Having not been in school for the better part of a decade, I’ve decided I’m an old man and don’t like the idea of spring break anymore. These little hooligans need to get a job and PULL UP THEIR DAMNED PANTS!!! In my day we sagged out jeans to the top of the butt, but Little Johnny Sonofabitch sagging his pants to below his butt and then tying his belt to make sure they stay there is something that just makes me want to go on a drop-kicking spree.

 

Now that I’ve said that I’m going to go and have dinner at 4pm and sit on my davenport until bed time at 9.

That being said, spring break gives you an opportunity to look forward to getting out of the hellish winter months, shuck the heavy jackets in favour of a lighter and airier wardrobe, and actually turn down the furnace for a little while. Edmonton has been enjoying a rather unusual March warm spell, which resulted in a lot of melting and turning my back parking space into somewhat of a pond for the past week or so. Eventually it will freeze solid again, which will give the neighborhood kids another place to skate for a few days.

Sprin break also gives you a chance to catch up on some different reading, re-set your new years resolution (remember that old chestnut??) and maybe try something new. As a result, I have a lot of stuff you should be checking out.

First up, I debuted a quadruped rocking hip mobility matrix at a Post Rehab Essentials workshop 2 weekends ago, after playing with it for the better part of the past 6 months, and finally put it to video. The great thing about something like this is it’s something that can accommodate pretty much any ability level as it starts pretty easy and progressively involves more mobility and challenge. The goal isn’t to get through it all, but just what you have available. If it’s too difficult to do some of the lateral work, you could put a towel or pad under the knee to reduce the range of motion for the movement, but otherwise it’s pretty user friendly.

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The sound track sells it pretty well too.

Next, Examine.com turned 3 this week, and as a website they’ve had a massive impact on dispelling a lot of rumours and myths regarding supplements and nutrient effects by scanning through every single article involving human studies and finding the commonalities, plus synthesizing the information to put together a handy dandy resource that they released last year. The Supplement Goals Reference List has literally changed the way we view supplements, as it’s broken down into categories of what they do, what conditions have benefit from specific supplements, what supplements don’t do, and outlines how to use them for the best effects possible.

They also put it on sale until March 20th at midnight, est for only $29. Following that they’ll bump the price up to $49, so you get a solid deal on one of the only references you will ever need relating to nutrition and supplements. It also includes lifetime free updates so as new info comes out, you’ll stay up to date. If this prevents you from buying one supplement that you feel is doing some benefit it’s never been shown to do, it will pay for itself. Top it off with showing you a list of things that have actually been shown to provide benefits and you’re laughing.

Click HERE for more info and to get your copy before the sale ends

The Examine.com guys also came out with an analysis of the recent study that linked red meat consumption as being worse than smoking. The media loves these kinds of studies, even if they’re completely out to lunch with a headline that bold, but the article looks into where, when and why the researchers came to their conclusion, and what it will mean for you.

Red meat worse than smoking? Click here to find out.

Next comes an article from Eric Cressey’s site written by Cressey Performance coach Greg Robins on 5 ways you’ve never used a barbell before. I’ve done some of these before, but the thought of using a bar to roll an IT band literally made me push back from my desk in a spinal reflex loop of anticipatory pain, and once I recovered from the thought of it, I had to try it out.

I hate you now Greg.

Find out more HERE.

I’ve got a couple speaking engagements coming up in the next few months so I wanted to take a minute to outline them and if you’re able to make it out we could deadlift and eat beef jerky while flexing our biceps in the mirror. That’s pretty much all I do in my talks, so…..yeah.

1. Vancouver, BC Canada. April 11-12. Click HERE for more info. This will be a joint workshop with Rick Kaselj of Exercises for Injuries. The first part will be Voodoo: Hacking Anatomy for Immediate Results. The second part will be brand new content on Monster Mobility: Cutting Edge Techniques for Increasing Range of Motion. Both sessions will be heavily hands on.
2. NorCal Fitness Summit. Mountain View, California (outside of San Fransisco). April 27. Click HERE for more info. Presenter lineup includes myself, Dan John, Melody Shoenfeld, Vita La Fata, Dr. Emily Splichal, and Brett Galagher.
3. Winnipeg, MB Canada. May 24. Post Rehab Essentials V.2.0 1-day. Click HERE for more info. I just taught a 2-day course in London, UK that knocked everyone’s socks off. Literally the place smelled like corn chips at the end from all the bare feet.

I’m also attending the Kansas City Fitness Summit May 2-3, so you can help me heckle some of the big names presenting such as Alan Aragon, Bret Contreras, Dave Dellanave, Tony Gentilcore, Cassandra Forsythe, Spencer Nadolesky, Bryan Krahn, Mike Nelson, Brad Shoenfeld, Jen Sinkler and Lou Schuler. Click HERE for more info.

Speaking of Jen Sinkler, she just released a new workout product called Lift Weights Faster. The main premise is on blending traditional strength and cardio training into one highly effective metabolic conditioning hybrid workout system that helps you to burn fat, increase VO2 max, and even build some significant strength, all in less time than separating the two.

 

The entire basic package comes with the manifesto of how and why this concept works, a workout library for you to follow to get best benefits, an exercise glossary to outline how to perform the movements properly, membership to the LiftWeightsFaster.com community (which I think will be massive on its’ own merits), and a year-long membership to Adaptifier.com, a workout tracking software that’s technologically one of the most superior ones I’ve ever seen or played with. For all the data geeks out there, this is your dream come true. It even predicts when you will be able to expect to see performance improvements and by how much. It’s pretty sick!!!

There’s also add-ons like the nutrition guide, Eat Better Faster, complete with meal plans and recipes, and also Cook Meals Faster, which has some slick ways to speed up food prep and cooking time. Think 4- Hour Chef without the pretentiousness.

You can also take advantage of the Get Stronger Faster program, which shows how to test movement and find your best lifts to accelerate your strength gains faster than ever before, as well as the Get Stronger Faster Coaching group, which will give you a 3 month individualized program to get your beast mode on.

But you have to get started to get any of this. It’s only $49 for the base package and that price goes up Friday at midnight est, so act quickly to see what it’s all about. Jen always puts her heart and soul into everything she does, and this is no exception. It’s a great product and I can’t speak highly enough of what’s she’s done.

Click HERE for more info, to see more of Jen’s short shorts, and to get your copy now.

Last, I watched Troy on the plane to London and was amazed at some of the elements I missed previously. One that stuck out to me was this scene:

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To achieve big, you have to dream big and act big. 5 years ago, this blog didn’t exist, and my seminars had barely anyone in them, limited to just Edmonton and Calgary. I challenged myself to do this site and to stick with it through the months of only having a handful of views, and it’s lead to me speaking around the world, collaborating with some of the biggest names in the industry, and lead to some amazing opportunities, but it wouldn’t have happened without the desire to fight. You have that desire too, so get up and fight for what you want to happen.

Rage