuring out how to apply their system to you. If you need help reaching a performance or body composition goal, I’d love to talk more and see if we’d be a good fit. Don’t wait, reach out now! You can apply here, or email me here.