NO WEAKNESSES

PROTOCOLS FOR ACHES & PAINS,

MUSCULAR IMBALANCES, AND RECOVERY
©2016 Mash Elite Performance
All Rights Reserved

Before We Start...................................................................................................3
Acknowledgements.............................................................................................4
Mastering the Mundane.......................................................................................6

MUSCULAR IMBALANCES
The Mash Approach..............................................................................................8
Using the Test.....................................................................................................16
Assessing and Addressing Imbalances............................................................19

COMMON ACHES AND PAINS

Joint Health Matters..........................................................................................45
The Back and Hips.............................................................................................47
The Shoulder.......................................................................................................76
The Ankle............................................................................................................95
The Knee...........................................................................................................101

GENERAL RECOVERY
Recovery 101....................................................................................................116
Sleep........................................................................................................116
Soft-Tissue Practitioners.................................................................................118
Yoga, Pilates, ROMWOD...................................................................................119
Eliminating Daily Stress....................................................................................120
Proper Nutrition................................................................................................123

Conclusion.................................................................................................126
 BEFORE WE START
I’ll state this repeatedly throughout this book, but I want to start off with
some common sense. If you are experiencing a great deal of pain, go see a
qualified specialist.

I’m the first to encourage my athletes to go see specialists, and I’ve

benefitted greatly myself from their care and expertise.

The protocols in No Weaknesses will help you be a better athlete, prevent

injury, deal with aches and pains, and recover more effectively. But nothing in
these pages should replace the counsel of a qualified medical professional.

No Weaknesses 3
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I have spent my life collecting the information that is in this book. However,
it wasn’t just me this time. I had a co-author, Rebecca Gerdon. Most of you
know that Rebecca is one of my star athletes. She is also a brilliant exercise
scientist and an amazing writer. Rebecca has overcome a lot of setbacks
(such as a broken wrist) to get to this point in her weightlifting career. Her
broken wrist led us both to a better understanding of muscular balance. The
cool thing is that she came back from a broken wrist stronger than ever.

Malcolm Moses-Hampton did a lot of the research for the muscular

balance test. It’s so cool to be surrounded by brilliant athletes like Malcolm.
Malcolm is currently in medical school at Wake Forest University, so I was
blessed to have him take the time to do the research and to develop the test.
We have both already applied the knowledge to our own training because it
just makes sense.

If you are a real strength coach, the quest for knowledge will never end.
I am blessed to be friends with most of the authors that I like to read. That
allows me the opportunity to read their work, and then I get to visit them to
get a direct perspective. Two of my biggest mentors are Coach Joe Kenn and
Louie Simmons. Both of these amazing coaches have taught me numerous
exercises to increase mobility and stability in the various joints. Coach Kenn
is the master of recovery and joint health. I am blessed to have him in my
gym when he’s not coaching with the Carolina Panthers, so I get to see his
reset exercises firsthand.

Louie was talking about muscular balance way before that was the cool
thing to do. I was reading the magazine Powerlifting USA back in the 1990’s
when Louie had his monthly column. Even back then Lou was talking about
targeting weaknesses with increased volume in identified weak spots. I have
been accused of performing way too much assistance work, but that ended
when I started breaking world records. All of that was thanks to Louie Simmons.

No Weaknesses 4
 It was my friends, Zach Greenwald and Zack Long, who taught me how
to quantify the imbalances. A few of the ratios we used in the book were
learned from these two gentlemen. Zack Long is definitely one of my newest
go-to guys in the mobility and stability area. I will continue following both of
these men to learn as much as I can in the areas of muscular balance and
injury prevention.

I started following Dr. Stuart McGill back in 2003. I had hurt my back,
leading to two bulging discs. I was told Dr. McGill was the expert in all things
back and hips. It was his teachings that allowed me to strengthen my back to
the point where I was able to break several all-time world records well after
my disc herniation diagnosis. A lot of the hip and low back exercises are
taken directly from what I learned studying Dr. McGill. If you don’t know him,
you should probably look him up if you want to be a great athlete.

Finally, it was my time working with Dr. Lawrence Gray right here in
Winston-Salem, NC that really helped me grasp the science behind muscular
balance, joint health, and recovery. It was his holistic approach to my health
that truly allowed me to excel as an athlete. It was his friendship and caring
that helped me become the coach that I am today. This man gave me a
chance when most people turned their back to me, and for that I will always
be grateful.

No Weaknesses 5
 MASTERING
THE MUNDANE
Of anything I’ve created, I have never been more excited than I am for
No Weaknesses. I would have killed for this book when I was still at the
top of my game. This book is a blueprint for staying healthy. If you are a
powerlifter, weightlifter, an athlete in any sport, or just someone who wants
to be fit, this book can help you do what you love for a long time while
staying safe and healthy.

All the athletes at the Mash Compound do everything they can to stay
healthy, balanced, and strong. I preach being a master of the mundane. This
involves doing all the little things to be great, like muscular balance, recovery,
mobility, stability, nutrition, and sleep. Everyone does the big things, like
showing up to training. But the champions do the little things – the small
efforts when no one is watching them.

All of my athletes battle aches, pains, and injuries. This forces us to learn
ways to overcome common aches and pains. It also forces us to strengthen
our bodies in a way to avoid injuries, and it teaches us to deal with issues
when they arise. This is the nature of the human body.

One day I was talking with Rebecca Gerdon, and we came up with the
idea to provide all of you with a book that would give you all of our secrets
to longevity in fitness. I never want to hide anything that we are doing. My
number one mission is to help other people, and that’s why I wrote this book.

I can teach you how to squat big, pull big, and press big. That’s the easy
part. However, what good does it do if you are always aching, hurting, or
injured? This book is the answer to training longer, harder, and without injury.

No Weaknesses 6
 Personally, I train now in order to play with my children. Someday I hope
to play with my grandchildren. I don’t want to be in a wheelchair or to feel
immobile. I want the experience of playing basketball with my sons, hiking
with my daughter, and walking down the beach with my wife. That’s my goal,
and that’s why this book is important to me.

Whether you are looking to be a world champion or the world’s best dad,
this book will be a tool that you can use for years to come. There’s a muscular
balance test that can help you quantify the muscular balance of your body
and then address those imbalances. I have also included all the ways that
we keep our joints healthy. Finally, we have included the major ways that we
stay recovered.

Use this book to keep doing the things you love for as long as you want to
train. I am excited to provide all of you with this tool to keep the body moving
correctly and fluidly. Enjoy it, and I look forward to all the feedback.

No Weaknesses 7
 SECTION I

MUSCULAR
IMBALANCES
 THE MASH APPROACH
Whether you are a weightlifter, powerlifter, CrossFitter, or you play a team
sport; muscular balance is one of the best indicators of performance and
risk of injury. If your body is balanced, it is going to fire on all cylinders. If it
isn’t, then it’s going to shut down, breakdown, or both.

I am going to start this section off with three profound statements:

1. Olympic weightlifting isn’t just about snatch and clean and jerk.

2. Powerlifting isn’t just about the squat, bench press, and deadlift.

3. CrossFitting and athletic performance aren’t just about the sport or

event that you are playing.

Preparing to compete in these sports is about more than executing

the movements. It’s also about preparing your body to handle the rigors of
competition, training, and life.

Longevity and performance in any sport will always be linked back to

muscular balance. So why don’t more coaches focus on muscular balance?
They either don’t know the concept, or they don’t know how to address it.
This book is for all of you coaches and athletes who want to know.

If coaches and athletes ignore muscular balance, they are not taking the
proper steps to ensure a long and healthy career. I can tell that a coach has
no idea about exercise science when all they care about is what relates to
the movements of the sport. For example, when a coach says that deadlifting
doesn’t relate to the clean & jerk because the speed is too slow, I know that
they aren’t considering the athlete’s overall function and balance.

No Weaknesses 9
 Louie Simmons of Westside Barbell has been talking about addressing
weaknesses for years. A lot of people in the sport of weightlifting are quick to
discredit Louie, but instead they should open their ears and listen. Maybe he
doesn’t know everything about weightlifting, but the man is smart. Strength and
conditioning coaches in the NFL, NBA, major leagues, and countless Division I
universities listen to him, so maybe the weightlifting coaches in America could
learn a thing or two. Maybe our weightlifting coaches are simply the smartest
coaches in America, and they don’t have anything to learn. Who knows?

In America, I want our athletes to continue getting stronger into their 30’s.
If they can continue getting stronger without a major injury, then they have a
chance of catching up to the athletes that have taken drugs. Weightlifting in
America is a clean sport. We have to become “Masters of the Mundane” to
compete with the countries that are doping. Achieving muscular balance is
one way of becoming a master of the mundane.

At Mash Elite Performance, we use assistance work to address muscular

imbalances. We don’t thoughtlessly program assistance exercises, but instead
we choose assistance movements based on an athlete’s weaknesses. There
are a few different ways to objectively determine each individual’s areas for
improvement, which we are going to discuss in a later section. But first, let’s
outline our general approach.

PRINCIPLES FOR
ASSISTANCE EXERCISES
We use high reps and a longer time under tension to address an athlete’s
weak areas. Our goal is hypertrophy (muscle growth) because the fastest way
to strengthen a muscle is to simply make it bigger. We use several exercises
and variations to address imbalances. Basically, we are using the conjugate
system to address weaknesses and to avoid complete adaptation.

No Weaknesses 10
 The workouts are going to only be between 15-30 minutes because we
are not replacing the main workout. We are simply supplementing with the
assistance work. A huge mistake that I have witnessed is working with one
coach for your sport like weightlifting, powerlifting, or CrossFit, and then
working with another coach to program assistance or muscular imbalance.
How does one coach understand the other coach’s volume and load unless
they are communicating? The answer is they can’t.

Volume on top of volume can equal a big mess. If a secondary coach

programs an hour of assistance work during the hypertrophy phase of my
programming, that could equal a major mistake for the athlete. It would simply
be too much for the majority of athletes out there. This mistake could lead to
injury and/or major overtraining. Beating an athlete’s endocrine system into
the ground isn’t good for accomplishing any goals.

There is a time and place for workouts that are simply focused on
addressing imbalances. I am writing this book in July. Most of my athletes
are finished with their major competitions, and they don’t have another one
until the American Open. That is 20+ weeks out, so our focus is addressing
these imbalances and weaknesses. It’s not unusual for the athletes to spend
30 minutes on weightlifting and 90 minutes on muscular balance.

Dylan Cooper is one of my freak junior athletes. He tweaked his back at the
Junior World Championships, so we are in the process of stabilizing his core,
correcting imbalances, and ensuring proper hip movement and development.
Weightlifting is a brutal sport. It is very repetitive, most exercises are bilateral
in nature, and the jerk is asymmetrical. All three of these can cause:

• Overuse issues in the shoulders, knees, back, and wrist

• Too much compression on the SI Joint
• Asymmetries to the hip and back causing shearing forces on the spine

With all of this being the case for weightlifters, we are having Dylan
focus on movements that counter these effects. We are having him perform
exercises using transverse and sagittal planes instead of only frontal to
counter the overuse. He is performing mobility exercises and strengthening

No Weaknesses 11
exercises that are geared toward relieving the compression of the SI joint.
We are also having him perform lunges and other unilateral movements to
promote symmetrical balance of the hip and surrounding muscle groups.
He is also performing asymmetrical carries to strengthen the quadratus
lumborum and to promote proper motion.

This gives you an idea about off-season workouts, but now let’s get
deeper into choosing movements for athletes.

THREE WAYS TO OBJECTIVELY

CHOOSE ASSISTANCE EXERCISES
No coach wants to blindly choose assistance exercises. If an athlete
has a massive posterior chain and can deadlift 100lb more than they back
squat, RDLs are a poor decision. That athlete needs backs squats, front
squats, and lunges.

At Mash Elite Performance we use three different methods to choose

assistance work intelligently.

1. COMMON ASYMMETRIES AND IMBALANCES

CAUSED BY THE SPORT
Each sport comes with its own baggage. Baseball causes major
imbalances due to dominant-side throwing and batting. One side is
stabilizing while the other side is producing force. The throwing arm will

No Weaknesses 12
be internally rotated, causing a lack of motion in the thoracic spine and
potentially leading to an injury.

Weightlifters are the opposite. They are all in external rotation, causing
them to sometimes lack the proper strength in the chest, lats, and biceps
necessary to anchor the scapulae with the barbell overhead. Weightlifters
are 95% bilateral except for the asymmetrical jerk. This causes a lot of stress
on the SI joint from all the squats and asymmetrical hip development, which
both cause back issues.

Every sport has its own issues that can lead to injuries. The key is to realize
this fact, and then to program in a way that combats those asymmetries and
overuse. I have outlined above what I am doing for my weightlifter, Dylan Cooper.
For a typical baseball player, I am going to focus on rotation to the opposite
side, external rotation, and strengthening decelerators. I will also focus on
proper thoracic and hip mobility along with unilateral lower body strength
like lunges or split leg squats and deadlifts. I want to get those hips balanced
as much as possible, and the thoracic spine moving properly so that force
isn’t transferred to the elbow.

Football is different. Unless you are a quarterback or kicker, you are moving
through a balanced series of athletic positions. However, there are a lot of
other concerns. Primarily, I want to focus on stabilizing the athlete to take
on the extreme punishment of that brutal sport. We will still get the football
player athletic and explosive with squats, cleans, presses, and pulls, but we
will focus the assistance work on stabilizing the body for the collisions. Neck
work will be a part of every workout along with carries of all types. Core and
neck stabilization will be the focus.

If you are a strength coach, you need to know the sport you are coaching.
Are there asymmetries? Are there common injuries? Then ask yourself, “Is
there a way to prevent or to reduce these?” This is the first step to prescribing
assistance exercises.

No Weaknesses 13
 2. OBVIOUS WEAKNESSES IDENTIFIED BY THE
COACH OR ATHLETE
Muscular imbalance testing should never replace the experienced eye of
a coach or the instinct of a seasoned athlete. Muscular imbalance testing is
only used to make sure that no stone is unturned and to quantify the imbalance
and weakness. If an athlete is a weightlifter and they are struggling to stabilize
weights overhead, it is safe to say that overhead stability is an issue.

A lot of experienced coaches are wary of new ideas like muscular

imbalance testing. They believe that they can address imbalances with
observation, and for a lot of issues they can. Don McCauley is the best coach
I have ever worked with when it comes to observation. His eye operates on a
different speed than anyone else’s. He can see things that the average coach
can’t even begin to see.

There are also the obvious imbalances like the speed of the pull versus
the recovery of the squat phase. If an athlete pulls so slowly it looks like they
are performing a deadlift, they somehow sneak under the weight, and then
they easily stand it up, there is a squat to pull imbalance. That didn’t take a
rocket scientist or a fancy test. It was obvious. In the clean, if an athlete can
pull and catch just about any amount of weight and then barely stand it up,
obviously more work needs to be done in the squat and core.

A coach should never let someone’s idea of science overrule common

sense. I watch that happen all too often. I have watched coaches program
very little volume of the traditional Olympic lifts and focus solely on strength
because some guru told them to do so. I have also watched the opposite
happen when coaches only focused on the lifts. It’s a balance. I don’t need a
guru to tell me that. If an athlete is awesome at the lifts and weak in the legs,
I need to get them stronger. It’s simple.

3. MUSCULAR IMBALANCE TESTING

Muscular Imbalance testing is important for many reasons. First, I don’t
want my athletes spending hours on assistance work. I want to pinpoint

No Weaknesses 14
their weaknesses, and then spend 15-30 minutes per day addressing those.
Second, I need to quantify the amount of imbalance. It is one thing to say
that a muscle group is weak, and it is another thing to say how weak.

As I explained earlier, I have complete faith in whatever Don McCauley

sees and prescribes the athlete to do for correction. But muscular imbalance
testing is helpful even with Coach McCauley for putting an objective
measurement on what he already knows. If he notices that an athlete is weak
overhead, testing will put a value on that weakness as it relates to the rest of
the body. It will also help to quantify improvement.

Overhead stability is a big weakness that a lot of lifters have in the sport
of Olympic weightlifting. I am guessing that it has a lot to do with posture,
video games, and computer use. The question is why and where are the
athletes weak overhead. The scapula is complex, and it is stabilized by a
lot of muscles performing a lot of jobs. It is stabilized on a sagittal plane
and frontal plane with a pushing and pulling in each direction. The key is to
pinpoint the exact group of muscles or the movement causing the weakness.

The biggest benefit of muscular imbalance testing is the benefit to

quantify improvement. Don’t ever tell me, “it looks like you are getting better,”
or “it feels better.” What does either one of those mean? Those are both
subjective statements that don’t do anyone any good. Is it actually getting
better? If so, how much? Those are the questions that any good coach
should be asking.

Programming should be a well thought out plan based on quantifiable

data. There is no place for guessing for strength athletes in this day and
age. Other athletes are too good, which means your training has to be better.
Performing accessory movements that you don’t need is wasted time that
could be spent on movements where you demonstrate weakness. I hope that
the No Weaknesses Muscular Imbalance Test will give you the data needed
to make decisions that will yield better programming. I also hope that the
explanations and suggestions will help lead you in the right direction.

Now on to the test.

No Weaknesses 15
 USING THE TEST
This is the part I know many of you have been waiting for. Let me explain
how to use the No Weaknesses Muscular Imbalance Test.

This test has been compiled for you into an easy-to-use spreadsheet. It
is included in both the Excel format and the Numbers format, so you should
be able to open the test in a variety of devices, software apps, and operating
systems. (If you have any issues with the spreadsheet file, please email
support@mashelite.com, and we’ll take care of you.)

You’ll notice when you open the spreadsheet that there are two tabs:
“KEY YOUR STATS” and “RATIOS.” The only tab you will edit is the KEY YOUR
STATS tab. This is where you’ll enter your lifting numbers. Do not edit the
RATIOS tab - we’ll consult it later as we analyze the results of this test.

Right at the top of the KEY YOUR STATS tab, you can enter your name, enter
your bodyweight, and select whether you’d like to use pounds or kilograms
as your preferred unit. It’s important that you enter your bodyweight as this
will be factored into the test.

The No Weaknesses Muscular Imbalance Test is for everyone. If you

are a powerlifter, then you don’t have to test in the exercises that you can’t
perform or don’t care about. I only want the athletes to perform the exercises
that they are at least somewhat proficient at.

On the KEY YOUR STATS tab, you’ll see several sections of exercises
where you will enter your numbers for the various lifts. One column will be
for your current personal record in each lift. If you don’t know your 1-rep
max, you can approximate it by picking a fairly heavy weight and lifting
for as many reps as possible. Then enter the number of reps in the “Total
Reps” column.

No Weaknesses 16
 There is a section for weighted dips and pullups. For the weight there,
only enter in the weight that you added to your own bodyweight. If you didn’t
add any weight and just did the exercise with your bodyweight, put a 0 in
that column.

For the section on carries, you’ll want to see what weight you can carry
in each hand for 20 meters. Try to get as close as possible to 20 meters
because that’s an important benchmark that we’ll use to compare to your
other lifts.

Finally, you’ll see a section with some accessory lifts. These movements
come in pairs, where we’ll be testing for symmetry. Whatever weight you
attempt for leg extension, keep track of your max reps. Then put 80% of
that weight on for the hamstring curl before trying again to go for max
reps. For the overhead press and upright row, attempt the same weight
and track max reps.

Depending on your software, you may notice that some boxes are browned
out when they are empty. This is to help highlight where data is missing, but
feel free to enter as much or as little info as you’d like. Depending on your
sport, only some may be of interest to you.

MINING FOR THE GOLD

Now you can click over to the RATIOS tab on the No Weaknesses Muscular
Imbalance Test spreadsheet. Remember, this isn’t where you’ll be entering
the data. This is where we’re going to analyze the information to provide you
with a goldmine of insight.

We’ll be comparing your lifts to see if your performance is in line with

the ideal ratios. There’s a section that compares lifts to your back squat, one
for the bench press, one for the snatch, and one for the clean and jerk. We’ll
cover the other two sections (carries and accessories) later.

No Weaknesses 17
 Based on the information you entered on the KEY YOUR STATS tab, your
1-rep max will be calculated in one column. In the top section, that calculated
max is then compared against your back squat 1-rep max. You’ll see there
is a column for the ideal ratios between exercises, and then one column for
your actual ratio.

As long as you are within 90% of the recommended ratios, then you are
doing well. No one is ever going to be 100% on all the ratios. The goal is
simply to work towards perfection.

The boxes in the “Your Ratio” column will actually light up green if you are
within 90%. That means you have nothing to worry about. The box will light
up red if you are not within 90% of the ideal ratio. If you get a red box, that is a
box to focus on. (Depending on your software compatibility, there’s a chance
the boxes will not turn green or red, but you will still be able to see your ratio.)

Red boxes aren’t bad things. That means you have room for improvement.
If you get all green, that means you are close to perfect and there isn’t a lot of
room to increase things.

Let’s start to look into the specifics of your imbalances. Get ready for
your training to be changed forever.

No Weaknesses 18
 ASSESSING
AND ADDRESSING
IMBALANCES
BACK SQUAT
The almighty back squat is the first and most important lift for us to
look at. We have chosen the back squat because it crosses the lines on all
strength sports and strength and conditioning programs. Whether you are
a powerlifter, weightlifter, CrossFitter, football player, or almost any other
athlete, you will need an optimal amount of leg and hip strength to perform
at the higher levels of your chosen sport.

There probably isn’t a perfectly balanced athlete on earth. However, there

is a rumor that Rich Froning, multi-time CrossFit Games winner, is almost
perfect. That makes sense in a sport that looks for the most balanced
fitness athlete.

You can look all throughout the top section that says “Ratio vs Back Squat
1RM” to see how your squat compares to the other lifts. We’ll be going over
that information throughout this section as we compare your other lifts to
your back squat.

But first, take a look at the section a little lower where it says, “Ratio vs
Snatch.” You can see here how your back squat compares to your snatch.

Your back squat should be 1.54 times your snatch. If you get a green
light, then you know that you have enough leg strength. If your ratio is

No Weaknesses 19
extremely high like 1.65 or higher, you will know that you need to focus
on technique and assistance exercises that help you improve the lift like
blocks, hangs, and pulls.

If your ratio is within 90% of 1.54 or more, you know that your efficiency
is perfect. That means if you get stronger, your snatch will increase. In this
case, you would need less technique work and more strength work. You
should focus on squats, lunges, core, and posterior chain work. As you can
see, you can make a quantifiable decision. The goal is to take guessing out
of the equation.

The next ratio you will notice is in the section “Ratio vs Clean & Jerk.” As
you can see, the goal is to have your back squat at 1.25 times the clean and
jerk. The same rules apply here as for the snatch. If your back squat ratio is
way higher compared to the clean and jerk, your training should be centered
on technique. If the ratio is less than suggested, the main goal should be
strength. It’s simple really.

The No Weaknesses Muscular Imbalance Test really makes programming

a lot easier. Anyone with an analytical brain will love it. There is no more
guessing, and all results can easily be measured by plugging in results from
an athlete’s progress.

FRONT SQUAT
The front squat has to be looked at separately from the back squat.
The front squat will show an athlete’s anterior and core strength. With a big
swing to posterior development, I am starting to notice a weakness in a lot
of athlete’s quads. Malcolm Moses-Hampton, the co-author of this book, is
a great example. He has amazing hamstring, glute, and back development,
but his quads are weak in comparison. This test shows his need to front
squat more often. This test is a great test for all strength athletes and
sport athletes alike.

No Weaknesses 20
 People are always asking me if they should focus on the back squat or
the front squat. Just look at the “Ratio vs Back Squat 1RM” section, and this
ratio will answer that question for you. If your front squat ratio is higher than
it should be, a concentration on the back squat and posterior chain would
make the most sense. If your front squat ratio is weak, I recommend a focus
on the front squat and exercises to strengthen the quads and core.

If you are a weightlifter, then you definitely want to compare the front
squat with the clean and jerk (in the “Ratio vs Clean & Jerk” section). The
front squat is more functional than the back squat as related to the clean. If
the front squat ratio is too low, then focus on front squat, quad strength, trunk
stability, and mobility. Mobility is important because a weightlifter wants to
sit as low as possible while maintaining a vertical torso. Hips, ankle, and
thoracic spine mobility could be limiting factors.

On the other hand if your ratio is higher than prescribed, you should
focus on technique, movement, and positions. Olympic weightlifting is a
combination of strength, technique, and overall athleticism. I recommend
using the chart to determine your own focus or that of your athletes.

CLEAN
If you are a weightlifter, we are getting into the good stuff now. We will
start to see if you are an efficient lifter or not. At first, the clean is compared to
the back squat. This is a very important bit of information. The clean should
be at least 75% of the back squat. What does the ratio tell us?

If you clean close to .75 times what you back squat, then you need a
balanced program with a focus on strength. If this ratio turns red in the
spreadsheet, you need to focus on technique. You are plenty strong for what
you are lifting. If you can clean greater than .75 times what you back squat,
you need to get strong. Your efficiency is better than perfect.

No Weaknesses 21
 The only other comparison for the clean is the clean to the clean and
jerk. This one is very important because most people like to do what they are
good at instead of improving their weaknesses. The clean is normally a little
easer than the clean and jerk with a ratio of 1.03. However, if you are cleaning
substantially more than you are clean and jerking, your focus should be on
the clean and jerk and jerk auxiliary work. It’s simple. If you are great at the
clean and suck at the jerk, you need to focus on the jerk.

CLEAN & JERK

This one is more important than the clean simply because the clean and
jerk is performed during competitions. If you are a weightlifter, it’s time to
open your ears. The first section will once again tell you if you are efficient
compared to your squat. In a perfect world an athlete should clean and jerk
at least 75% of their 1RM back squat.

If you can clean and jerk 75% or more of your back squat, then you are an
efficient lifter. At that point your main focus should be on strength because a
stronger squat should equal a better clean and jerk. My athlete, Tom Summa,
fits into this category perfectly. Tom can clean and jerk 187 kilos or about
412 pounds. Tom can back squat 227 kilos or 500 pounds. That means he
can clean and jerk about 83% of his back squat. He is more than efficient.

We looked at his efficiency. We also looked at the fact that he is a hard

gainer in the absolute strength department. The normal programs he was
trying simply weren’t doing the job. We used all of these factors to put
together a strength program that was more volume than he had ever tried.
We called it the hard gainer program, and it absolutely worked.

The key is using data to make decisions. Here’s the other end of that
spectrum. If you clean and jerk 60% of your back squat, you probably need
to work on technique and movement flaws. For example, I can clean and jerk
58% of my back squat, so I don’t need the hard gainer at all.

No Weaknesses 22
 Here’s the efficiency exception! I have another athlete, Nathan Damron.
He has been lifting for eight years. His technique is just about perfect.
However, he back squats 282 kilos or 621 pounds. He clean and jerks 195
kilos or 428 pounds, which is about 69%. Is he inefficient? No, he is simply
designed to squat with super short femurs and a strong core. Here’s the
thing: Every time that his squat goes up, so does his clean and jerk.

Nathan is the exception to the rule. Once again you can use the chart to
track this progress. If every time that your squat goes up so does your clean
and jerk, then you are in the same boat as Nathan. The key is to have the data
to back up your decision.

The ratio to the snatch is very important. I have known lifters that have
had amazing snatches and mediocre clean and jerks. I watched them spend
85% of their time on the snatch. Did that make any sense? No. Look, your
clean and jerk should be about 125% or a 1.25 ratio to the snatch. If you are
only 1.1, then you need to focus on the clean and jerk. A lot of people train
snatch and clean and jerk on the same day, and that isn’t a bad plan unless
you are the person that spends all your time on the snatch. The solution is
to either limit your time on the snatch or to separate them on different days.

As you can see, this is much more than a way to choose assistance
exercises. This sheet will help you design your entire plan. More data will help
you design a plan that fits your individual needs. Too many people simply try
other people’s plans without taking into consideration their own needs.

DEADLIFT
A lot of people mistakenly associate this lift with only the powerlifter. We
are going to show you why that is a bad decision. When I was with MuscleDriver
USA, I watched Travis Cooper use the deadlift to prepare for the 2014 World
Championships. He had injured his back, and he couldn’t perform back squats
without pain. He used deadlifts to keep his legs strong. He was also able to
correct his weak pull, which led to a PR total at the world championships.

No Weaknesses 23
 The deadlift should have a ratio of 1.1 compared to the back squat. That
means that it should be 110% stronger than the back squat. We are talking
about the powerlifting deadlift now. That means an alternating grip can be
used, the back doesn’t have to remain straight in the thoracic spine, and the
goal is to get the shoulders behind the bar as quickly as possible. The goal is
to lock the knees and the hips at the same time.

If your deadlift is less than the 1.1 ratio, your goal will be to strengthen
the pull. You should add in a lot of posterior chain work like good mornings,
glute/ham raises, RDLs, bent over rows, and barbell hip thrusts (made famous
by my friend Bret Contreras).

On the other hand if your deadlift is 1.3 compared to your back squat,
it’s time to work on the anterior chain with quads, abdominals, and obliques.
Carries are always good to add in for stability and core. Once again, it is all
about what story the data tells.

When it comes to the ratio between the deadlift as compared to the

snatch and clean and jerk, there are two main keys. If your deadlift is way
over the ideal ratio, then it is not the problem. If it is way under, then it is
worth looking into. A key indicator for the weightlifter is the pull compared
to the back squat for muscular imbalance. If the deadlift is at least equal to
the back squat, the weightlifter is pretty safe. If it isn’t, pulls should be a big
part of their training.

CLEAN-GRIP DEADLIFT
This one is reserved mainly for Olympic weightlifters or athletes that
just want all-around balance. The only difference between this and the
conventional deadlift is the technique. A clean-grip deadlift should be
completed like a clean, and that means the athlete should keep a flat back,
should preferably use a double-overhand hook grip or straps, and should
move hips and shoulders together off the ground as the knees move out of
the way. The goal is to stay over the bar with one’s shoulders until the bar has
crossed well past the knees.

No Weaknesses 24
 The clean-grip deadlift should have a 1:1 ratio compared to the back squat.
If your deadlift is lower than the squat, once again the focus is on the pull
and posterior chain (see the deadlift section). If your clean-grip deadlift is way
above the back squat (like 1.3), it’s time to work on the quads, squats, and core.

Here’s another thing to think about. If the regular deadlift is above the
ratio with back squat but the clean-grip deadlift isn’t, the problem is obviously
holding those positions used in the clean-grip deadlift. At that point I
recommend a lot of strength exercises to build those positions like:

• Pauses at the weak positions during the pull

• Isometric pulls against pins at, below, and above the weak positions
• Clean-grip deadlifts with slow eccentrics and a focus on perfect positions
• Barbell rows with holds at the chest
• Kettlebell bat wing rows

These are just a few, but once again the data has dictated our training.
Instinct is great in coaching, but backing it up with data is even better. If
nothing else, it will convince your athlete to get on board.

SUMO DEADLIFT
Louie Simmons told me for years to focus on keeping the sumo deadlift
and the conventional deadlift as close as possible. I should have listened.
Most of us have a predisposition to be stronger in either the sumo or
conventional. There are a few reasons for this.

One is the development of your hip socket. Everyone is a little different.

Some lifters have femur necks and acetabulums that allow for more
abduction. If so, getting into the sumo position is easier. Others, like me,
don’t have good range of motion in the hips.

The other reason is that some people have stronger quads, making them
better at the sumo deadlift. Others have strong spinal erectors, making them

No Weaknesses 25
stronger at the conventional deadlift. One is not better than the other. It’s
simple anatomy and genetics. There have been amazing deadlifts performed
with each style.

Here’s the thing that you guys need to take away: If anatomy causes
you to prefer conventional deadlifts, you should perform sumo deadlifts for
mobility work and hip health. Not to mention, conventional deadlifters should
perform sumo deadlifts to strengthen the quads during the pull, and sumo
deadlifters should perform conventional deadlifts to get their backs stronger.

Are you picking up on the pattern? If you are weak at something, then you
should do it to get stronger. If you are incredibly strong at something, then
you don’t have to perform it as often. It is simple.

The only ratio to pay attention to on the sumo deadlift is the ratio to the
back squat. It should be 1.1 - the same as the ratio between the conventional
deadlift and back squat.

• If your ratio is low, work on the pull and posterior chain (see the deadlift).
• If your ratio is high, work on the squat, quads, and core.
• The goal is to come as close as possible to having the sumo and
conventional deadlifts be equal.
• As long as they are all within about 90% of the recommended ratios,
you are doing well.

SNATCH-GRIP DEADLIFT
The snatch-grip deadlift is definitely for the Olympic weightlifter, but it is
also for the powerlifter, CrossFitter, and any other athlete. First, let’s define
the snatch grip. Weightlifters obviously know exactly where their snatch grip
is because it’s where they put their hands on the bar when they snatch.

For all of you who don’t know, you simply stand up with the bar. Then
bend your knees about six inches while keeping the back vertical. Finally,

No Weaknesses 26
 move your hands out on the bar until the bar is sitting in the crease of the
hip. See the pic below:

When you have found this grip, make note of where your hands are. The
snatch-grip deadlift will be performed this way. The snatch-grip deadlift is
obviously harder for most people because you will be performing the lift
with a biomechanical disadvantage. With wider hands, the lifter is pushed
into a lower position forming a smaller angle of the hips and knees. To
understand this better, you simply need to think about the strength curve
of the squat. If you squat high (greater angle of the knee and hip), you can
squat a lot more weight.

What does the snatch-grip deadlift tell us? First, it tells us if the athlete
is mobile. The athlete will need to possess mobility in the hips, ankles, and
thoracic spine to be able to set the back tight with the scapulae tucked
together and down with this lower position. A great coach will be able to
spot this lack of mobility visually. However, if you don’t have a great coach,
the numbers will tell you the truth.

No Weaknesses 27
 Second, it will tell the athlete if they are able to produce a significant
amount of force with their quads during the pull phase. Most coaches argue
about whether the pull should be quad or hamstring dominant, but the truth
is that it should be a synergistic effort. It’s silly when you think about it. Most
people who study kinesiology understand that the body works together to
perform movement.

This low position is going to force the quads to assist with the beginning
portion of the pull. The best aspect of a deadlift or clean being initiated with
the quads is it saves the hamstring for the finish of the hip extension, which
is exactly what the hamstrings and glutes were designed to do.

The only comparison that we made is the ratio of the snatch-grip deadlift
as compared to the back squat, but that comparison tells us quite a bit. The
ratio should be .9 as compared to the back squat, which is exactly 10% less.
The first thing that it tells us is that if you are .9 or higher of your back squat,
you probably just need to squat. If you are less than .9, you need to focus on
this pull for the balance of your snatch.

Here is the bigger thing that it tells us as a weightlifter or someone that

cares about the Olympic lifts: If your clean-grip deadlift is right on and your
snatch-grip deadlift is below that .9, there is something biomechanically
flawed or weak with your snatch pull. You should then focus on the mechanics,
position, and strength of the snatch pull.

If your snatch-grip deadlift is right on but your clean-grip deadlift is

weak, there is a problem with your clean pull. Since you are able to use more
quads with the snatch-grip deadlift, you probably have a deficiency in your
hamstrings, glutes, and/or somewhere else in the posterior chain. It could
also mean that your clean pull is biomechanically flawed somewhere.

What does it tell the powerlifter or someone who doesn’t care about
the Olympic lifts? If your snatch-grip deadlift is way under the ratio of the
clean-grip deadlift, then you probably have an issue with mobility in that
low position. Let me give you some advice: As a multi-time world champion

No Weaknesses 28
and world record holder in powerlifting, I wish I had paid more attention to
mobility and movement. For one thing, better movement will normally mean
a longer and more productive career.

Mainly, I want you all to know that someday powerlifting will come to an
end. I want you all to get to that point without being crippled. I was pretty
careful with my nutrition and my injury prevention, but the one thing that I
neglected was hip mobility. I am still able to run around and play with my
children, but my hip is in pain 100% of the time. There will come a time when
I will have to receive total hip replacement. I believe I could have avoided
this altogether had I taken a test like this and worked more on snatch-grip
deadlift positions and sumo deadlifts.

JERK
The jerk ratios are only important for Olympic weightlifters and others
who will be performing the jerk. This is a great exercise for force development
in the hips, speed in the arms during the drive under phase, and the first step
performed in the split for all of you strength coaches out there.

The ratio of the jerk is .84 compared to the back squat. It is a little higher
than the clean and the clean and jerk. That’s because the jerk takes 33%
less force development than the clean. In theory, we should all be stronger
in the jerk than the clean. The problem is that a lot of energy is used during
the clean. That energy expenditure could be the culprit that leads to a lot of
missed jerks, or it could simply be that most people aren’t confident or lack
the technique to launch that heavy weight overhead.

Performing the jerk alone can tell us a lot of information. Just like the
clean, if you are hitting that .84 mark or higher, you have sufficient technique
for your strength levels. At that point I recommend focusing on getting
stronger. If you are hitting close to that .84 ratio, you should focus on
technique, overhead stability, or confidence.

No Weaknesses 29
 One exercise that I love is jerk recoveries. You need a power rack with
pins, or something similar. You will place a bar on the pins to where it is at
eye level or slightly higher. Grab the bar in the same position as you would
in a jerk. Then drive yourself straight down and under the bar. Finally recover
the weight just like a jerk. The work starts during the recovery. You will be
able to handle at least 5-10% more than normal with the jerk recovery, which
develops stability and confidence overhead.

There is more information that our spreadsheet will tell us. If your clean
ratio is right on and your jerk ratio is low, you probably need to focus on
the jerk. Obviously the opposite is true as well. This information will keep
you and your athletes honest. I have watched athletes that were terrible
at the jerk spend hours on the clean. Why? Pride - that is why. People love
to train what they are good at it, but champions train what they need work
on. It’s that simple.

There is one more consideration here. If you are good at the clean, good
at the jerk, but bad at the clean and jerk, you probably need to work on work
capacity and the transition from the clean to the jerk. A lot of people struggle
adjusting their hands and upper body to the jerk from the clean. If this is the
issue, there will need to be some major work in the transition phase. If the
clean drains your energy to the point that the jerk is too hard, some time will
need to be spent on work capacity and leg strength. A lot of weightlifters
cheat on work capacity and basic general physical preparedness. If this is
you, it’s time to get into shape.

POWER CLEAN
The power clean will tell you if you have the ability to produce large
amounts of power during the pull. However, that’s not all that it will tell you.
People who are really good at power cleans are fast under the bar, meeting
it before it has time to reverse its trajectory. As you can see, the power clean
demonstrates power and speed.

No Weaknesses 30
 The power clean ratio should be .68 compared to the back squat. If it is,
that means you are able to use your available strength efficiently with your
pull in the clean. If not, you need to work on positions, posterior chain, and
speed meeting the bar. The power clean is a great way to practice that speed.
Power cleans off blocks are another great tool to practice speed.

There’s more information that you can extract from the sheet. If you are
efficient in the clean but lack efficiency in the power clean, you need work on
the pull, positions, speed meeting the bar, or the strength to decelerate the
bar. You might want to film a power clean miss. If you are meeting the bar
above parallel and getting driven down, deceleration is the problem. If your
decelerators are weak, that puts you at a risk for injury. I would recommend
adding some eccentric work into your squat routines.

On the other hand, if your power clean ratio is efficient but your clean
ratio is low, you are either lacking mobility to get underneath the bar or are
having trouble meeting the bar underneath. Sometimes people are totally out
of whack when it comes to their posterior chain compared to their anterior
chain. I have watched people power clean five to ten kilos more than they
can stand up with in a full clean. At that point, it is time to squat a lot and then
squat some more.

SNATCH
The snatch is the most athletic movement in the weight room. I have
watched several men pull 400 pounds from the floor, rip themselves
underneath the weight as it propels through the air, catch it overhead, and
stand up once again. It’s a beautiful lift to watch. It requires power production,
speed, mobility, full-body stability, kinesthetic awareness, and athleticism.
It’s only required by Olympic weightlifters, but I recommend teaching this to
other athletes if you are a strength and conditioning coach.

There are two main points to look at in the data. First, the ratio of the snatch
to the back squat is .66. If you are near that or above it, you are considered
an efficient lifter. At that point, the biggest consideration is strength in the

No Weaknesses 31
squats and pull. If you are below that ratio, your primary focus should be on
technique and positions. Remember: If you are registering inefficient but your
snatch goes up with your back squat, you are probably like Nathan Damron
(as I explained in the clean and jerk section). You are designed to squat, so
you will register inefficient even though your technique is perfect.

The other piece of the data is the snatch to the clean and jerk. You should
snatch .8 of what you clean and jerk. This ratio will tell you if there is a lift
that you need to focus on. This ratio will keep you real. If you are above that
.8 ratio, it’s time to focus on the clean and jerk. Of course, the opposite is true
as well. The key is to let the data keep you honest. Champions focus on their
weaknesses not their strengths.

POWER SNATCH
The power snatch will tell you a lot of the same information as the power
clean as it pertains to the snatch. The power snatch should have a ratio of .54
compared to the back squat. If you are near or above that, you are using your
back squat strength efficiently. If you are below that ratio, it’s time to get strong.

The biggest ratio to pay attention to is the power snatch to the snatch.
The power snatch should have a .75 ratio compared to the snatch. If you are
above that ratio, your pull is overpowering compared to your mobility and
your ability to meet the bar in a full squat. At that point you should focus on
mobility, positions, and timing. If your ratio is below that .75 mark, you should
focus on the strength of the pull, positions during the pull, and the speed
meeting the bar.

PUSH PRESS
The push press is the first test of upper body strength - but really it’s a
test of leg and hip strength that’s related to overhead upper body strength.
The movement is instigated from a powerful drive from the legs and hips,

No Weaknesses 32
like that of the dip and drive in the jerk. The movement is completed and
held overhead with the arms. Strength in your triceps is required to lockout
this movement.

The push press is great to see if your leg strength is functional as related
to your overhead strength and stability. Weightlifting requires athletes
to stabilize and hold massive amounts of weight overhead. Sometimes
weightlifters with amazingly strong legs and hips can get a weight overhead
and then struggle to stabilize it in that position. This is especially true of
female lifters.

The push press will measure that ratio. The ratio of the push press to
the back squat should be .64. If you are near or above that ratio, then your
upper body strength is proportional to your squat strength. If the push press
is below that ratio, I recommend extra overhead strengthening like dips,
presses, and (of course) push presses.

This ratio doesn’t just show one’s ability to be strong overhead, it also
shows the risk of potential injury. One of my lifters, Rebecca Gerdon, suffered
a stress fracture of the wrist simply because her lower body was strong
enough to hoist more weight overhead than her body was ready to support.

The push press isn’t just a movement for weightlifting. The powerlifters
out there will want to test this movement. This movement is great to test
one’s ability to lockout big weight. It is also great for testing overhead mobility
and core stability. A lot of powerlifters become internally rotated, causing
restrictions in the shoulder joint and weakness in the external rotators. This
imbalance is a typical cause of shoulder injuries in powerlifting.

The ability to perform a push press demonstrates a reasonable balance

between the anterior and posterior portions of the torso. The ratio of the
push press to the bench press should be .85. If you are near or above that
ratio, you demonstrate acceptable lockout strength and upper body posture.
If not, you will need to work on lockout strength with dips and extensions as
well as overhead stability and postural adjustments with overhead carries. I
like fat grip dumbbell overhead carries. You would also want to spend some
time on upper body mobility and external rotation strengthening.

No Weaknesses 33
 The push press should also maintain a .75 ratio as compared to the
clean and jerk. This comes down to upper body strength and stabilization as
compared to one’s ability to jerk the weight overhead. Remember, Rebecca
Gerdon was super strong when she suffered the wrist fracture. She was able
to clean and jerk over 110 kilos or 242 pounds. Just because she was able
to get it up there, didn’t mean that she should have had it up there. We were
forced to take some massive steps backwards to strengthen her upper body
before moving forward.

If you are at or above that ratio, then you demonstrate optimal upper body
strength and overhead stability. If your ratio is below that ratio, I recommend
taking some time to strengthen your overall upper body. Dips are always a
great exercise for weightlifters. Push-ups are a very functional exercise, and
they would also increase the strength and hypertrophy of the upper body.
Basic presses would also be great for an athlete with a deficiency in this
ratio. I would use dumbbells and kettlebells to prevent any asymmetries.

OVERHEAD SQUAT
The overhead squat is similar to the push press. It shows one’s ability to
control heavy weights above the head both in the eccentric and concentric
phases. I have coached athletes who had the speed, power, and athleticism
to get under and snatch massive weights. However, they could only overhead
squat a fraction of their snatch. This is an imbalance that could quickly lead
to injury.

The overhead squat requires the athlete to heave the weight overhead
demonstrating adequate power to stabilize the weight overhead. It then
requires the athlete to stabilize the weight during the completion of a full
squat, which shows the athlete’s strength endurance. Strength endurance is
required of great weightlifters to withstand the massive amounts of volume
needed to become great at the sport.

The ratio of the overhead squat to the back squat should be .65. This
ratio demonstrates the athlete’s balance between leg strength and overhead

No Weaknesses 34
stability. If the athlete is near or above that ratio, I recommend using this
exercise only as a warm up or sparingly. If the athlete is below that ratio,
there is a need for overhead stability and general upper body strength. I love
axle bar overhead carries, Klokov presses, dips, and (of course) overhead
squats. Paused overhead squats are great because nothing beats isometric
contractions for strengthening positions.

Overhead squats are great for all athletes because they demonstrate
excellent mobility and overall postural balance. If you are a football player,
soccer player, or any athlete, proper movement is often overlooked in the
weight room. Other than the snatch, nothing demonstrates mobility and
movement better than the overhead squat. Even if you are a coach who lacks
the ability to coach the technique of the snatch, the overhead squat is a great
substitute or accessory movement.

If you are a weightlifter, you will want to know the ratio of the overhead
squat as compared to the snatch. This ratio could be a huge predictor of
injury. Just because you can hoist the weight overhead in the snatch doesn’t
mean that you should. The ratio of the overhead squat to the snatch should
be at least .91. It isn’t uncommon to see weightlifters with the ability to
overhead squat a great deal more than their snatch. At that point the focus
needs to be on the movement and technique of the snatch. If the ratio is
below .91, overhead squats, presses, dips, and overhead carries need to be
a part of the program.

Coaches often argue whether overhead squats should be used by

weightlifters. A lot of studies have shown that an increase in the overhead
squat doesn’t relate to an increase in the snatch. As I have explained before,
it’s not all about direct transfer. It’s about muscular balance that leads to an
athlete’s ability to train longer without injury.

STRICT PRESS
Personally, I love the strict press. In my opinion, it beats out the bench
press as a more functional test of upper body strength. I can say this because

No Weaknesses 35
I was a world record bench presser. The strict press is performed on one’s
feet, and the bench press is performed laying on a bench. I love the bench
press, but the strict press is simply raw. Of course, this is just my opinion. We
could argue for days about which one is superior.

The balance between the upper and lower body is important for long-term
sustainability. Whether you are a powerlifter, weightlifter, or any athlete, it is
important to be balanced. I have watched several weightlifters hoist massive
amounts of weight above their heads. I have also watched several of these
men and women sustain upper body injuries. It’s not only about being able to
lift the weight. It’s about being able to sustain the load of volume over a long
career. Are you noticing a theme yet?

The strict press compared to the back squat should be at a .45 ratio.
If you are around that number, you are balanced. If you are way above
that ratio, your focus as an athlete should be on the lower body. If you are
below that ratio, the focus should be on presses and other exercises to
build the upper body.

The ratio of the strict press compared to the bench press should be .6. If
you are at or above that ratio, you demonstrate optimal stability in the core,
hips and lower back to launch the weight from the upper chest. You also
demonstrate optimal strength in the shoulders and triceps. If you are below
that ratio, you could have weak stabilization in the legs, hips, and core and/
or lack strength in the shoulders and triceps. This could be a great find if you
are a bench presser. This would reveal that you are a bencher who favors the
pectoralis. If you strengthen the shoulders and triceps, it could easily equal
a bigger bench press.

Now is a good time to talk about vertical scapular balance. The scapula
and shoulder region is a complex area of the body. Shoulder injuries are
very common in weightlifting, powerlifting, and all sports. It is important to
maintain a balance between the vertical push and pull, and in both directions.
Let me explain what I mean.

No Weaknesses 36
 A balance should exist between the vertical strict press and the upright
row. If you are not equal, you have your focus.

A balance should also exist between supinated chest to bar strict pull-
ups and dips. If you aren’t balanced, then once again you have your focus.
The same goes for the slower eccentric speed.

All four of these exercises are displayed in the last section of the
muscular balance spreadsheet, but I thought it needed to be addressed
while talking about the strict press. A vertical balance in both push-pull
set of exercises will suggest a proper balance, scapula stabilization, and a
reduced risk of injury.

MUSCLE SNATCH
Yes, this exercise is related to Olympic weightlifting, but I would also think
about adding these to powerlifting, baseball, and pretty much all athletic
performance routines. Why? Because the muscle snatch is a very functional
and athletic way to get in some external rotation. My friend and powerlifting
phenom, Greg Nuckols, was the first one to use the muscle snatch for bench
press health. They are a lot more fun than those silly bands, and they open
up the entire chest region.

If you are looking at a good baseline for the muscle snatch, you can look
at the ratio of the muscle snatch to the back squat. The muscle snatch should
be at a .4 ratio. If you are below that, you either have weak external rotators
or a bad bar path. Either way you will want to add the muscle snatch to your
bag of tools.

If you are a weightlifter, you can look at the muscle snatch to the snatch.
It should be at a .68 ratio. If you are near or above that ratio, you probably
won’t need to focus a lot on these. If you are below that ratio, you will want to
work on muscle snatches to improve bar path and external rotation.

No Weaknesses 37
 CLOSE-GRIP BENCH PRESS
I love the close-grip bench press for all athletes. The close-grip is a
safer grip simply because the arms will be closer to the body. It’s also a
more functional grip for football players and other athletes where contact
is inevitable. That contact will be made with the hands close and not wide
like a competition bench press. The close-grip bench press is awesome for
strengthening the triceps, deltoids, and pectoralis muscles.

The first ratio comparison is, of course, between the back squat - and
we are looking for a .68 ratio. I like to see weightlifters and powerlifters
maintain this ratio. Weightlifters for the most part won’t reach this ratio, but
a good goal to have is to get to at least within 90%. If you are a weightlifter
and not hitting at least 90% of the ratio, add close-grip bench into your
assistance work for upper body stability. If you are at that 90% or higher
mark, you can put your focus elsewhere.

Powerlifters will want to balance this lift with the back squat. It’s their
sport, and a big total is what wins meets. Powerlifters and other athletes
will want to look at close-grip compared to competition or normal-grip
bench press. The ratio should be .9. If you are below .9, you will definitely
want to add close-grips, dips, and tricep work into the game plan. If your
close-grip ratio is low, it probably means that your triceps are weaker
than your pecs. Catching the triceps up will definitely equate to a stronger
bench press.

BENCH PRESS
Let’s be honest. Anyone who has lifted weights has at least played around
with the bench press. The most common question asked to any person who
lifts weights at all is, “How much ya bench?” A lot of meathead boys will

No Weaknesses 38
judge masculinity on the answer to that question, which is silly in my opinion.
However it’s simply the way things are, so I recommend getting at least a
decent bench press.

The main comparison that we are making with this one is with the back
squat. A good ratio here is .75. If you are near that ratio, it is a good idea
to put equal attention towards upper and lower body training. If you are
above that ratio, I would put more of an emphasis on improving lower body
strength. If you are below that ratio, obviously you need to emphasize upper
body training.

This chart is great for organizing training and prioritizing movements

based on concrete data. We are all guilty of training the movements that
we are good at more often than the movements that we are bad at. It
should be the opposite. If we are bad at something, then that is what we
should work on.

INCLINE BENCH PRESS

This ratio is great for letting powerlifters know if they are pec or shoulder
dominant. I recommend using the same grip as the competition grip, so
that triceps recruitment remains the same. The only difference is the angle,
causing a shift away from the pecs and onto the delts.

The ratio of the incline bench compared to the flat bench press should
be .8. If you are at or around that ratio, you are a balanced presser. If you
are above that ratio, I would focus on flat bench press and exercises to
emphasize the pecs like cambered bench press, dumbbell flies, and TRX flies
and presses. If you are below the ratio, incline bench should be a focus with
your accessory work - as well as direct deltoid work like standing presses,
plate raises, and lateral raises.

No Weaknesses 39
 BARBELL ROWS
This exercise is important for all sports. Let’s face it. All of us like to train
the things that we can see like arms, pecs and delts. Not many people train
the back like they should. The lats, rhomboids, and mid to lower trapezius
muscles stabilize the back and anchor the scapulae. If you want to maintain
a strong torso while lifting weights, the barbell row has to be a concern in
your training.

Let’s start by looking at the barbell row compared to the back squat. The
barbell row should maintain a .6 ratio when compared to the back squat. All
athletes should look at this ratio. If you are below this .6 ratio, the barbell row
has to be a part of your training. I would also include kettlebell bat wing rows
(made famous by Dan John) to incorporate more of the rhomboids.

The barbell row should be .75 of the bench press as well. We are looking
at the balance of the scapular region, and this ratio compares the horizontal
press and pull. If you are a powerlifter, you better pay close attention to this
one. If you are under that .75 ratio, you better increase the volume of your
barbell rows and other horizontal row accessory movements. This is one of
the most important things that a powerlifter can do to avoid hurt shoulders.

STANDING REVERSE CURL

This is just a functional look at bicep and forearm strength. A lot of
strength athletes overlook biceps and forearms work, but that’s a bad idea.
This leads to weak biceps and forearms, and weak muscles are muscles that
can tear easily. The reverse curl will incorporate the rarely used brachialis. The
brachialis is a muscle easily torn during pulling exercises, so it’s important
to strengthen it.

Here are some basic ratios for this exercise. The reverse curl should be
.26 of the back squat and .35 of the bench press. If your ratios are on point,

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you can scrap this one. If they are low, I would add these to your accessory
movements simply to avoid injury due to a weakness. I know from experience
how easy it is to tear a brachialis from pulling.

DIPS
I touched on dips above, but there are a few more ratios to look at with
this exercise. Dips are a great exercise for upper body strength including the
triceps, shoulders, and pectoralis. Dips are another source of comparison
between the upper and lower body. One should maintain a ratio of .79 as
compared to the back squat.

Dips should be a little stronger than the bench press with a ratio of 1.05.
The reason for this difference is the center of gravity advantage that dips
have with the weight being supported so close to the body. If you are below
that ratio, you probably have a triceps weakness. Both movements use a
significant amount of pectoralis, but the triceps dip will expose weak triceps
quickly. They will also expose weak stabilization of the shoulder joint. If your
dips are weak, I suggest direct shoulder and triceps work (not to mention a
focus on dips).

Remember – you just need to input the weight you added to your
bodyweight for the dips. If you did them with just bodyweight, enter 0.
The No Weaknesses Muscular Imbalance Test will automatically add your
bodyweight in (so make sure you input your bodyweight at the top, too!)

SUPINATED PULL-UPS
This movement is important for the weightlifter and the powerlifter.
One thing that I learned while talking to Julien Pineau from StrongFit is
the necessity for strong internal rotators to support the snatch overhead.
Supinated pull-ups demonstrate the relationship between the biceps and the

No Weaknesses 41
latissimus dorsi during the pull-up. The ratio of the supinated pull-up to the
back squat simply demonstrates optimal balance. The ratio should be .68.
This ratio will tell you if the pull-up should be a priority as you seek balance
to protect yourself from injury.

The ratio of the pull-up as compared to the bench press should be .9, and
this includes bodyweight. The lats aid internal rotation, so they are somewhat
related to the bench press. However, way too many powerlifters jump on the
bandwagon when it comes to this exercise. There was a craze led by a group
of benchers that attributed big benches to lat development. However, that
simply makes no sense. Based on the origin and insertion of the latissimus
dorsi, there is no way that it is a major mover of the bench press.

When a bench presser prescribes massive amounts of lat work, that’s

an example of a meathead regurgitating information from someone else.
Maybe a powerlifter needs lat work, and then again maybe he doesn’t. It’s
all in the ratio. If the ratio is around or above .9, the lifter doesn’t need any
major emphasis on lat work. If you are below the .9 ratio, I would definitely
recommend direct lat work with a variety of pull-up variations and some extra
biceps work. The biggest reason for maintaining a balanced ratio is stability
in the shoulder joints, but a bigger bench might be a side effect.

UNILATERAL FARMER CARRY AND UNILATERAL

OVERHEAD CARRY
I like to look at unilateral carries in order to reveal asymmetries between
the right and left hands. The goal for each is equal weight and distance
between the right and left arm. I would recommend incorporating carries
into all programs for the core and postural benefits. Unilateral walks are
great for the hips because they incorporate the typically dormant quadratus
lumborum (or QL muscle) that lifts the hips up and down. Proper movement
of the hips will lead to healthy hips and a strong lumber spine region.

No Weaknesses 42
 LEG CURL TO LEG EXTENSION
I definitely wanted to add the age-old quad to hamstring ratio. I added
this one for knee health. I prescribe leg curls all the time to weightlifters who
start experiencing knee pain. Leg curls will alleviate pain right away 90% of
the time. If you want to know instead of guessing, simply check out the ratio.
The hamstring curl should be about 80% as strong as the leg extension. If
you are below 80%, I would incorporate some direct hamstring work. The
hamstring crosses the knee so basic leg curls are perfect.

OVERHEAD PRESS TO UPRIGHT ROW

The last two exercises that we’ll take a look at are the overhead press
and upright row. I’ve already mentioned this in a previous section, but this
comparison is all about scapular balance in the vertical range of motion. To
measure these two I recommend using dumbbells or kettlebells. The goal is
to have equal weights and reps for the presses and the pulls. If you are not
equal, you have your focus. Another suggestion is to make sure the eccentric
is slower than the concentric to demonstrate proper deceleration strength.

No Weaknesses 43
 SECTION II

COMMON
ACHES AND
PAINS
 JOINT HEALTH MATTERS
Whether you are a world-class athlete or an average Joe trying to get in
shape, training hard can cause some aches and pains. If you want to increase
your squat 30lbs, your hips and knees may take a slight beating. If you want to
make the Regionals in CrossFit, your shoulders and back may scream at you.

However, if you manage your body correctly, this added stress from training
will produce results. We just have to take care of our joints and learn to recover
properly. This is where the magic lies. All of us train hard, but only a few are
smart enough to recover even harder.

The job of the athlete is to increase their recovery time as the workload
increases. Then when the workload drops, a magical thing happens called
super-compensation. Simply put, when you increase the workload, the body
works harder to adapt. If you suddenly drop that load, the body continues
to fire at that higher rate causing it to over compensate. Therefore, the body
surges forwards drastically. It’s voodoo magic!

Not to mention that the better you are at recovery, the harder you can go in
training. Harder training leads to more gains and more strength.

The programs that I write for my athletes are designed to literally break
them down. If they work hard at recovery, their body will heal stronger than it
started. It is a simple concept, but it requires the athlete to work hard at the
little things.

Rebecca Gerdon and I wrote this section. We are not physical therapists.
We are athletes and coaches who have pushed our bodies to the limit. I am a
world champion powerlifter who has squatted over 1000lb. If I had not learned
the importance of joint health and recovery, my career would have been cut way
short. Rebecca is a nationally ranked weightlifter who just recently represented
Team USA at the Russian Grand Prix.

No Weaknesses 45
 We speak from experience. This section wasn’t written by a lab nerd who
has no idea about being an athlete. It was written by athletes for athletes and
people who want to train like athletes. These pages contain thousands of gym
hours, research of our own, and our own time spent with chiropractors and
therapists. We did our research for this book, but nothing in here is anything
that we guessed at. We have experienced all of it.

My goal with this section is the same as the last: to save some of you
from getting hurt. I want to teach you so that your training is optimized. I have
already set multiple world records. Now I want to help others reach their goals.
Learning to stay healthy and recovered is the best way to do this.

No Weaknesses 46
 THE BACK AND HIPS
The back is one of the most fascinating and mysterious sections of the
body. There is probably more research completed on the back than any other
area of the body, yet the health and care of the back is one of the most
debated topics in exercise science.

In 2004, I majorly herniated two discs in my lumbar spine. It caused

extreme shooting pain originating in my low back and shooting down my leg.
The injury also caused weakness and loss of feeling. It was a scary moment
in my life, to say the least. An orthopedic doctor who was also my good
friend performed an MRI on the area. He gave me the terrifying news that I
needed to retire from powerlifting because I was at risk for paralysis.

That is not the news that any athlete wants to hear, especially when
they are within a few pounds of the all-time world record. I was faced with a
decision: I could retire or I could figure out a strategy that would allow me to
continue my pursuit of strength. Well obviously, after a day or two of self-pity,
I got up off my butt and started my research.

My path led to two different people. First, I discovered Dr. Stuart M. McGill,
professor of spine biomechanics at the University of Waterloo in Canada. Dr.
McGill is a leader in the area of spinal research, and he is also able to take
athletes from rehab to performance with his protocols.

Dr. Larry Gray has been my chiropractor since I received that news in
2004. His practice, Gray Chiropractic and Sports Associates, is located in
Winston-Salem, NC. I actually chose my residence based on the location of
his practice. I knew that I was going to need the best care if I was going to
break world records. If you are talking about world records and you don’t
have a team, you are just talking.

No Weaknesses 47
 I have been to two of Dr. McGill’s lectures, and I love the fact that he
works with so many top athletes. Dr. Gray and Dr. McGill were on the same
page with all of their low back protocols and treatments, so I knew that I was
headed in the right direction.

Here are a few keys:

• The core isn’t just your abs. It is all the muscles that support and
stabilize the spine and pelvis.
• Asymmetries in strength and movement (especially the hips) have
been shown to be associated with and predictive of future back pain.
• Flexion moment (stressing the core muscles whether or not there is
actual movement) is the key to training and stabilizing the back.
• Flexion movement (flexing the spine as seen in abdominal crunch)
should be avoided.
• One must train the spine to be stable and strong.
• One must train the hips to move.

Now I am going to tell you how I have managed my back pain and the pain
of a few of my athletes. I am not a chiropractor, orthopedist, neurologist, or
anything close. I am a strength and conditioning coach and strength athlete.
The advice that I am going to give you are the ways that I have kept myself
healthy and the advice that I have given my athletes.

If you are having major back pain, you need to seek out a qualified
practitioner. One of the biggest mistakes that strength coaches make is
trying to overstep their bounds. Our jobs are to increase the performance of
athletes and to prepare their bodies to be in the best shape to not get hurt.
However, no matter what we do, injuries can happen.

When an athlete complains of pain that is affecting their performance,

it is time to seek out qualified advice. When we try to assess and diagnose,
we are way out of line. You are not doing your athlete a service. You are
jeopardizing their health, and you are taking your focus away from your
healthy athletes.

No Weaknesses 48
 It amazes me when coaches spend hours trying to stretch, roll, and
lacrosse ball their athletes back to health. The problem is that they are just
guessing. A coach is running major risks of hurting them even more. OK, my
rant is over!

There are three keys to a healthy back: mobile hips, strong glutes, and a
stable trunk. The key is to start small and slowly increase the level of difficulty.
Let’s start with hip mobility.

HIP MOBILITY
Hip Mobility is something that I have struggled with for most of my career.
After powerlifting, my hip mobility has only gotten worse. Multiple 900lb and
1000lb squats did a number on my hips, so now the battle rages on. If I want
to do Olympic weightlifting, I have to work on my hip mobility on the daily.

Hips are meant to move. They are designed to abduct and adduct, flex
and extend, as well as rotate. The low back is designed to remain stable,
having the capability to flex and extend somewhere between 12 to 20
Degrees. When the hips get tight, people start using the lumbar spine to flex
and extend and worse, to rotate. When this happens, it is only a short time
before injury follows.

Certain joints are designed to be stable, and certain joints are designed
to be mobile. When a joint designed to be mobile becomes immobile, the
body will ask the stable joint to move. This is when injury creeps into play.
Our job as active athletes and adults is to keep the mobile joints moving.

I have a long list of hip mobility exercises that I am going to share with
you. I am going to start with my go-to exercises, and then bombard you with

No Weaknesses 49
all the rest. I suggest that you play with them all eventually. You might find
that one exercise works better for you than for me.

Before any mobility takes place, I suggest that you start with a slight
warm up like rowing, walking, or jumping rope to raise the body’s temperature
a few degrees. The heart rate will increase as well as blood flow to the
muscles and joints. The joints and muscles will now be more pliable and
ready to mobilize.

FOAM ROLLING
I like to start with foam rolling. Foam rolling is highly debated as to what
actually happens, so I am going to stick with the facts. Foam rolling causes
short-term flexibility increases that last over ten minutes and in programs
longer than two weeks the effects have shown to be long term.

I use the foam roller on my hamstrings, iliotibial band (IT Band), quads,
lats, and the entire back. I definitely notice that my muscles and joints are
more pliable after foam rolling.

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 LACROSSE BALL AND PEANUT
A single lacrosse ball or two taped together (called a peanut) are better
for targeting smaller regions. They act the same way as foam rollers, but
they make targeting smaller areas, like the piriformis or pec insertions,
much easier.

I use a lacrosse ball on my pecs, piriformis, glutes, scapula region, and

calves. I place the ball on the region that I am targeting while applying extra
pressure myself. Then I spend 30-60 seconds moving the ball side to side,
and then 30-60 seconds up and down.

Lacrosse balls are also good for forearms, feet, hands, shoulders, and just
about anywhere that you want to target. I have found the feet to be especially
effective for movement and functionality of the entire body. Let’s talk more
about the feet.

The feet are the body’s main contact with the ground. We can all agree
that walking is the most functional movement that the body makes. If our
feet are impinged, movement is impaired from the ground up. It only makes
sense to begin with the feet when it comes to functionality on the movement

No Weaknesses 51
of any joint in the body. Remember the body operates within a kinetic chain
that looks like this: feet stable, ankles mobile, knees stable, hips mobile, low
back stable, and so forth.

If the feet get jacked up, the whole body gets jacked up. I recommend
that you start with the feet no matter what. Here is what it looks like:

Here are some other ways you can use a lacrosse ball to target specific
problem areas:

No Weaknesses 52
 I use the peanut solely for the scapula region. I start with placing the
peanut in the rhomboid region and then I move it around as needed. Here is
what the peanut looks like:

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 After I am done with foam rolling and using the lacrosse ball, I am ready
to mobilize the joints. Here is what that looks like.

BODYWEIGHT SQUAT
I like to use a rack to hold onto as I sink into a deep squat. The rack takes
the pressure off of my joints, so I can focus on the perfect position. I normally
take 5-6 deep breaths focusing on breathing into the diaphragm or what some
call belly breathing. This type of breathing will take stress from the body, as it
demands less effort. This in turn will relax the body allowing better movement.

Once the squat becomes more comfortable, I will place a 35lb plate or
45lb plate between my feet to assist in opening up the hips. My hips are
now beaten down from years of heavy squats, so it is key for my longevity in
strength sports to keep my hips open. Hips have poor blood flow already, so
impinged hips simply exacerbate the issue of blood flow. No blood equals
poor recovery and healing from trauma and stress.

Another way to work on hip mobility, ankle mobility, and keeping a vertical
spine all at the same time is to tie one end of a medium jump stretch green
band to a rack (that is bolted to the ground) while putting the other end
around your waist. Now place a 45lb plate between your feet, sit down, and
relax. The band will hold you in place and pull you slightly forward. This will
end up being the perfect stance for cleans, snatches, or squats.

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 COBRA POSE
Well, my version of the cobra pose! I am not a yoga instructor, and I am not
a Pilates teacher. I am a coach and athlete that is simply teaching you about
the exercises that have worked for me. The cobra pose is perfect for me. With
this exercise, I am able to open the hips, abdominals, and chest. I am also
able to encourage a healthier spine. This exercise has always assisted with
lessening back pain.

This exercise is performed lying prone on the ground with your toes
pointed and hands placed by your chest. With hips pressed to the ground
by squeezing the glutes, push the torso straight up. The key is to continue
breathing normally with deep breaths in the diaphragm. The breathing will
relax the body, allowing it to move into healthy positions. A big key is to only
push as high as the hips can stay on the ground. If the hips come up, lower
the torso. The deep breaths will normally help to get a little higher.

I usually hold the position for ten seconds and then return to the floor. I
perform this simple movement 2-3 repetitions. Then I add a little twist to the
movement. I perform the movement like normal by pushing the torso upright
and then I will turn the shoulders to the right and then to the left while keeping
the hips down. This small addition will open your hips up and create more
movement in the spine.

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 FROG POSE
If hip mobility is your issue, the frog pose is the best way to improve things
for weightlifting, powerlifting, and strength sports in general. I learned this
movement from Dr. Charlie Weingroff, a powerlifting movement specialist.
Yeah, I said a powerlifting movement specialist. I had never heard of such a
thing either until I was at a seminar with Charlie. Get this: Dr. Weingroff can
back squat 805lb and perform a full split. Now that’s a man that I will listen to
regarding mobility. A dude weighing 150lb at 6’1” isn’t that impressive when
all he talks about is mobility. Of course he is flexible because he doesn’t have
any muscles at all.

I am more impressed by someone who can perform big lifts and

demonstrate optimal mobility. At the end of the day, that is what I am looking
for in my athletes and myself. The frog pose is a simple mobility exercise
that can help all strength athletes get there by maintaining healthy hips.

Here is the way to perform the frog pose. While lying prone on the ground,
come up onto the knees and elbows. Next carefully let the knees slide out to
the side while maintaining a 90-degree at the knee with the lower and upper
leg. The feet are to turn outward. See the picture below:

No Weaknesses 56
 Once again, the key to this exercise will be the diaphragm breathing to relax
the joints. Let the knees and shins drift out until there is an uncomfortable
(but not painful) feeling in the adductors and hips. When you reach that point
of being uncomfortable, slide the hips towards the feet while maintaining
a back that is flat and parallel to the ground. I recommend thinking about
reaching with the tailbone. A simple trick that will give you extra movement
is to flex the abs while reaching. This will distract the brain from the hips and
adductors, allowing them to relax more.

After reaching the hips as far as possible hold that position for 10-15
seconds, then return to your original position. I recommend repeating this
movement about 5-8 repetitions. This movement is great to prepare the body
for proper squat mechanics.

FIRE HYDRANT
This exercise is performed on one’s hands and knees. The movement is
performed the way it sounds - like a dog urinating on a fire hydrant. The knee
is lifted straight out to the side while maintaining a 90-degree-angle at the
knee. I normally repeat this movement for 8-10 repetitions per side. See the
picture below:

No Weaknesses 57
 The key to this exercise working is to not let the hips rise when lifting the
knees. Don’t worry if you can only go out a few inches. Simply go as far as
you can with proper mechanics. You will also notice that the movement will
strengthen the glutes, so you are killing two birds with one stone. (Not that
I kill birds.) Strong glutes with proper movement of the hips will result in a
healthy body.

LEG SWING
Leg swings are the simplest exercise in the world for hip mobility. When
you swing the legs from front to back, you are mobilizing the flexors and
extensors of the hips. When you swing the legs from side to side, you are
mobilizing the adductors and the abductors. After performing leg swings
from side to side and from front to back, you have mobilized all the primary
movers of the hips. Check out the pics:

No Weaknesses 58
 The main key is to maintain the angle of the torso to the floor while
swinging. You want the motion to come from the hips and not the torso. Leg
swings are a great mobility tool if you are in a hurry. You should always, at a
minimum, perform leg swings.

HIP AND CORE STRENGTHENING

BODYWEIGHT EXERCISES
Mobility is important, but stabilization is just as important when it comes
to spine and pelvis health. I watch so many people spend countless hours on
mobility work, but the same people spend zero time stabilizing. I have news
for you: If the body feels stable, it is more likely to allow you to move into

No Weaknesses 59
various positions. When the body is signaled that an area is weak, it tightens
up to protect itself.

Another thing that chaps my butt is the use of the word core. The core
isn’t just the abdominal muscles - not even close. When exercise scientists
are talking about the core, they are referring to every muscle that supports
the spine and pelvis. That is a lot of muscles. Another key is that the muscles
protecting the spine and pelvis must work synergistically together.

It is important to maintain strong glutes, transverse abdominis, rectus

abdominals, obliques, and spinal erectors. I am just going to reference the
bigger muscles to give you an idea of what needs to be done. There are a few
exercises that can be performed at home that will really go a long way to helping
stabilize the spine and pelvis. Let’s start with those bodyweight exercises.

BIRD DOG
Notice how a lot of exercises sound like they are performed. This exercise
is no different. To perform this exercise, the athlete starts on their hands and
knees and then lifts the left arm and the right leg (opposites) straight out.
See pic below:

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 Here are a few keys: First, the athlete is to maintain a neutral spine all the
way down from the head to the hips. That means the chin stays down and
the belly button is pulled to the spine. The hips will also remain stable and
pointing straight down to the floor. Performed correctly, this movement will
strengthen the glutes and the entire posterior chain. This movement will also
aid in improving mobility in the hips and thoracic spine.

I recommend holding the position 10-15 seconds and then switching

arms and legs for another 10-15 second hold. The athlete should repeat this
2-3 times per side, focusing on proper position the entire time.

There are a few variations that can make this exercise more challenging.
The first variation is to touch the elbow to the knee. This movement will
encourage proper spine and hip movement while strengthening the obliques
and abdominals. See the image below:

For this exercise, I like to perform 5-8 repetitions per side while holding
each position 3-5 seconds each. The other variation that I like to perform is
using pulses. Dr. Stuart McGill taught me this variation. The athlete simply
performs several small and strong pulses in the arms and legs. You will really
notice this exercise working with a major burn.

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 PLANK
When it comes to working the abdominals, the only exercise that I like
to use is the plank. The main function of the abdominal is to hold the torso
upright while protecting the spine. Crunches and sit-ups do nothing but lead
to dysfunction.

Why would anyone perform multiple repetitions of an exercise that

promotes curving the spine into flexion? Think about it from a functional
standpoint. How often in our everyday lives are we asked to perform a sit-up
or crunch? The answer is about once per day to get out of bed.

Planks promote a stable spine, which is the main goal of any strength
athlete. The first goal of any athlete should be to hold a plank for three sets
of two minutes, but with proper technique. Check out the image:

There are a few keys to getting the most benefit out of the plank. First, a
neutral spine is a common theme, as I am sure that you are figuring out by
now. A lot of people either let the lumbar spine sag downwards, or they make
their butt into a tent. We are looking for neutral.

Once you can perform the prescribed three sets of two minutes, it is time
to move on to plank variations. Let’s look at some of those.

No Weaknesses 62
 PLANK WHILE RAISING AN ARM, LEG, OR BOTH
Remember, when performing any of the variations, the rules for the plank
remains the same. The golden rule is to maintain a neutral spine. Here are
some of the ways you could vary the plank.

The one-armed plank variation has the athlete simply raising the right or
left arm straight out. I would start with holding each arm out 15-30 seconds
while maintaining the plank the entire time.

The one-legged plank has the athlete raising the right or left leg straight
up. I would start with holding each leg out 15-30 seconds while maintaining
the plank the entire time. Try not to turn the hip when you lift your leg. This is
a great exercise for strengthening the glutes while stabilizing the torso.

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 An athlete can perform this last variation by raising the right or left arm
straight out and the opposite leg straight up. I would start with holding each
position 15-30 seconds per side while maintaining the plank the entire time
for three sets and at least three times per week. This variation will challenge
your stability. If your posture is compromised at all, go back to an easier
variation of the plank.

PLANK WITH A LAT PULL

I added this exercise to my melting pot after attending my first Dr. Stuart McGill
seminar. This exercise is almost like the one arm plank except you are doing
band lat pulls with the arm off the ground. This exercise is a great way to work
the latissimus dorsi, transverse abdominis, and rectus abdominis synergistically
together. This is a more functional way of working the abdominals.

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 I would start with 15-20 repetitions per arm performed with a three
second concentric contraction and a three second eccentric contraction. I
recommend starting out with 3-4 sets and at least three days per week.

STABILITY BALL STIR THE POT PLANK VARIATION

This is another one that I got from Stu McGill. Basically, the athlete
performs the plank with the forearms supported on a stability ball and the
feet on the floor. The athlete is to pretend that they are stirring a big pot of
soup with both arms making big circles with the stability ball. This is a great
exercise for teaching stabilization while using small pulse contractions. I
recommend 10-15 circles each direction for three sets and performed three
times per week. See image:

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 SIDE PLANK
Side planks are performed on either the right or left side of the body. The
athlete will stabilize the entire body on the forearm and feet while keeping
the body in perfect alignment.

The free arm can rest on the hip or can be held straight in the air. This
exercise is great for stabilizing the obliques. If this position is too challenging,
the athlete can stabilize on the forearms and the knees.

To make the exercise more challenging, here are some tougher variations.
There are two ways to advance this exercise that I like to use with my athletes.
Both ways incorporate more of the total core to perform the movement
making the exercise more functional.

SIDE PLANK REACH THROUGH

Using the free arm, the athlete will reach under the body between
the forearm on the ground and the hip as far as possible and then
reach up as high as possible. This exercise is great for stabilization
and for mobility.

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 SIDE PLANK BAND ROWS
This is my favorite variation because once again you are using more
muscles synergistically together. The whole point of stabilizing in training is
to prepare the athlete to stabilize while performing other movements. This
movement is performed in the full plank position while using the free hand to
perform 15-20 rows per side.

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 SLING SHOT HIP CIRCLE WALKS
Mark Bell’s Sling Shot Hip Circle (check out howmuchyabench.net) is a
great tool for developing strong glutes. Weak glutes are a common cause
of hip and back pain. In today’s world of sitting at a desk, it is common for
glutes to become inactive. There are three ways that I like to activate the
glutes with the hip circle.

The first is hip circle around the knee duck walks. This exercise is
performed in a squat stance with around a 90-degree angle at the knees. The
athlete will then take 10-20 steps forwards, and the 10-20 steps backwards.

A second exercise is teeter-totters with the band around the ankles.

Place the hip circle around the ankles of the athlete and then have the
athlete step sideways with their right foot. Then the athlete places the
right foot on the ground with the majority of their weight on the right
foot. Next the athlete will slowly lift the left foot off the ground and
slowly lower it in place with the right foot.

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 The athlete will repeat the movement for 10-15 repetitions. Then
perform the movement to the other side. I recommend repeating this
movement 3 sets and 3 times per week. This movement is great to
perform as a warm up to activate the glutes before a squat workout.

Finally, there’s the hip circle squat. With the hip circle right above or
below the knees, have the athlete perform bodyweight squats. This is
a great way to activate the glutes while performing the most functional
movement on earth - the squat. You can use a kettlebell or you can
simply slip on the hip circle while warming up for a back squat.

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 ADVANCED HIP AND CORE
STRENGTHENING EXERCISES
Once an athlete feels comfortable with the bodyweight exercises, I
recommend progressing on to my favorite advanced exercises. When it comes
to protecting the back and developing healthy hips, I stick with direct glute
work and heavy carry variations. Remember: The definition of the core is all the
muscles that protect the spine and pelvis. Performing heavy glute work and
carries will pretty much cover all of those muscles.

Thanks to my man Bret Contreras, I have one main go-to glute exercise: the
hip thruster. This exercise can be performed with kettlebells or dumbbells, but I
normally stick with a barbell. There are two main ways to perform the hip thruster.

SUPINE ON THE FLOOR HIP THRUSTER

The athlete rolls the barbell level with the hip. Then with bent knees and
the feet flat on the ground, the athlete contracts the glutes, pushing the
hips to neutral. I recommend also contracting the abs to bring the pelvis to
neutral as well.

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 I will have the athlete repeat this movement 6-12 repetitions for 3-4 sets
two times per week. This movement is great as a warm up when performed
lighter with the goal to activate the glutes. We use it to strengthen the glutes
towards the end of the workout as well. We keep the weight heavy with this
exercise - as heavy as possible for the prescribed repetitions.

ELEVATED HIP THRUSTER

This is the advanced version. Everything is the same except a bench
is placed at the back to support the athlete. This will increase the range
of motion, which will also recruit more fibers.

Bret also designed a sweet machine that makes the elevated version
easier to perform. The machine is named (you guessed it) The Hip
Thruster. You can check it out at thehipthruster.com.

The machine can also be used with a band. Bands are more comfortable
on the hip region, and they are great for accommodating the resistance
of the movement. Accommodating resistance is a term made famous by
Louie Simmons. To put it simply, accommodating resistance is using tools
like bands and chains to add more resistance along the range of motion as
the movement becomes easier.

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 Strong glute development is paramount for a healthy back. If the glutes
do their job with hip extension, abduction, and external rotation, the back will
be left alone to do its job of protecting the spine. When the glutes don’t work
well, the back steps in to perform tasks like extension. That is when pain
arrives on the scene.

HEAVY CARRIES
It is safe to say that heavy carries will pretty much cure all ailments.
That might be a bit of an overstatement. However, when it comes to a
healthy core, low back, and glutes, heavy carries will always be on my list
of prescribed exercises.

The muscles of the core are primarily used as anti-motion controllers

and rarely as motion generators. Athletes who produce motion from the
muscles of the torso are usually the ones that get injured first. Athletes
who produce force from the hips while maintaining stiffness in the torso
are the ones that produce the most overall force - and they are the ones
that get injured less.

Performing typical “core” exercises like sit-ups or crunches encourages

movement in the spine, and they inevitably lead to injury. One common
theme that I have noticed over the years is the safest movement patterns
of the body are also the strongest. A stable torso is the perfect torso for
producing force, and it is the perfect torso for keeping the spine and hips
healthy.

The best way to train the torso to be strong and stable is through
heavy carries. The best way to teach the glutes to stabilize and fire is
through heavy carries. One foot is on the ground, causing the glutes and
musculature surrounding the stabilizing hip to fire. The other foot is lifting
to step forward with the help of the quadratus lumborum and the abdominal
obliques, lifting the pelvis. In one exercise, you are encouraging stability
and proper movement.

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 The first heavy carry variation is the bilateral farmer walk. I like to use
the farmer walk handles that can be purchased from just about any good
equipment website. There should be three focuses while performing this
movement: capacity, weight, and turning. Capacity can be tracked in a few
different ways like distance, sets, and/or time.

I recommend increasing the weight once you can handle a given weight
for three or more sets of 45-60 seconds of total time without setting the
weight down. Don’t get caught up in the weight. I recommend focusing on a
continued increase in work capacity.

I like to incorporate turns to increase the total time that the athlete is forced
to stabilize. This will also cause the quadratus lumborum and abdominal
obliques to lift longer creating a greater capacity.

The unilateral farmer walk is another variant. I really like these because
they put further tension on the abdominal obliques and quadratus lumborum
of the carrying side to stabilize the hip in a neutral position. This will also
help to keep the total load down a bit while producing a good result.

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 One key is to keep the carrying elbow out and away from the body
so as to not encourage leaning and supporting the carried weight
against the body. The goal is to maintain as much of a neutral hip and
spine as possible.

The last heavy carry variation I use is the Zercher carry. Zercher
movements have been around since the circus strongman days, but they
still serve a major purpose in the development of strength athletes. A
Zercher movement is any movement performed with a barbell held in the
crook of the arm at the elbow.

Any movement performed in this manner puts a lot of stress on

the abdominals to hold the athlete upright, which is exactly what they
were designed to do. Strong and functional abdominals equal a healthy
back. When the abdominals are doing their job, the back doesn’t have
to fight all day to keep the spine protected because part of their job is
taken by the abdominals.

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 Zercher carries are a great way to stabilize the spine by recruiting more
of the abdominals. The recommended load is any weight that can be carried
between 30-60 seconds. Once the athlete can carry a loaded barbell 3-4 sets
for 60 seconds, it is then time to add weight.

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 THE SHOULDER
The shoulder is actually made up of several joints that all work together
to help orchestrate movement. The two more important ones that have a
bigger impact on movement are the glenohumeral joint (GHJ), where the
upper arm articulates with the scapula, and the scapulothoracic articulation,
where the scapula glides over the rib cage.

A couple keys to having healthy shoulders are to ensure that the structures
stabilizing the shoulder are strong and balanced and that the scapula is able
to move freely and through a full range of motion. This means having good
stability in the scapula and good mobility of the thoracic spine and the areas
around the shoulder.

Throughout all the joints in the body, there is a big give and take between
mobility and stability. Often, the more mobile a joint, the less stability it has
and thus the greater the risk for injury. The opposite is also true; the more
stable a joint is, the less mobile it tends to be.

The GHJ is a ball-and-socket joint and is thus the most mobile joint in
the body. However, all of that mobility comes at a price; without adequate
stability, the shoulder is prone to dislocation, tearing of the labrum and/or
surrounding ligaments, and impingement.

The GHJ gets most of its stability from the rotator cuff, which
is comprised of four muscles: the supraspinatus, infraspinatus,
subscapularis, and teres minor. These muscles work to centralize the
head of the humerus in the socket. A few other important muscles that
help to support the scapulae are the upper and lower trapezius, serratus
anterior, and rhomboids. If these muscles are weak and cannot meet
the demands of the activity from an athlete, the athlete is more likely to
experience injury. Therefore, keeping the rotator cuff and other scapular
muscles strong should be a priority for any athlete.

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 THORACIC SPINE, PEC,
AND LAT MOBILITY
Before jumping into the strength part of the workout, it’s important to
mobilize the areas that are stiff and going to inhibit good movement. A few
key areas to focus on when talking about the shoulders are the thoracic
spine, pecs, and lats. If the t-spine is stiff, the body will then resort to getting
mobility from the shoulders and/or the lower back. Here are my favorite ways
of mobilizing the thoracic spine.

FOAM ROLL UPPER BACK

This one is the easiest thing to do because all you need to do is lie with
your upper back on a foam roller and let your back flex and extend slowly.
Do this while keeping your hips on the floor, grabbing your opposite shoulder
with each hand (give yourself a hug). Start with the roller at the top of your
upper back and gradually work your way down to your mid back. Make sure
to take deep breathes to allow your muscles to relax and really allow your
thoracic area to open up.

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 DRIVING THE BUS
I got this from Kelly Starrett a few years ago, and it works wonders. Take
a peanut and place it between your shoulder blades as you lie down. Then
have a friend place a bumper plate on your chest just for some extra pressure.
The smaller surface area of the peanut plus the weight of the bumper plate
allow you to work deeper into the upper back to get a better effect.

Try crunching up and down slowly as well as side to side. I recommend

spending anywhere from a minute to two minutes here.

QUADRUPED THORACIC ROTATIONS

This is a great exercise to add to your warm-up and doesn’t require any
extra equipment. Simply kneel on all fours, take one hand and put it behind
your head, and then alternate between pulling your head down toward your
supporting arm and then rotating away as far as you can go.

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 Try moving through 10-15 reps per side while taking deep breaths. People
today tend to get so stiff throughout the thoracic spine due to the prevalence
of desk jobs and extra sitting that our society encourages. This movement is
a big help in restoring mobility through the upper back.

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 CAT / COW
This is another kneeling exercise where you will alternate moving through
thoracic extension and flexion. Take a deep breath when going into the
extension phase (cow) and exhale during the flexion phase (cat).

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 LACROSSE BALL PEC MOBILIZATION
Other areas that are often tight and can restrict shoulder movement
are the lats and the pecs. As these muscles are located toward the front
of the shoulder, you can imagine that if they are tight, they will pull the
shoulder forward into a suboptimal position. Try taking a lacrosse ball to
these areas to loosen them up prior to training.

With this mobilization, you will lean against a wall with a lacrosse
ball putting pressure on the pec. Hold pressure on areas that feel tight or
tender for 20-30 seconds. You can also move the arm on that side up and
down while rolling the ball to get an even better effect.

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 LACROSSE BALL ARMPIT MOBILIZATION
Here you will lean against the wall with a lacrosse ball just under the
armpit. Roll around slowly finding tight spots and holding some pressure
there for 20-30 seconds. This spot is usually pretty gnarly on most people.

LAT STRETCHES WITH BANDS

Using a band is also a good way to stretch and improve range of motion.

To perform this lat stretch, tie a band to something at about head level.
Then reach through the band, grab it for a secure grip, back away to put
tension on the band, and lean forward. As you feel the stretch in your lat, you
can step the stretch up a notch by rotating your hand from palm up to palm
down slowly.

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 The next stretch is great for the lats and helps the shoulder get more
comfortable in an externally rotated position. For this stretch the band will
be tied down on a low spot by the floor. Reach through the band, grab it, turn
to face the opposite direction, and lift your arm so your elbow is up and your
hand is behind your shoulder. Focus on keeping the rib cage tucked down to
avoid hyper-extending the lower back. Hold for 30-60 seconds per side.

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 IMPROVING POSTURE AND
ADDRESSING IMBALANCES
The ideal position for the shoulder is for the GHJ to be totally centered.
Commonly though, due to issues like poor posture, tight muscles at the
front of the shoulder, and weak muscles at the back of the shoulder,
the humerus gets pulled forward and the scapula get rotated anteriorly.
These problems can then cause impingement, tendonitis, tears, and
poor shoulder function.

Good posture entails everything being in line from the ears down
to the ankles. Everything should be stacked: ears over shoulders, over
hips, over ankles. Avoid hunching over with rounded shoulders and a
forward head when sitting or standing.

Posture is something that can be difficult to fix because it’s a habit.

Making changes requires a lot of thought until the changes can become
new habits. However, once you create the habit of good posture, it’s
more likely to stay with you.

Whenever you are sitting or standing, focus on sitting upright with

your shoulders back and down, and your chest up and out. Frequently
throughout the day, check in with yourself and make sure your posture
is good. Good posture is just all around better for you. It’s better for
your shoulders, and it makes you look better and more confident.

Muscular imbalances in the shoulder region are particularly

prevalent. We talked about muscular imbalances in great detail during
the first section of this book, but I want to mention this again here
because this is particularly crucial for shoulder health, function, and
pain prevention.

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 Most sports involve repetitive motions whether it’s running, throwing,
jumping, etc. If these movements are all an athlete does, imbalances are
bound to occur and these increase the risk of injury. The best way to improve
overall strength and prevent imbalances in the body is to include movements
opposite of those used in the sport. For example, a baseball player who does
a lot of throwing is putting his shoulder into internal rotation repeatedly. If he
doesn’t balance out this repetitive motion with some exercises that encourage
external rotation, he’s more likely to have a symptomatic shoulder.

SCAPULAR STABILIZER
STRENGTHENING EXERCISES
When we discussed back and hip health, we saw that both mobility
and stability are important. It’s the same with the shoulder. Now that we’ve
addressed some mobility protocols, let’s move on to stability.

Here are some of the most effective methods I’ve found for strengthening
the muscles that stabilize the scapulae.

FACE PULLS
To perform face pulls, you can use a band or a cable machine. Whatever
your setup, make sure the tension is light enough that you can actually use
your upper back to do the work. Have the band or the cable start slightly
above your head, use a pronated grip (palms down) to grab the band, stand
with slightly bent knees, and squeeze your shoulder blades together before
pulling the band toward your face. Adding a pause with your scapulae fully
retracted is a good way to ensure full range of motion.

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 If doing these as a warmup, limit your sets to 1-2 sets of 15-20 reps to
prevent fatigue from affecting your actual workout. When doing these after
a workout, you can do more sets.

BAND PULL-APARTS
There are several ways to do these but I like to keep it simple and stick
to the straight armed pull apart, alternating between a supinated (palms
up) grip and a pronated (palms down) grip each set. Keep the arms and the
wrists straight and pull the band to the middle of the chest.

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 Performing these while lying with a foam roller along the spine will help
ensure that the athlete is using the scapula properly and not over-extending
at the spine.

Also, I like to pause with these at the point of full retraction of the scapulae.
Try 2-3 sets of 15-20 reps.

Y’S, T’S, W’S, L’S

YTWL’s are an awesome way to way to strengthen all of the stabilizer
muscles in the upper back and around the scapula. You can do these without
any weight or with very light dumbbells. Try doing a few sets of 10 reps for
each position to keep the shoulders healthy.

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 These are named pretty simply, as you’ll see. For the “Y” portion, lie on
either a physio ball or a bench and hold out the arms so that you make a
“Y” shape. From there, slowly lower and raise your arms. Focus should be
on squeezing the scapulae together at the top and keeping the thumbs
pointing upward.

For the “T,” hold out your arms so that you make a “T” shape. From there
slowly lower and raise your arms. Again focus should be on squeezing the
scapulae together at the top of the movement.

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 For the “W,” have your arms bent at your sides. Then raise your upper
arms so that they make a “W” shape.

The “L” is similar. Start with upper arms in line with your head. Your
forearms are pointed down. Then rotate your arms in such a way to raise
your hands back up to the same ending position as the “W.”

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 Another way to do all of these is in a static hold. With this variation you
will hold each position for 30-60 seconds.

PUSH-UP PLUS
Push-ups are great ways to mobilize the scapulae as well as strengthen
the muscles that stabilize it, such as the serratus anterior. Most people
think that if they can do a push-up, they should move onto the bench press.
However, the barbell bench press limits how your scapulae can move. The
great thing about push-ups is that they allow the scapulae to rotate freely
through a full range of motion.

To get full range of motion, start with your chest touching the floor and
you push up until the arms are locked and you have full protraction of the
scapulae. Make sure you keep your elbows tucked in tight to your sides and
maintain a tight posture like a plank position. If regular push-ups are too
difficult, you can place your hands on a bench or against a wall to make them
a little easier.

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 CHEST TO BAR PULL-UP
Similarly with the push-ups above, chest to bar pull-ups allow full range
of motion of the scapulae as well as strengthening the entire upper back.

A lot of people will perform a pull-up to the point where the chin goes
over the bar, but this neglects the complete range of motion of which the
scapulae are capable. Note we are talking about a strict chest to bar pull-up
here. If these are too difficult, the athlete can use a band or a machine like
the Gravitron.

You can switch up your grip with pronated (palms down), supinated
(palms up), neutral (palms facing in), or even mixed (one palm up, the other
palm down).

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 ONE-ARM UPRIGHT ROW / HIGH PULL
Most athletes will perform pulling exercises in two directions - a downward
pull like a pull-up and a horizontal pull like a bent row. Few people actually
utilize the upward pull, which trains the upward rotation of the scapula and
thus this is a big area of weakness in many athletes. You can use a kettlebell
or a dumbbell but make sure to hold the weight so that your wrist comes
vertically up your torso to your collarbone and you get your elbow up high.

FARMER CARRY
The farmer carry is a fantastic exercise for pretty much the entire body
as already mentioned in the section on the hips and back. The shoulder gets
huge benefits as well.

Additionally, if done unilaterally (one-arm farmer carry), you can improve

differences in strength from one side to another and also work more
stabilization of the shoulders and hips.

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 OVERHEAD CARRY
As far as overhead stability goes, overhead carries are the best exercise
I’ve come across. These require you to brace the trunk and stabilize the
scapulae while pulling the ribcage down.

The goal with the loaded carries should be to progressively increase the
load, distance, and/or time under tension.

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 Just like with the farmer carries, these can be performed with one arm or
both arms. If an athlete shows an imbalance in strength or mobility from one
shoulder to the other, one-arm overhead carries can be performed to even
out the imbalance.

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 THE ANKLE
As mentioned earlier, the feet are the very bottom of the kinetic chain,
so any issues with them can trickle upward to affect the rest of the body.
A common place that people will see limitations is in the ankles. The ankle
is actually three joints that are designed to plantarflex (point the toes away
from the shin) and dorsiflex (bring the toes toward the shin).

Ankle mobility goes a long way in keeping the ankle healthy as well as
everything above it in the kinetic chain, i.e. knees, hips, back, etc. If the ankle
can move the way it is designed to, the other joints upstream don’t need to
work overtime to compensate for any lack of range of motion in the ankle.

ANKLE MOBILITY
A lack of mobility in the ankle is a very commonly seen issue, so there’s a
good chance that many athletes would benefit from the below protocols for
mobilizing the ankle.

ANKLE TO WALL DRILL

For this drill, step your foot a few inches from a wall. From there you will
push your knee forward over your toes until your knee touches the wall. If
you can get your knee to touch while keeping your heel flat on the floor and
maintain the arch in your foot, move your foot back half an inch and go again.
Do this until you reach a point where your knee cannot touch.

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 From there, go back and forth as far as you can for about 20 reps to
see if you can improve range of motion further. Take note of how far away
your foot is from the wall so you can compare the other ankle. Repeat on
the other side.

BANDED ANKLE MOBILIZATION

For this mobilization, tie a band low around a pole and step through with
one leg so that the band is around the front of your ankle.

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 From there, step forward to put tension on the band and then just
lunge forward and backward on the leg with the band working the full
ankle range of motion. Come as far forward as you can until your heel
starts to lift, then go back.

Perform 3 rounds of 20 reps per side.

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 FOOT AND LOWER LEG
STRENGTHENING EXERCISES

In order to keep the ankles and feet healthy, it’s important to incorporate
strengthening exercises. Shoes have actually changed how the foot interacts
with the ground when we walk and run. Because of this, most people’s feet
and lower leg muscles are weak and prone to issues like ankle sprains,
plantar fasciitis, bunions, etc.

Strengthening the feet and lower legs can be as simple as doing some
of your strength training barefoot or as complicated as doing specific
drills for working on this area.

My friend, Corey Duvall of the Stay Active Clinic in Asheville, teaches

some good drills to activate and strengthen the muscles of the feet and
lower leg. These drills come in pairs that are performed in the same session,
so it’s easier to remember them.

FIRST PAIR: INSIDE/OUTSIDE WALKS

The first movement of this pair is to lift the arches and curl your toes.
Here, you will be shifting your weight to the outsides of your feet, curling your
toes, and walking forward.

Next, lift the outsides and lift the toes. Here, you will be shifting your
weight to the insides of your feet, picking the outsides up off the floor, and
raising your toes along with them as you walk forward.

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 SECOND PAIR: 45 DEGREE IN/OUT WALKS
First, point the toes in 45 degrees. This one is self-explanatory. You will
just walk forward with your feet turned in at a 45 degree angle. This is often
called walking “pigeon toed.” Once you are set up with your feet at the proper
angle, you want to walk heel to toe and make sure you push off of the big toe
with each step.

The next movement of this pair is to point the toes out 45 degrees. Also
self-explanatory. You will just walk forward with your feet turned out at a 45
degree angle. Again, you want to walk heel to toe and push off of the big toe
as you step forward.

THIRD PAIR: HEEL/TOE WALKS

Walk forward on the heels for the first drill . This one is pretty simple. Just
pick your toes up and walk forward letting only your heels touch the floor.

Second, walk backward on the toes. Once you get to the end of your walk
on your heels, shift your weight so now only the balls of your feet and your
toes touch the floor and walk backward.

DUCK WALKS AND CARRIES

Some other exercises that have already been mentioned in other sections
but are still great for the ankle are duck walks (see page 68) and carries.
Duck walks are great because they can help with moving through a full range
of motion in the ankles as well as the hips. Duck walks are tough at first but
get easier the more you practice and the better your ankle and hip mobility
become. Try to step heel to toe with each step and keep your hips low.

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 Carries have been mentioned all over this book for a reason. They have
great benefits for the whole body. If you can do these indoors, try doing them
barefoot. The extra uneven load works your feet and lower leg muscle as
they work to stabilize each step. This is an easy way to keep your ankles
strong and supported.

LIFTING BAREFOOT
One other simple way to strengthen your feet and lower leg is to try doing
other lifting exercises barefoot: deadlifts, squats, push press, lunges, etc. As
long as you are careful not to drop anything on your feet, you should be good
to go. Certain exercises like single-leg deadlifts actually get easier when you
go barefoot because your feet can articulate with the floor better than when
in a shoe, which improves balance.

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 THE KNEE
Most people have experienced some kind of knee pain or injury at some
point. The knee plays a huge role in everyday activities like walking, standing,
squatting, etc. - not to mention the role it plays in athletic endeavors.

The knee is comprised of the articulation of the femur (bone in the upper
leg) with the tibia (bone in front of the lower leg), as well as where the patella
glides over the femur.

Because the knee is a hinge joint whose job is to flex and extend, it doesn’t
do well with movement in other directions.

To keep everything in place, there are four ligaments at work: the MCL
and LCL protect the knee from excessive sideways movements, and the
ACL and PCL protect from hyperextension and hyperflexion of the knee,
respectively. There is also the meniscus in the middle that acts like a kind of
shock absorber. The hamstrings are also a huge player in knee stability.

Because the knee works mainly in one plane, it is imperative to have

good mobility in the ankles and the hips. If these areas cannot move as they
should, extra stress is put on the knee.

Contact injuries sometimes cannot be avoided, but injuries to the

ligaments in the knee from non-contact movements such as jumping, landing,
and changing directions are the result of weakness and instability. These
can absolutely be prevented.

So just as with other areas, we will address the mobility of the knee and
surrounding tissues and then move to exercises which promote strength and
stability in the knee.

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 KNEE MOBILITY
We’ve already addressed ankle and hip mobility earlier in this book. With
the knee being in between the ankle and the hip in the kinetic chain, their
mobility naturally affects the knee. So review and implement those sections.

Additionally it’s important to make time to stretch and do soft tissue work
on the muscles directly above and below the knee.

COUCH STRETCH
This stretch will work on the rectus femoris, which crosses the knee and hip.
Kneel on the ground as shown with one foot forward and one foot placed against
a wall (or couch, as the name implies). You can add a band for extra effect.

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 CALF STRETCH
To stretch the calf muscles, I like to step a foot onto an inclined
surface like the back of a squat rack and then lean forward. To stretch
more of the soleus (lower calf muscle) bend your knee slightly on the leg
that you are stretching. Hold for 30-60 seconds and then switch sides.
Repeat up to 3 times.

HAMSTRING STRETCH
There are tons of ways to stretch your hamstrings. If you have really tight
hamstrings, you should be stretching a little each day you train.

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 To stretch the hamstrings you can just stand up and prop your leg on a
tall box until you feel a mild stretch, sit on the floor with your legs apart and
reach to one side, or lie on your back with your leg up and a band around your
foot applying tension.

GLUTE/HIP STRETCH
ROMWOD (check them out at romwod.com) or yoga is awesome for
these kind of stretches! Pigeon pose from yoga is amazing for stretching
both the hips and the glutes. Try spending a minute or two on each side to
really loosen up.

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 MORE SOFT TISSUE WORK
This might seem a little redundant at this point, but soft-tissue work
is so important and helpful for taking care of your muscles, joints, and
other tissues.

Take some time to foam roll or use a lacrosse ball on your calves,
hamstrings, quads, vastus medius (the muscle to the inside of the knee),
vastus lateralus (the muscle to the outside of the knee), glutes, IT band, the
tensor fascia latae (a muscle on the outside of hip), and the tibialis anterior
(a muscle on the front of the calf).

We’ve already touched on working out the above areas, but the body is
so connected that there will be overlapping areas.

KNEE STABILITIZER
STRENGTHENING EXERCISES
The big players when it comes to knee stability are the glutes, the
hamstrings, and the quadricep muscles.

The quads and the hamstrings have opposing actions: hamstrings flex
the knee and quads extend it.

The main thing to consider with knee health and stability is balance
within the body. You want to make sure you don’t neglect the hamstrings, for
example, by never doing any exercises that strengthen the posterior chain.
And likewise, if you only deadlift and never do squats or other knee flexion
exercises, you are also more likely to experience some knee issues.

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 Strong glutes are extremely important as they work to externally rotate the
leg and prevent the knee from collapsing inward during athletic movements
like squatting, running, landing, cutting, etc.

The hamstrings’ job is to flex the knee. Because they attach behind the
knee, they play a big role in supporting it.

Also important is a strong VMO - this is the muscle to the inside of

the knee (also known as the tear drop muscle). It also works to stabilize
the knee.

Another thing to consider is strength balance from one side to another.

Humans are naturally going to have imbalances from side to side but if
unchecked, they can lead to injuries. Unilateral exercises that force you to
do things with one leg instead of two are helpful for keeping the stabilizer
muscles strong and for evening out differences in strength and flexibility
between sides of the body.

Here are some good exercises that could be incorporated into a warm up
to help prime the body for activity that will involve the hips and knees.

RUNNER HOLDS DRILL

We use these drills a lot in our general athlete preparation warmups.
These drills make the athlete focus on balance, coordination, and mobility
as they warm up.

Start by standing on one leg with the opposite leg up at a 90 degree angle
and bring your arms into a “runner position” - one hand up by the side of the
face and the opposite one by the hip. Both arms should be at 90 degrees.
This position should mimic how you would look mid-stride when running.

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 From here, lean forward from the hips and reach the non-standing leg
back. The goal is to be able to balance and get your torso about parallel with
the floor. Pause there, then return. Repeat for 5-10 times per side.

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 The other variation of this drill involves the same setup but instead of
leaning forward, you will lean toward the side and reach over your head
with both arms. This one is usually a lot trickier for athletes, and you can
immediately tell who is tight in the hips and adductors and who needs to
work on balance.

GLUTE BRIDGE
A glute bridge is simply an unloaded version of the hip thrust mentioned
earlier in this book. The athlete will lie on their back with their legs bent and
then push their hips up while squeezing their glutes at the top.

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 This is a great exercise to get the glutes activated and ready for athletic
activity. Try 2-3 sets of 15-20 reps.

To make it a little tougher, try doing it with one leg instead of two. You still
want control and full hip extension at the top.

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 MONSTER WALKS WITH BAND AROUND ANKLES
These are very similar to hip strengthening exercises mentioned earlier.
Many of these drills have lots of carryover to several parts of the body. If
the hips are moving as they should, they will take excessive strain off of
the knees.

To perform this exercise, place a band or slingshot around the ankles.

Very slightly bend the knees. Then walk forward, backward, or side-to-side
while not allowing your knees to bend or unbend any further.

Here are some exercises that will help develop strength in the hamstrings,
quadriceps, and glutes.

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 DEEP SQUAT
Squatting deeply not only recruits more muscle fibers, it’s actually better
for your knees than stopping at parallel. Squatting deeper recruits more
of the glutes and the VMO (Vastus Medius), which is a big player in knee
stability. At parallel is actually where the forces on the ligaments of the knee
are the greatest. Going below parallel helps to distribute the forces in the
knee evenly and safely.

To perform a squat, start standing upright with your feet somewhere

between hip and shoulder width apart. Next bend at the knees and the hips,
while staying as upright as possible and keeping your feet flat. If you cannot
squat below parallel without rounding your back or staying flat footed,
you need to work on your hip mobility. See the section on the hip for good
mobility exercises.

To progress the squat, try holding a kettlebell or dumbbell in front of the

body for extra load. For even more of a challenge, use a barbell on your upper
back for a back squat or on the front of your shoulders for a front squat.

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 SINGLE-LEG DEADLIFT
Anytime you are making your legs work independently of each other,
chances are that it’s good for your hips and knees. Doing single leg exercises
challenges you to stabilize your knees and hips and will also even out
weaknesses from one side to the other.

The single leg deadlift is not only great for improving strength in the
posterior chain (glutes, hamstrings, and back), but also it improves knee
stability and balance and can address imbalances from one leg to the other.

To start, stand upright with your feet under your hips. Next, lift one foot
off the ground and hinge from your hips, keeping your back flat and reaching
back with your leg. Try hinging forward until your torso is about parallel to the
floor. Keep a slight bend in your standing leg and focus on keeping the knee
stable and controlled. Avoid inward movement of the knee. Once you reach
parallel with your torso, reverse direction to pull yourself back to standing.

You can progress this movement by holding a dumbbell or kettlebell in

the opposite arm of whatever leg you are working at the time and hinging
until the weight touches the floor. The next step to progress the movement
is to hold a weight in both hands for more load. Once that becomes easy, you
can use a barbell to challenge yourself even more.

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 LUNGE
The lunge is a great exercise for the glutes, quads, and hamstrings. The
cool thing about the lunge is that it is such a basic movement, and there
are so many ways to switch it up and add variety. You can do lunges going
forward, backward, or to the side. You can elevate one or both of your feet
to increase range of motion. You can hold a dumbbell at your sides, at your
chest, or have a barbell on your back or in the front rack. These are just a few
of the variations you can use to mix into your training.

To start, stand upright with your feet under your hips. Next take a step
forward so that your front leg forms a 90-degree angle and your back knee
comes down toward the ground. Keep your chest up as you do this. From
there, push through the heel of your front foot and step it back to your original
standing position. From there, you can either switch legs for an alternating
lunge or complete all your reps with the same leg before switching sides.

To progress the movement try the variations I listed earlier, starting with
the dumbbell or kettlebell. Once comfortable with those, you can move to
a barbell.

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 STEP UP
The step up is another amazing exercise to strengthen the entire leg and
all the structures that protect the knee. Start with unloaded step ups and a
small height like 6 inches for 3-4 sets of 10-12 reps per side.

Place one foot on the box and shift your weight forward onto that leg so
you can step up onto the box using your rear leg as little as possible. You
don’t want to just jump with your back leg onto the box. You want your front
leg to do most of the work. Focus on a nice and controlled step. Your knee
shouldn’t cave inward at all, and your hips shouldn’t have to rotate too much.
Make sure you lower yourself down nice and slow. Don’t just drop down. The
eccentric portion of the movement is a place where you can gain a ton of
strength and stability.

As you get comfortable with these, increase the height gradually. Once
you get to a box that’s about mid-thigh height, it’s time to increase the load.
Start light and add weight gradually over time as you are able to perform the
movement nice and controlled.

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SECTION III

GENERAL
RECOVERY
 RECOVERY 101
This entire book has been about preventing injury and overcoming
common joint aches and pains. Those are the most common obstacles for
any barbell athlete, or for any athlete for that matter. We crush our bodies
trying to get them to perform at the highest level and then things break
down. It is the same as driving your car at 100mph every day. You better
take care of it.

We have given you some ways to take care of the body at the joint and
muscle level. Now I want to take a more holistic approach. I am not a physical
therapist, chiropractor, or a nutritionist. I am just a strength and conditioning
coach and former world-class athlete telling you about the things that have
worked for my athletes and me.

SLEEP
This topic is thrown around a lot, but people try to dance around it. It’s
the one thing that they are willing to sacrifice. They will eat the right foods.
They will never miss training. However, a lot of people take sleep for granted.
They’ll sacrifice sleep to watch their favorite show. They will get hooked on
the latest Netflix Original and go on a binge.

If you are trying to get stronger, leaner, and/or more athletic, then you
can’t afford to miss sleep. Eight and a half to ten hours per night is the
optimal level. However, not everyone is the same. If you need an alarm
clock to wake up in the morning, then you probably aren’t getting enough
sleep. If you wake up all by yourself, then your body is getting all the
recovery that it needs.

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 Sleep is the time that the body releases the most testosterone and IGF1.
Testosterone is directly related to muscle hypertrophy. IGF-1 is also related
to hypertrophy, and it also works via the mTOR pathway to increase protein
synthesis. IGF-1 is critical for satellite cell proliferation and recruitment –
that means the potential for more nuclei for each muscle fiber, which is the
major limiting factor for muscle growth. Basically if you want the muscle to
get bigger and stronger, then you need both of these.

Lack of sleep is also related to cortisol increases. Cortisol blocks protein

synthesis, and actually opens up pathways for muscle breakdown. All of that
is the opposite of what an athlete wants. Testosterone inhibits the effects
of myostatin. Myostatin blocks satellite cell proliferation and differentiation,
which is the exact opposite of IGF-1. Basically lowered testosterone means
that myostatin will be blocking muscle growth, and that is a bad thing.

At the end of the day, one could argue that sleep is directly related to aging.
As people age, three things decrease: Melatonin, IGF-1, and Testosterone. If
we are not getting enough sleep, then we could be contributing to our own
aging process. No one wants to do that, so take some healthy steps towards
getting good sleep. Here are some easy pointers.

TURN OFF THE TELEVISION

Noise will makes it really hard for the subconscious part of the mind to
turn off and relax. Studies have shown that noise during sleep makes it hard
for the body to release the hormones needed for recovery.

PUT AWAY THE PHONE, IPAD, AND COMPUTER

The blue light that comes from these devices have been shown to
decrease melatonin, cause shorter REM cycles, and alter circadian rhythms.
Bottom line is that this will mess up the gains, so put the screens down.
Reading a book is a great way to bring things down a bit. I would go with
something fiction. Non-fiction will make the brain start working overtime to
figure out what is being read. Fiction will allow your imagination to take over.

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 START A PATTERN
The body is a creature of habit. If you start a pattern about an hour or
two before bedtime, the body will start to perceive those actions as time to
shutdown. For example, I like to take the dogs out, check and lock all of the
doors, get some milk for my son, Rock, and then cuddle in bed with my family
and read a book. This pattern works like a charm.

HEALTHY SLEEP AID COCKTAIL

I don’t recommend that anyone gets in a habit of using sleep aids, but
there are nights where people need a little help. Common sleep aids can
inhibit REM cycles, so total recovery is interrupted. There are some healthy
sleep supplements, however:

• Valerian Tea
• GABA, an amino acid found in your body, has been shown to quiet the
mind when taken orally
• Melatonin Supplement
• Tryptophan is a precursor to neurotransmitters serotonin and melatonin
• Zinc and Magnesium have been shown to increase the quality and
restorative elements of sleep

SOFT-TISSUE PRACTIONERS
My chiropractor, Dr. Lawrence Gray, should be credited with at least
50% of my success as an athlete. He kept me firing on all cylinders when
I was healthy. He also got me back in the game as quickly as possible
during an injury.

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 I’m going to say this again: One of the biggest mistakes that I see athletes
and strength coaches making is stepping over the boundaries into the world
of clinicians. If you are trying to assess and diagnose as a strength coach
or trainer, you are overstepping your boundaries. That is not your job, and it
doesn’t make you look cool. It makes you look like a careless rookie coach
who thinks you know everything. However, all that you are being is dangerous.

A great strength and conditioning coach knows when to refer out. If

someone is in chronic pain, then refer the athlete out to see a specialist.
Maybe it is nothing, or maybe they are ready to get paralyzed. The point is
that you don’t know.

As an athlete, do your research. I like to look where all the top athletes are
going. However be careful not to fall for the “I work with the Olympic Team”
phrase that a lot of chiropractors use. Normally that means they are in a
system that gives Olympic athletes a small discount, so somewhere in their
network of doctors an Olympian is worked on.

The key is to find individual high-level athletes and ask them where they
go. Around 99 percent of the time, a high-level athlete will have a solid soft-
tissue practitioner. By the way, I am talking about chiropractors, physical
therapists, and a few massage therapists. It’s also important to find a good
orthopedic doctor in case you do break a bone or hurt a joint.

YOGA, PILATES, OR ROMWOD

Movement is a big key to athleticism and injury prevention. RomWod
(www.romwod.com) is my favorite simply because it is a little shorter and
geared towards athletes. However, plenty of people (like my wife) love
Yoga. It is more than just stretching. A big part of either one of these is
using proper breathing techniques, releasing stress, and learning to relax.

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 Everyone is thrown into a desk job nowadays. In this position, our back
rounds and compresses the rib cage. This does two terrible things to our
bodies. First, this limits the amount of oxygen allowed to enter the body
during the breathing process. Lack of oxygen leads to a lot of nasty health
problems. Second, the diaphragm is compressed, causing us to breathe into
our chests. This raises the shoulders, putting extra stress on the shoulder
joint and neck.

Sitting also causes the hips to get tight, which is also bad for breathing.
The pelvic wall and the diaphragm work in sync. Who would have thought
that mobility and breathing go together?! There are a lot of great breathing
experts out there who I recommend checking out. My top two experts are
Gray Cook and Mike Robertson. I am cheating off of Gray Cook right now, so
I definitely need to give him a shout out.

ELIMINATING DAILY STRESS

Easier said than done for most, but there are a lot of tools to help
with this very important element. Stress causes the release of cortisol
and inflammation throughout the body. Cortisol works the opposite of
testosterone and IFG-1 by actually inhibiting muscle growth. Inflammation
is the cause of the aches and pains that athletes feel in their joints making
movement more difficult. Both of these side effects can be detrimental to
an athlete’s progress.

Most of us work our butts off in the gym, but then the rest of our life
counters the effect of our hard work. If your life is chaotic and stressful,
it is going to be almost impossible to become a champion. Controlling
stress will be a big step toward success in your chosen sport.

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 There are also health risks of stress that go way beyond performance.
The body perceives stressful emotions as danger, which triggers the “fight
or flight” response and the release of cortisol and adrenaline. This will raise
the heart rate, increase blood pressure, change the digestive process, and
boost glucose levels in the bloodstream. None of this is good for long-
term health.

Increased glucose levels can lead to Type II Diabetes. Stress can cause
digestive issues such as ulcers and heartburn. If stress continues for a long
time, a man’s testosterone levels begin to drop. That can interfere with sperm
production and cause erectile dysfunction or impotence. Chronic stress may
make the urethra, prostate, and testes more prone to infection.

Stress causes increased blood flow causing more blood to be pumped

to the heart. This process causes inflammation of the coronary artery and
has been directly related to heart attacks. The bottom line is that stress can
wreck the body. We can all agree that we don’t want stress in our lives.

Most of you reading this love the gym. We all maintain active lifestyles,
and we all have our goals. Some of us want to be champion weightlifters and
powerlifters. Some of us want to be pro soccer players or football players.
Then again, some of us just want to be healthy. For any of these goals to
happen, we need to learn how to deal with stress.

I like to talk about becoming a “master of the mundane.” Controlling

stress is one of those mundane tasks that can really separate you from
your opponents. Start controlling your stress today with some of the below
techniques. My biggest prayer is that you will simply become healthier and
live a longer and more productive life. This might not be one of my more
masculine topics to write about it, but it is one that affects all of us. If I care
about my readers, I can’t always write about bar slams and personal records.
Sometimes I have to write about the things that you all need to hear. Today
is one of those days.

How do we combat stress? Well, here are a few quick and easy ideas.

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 MEDITATION
Meditation is a form of stress release that dates back several years.
Whether you are praying or just trying to empty the mind, spending quiet time
alone allows the brain to relax. That will stop the “fight or flight” response,
helping to control cortisol and inflammation responses. I recommend at
least 10-15 minutes per day. First thing in the morning is a great way to start
the day out with a fresh mind.

RECREATION
If we are constantly working, then we are never allowing our bodies or
minds to relax. Working or training all the time clogs the brain with things that
we need to do. This can cause anxiety by overwhelming the athletes, causing
more and more stress. We all need to play whether it is hiking, canoeing, or
chilling by the pool. This will also allow our creative faculties to function at a
higher level, which will provide solutions for issues that we deal with in life.

CONNECTIONS
Not to sound too wimpy, but communication allows us to bounce issues
that we are dealing with off of people we know and trust. This is how solutions
are developed. A solid support system is a major key to reducing stress.

ORGANIZATON
Being unorganized is a big cause of stress. Bills are forgotten.
Commitments are left unfulfilled. All of these things can weigh on people
and create stress. I recommend either finding someone who is organized
and copying him or her, or getting a qualified life coach. I know a lot of people
who are leading a more productive, stress free life with the aid of a life coach.

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 CALMING MUSIC
Studies have shown that listening to calming music actually lowers
cortisol levels. The next time that you are taking a big exam try listening to
some calming sounds like ocean waves or classical music.

LAVENDER
Now I don’t want to sound too new age. Let’s face it, I am a good ol’ boy
from the mountains of North Carolina, but I am going to do what I have to
do. In one study, a group of nurses smelled lavender oil to reduce stress. The
result was that the group using lavender showed lower signs of stress than
the nurses that didn’t use lavender. So I say bring on the lavender and let’s
try it.

YOGA OR TAI CHI

Both of these are great for meditation, proper breathing, and getting
those tight muscles relaxed.

PROPER NUTRITION
Nutrition is a huge factor in affecting how your body feels and is able
to recover from physical activity. Eating is something that everyone has to
do and most of us eat at least three meals per day. What you choose to
consume has a huge effect on how you feel, how you perform, and even how
much muscle mass or fat you can put on your frame. Here are several things
you can do to take your recovery to the next level.

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 EAT ENOUGH TO SUPPORT DAILY ACTIVITIES
AND TRAINING
One basic rule of thumb for good nutrition is just to make sure you eat
enough calories. If you are undereating and training a lot, your body will not
be able to keep up with the stress you are placing upon it, and you are likely
to see declines in performance as well as an increased risk of injury.

It’s pretty easy to estimate how many calories you need daily just by
using the Harris Benedict Equation, which takes into account your age, sex,
height, weight, and activity level. There are tons of free calculators online
that let you do this.

You can also monitor your food intake and body weight with MyFitnessPal,
a free website and app.

Using these tools, you have no excuse for not eating enough or not
knowing how much you are eating. Take your nutrition into your own hands
and start keeping track of what you consume - even if it’s just every so often
to check in and make sure you are on track.

WHOLE FOODS > PROCESSED FOODS

Another basic tenet for good nutrition is to avoid processed foods and
stick to whole food sources like fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats,
healthy fats (mostly mono-unsaturated fats found in avocados, olive oil, and
nuts), and complex carbohydrates (such as those from starchy vegetables
or whole grains).

You’ve probably heard it before: “Stick to the perimeter of the grocery

store.” Well that’s because that’s where most of the unprocessed foods are. Get
creative and explore some new recipes. There are tons of ways to make your
food tasty and nutritious by using various spices and combinations of foods.

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 HAVE HIGH GLYCEMIC CARBS DURING AND
IMMEDIATELY AFTER TRAINING
An exception to the complex carbohydrate suggestion in the previous
tip: simple sugary carbohydrates can actually be beneficial during training
sessions lasting longer than an hour. Simple carbohydrates (think cereal,
gatorade, frozen yogurt, etc.) are perfect for consuming during your workout
as well as immediately after - when they can be absorbed quickly by the body
to restore glycogen stores and aid in recovery from training. Make sure you
also have some carbohydrates in the meal prior to training so that you can
use those to fuel your training session.

PROTEIN
Make sure you are eating enough protein throughout the day. A general
recommendation is 1g per pound of lean bodyweight. Just as it is helpful to
have simple carbs during and after your workout, fast-digesting protein, such
as whey (like in a protein shake), is perfect for post-workout since your body
will be able to quickly utilize the amino acids and enhance muscle growth
and recovery. It’s also helpful to have some protein at every meal. This will
help ensure that you have enough protein throughout the day.

FISH OIL
One of the best supplements out there for people who want to feel
their best is fish oil. The omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil (EPA and DHA) have
so many positive effects on the body from joints to hair, skin, nails - and
even immune health. Fish oil has also been shown to decrease the risk of
cardiovascular disease, diabetes, depression, cancer, and the list goes on.
The biggest difference an athlete will likely notice is joint health, as the anti-
inflammatory properties of fish oil tend to help alleviate joint pain. Less joint
pain = better training sessions and happier athletes.

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 CONCLUSION
I have enjoyed the process of writing No Weaknesses. I set out to make
a product that would provide an athlete with all the necessary tools to keep
their body balanced, recovered, and pain-free. Becoming the best possible
strength athlete is a marathon. It’s not a sprint.

Remember this important piece of advice: “The person who can stay in
the game the longest without a major injury will eventually win the game.”
That’s the bottom line of this book in its entirety. Too many people go sprinting
out of the gates only to be sidelined by an injury early in their career. If you
will use this book wisely, you will give yourself the best possible chance of
weathering a long career in strength and fitness.

Let me end this book with a little story. Once upon a time long ago, there
was a young bull standing on top of a hill with his father, the daddy bull. They
were on that hill looking down at some lady cows. The young bull says to his
father, “Dad, let’s run down there and kiss one of those lady cows.”

The daddy bull shakes his head and says with a smile, “No son, let’s walk
down and kiss them all.”

We could all learn a thing or two from the daddy bull. I want you to use this
book to keep your body balanced. I want you to use the muscular imbalance
test to pinpoint the accessory movements to focus on. I want you to use
the mobility and stability work to keep all of your joints moving the way they
should. I want you to use the recovery suggestions to keep your body healthy
for more and more adaptation during training.

If you follow these principles, you will give yourself the best chance to
reach your genetic potential. That’s all you can ask for. You were born with
a certain amount of potential. As long as you can realize that potential, you

No Weaknesses 126
will be able to live with the results. If that potential is cut short, you will have
to wonder “what if” for the rest of your life. I just want to help avoid any “what
ifs” for all of you. That’s one of my missions as a coach.

I want to leave all of you with a big thank you for once again reading our
books and supporting our cause. As the Head Coach for Team Mash Elite,
I desire nothing else but to help others. Nothing brings me more joy than
helping someone reach his or her dreams. This book is a product of that
desire. Now go out there and reach for the stars.

MORE FROM
TRAVIS MASH:
WWW.MASHELITE.COM

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