Comments (10)

By Bret, February 10, 2012 2:39 pm

Here are a few random thoughts and links for the week:

1. Hip Mobility Drills

Many people seek improved hip mobility. Personally I don’t do much hip flexibility work as I’ve found that my hip flexion and extension mobility is maintained from deep squatting, Romanian deadlifts, hip thrusts, and walking lunges. I do believe that I could use a bit more hip internal and external rotation mobility but I’m not so lacking in this ROM that it requires urgent attention.

I got the video below from JC Deen. There are some unique drills in the video which I feel are worthwhile for individuals seeking to increase their hip ROM (for some folks these drills could be problematic so don’t force anything that doesn’t feel right).

Another tip that I always stress in my glute workshops is to squeeze the rear glute when performing lunge-type stretches for the hip flexors as the posterior pelvic tilt adds to the stretch’s efficacy.

2. Strong Female Hip Thrusts!

Here is one of Nick Horton’s clients performing some heavy hip thrusts. Her name is Melanie, she’s a rugby player, and she has some serious hip extension strength!

3. Bridging ROM

Kellie Davis wrote an excellent article on barbell glute bridge ROM. Make sure you’re doing this exercise properly! Many, I repeat MANY, lifters go too heavy and don’t achieve full range on this movement which robs the glutes of maximal activation. Lighten up if you need to and do it right! HERE is the link to her article.

4. Call On Me

I went out the other day with my two good friends (fellow PhD candidates) who just returned from vacation and this song came on. Every time I hear it my mind can’t help but conjure up images from the video! If there were more classes like this then I would commit to an aerobic exercise regimen!

5. The Truth About Sports Science Researchers

I see a lot of articles these days written by strength coaches and personal trainers that attack researchers and I want to set the record straight. I should mention that I’m highly qualified to address this topic as I personally know many of the sports science researchers and am aware of their backgrounds and personalities.

Most of them are former athletes and former strength coaches and most of them are humble and curious about popular training methodology. The problem is that it’s often difficult to attempt to answer questions and many times specific equipment or methods are used. Since coaches tend to assume that researchers have no clue about real-world training they often dismiss the research or researcher which is unfortunate. This is simply not true and I wish coaches were more humble and more interested in research and the scientific method in general.

At any rate, we can all learn tremendously from one another so coaches, trainers, physios, professors, and researchers should work together to keep pushing the envelope and expanding our knowledge of sports science and best training practices.

6. Obese Pets

This really upsets me! A recent study found that 25% of cats and 21% of dogs are obese – which equates to 47 million cats and 41 million dogs. Fat pets are becoming the new “normal.” Folks need to quit feeding their cats and dogs so much and give their dogs more exercise.

7. Antioxidant Supplementation

Brad Schoenfeld wrote an excellent blogpost about antioxidant supplementation in THIS article. I think Brad is the best pure writer in the fitness field as his writing style is always informative and well-constructed.

That’s all my friends in fitness! Have a great weekend. BC

Random Thoughts

Comments (29)

By Bret, February 7, 2012 2:36 am

Okay folks, here’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for…the final results of the challenge. First I’d like to thank all of the contestants for participating; this was a very fun week, getting to watch all of the videos and see people’s competitive spirits emerge. Before I post the chart and announce the awards, I’d like to offer some comments/observations.

1. Late Competitors

Many competitors waited patiently as “early competitors” took the challenge which gave them an advantage as they knew what numbers they needed to beat.

2. Early Competitors

Ironically, the early competitors actually got the upper hand on the late competitors as they were able to recover from the first workout and perform the challenge a second time. The second attempt led to an increased score through a combination of improved strategy (exercise order), fitness gains/training adaptations, familiarization, and motivation (knowing what scores they needed to beat). In this case it payed off to be an early competitor as the late competitors couldn’t compete a second-time as they weren’t recovered (except for Derrick who performed the challenge 3 times and ended up besting his score each time).

3. Form

In any challenge the judge is faced with some difficult decisions as form is a slippery slope. I’ve been watching many strong dudes train my whole life and even have dvd’s from various strongmen and bodybuilders. Many of them use a ton of momentum and allow their form to degrade yet are still absolute beasts in terms of muscular hypertrophy, strength and power. It is difficult for these types to understand the judge’s perspective when it comes to contests and challenges because they’re accustomed to hoisting a certain amount of weight and in order to pass strict criteria they have to reduce the loads which nobody likes to do. Often this load reduction is too much to bear for the lifter and he ends up quitting the contest or sport rather than sticking with it. I’ve seen this happen with powerlifters who aren’t quite squatting to depth or allowing for a sufficient pause on the chest during the bench press.

4. The Sole Judge – BC

I don’t like being the only judge here but at the end of the day this is my challenge and I have to make some executive decisions. If no video was provided, then the contestant will be acknowledged but will not receive an award. I should have stated this up front but this is the inaugural year and I learned many lessons that will make this challenge much better next year (I plan on this being a yearly challenge). Moreover, if I felt that form was too erratic then I will not allow for the King or Queen award to be doled out to this individual. Next year I’ll be even more explanatory with rules associated with technique and contestants will learn the true meaning of high-quality form. I hope that the competitors realize that this was all in good fun and take my rulings in stride. Next year we can do it again and those who feel duped have undoubtedly learned a thing or two and can vindicate themselves next time around.

The Chart

Here is a chart of the total competition.

The Awards Along With Honorable Mentions

King Sexy (highest male score) goes to David Dellenave. His total of 152 bested the competition. Honorable mention goes to the following dudes: Jamie Rodriquez  with 146 (you rose the bar for everyone and if you had the chance to perform a second time around I suspect you would have gotten 160), Strini Naidoo with 207 (had you provided a video you most likely would have won as I know first hand that you’re an absolute freaky-beast, but without a vid it’s a no-go, and I’m unsure as to how much drop off you’d have if you used a taller bench for the hip thrusts), Mike Samuels and Dale Lablans with 158 and 164, respectively (I felt that your guys’ form was a little too sloppy to receive the award; some of the chins didn’t reach proper depth and/or height, RDL’s weren’t done with a strict enough arch, a little too much momentum was used, etc. This is not meant to take away from your achievements as my form isn’t all that either and you guys are strong dudes who deserve praise, but as a judge I have to be strict in fairness to all the competitors).

Queen Sexy (highest female score) goes to Jen Sinkler. Her total of 150 bested her competitors. Honorable mention goes to Molly Galbraith with 124 (you rose the bar big time for the competition and your form rocked) and Neghar Fanooni with 115 (excellent technical form).

Dead Sexy (equal to or greater than 100 total reps) goes to Jen Sinkler, David Dellenave, Steve Di Tomaso, Scott Taylor, Clifton Harski, Derrick Blanton, Mike Spiegel, Drew Ragan, Jaime Rodriquez, Danny McLarty, Neghar Fanooni, Molly Galbraith, Doug Balzarini, Andrew Firth, Strini Naidoo, Chris, Mike Samuels, Dale Lablans, and Chris. Getting over 100 reps on this challenge ain’t easy and you guys all rocked it. Be proud!

Sexy All Over (15 reps on each exercise for guys, 10 reps on each exercise for girls) goes to Drew Ragan, Jamie Rodriquez, Melody Schoenfeld, and Neghar Fanooni. Only four of you received this award (with several folks coming close) so this is a huge honor.

Quadzilla (highest front squat) goes to Molly Galbraith with 26 reps. Honorable mention goes to Strini Naidoo with 30 reps (but no video).

Dr. Deadlift (highest RDL) goes to David Dellenave with 73 reps. Honorable mention goes to Mike Samuels with 73 reps as well (but David’s form was better so he won).

Gluteus Magnificus (highest hip thrust) goes to Derrick Blanton with 43 reps. Honorable mention goes to Strini Naidoo (100 reps but no video), Dale Lablans and Chris with 50 reps (form a bit too sloppy), and David Dellenave with 41 reps.

Chisel Chest (highest incline press) goes to Jen Sinkler with 28 reps. Honorable mentions go to Belle Hammond with 25 and Jamie Rodriguez (highest male total with 17).

King Cobra (highest chin up) goes to Doug Balzarini with 22 reps. Honorable mentions go to Scott Taylor with 31 reps (but no video) and Jamie Rodriguez with 22 reps as well (but Doug had slightly better form).

Sexier than BC (greater than 75 reps) goes to Jen Sinkler, David Dellenave, Steve Di Tomaso, Scott Taylor, Clifton Harski, Derrick Blanton, Mike Spiegel, Drew Ragan, Jaime Rodriquez, Danny McLarty, Neghar Fanooni, Molly Galbraith, Doug Balzarini, Andrew Firth, Strini Naidoo, Chris, Mike Samuels, Dale Lablans, Chris, Kellie Davis, Belle Hammond, Scott Taylor, Eric, Jeremy Boyd, Rudy Thomas, Brady, Terrance Lawrence, Jon Camacho, Dan Sigafoos, Shanna, Melody Schoenfeld, Emily Soccolinsky, Brooks Tiller, Marianne Kane, Stefanie, Roger Lawson, Ariel Iasevoli, Alex Ceban, and Miguel Arogoncillo. I suppose that this isn’t something to be that proud of as clearly nearly everyone is sexier than me, but considering I’ve been lifting for 20 years now and you beat me – you deserve a congratulations.

So here’s the breakdown once again:

• King Sexy – David Dellenave
• Queen Sexy – Jen Sinkler
• Quadzilla – Molly Galbraith
• Dr. Deadlift – David Dellenave
• Gluteus Magnificus – Derrick Blanton
• Chisel Chest – Jen Sinkler
• King Cobra – Doug Balzarini

Contest Averages

I averaged all of the exercise totals. Bear in mind that the incline press is skewed as men and women used different relative loads. Here are the results:

• front squat – 12
• RDL – 32
• hip thrust – 24
• incline press – 10
• chin up – 14
• total – 92

This is cool as it depicts what I’ve been saying for years; in terms of strength,

squat < hip thrust < deadlift

It also shows that the average contestant is 17 points sexier than me!

Conclusion and Vids

Once again I want to thank all of the competitors for manning up and performing the challenge. You’re all winners in my book. I’ll leave you with the videos of King Sexy and Queen Sexy.

David Dellenave

Jen Sinkler

And in case you’re in need of even more sexiness today, here’s a picture of Jamie Eason for your viewing pleasure. Take care! BC

The Sexy Challenge

Comments (69)

By Bret, February 3, 2012 1:44 pm

Okay folks, there are just several days left in the challenge so get your scores and vids posted.

So far Jen Sinkler is in the lead for females and Jaime Rodriguez is in the lead for males. Only time will tell if they have Queen and King Sexy locked in.

Nine people have currently achieved over 100 reps in the challenge (Dead Sexy Award).

Only two males have achieved 15+ reps on each exercise and only 2 females have achieved 10+ reps on each exercise (Sexy All Over Award).

21 out of 30 (which is almost 70%) contestants have beat my 75 rep total (Sexier than BC Award). So it turns out that being sexier than me doesn’t mean much these days!

121 is the current female record (Queen Sexy Award).

146 is the current male record (King Sexy Award).

Out of the contestants who submitted Youtube videos:

22 is the current front squat record (Quadzilla Award).

61 is the current RDL record (Dr. Deadlift Award).

41 is the current hip thrust record (Gluteus Magnificus Award).

21 is the current incline press record (Chisel Chest Award).

22 is the current chin up record (King Cobra Award).

A couple of these were exceeded by folks who didn’t yet submit vids so if those come in then I’ll update the chart.

If you plan on competing in the challenge make sure you post your results in the next few days.

I’ll announce awards on Sunday. Thanks to all who have competed thus far!

Here is a chart showing the current status:

Here are the videos of the current male and female leaders.

Jaime Rodriguez

Jen Sinkler

Gotta love their post-hip thrust faces haha!

The Sexy Challenge