Mike and I figured that we’d try to liven things up with a bit of an open-ended poll. In your mind, what’s holding you back from really getting to that next level? Is it your nutrition? Do you lack strength? Always injured? Poor flexibility?
I would say nutrition even though Im pretty anal about it. I feel that I might not be eating enough or maybe optimaly. I try to follow JB as well as I can.
Hey EC! Thanks for your response on the BFS Thread. Would you mind answering a couple of questions?
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What type of periodization is incorporated with BFS?
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Has any athelete on this site have success with it?
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Is this in any way similar to Westside? If not, how could I taper with it to lean on a conjugate type periodization?
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What would you change about their system (Weightraining, plyo, basically anything) to make it more efficent for a football player? E.G Rep/sets, Periodization, Exercise selection, training percentages and anything else you can think of.
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Are there any books ou there similar to BFS, you would recommend?
Thanks!
Happy Labor day Eric or as they say in the maple leaf Labour day.
RetailBoy
Weekend cheat meals. I’m finally making a concerted effort to alter my eating habits and elimate “Weekend = Carb Binge.” I have a tendency to yo-yo diet inside of a week. Low carb (and probably too low of calorie for my activity level) leads to overeating things like fat-free popcorn, high fiber cereals w/ skim milk, and whole wheat bagels on the week. Benign in low to moderate qualities when timed correctly, they become the bane of my existence on Saturday evening 
I think the weekend gorging is a byproduct of my far-to-aggressive dieting attitude during the week. It leads to this constant up and down “oooh no, I put on 10lbs on the weekend, gotta be super strict so I can get rid of the water weight/fat,” which leaves me crying like a baby by Friday, when I cheat, and the cycle starts all over again.
The biggest issue I see with the young athletes that I work with is their lack of flexibility/mobility.
I’m just taking over a program here in Indy, and there are quite a few kids that I might have to remove from the weight room until the get loosened up. Simply put, they aren’t flexible/mobile enough to properly do the movements; add weight on top of this and you’re begging for an injury!
Stay strong
MR
My greatest weakness is definitly the lack of patience with gains. I have all the basics down to build an awsome foundation but I tend to get unpatient and try to find shortcuts and over micromanage things :\
Patience is really a virtue!
RetailBoy
[quote]Xfactor88 wrote:
Hey EC! Thanks for your response on the BFS Thread. Would you mind answering a couple of questions?
- What type of periodization is incorporated with BFS? [/quote]
Ah, geez; not this periodization stuff again. BFS is a book; it includes a lot of things. They call it their own rotational system; those in the know would just call it concurrent (not to be confused with conjugated, which implies that the training goals change based on perceived weaknesses and not just time of year).
Any novice athlete will make progress on any program. Shepard does a decent job on some stuff and is really off (IMO) on other things, including encouraing use of lifting belts and lumbar flexion with deadlifts.
I’d say they share a few traits in common, but on the whole are completely different.
I’d include a self-assessment chapter for the athlete and then give him a few programs from which to choose based on those outcomes.
[quote]5) Are there any books ou there similar to BFS, you would recommend?
Thanks![/quote]
Similar to BFS in what regard? Training young athletes?
Amen! See TriGWU’s latest post on the “Road to Kona” thread. One month has already made a big difference for him.
[quote]Mike Robertson wrote:
The biggest issue I see with the young athletes that I work with is their lack of flexibility/mobility.
I’m just taking over a program here in Indy, and there are quite a few kids that I might have to remove from the weight room until the get loosened up. Simply put, they aren’t flexible/mobile enough to properly do the movements; add weight on top of this and you’re begging for an injury!
Stay strong
MR[/quote]
Inconsistency. My dietary habits are sub-par for what I would like to accomplish, and I get derailed from lifting sometimes too. Usualy on the same day. If I lack energy from not eating, the lift goes flat if at all.
My desk-bound geeky job.
I am a computer analyst (and I bet you can tell from my username), who sits in front of a computer 9hrs a day. Makes me feel a bit tight on hamstring and hip flexor despite stretching them every day and having micro-pauses during the day. Sometimes the sitting-around-all-day-long thingy even makes me worry about the ME Squat I am going to have after work.
Coach EC, any suggestion to counter this apart from micro-pause hourly?
Geek boy
My greatest weakness is in action. I know what I should be doing (I’ve been reading T-Mag since 1999 and MM2K before that). I know how to do it. But just haven’t. Any words of advice?
Knowledge isn’t power.
Knowledge with action is power.
[quote]DaMadMonk wrote:
My greatest weakness is in action. I know what I should be doing (I’ve been reading T-Mag since 1999 and MM2K before that). I know how to do it. But just haven’t. Any words of advice?
Knowledge isn’t power.
Knowledge with action is power.[/quote]
Knowledge IS power
Power corrupts
Corruption is a crime
Crime doesn’t pay
Therefore, the more I learn the poorer I get.
Yeah, suck it up and get the job done.
For me, my lack of starting strength and coordination has always held me back in the gym. I feel that if I had been more active prior to lifting I could get more done in the gym.
#1 priorities… gotta get my shit together but I think thats too broad and a bit off topic…
More specificly DIET! I have zero appitite so its hard to motivate yourself to eat healthy when you have little to no desire to eat at all (allthough tonight I had a salad with lots of cabage and chicken breast for dinner along with some milk and fish oil)
This is also the thing I see most with friends and people I talk to in the gym. MANY MANY people grow to a certain point then just stop gaining.
The best posture is one that is constantly changing. Fidget as much as possible. Get up and move around. Set the alarm on your watch if you need something to remind you.
Over time, it’ll become a ritual and the appropriate new movement patterns you’ll establish will make you forget about all the old problems.
[quote]geekboy wrote:
My desk-bound geeky job.
I am a computer analyst (and I bet you can tell from my username), who sits in front of a computer 9hrs a day. Makes me feel a bit tight on hamstring and hip flexor despite stretching them every day and having micro-pauses during the day. Sometimes the sitting-around-all-day-long thingy even makes me worry about the ME Squat I am going to have after work.
Coach EC, any suggestion to counter this apart from micro-pause hourly?
Geek boy[/quote]
My limiting factors? Flexibility, nutrition (can’t seem to get enough calories to gain… ever, no matter how much/what i eat) and also, I let my head get in the way. I always seem to think negatively.
-CJ
At the moment it is time and finances. Work is extremely busy at the moment and even though I am mostly at a desk all day the pressure leaves me feeling pretty beat up by the end of the day and not really wanting to to anything more strenuous, not to mention late working hours cuts into any gym time I might have had.
Having to stick to a tight budget affects the nutrition side of things and limits the amount of food I can buy. Food is pretty expensive over here in Australia due to the extreme drought we have had for a few years. This makes it very hard to get protein intake much above 1g/lb of body weight. Also, the other methods people use to meet their protein intake goals such as protein powders are also expensive, a tub of Grow! over here costs about $65 AUD (Low-Carb Grow! even more, and don’t even ask about Surge!), which at the current exchange rate works out to be $48 USD, twice as expensive as you guys get it in the US!
Plus I’d love to afford a home gym so I could do more regular workouts or not miss workouts due to the time restrictions mentioned above.
Cheers,
Ben
[quote]Eric Cressey wrote:
In your mind, what’s holding you back from really getting to that next level? quote]
I imagine if you evaluated me it would be flexibilty because it is really poor on me. In my mind my greatest weakness is time. I’ve only been doing this for a little while. Give me five more years and I’ll be amazing.
[quote]Eric Cressey wrote:
In your mind, what’s holding you back from really getting to that next level?[/quote]
The fear of getting more fat around the waist.