AMNESIA

TCS is about to wrap up month #1 since our 2 month hiatus!!! The brick and mortar location is once again occupied with warm bodies, and it feels great to get back to some sort of normalcy and see all of your smiling faces!

I think it’s safe to assume that everyone that has chosen to make their re-entry is just as fired up as we are. The energy in the gym has been electric each and every session and it feels like everyone’s spirit just got a bit of a recharge.

Now, here comes a dose of reality. I don’t mean for this to rain on anyone’s parade, but your return to the gym may find you facing some frustrations. It is possible, in fact likely, that if you have not had access to heavier loads over the last 2 months, your strength may have decreased a bit. On the flip side, if you’ve been joining us for the ZOOM workouts, you may find that your conditioning is better than it was pre-lockdown. In any case, it’s important to realize that you are now entering into a new chapter of your training, and looking back to old workout journal or logged numbers may not be very helpful right now. In fact, it may be a risky dive into the past that I think we should just as well avoid by suddenly developing an acute case of amnesia.

Look. When you boil this shit down, we are simply putting in work (heavy, light, fast, moderate, slow, longer, shorter,etc.) as consistently as we can. We do this stuff so that we can look better, feel better and perform better in our lives, and be part of a kickass community. It does us no good to look back to 5-6 months ago and try to compare where we were then with where we are now. Sure, we can use that data to set goals and motivate our progress, but it’s very easy for that to spiral out of control and we find ourselves number-chasing, then getting frustrated and possibly even injured. Do not spend your valuable time and energy thinking about what you’ve lost. Rather, look at the the other aspects of our health that may have been gained. Did you get outside more? Were you more active with your family? Did you go on walks more often? Did you pull out that old bike and go for some rides? Were you able to take this time to focus on sleep and nutrition? Did your mobility improve?

Amnesia, my friends. Forget about your 250lb back squat from January. Forget about your 150lb strict press in early March. Forget it, because it’s just an old data point - not an indicator of some character flaw. You are not your strength numbers. Forget it and just put in the work today and each day going forward. You’ll be happy you did and you will enjoy the work that much more.

*What was I talking about?*  

TCS @ HOME

As we look to reopen the TCS doors on June 1st, we realize that each individual will soon need to make a decision as to when & how they come back. Understanding that each of us is in a different spot during this transitional period, we want to ensure that everyone has a choice that works for them. So, in addition to running classes at TCS in a safe, effective manner, we will also be offering a virtual training option:

TCS @ HOME.

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TCS @ HOME DETAILS

• Programming will track very closely to what we are doing in the gym.

• Workouts will start at 8am and last no longer than 60mins.

• If you can’t make the 8am LIVE session, it will be recorded and accessible for later viewing.

• Workouts will take place Monday - Thursday, Saturday, and include a Recovery Class on Sundays. (6days/wk)

• This membership option is open to anyone, from anywhere as a “stand-alone” membership option.

  • TCS @ HOME will be included in our 8x/month and Unlimited memberships (allowing for greater flexibility)

  • You can also “add-on” to your TCS @ HOME membership by also purchasing the 4x/month membership

• The more equipment you have, the better. However, minimal equipment is required. We will be sharing our top equipment picks and alternative options in the very near future. We will help you set yourself up!

• Cost: $135/month

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If you have any questions about what might be the best way for you to proceed or how to get things set up for a successful start, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

EVERYONE NEEDS A HEAVY BAG OF SAND - HERE'S HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN

By now, you likely know that we are huge fans of sandbags. We train with them constantly at TCS because they are incredibly versatile, awkward ( a good thing), durable and inexpensive. Suffice it to say that it’s difficult to think of a piece of equipment that has a bigger ROI than sandbags.

Now, we all know shit is kind of crazy right now. Covid-19 has changed nearly everything for the time being and let’s not even get started on the Murder Hornets. Fuck me. But with all of this craziness, we must stick to the things that keep us healthy and vital - both physically and mentally. And we know that training checks those boxes, right?!

The obstacle for some has been a lack of equipment. So, the video below is for you guys and gals especially, but really anyone that misses having a hundred pounds of sand squeezed against their ribcage.

Bueller?

Bueller?

It’s important to note that “heavy” is of course a relative term. The beauty here, though, is that you can follow the same basic procedure for any size, shape and weight sandbag that might tickle your fancy. I realize that a 180lb sandbag is not appropriate for everyone, but the steps will go nearly unchanged for a 60lb bag.

You may also consider making a set of 2-3 sandbags that then run the spectrum of usable weights for given tasks. For example, you may use a 40lb bag for pressing, lunging, getups, etc. But then when it comes to squat day, you may want to have a bag loaded at 100lbs for some heavy 5x8 gut squats.

The nice thing is that you can build a custom set that fits your needs perfectly for less than the price of JUST a barbell. Talk about bag for your buck! And you’ll probably find that the strength that you develop while using a bag of sand is strength that is far more useful and efficient in your day-to-day life. BONUS!

I hope you find this video helpful. If you still have some hangups, please reach out to me. I would love to answer any questions you might have and help you get what you need.

AIN'T NO REST FOR THE WICKED (but they should) - Coach Sean T

Today is probably the hardest part of working out for me, RESTING! Sounds crazy to some, but totally relatable to most I'm sure. In the past, I've hated rest. It would feel like I'm wasting time, losing ground, and doing myself a disservice. I dealt with that same fear today when I decided to let myself rest.

That was because of my old-mindset. A LACK mindset. That's the mindset that says, "If I don't hold up these walls, the house will cave in!" What message is that sending out? That you, your body, your LIFE is a shoddy-house made of sticks that Eeyore wouldn't even want to live in?! FUCK THAT!

Your house is a fortress. A citadel atop a mountain that will be around for the rest of time! Cultivated by the years of labor that you have put into it. THAT'S the message you want to send out. "But Coach SeanT! I'm just starting out! I can't afford/don't deserve rest! I need to keep going so I have something to show!" Wrong. Same LACK-mindset.

Don't build a house with arms tired from toil because you're too scared to rest. The work will be out of desperation and the result will be low-quality.

Rest isn't a vacation from the work. It's PART of the work.

Take time to recover and gain energy so that when you pick up those tools, you can build a house fit for a God!! Cast away the fears that your hurting yourself. Set the intention for your day of rest to ACCELERATE your progress. Realize that what you're doing is manifesting power so that when you get back to work, you tear through it like a beast out of hell!! I'm so pumped for tomorrow's workout I can feel it in my GUTS! 

It's all in the mindset. As are all things.

Remember, it takes Goku like three episodes to build up a spirit bomb. And he killed Buu with that shit.
(Some DBZhumor for those that know.)

So rest hard and THEN get after it….tomorrow.

Join the LIFT Chicks for March Squats! - by Jen Shaw

I receive loads of requests to share my LIFT chicks’ programming. This March, I would like to invite anyone out there to join us for our new squat cycle.  Each squat cycle, our goals are the same: better form, build strength and gain more confidence under the bar. There are hundreds of cues to correct to find the best squat that each particular person can perform. These short cycles work to establish a strong foundation from the feet up for small groups working with these cues. This four-week cycle has a heavy single squat early in the week and volume squats later in the week. 

Each monday, we will find a heavy single using a 5.4.3.2.1 rep scheme. On Thursdays, we will use our number 3 squat weight to work on consistency under a clock. 

I invite you to join us for this small squat cycle! Each Monday will look very similar so change up the warm up as much as you want. Some of these warm up movements might be foreign but I am sure Google can help you out. If not, feel free to message me on IG and I can tag you in a video. 

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WEEK 1, DAY 1 SQUATS

PRE-CLASS PREP: 

• 3 min bike ride

• 2 rds:

  • 10 PVC pass thru + lunge

  • 3 standing inchworms

  • 3 bootstrap squats

• 2 rds:

  • 10 scorpion

  • 10 bird dog

  • 10 cat cow

CLASS PREP:

Warm up 1: 7 min work session

• Tabletop bear crawl 15 steps forward

• Spiderman back same distance

• Band walk down and back same distance 

Warm up 2: 15 min work session

• 10 plank shoulder taps

• 10 Birthfit Functional progression 1 breaths 

• 10 bent over flys 

• 5/5 db snatch

• 5 barbell squats (going up in weight each round) 

WEEK 1, DAY 1 SQUATS: 

Primer:

• 5.4.3.2.1 Back Squats

• 6/6 single arm ring rows between each round
  *weights are heavy but you shouldn't need a spot. Keep it conservative.  

For Real: aka Heavy

• 5.4.*3*.2.1 Back Squats

• 20 push-ups in between each round

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WEEK 1, DAY 2 SQUATS 

PRE-CLASS PREP: 

• 3 min bike ride

• 2 rds:

  • 10 scorpion

  • 10 bird dog

  • 10 cat cow

CLASS PREP:

• Warm up 1: 6 min work session

  • 10 glute bridge with adductor block squeeze 

  • Band walk

  • 3 standing inch worm

• Warm up 2: 10 min work session

  • 12 V-ups

  • 12 walking weighted lunges 

  • 10 bent over flys 

  • 3 barbell squats (going up in weight each round) 

WEEK 1, DAY 2 SQUATS: 

• Primer:

  • 5 x 3 Back Squat

    Working up to 80-100% of Day 1’s set *3* number. The goal is to pick a number as close to your actual set 3 from Monday as possible. You shouldn’t need a spotter and should feel confident but know it will be work, and you will have to stay focused. 

• THEN….

  • Every 30 seconds for 15 minutes:

    • 1 squat at that weight

WHEN DID WE LOSE THE PUSH UP POWER? - by JEN SHAW

Most people are aware of what a push-up is and what it should look like. Upon actual execution of the movement comes the realization that bodyweight movements are harder than expected. 

In my ten years of coaching women, I have had a small handful of clients come in and know how to properly do one perfect push-up. If I ventured a guess, I’d say that three of my now 80 clients arrived with a push-up that I had nothing to change about their form. That is an extremely small number for as many women that have come through my doors. Why is this? Why do men walk in and have enough strength to put themselves on the floor and then effortlessly push back up? I believe two things are at fault: natural strength and societies’ view on what happens during athletics in school. 

For our whole lady lives we have heard that men have more upper body strength and I am not going to argue with that. However, I do call bullshit on the physical education system for making P.E. a cake walk that leaves females behind. When the D.A.R.E program took funding away from physical education departments, childhood obesity rose 20% and gender-based tests like modified “girl push-ups” came to be. If you want to argue about these facts, look up Laurie Pospisil-Gotcher. She wrote Texas state curriculum and has been touring school districts for the past three years trying to roll a giant concrete ball up a mountain to change this exact issue. More details are on the FUSEMOVE instagram account. 

This seemingly small shift in physical education departments during the 80’s and early 90’s has created a monumental shift in women’s health as adults. Now it's 2020 and grown women are walking into my program without the strength to do one proper push-up. 

To learn proper form, there are a variety of options to scale. One that I do not allow in my gym is the knee push-up. There is a time and place for knee push-ups like a burnout session. For example, one minute max effort push-ups then one minute max effort knee pushups. You are welcome! 

The inappropriate time to use knee push-ups is when you cannot perform an actual push-up.  Knee push-ups do not require you to hold your body up using your shoulders, back, arms, legs, and they also don’t utilize trunk strength. When scaling, elevating to a box is the best option. Once this movement can be done properly, move to a lower box. Keep using smaller boxes until push-ups can be done on the floor with a band supporting the hips like the video below. Once the band is no longer needed, you will be able to knock out this movement using the right parts at the right times. Knee push-ups will NOT get you there.

The only “girl push-ups” that exist are when girls are doing push-ups.

Mindset Management, pt. 2 "HOW THE ROCK WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE"

This picture will make much more sense later. Hang in there.

WHAT’S UP Y’ALL?!? So, last time we “spoke” I was telling our dear friend Susan how she can change-up her mindset in order to get to the gym more consistently and improve her life. The gist of it was to make your goals a priority so that you can roll with the punches in life, and get that ish done! If you missed the first part of this article, then go ahead and scroll down, catch up, and make yourself more awesome!

All caught up? Good. Let’s continue...

Now, I hear ya Susan, “Sean, that’s all well and good, but life is tough and I can’t find the motivation to change my whole world around!”

Here’s the ticket, it doesn’t happen all at once. You don’t hit the target as soon as you push the launch button. The secret-sauce is knowing that eventually the missile will get there.

This is what I meant when I told Good Ol’ Poppa T to “make it a mantra”. Just have the intention and mindset in place. Hold it there. Keep it in your mind as you go throughout your day. Make notes to yourself as reminders. Repeat that mantra in your head, and slowly you will find opportunities to change your life. It changes it from, “I didn’t workout today, I have failed,” to “I didn’t get to workout today. How can I auto-correct and assure that I make tomorrow work and achieve my goal of health and fitness?” or “ I didn’t get to the gym, but I can still hit some push-ups and go for a run before bed!”

STORY TIME! When I attended Rutgers University, I had the blessing of being lectured by Professor Michael Leyton. In his Psych 101 class he always used to ecstatically shout, “You need to BELIEVE to ACHIEVE!” He gave us the advice of, everyday, writing down your goals and intentions. He taught that this will keep it present in our mind, and allow us to achieve. This isn’t “The Secret”. This is real. The difference here is, not just sitting in front of a list of personal affirmations you wrote down, but also being willing to do the work. I’ll share one last story I heard that sums it up perfectly.

There was a great flood that left a man stranded on his roof. Unflinching, the man began praying to his god (we’ll call him The Rock) to save him. While praying, a rowboat came by and offered to save him. “No thanks, The Rock will save me.” Then a cruise ship went by offering help. “No thanks, The Rock will save me”. Then Eddie Van Halen came riding down a rainbow atop a chariot of light and offered help. “No thanks Eddie, The Rock will save me.”

Eventually, the flood rose above the man’s head, and he drowned. In the afterlife, the man approached The Rock in a huff and shouted, “What the heck dude?!? I did nothing but pray to you and you never saved me!” The Rock gave him a firm back-hand to the face, because you don’t talk to The Rock that way, and then he replied, “ I sent you a rowboat, a cruise ship, and Eddie Van Halen to save you! What more could you want?”

The drowned-man’s mindset was that of a train on tracks. If he had the missile mindset, he’d be alive and, ideally, partying with The Rock and Eddie Van Halen on a cruise ship somewhere.

So there you have it Susan. A whole BUNCH of words all saying the same thing. You have to BELIEVE to ACHIEVE, and you also have to put in your own work even when obstacles are presented.

Hope this helps someone change their thinking to achieve their goals.

Love you pops, thanks for the inspiration.

Mindset Management, pt. 1 "BECOMING THE MISSILE" by Sean T.

Today I received a message from my father. He was replying to me about his schedule. Earlier in the week, I had asked him to give me the days he could set aside for strength training. Something that has always been difficult for a man that dedicates his life to providing for a family. His response was twofold:

First, he was unsure of how much time had available to commit to training.

Second, he had read somewhere right on the TCS website about someone claiming members were “silly strong,” and he noted that getting  close to silly strong for a guy his age would be a goal by the time he hit 60. This was my reply to my pops:

“That’s totally doable pop. All it takes is consistency. And that necessitates prioritization. You need to make getting strong a priority. Make it a mantra. Let every decision and action you take feed toward that goal. It can’t be a back burner idea. Or it’ll never boil.Love you pops. I have nothing but faith in you. You’re the hardest worker I know. All you need to do is redirect the intended target. And that goes for anything in life, not just training (insert emojis).”

Now, that wasn’t bullshit. My father is legitimately the hardest worker I know. In my entire life, I honestly can’t remember a day he missed work unless it was to help family. So then, you may ask, “How does a man with so much discipline and dedication not find time to get to the gym?”

Oftentimes the problem isn’t time management so much as it’s MINDSET management.

If you make it a priority to workout everyday without question, you will make it happen. Sounds like magic, but it isn’t (depending on your definition of magic anyway). Remember when I told my dad to redirect his intended target? I say this specifically because of an amazing book written by Maxwell Maltz called “Psycho-Cybernetics.”* It’s an old book from the 60’s dealing with what people today consider Sports Psychology. In the book, Maltz likens the human brain to the mechanics of a self-guided missile. A self-guided missile works like so (engineers cover your eyes):

1) You launch a missile

2) The missile travels along its course

3) As the environment pushes the missile off-course, the missile senses the change and auto-regulates to redirect itself back on track

4) The missile, ideally, hits its target (or at least winds up very close).

How does this relate to the human brain? You are the missile. Your goal is the target. Your intention (brain) is the auto-regulating system. What does this have to do with working out? I’ll give you an example. Say we have a busy individual. Let’s call her Susan. Susan has the intention of getting in shape. She tells herself all week, “Monday is the day! I’m going right after work to the gym, and changing my life forever!” Awesome! Good for you, Susan! We have a goal (target), and the missile has been launched! Now here’s the sticky part. The missile still has to get to the target. It still has to travel in the real world all the way from point A to point B. This journey brings a lot of factors into play:

What about wind speeds?
What if point B moves?
What if a giant comes and swats the missile off its course?!?

This is the same thing as: feeling tired, your boss telling you to stay late at the office, your kid getting sick, “Next Monday, just seems easier...”

Now, if we were a train on a track, all these ‘what-ifs’ would really screw us. The train’s off the tracks and it’s never getting to the station. Lucky for us, we’re a fancy-schmancy self-regulating missile of JUSTICE! And we don’t care what anyone tells us, we’re getting to that damn target!

As the environment affects our trajectory, we adjust our direction to remain on course. Feeling tired? Grab a coffee, crush a nap, or (my personal favorite) workout anyway! Boss kept you late? Hit the gym late! Kid is sick? Head home, get that sucker to bed, YouTube a workout from home, and be a badass who gets shit done!

NEXT TIME ON THE TCS BLOG:

I’ll give y’all some stories and thoughts that will make all of this a bit more grounded in reality so you can implement this missile-mentality in your everyday life. ‘Til next time, stay beautiful and #DOTOUGHSHIT

REMEMBER RECESS?

Think back to your grade-school years. Do you remember the pure joy that came over you when you realized that recess was about to happen? You could be having the worst math class of your life and it would all be whisked away by 30mins of running around outside. It was magical.

Feeling the sun on your skin. Feeling the wind blow by as you ran from other kids trying to tag you. Feeling your heart beat and lungs sting as you played soccer with your friends. Man! Looking back, there was nothing better.

Do you remember the feeling of having to line back up to go back inside? Ugh. Terrible. Almost physically painful. I never wanted to step back inside to sit under the florescent lighting, but it was inevitable and necessary. But, the beauty of it all was that you could now address the next part of your day with a renewed energy and focus.

Adults and grade-schoolers are not all that different - some are more similar than others. We are all animals that require movement to remain vital. Stop moving and you start dying. That may seem extreme, but it is that simple.

Wingo living her best life while on her recess.

So I urge you (now an adult) to find your daily recess. Go for a walk. Join a cycling studio. Do yoga in a park. Take lunch and go to your martial arts class. Join a badass gym and move heavy things in useful ways. Whatever.

Find and take your recesses daily and notice the positive changes that are sure to follow.

FULL CIRCLE by Sean T.

This is a workout I just wrote up for my father. It doesn't take a lot of effort to whip up a workout for him, but I still love to do it.

I've trained/coached a decent amount of people over the years (only recently have I been doing it professionally), and none of them have been a better athlete than my pops.

No one gets after it as hard as he does. No one checks their ego and is as willing to learn as he is. He has total faith in what I'm telling him, and he makes sure to leave it all out on the floor.

I fucking love my father, and I'm a god-damn lucky man to be able to say so. I'm fully aware of that. And I count it as one of the biggest blessings in my beautiful life.

When I was a kid, my dad went out and bought a squat rack after he saw me get excited while watching World's Strongest man on TV. He was the first person to introduce me to weightlifting. I remember loving it. I also remember faking sick sometimes to get out of it.

Never did it cross my mind that I would one day be training him. Never did it cross my mind that one day my life would be centered around strength training. Life's funny like that.

So before this drags on any longer, here's to you Pops. The man that taught me what hard work is. I love you, and I'm forever in your debt.

Enjoy the deadlifts.

ONE TO RULE THEM ALL

If you saw our last post, you know that we are going through a phase with the keg. We love this tool and we are trying to spread the word so that y’all can realize it’s value as well.

Look, if you didn’t see the last one, let me just catch you up. Kegs are awesome! They are cheap, weights are easy to adjust if you only have one, they are nearly indestructible, extremely versatile, great alternatives to atlas stones or strongman logs, and have a massive ROI.

One of the movements that can be done with a keg is called the Viper Press. We love this movement at TCS because it accomplishes several very valuable things in a short amount of time:

• It provides a stepping stone for how to deadlift properly.

• We can use this movement a a substitute for the strongman log, which tends to be more challenging for beginners.

• It teaches speed and power generation via the hips without having to discuss triple extension - it just happens.

• It is a full-body movement, but specifically builds the posterior chain and develops a lot of upper/mid back strength.

• It’s fun and easy to learn, allowing us as coaches to get people movin’n’groovin’ sooner!

In the video below, Coach Sean will walk you through the Viper Press while some handsome devil demos impeccable form. ; ) If after watching it, you still have technique questions, or you just need some help implementing this movement in your routine, please reach out to us! We would love to help you out.

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A New Face and a Secret Weapon

So, here’s the deal. TCS is growing and we need more able-bodied, smart, passionate, hard-working coaches to help handle the new demands. Luckily, Sean just happened to fall in our lap about a month ago and showed a great deal of interest in coaching at TCS, so we gave him our requirements and he has been checking the boxes like a man on a mission. He is currently navigating the TCS Internship process and if he keeps crushing things like he has been, Sean will be one of the TCS Coaches bringing the good stuff to y’all.

Sean is a great guy and very easy to talk with. If you see him around the gym, introduce yourself and get to know him a bit. You’ll immediately notice his excitement with just being in the TCS environment and, really, just his passion for living a strong fulfilling life. Is energy is infectious in the very best way.

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Now, one of our goals is to bring more content your way. This will be both in the form of blogs and videos (vlogs). The video below is the very first offering. As you’ll see, we discuss the benefits and value of investing in kegs for the use of training - whether on your own in your garage, at a park or at your gym that may need some persuading.

Kegs offer the following:

• They are relatively inexpensive

• Extremely versatile

• They are durable and easy to replace IF they break

• You can easily collect several kegs that then offer differing weights and, therefore, even more versatility

• Are a great substitute for sandbags and atlas stones

• All the benefits of training with an odd object

  • Realistic strength requirements

  • Problem solving

  • Generally more challenging to manipulate

  • Improved mobility

In this first video we will also cover the proper way to perform a front-loaded keg carry. Carrying heavy stuff is as basic as it gets, but the ROI on this stuff is massive. After watching this short demo, you’ll be able to immediately perform carries with more proficiency and, in turn, get more bang for your buck.

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And remember, we will be bringing you a lot more (hopefully) useful content going forward, so stay tuned for that! If you have topics that you’d like us to cover, don’t hesitate to contact us via email or instagram. We would love to help you with some of the things you’re interested in learning more about.

Email: travis@traviscountystrength.com
Instagram: @traviscountystrength

ROWS ≠ SCALED MOVEMENT

How many of you out there have a strict pull-up without the use of assistance bands? I would imagine that the majority of you don’t, and that’s ok. Strict pull-ups take time to develop, but during that process, it’s likely that your coach told you that “we are going to scale the pull-up to a ring row or inverted barbell row”, right? This is common practice and a good modification, but it plants the seed that these row variations are scaled modifications and not on the same level as the pull-up.

THIS IS WRONG.

Rows, when done well, are just as valuable (maybe more, actually.) as pull-ups or chin-ups and should be done often regardless of whether you have a beautiful strict pull-up or not.

There are tons of variations of rows. In fact, I am now going to share my best impression of Bubba from Forrest Gump if he were to discuss the plethora of row varients:

KB Bent-Over Row
DB Bent-Over Row
BB Bent-Over Row
BB Seal Row
DB Seal Row
DB/KB Single-Arm Bent-Over w/Support
Ring Row
Inverted Barbell Row
Seated Band Row
Seated Cable Row
Landmine Bent-Over Row
T-Bar Row
Chinese DB Bent-Over Row
Pendlay Row
AND MORE!

I hope you get the idea because now I am exhausted and need to take a nap before continuing…

Ok, I’m back and reinvigorated.

Now, the entire row family is extremely valuable, but it’s important to mix it up with different variations, and often. Why? If we stick with one version, two things are most likely going to occur:

1. You’ll become strong in one and only that one movement pattern - to a certain extent before #2 occurs…

2. Overuse issues will begin to arise due to the monotonous reps on that specific joint and involved muscle(s) and connective tissue.

In fact, it is my opinion that the reason that there are so many variations is due to the fact that old-school iron movers HAD to continue performing row reps to build big, strong backs, but had to find a way to limit the injuries and downtime away from the weights. So, if we go back up to our list of row options, you’ll notice that a lot of these make a ton of sense. Especially the versions that incorporate a de-loaded spine/supported torso position.

Think about it. You have literally thousands of different variations of strength movements, but we KNOW that the big ones are the deadlift, squat and bench press. Of those 3, 2 are extremely demanding on the low back - even when done well. Now, if we are doing those lifts AND a ton of heavy bent-over barbell rows, how long do you think you’ll see returns before something happens to that low back?

This is simple stuff, but is often overlooked by coaches and athletes because we all like to do the big weight and the cool shit, but that’s an immature, unwise choice. Mix it up and watch the strength AND durability of your athletes spike.

And, Coaches, one more thing. We’ve GOT to stop framing the Ring Row or Inverted BB Row in the context of a scaled pull-up. It is soooo much more valuable than a movement we throw at folks that are not strong enough for strict pull-ups. That’s some bullshit.

We provide these versions of row because they have a massive ROI. They take little, to no time, to teach and provide a profound strength stimulus. Start framing these rows as the foundational movements to building a strong back and pull. That’s what it is! Not a scale.

Now go do some rows and enjoy that shit.

LIFT Camp for Girls

GIRLS-ONLY Summer Camp!

This is BIG, y’all!

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Just imagine this:

What if you had started making health, fitness and strength a priority at age 12 instead of age 35? Can you imagine how surrounding yourself with others that value these same things as well as communication, teamwork, confidence and support could have had a massive impact on your life?

I’m sure it’s safe to say that no matter how good you had it, this type of early introduction to an environment like the one described would have only made it better, right?

This is exactly why we would like to invite you to help us spread the word about our upcoming Girls-Only LIFT Summer Camp.

Coach Kevyn will be running a 90 minute fitness camp for girls July 22nd-25th at Travis County Strength. This is for any girls age 10-16 who want to learn the basics of proper technique, build quality movement patterns, improve overall strength and fitness and have a blast doing it with a group of cool chicks.

It is also very likely that participants find a massive boost in confidence and self-esteem through strength training work, making new friends and working together as a team throughout the camp.

All fitness levels and backgrounds are welcome.

WHEN: July 22nd-25th, 1030am to Noon each day.
*Girls need to bring a water bottle and a snack!*

COST: $100

REGISTER HERE

NEW YEAR STARTS A NEW LIFT LIFESTYLE

by Jen Shaw

I love a new year, a new start, a trash dump of the year before, and a beginning that I can recreate for myself and others. One of my biggest fears in life is being stagnant. Being someone that harbors huge goals yet does not take the steps to change in order to meet those goals. Someone that has big dreams and never lives them out. That’s my nightmare. A new year provides internal forgiveness so if you didn’t do what you needed to do in the prior year, you have a fresh start. I encourage anyone reading this to take note of the goals that didn’t happen, trips that never occurred, habits promised but never forged, books never read, relationships never fostered, and forgiveness never granted. Do it. A new year brings new meaning into the picture.

Today is day 14 out of 90 in the 2019 Lift Lifestyle health and wellness program. I start this program in the new year for all the reasons above and more. This lifestyle program takes sleep, nutrition, and confidence to a whole new level. Just two weeks in and people are setting PRs in the gym, sleeping better, and most importantly, they are thinking about what they are eating. They are looking at the plate of food in front of them and deciding what energy that plate will give them.

This program is about looking at food as a way to fuel our lives. Food is energy and its time to start thinking about what the hell that actually means. We need food to survive. It’s that simple. We need calories to make it through the day and glucose to work our brain. What complicates this formula is a lack of awareness, a complacency, and the myth of being too busy.

Lack of Awareness

People can tell me ten facts about their fancy smartphones but cannot tell me the difference between a protein and a fat. Seriously, it’s actually that bad. To most of the people reading this, you have food accessible wherever and whenever you want or need. You don’t have to forage or eat some random berries that you found after hiking for miles in a forest. You can go to Whole Foods, H.E.B, Central Market, etc., and have an array of fresh whatever-you-choose. Yet that doesn’t happen. You don’t know why you aren't sleeping but damn you sure need some bread and cheese. This signals a complete lack of awareness of the energy and nutrients you consume.

Complacency

There is literally nothing worse than using a quote … but I’m going to do it.

“If you want something you've never had, you must be willing to do something you've never done.”

―Thomas Jefferson

Change is that simple. Doing the same thing day-in and day-out for years and expecting something to change is insane. Not exercising daily, eating a ton of crap, and not sleeping will inevitably take its toll. You have to wake the fuck up and do something. Something must change and you have to intentionally decide to do it yourself.

The Glorification of Busy

My eyes cannot roll further back into my head when someone asks me how to reach a goal. I give a straightforward answer, and there typically reply is, “I am too busy for that.” Being busy isn’t a thing. I acknowledge that it’s a big step to come to me and ask how to reach a personal goal. There were thoughts that set the conversation in action. Maybe even months of wondering if a goal was even possible. Then taking the initiative to have a vulnerable conversation with someone you trust just to brush the answer off by being too busy? NO. I just can't let that happen. There is time, let’s figure it out!

Step 1: Tell someone what you want. Share with a friend or loved one. Say it aloud. Make it real AF.

Step 2: Make a list of your day, minute by minute. Is each minute serving you? Are you actually physically doing something each minute? (No, the answer is no.) Are you even doing anything between 3:45pm - 4:15pm? What can you do in that time to help you reach your goals? Be real, you can make time in your day. Rearrange things and shift priorities to where they should be.

Step 3: Realize everyone is busy and you are not special. While it does take longer for some folks with work, travel, kids, school, and everything it’s NOT impossible for anyone. It just might be on a different timetable or take a few more steps than you are comfortable with.

Goals in this program are all over the map. Most deal with losing weight, gaining muscle, losing fat, sleeping better, fitting into old clothes, or just to feel better. Sleep and food are the answer. How you get there is up to you. Follow the steps: seek help, organize, and recognize your own personal timetable.

If you are in the same spot, pitted against what seem to be insurmountable goals, I encourage you to join this program. Start now, renew your goals, and stop making excuses.

COMING SOON: CrossFit Strongman Course

TCS will be hosting and leading the CROSSFIT STRONGMAN COURSE on Saturday, October 21st 2017.

Having the privilege to host and lead these courses is something that we are very thankful for. We absolutely love introducing coaches and athletes to the basics of Strongman and helping them get past any preconceived notions of what Strongman is and who it's for. We also really enjoy helping attendees discover how to appropriately implement this fun and highly effective training method into their programming back home. 

The course is non-stop and action-packed. We do some lecturing and demoing of each movement, but then we provide y'all with more than enough time to practice and get very comfortable with the implements and the movements. We break down each primary movement into fundamental progressions then smooth out the steps until everyone is moving with quality and confidence. It doesn't take long - and really, that's the beauty of Strongman:

Strongman movements are the truest form of "functional training". This stuff is already hardwired in each of us and because, deep down in our genetics, we know this stuff, the learning is actually just remembering.

Now, I may be biased, but these courses are an absolute blast! In fact, one of the most common reviews we get after holding a SM Course is that it was the most fun the attendee has had at a certification. That's what we strive for - a fun, action-packed day of moving heavy stuff(with good technique) with a group of cool, supportive people to bring it all together.

If that sounds like something you or someone you know would enjoy, SIGN UP. If you have questions about the course, contact us. 

We hope to see you there!

HOW TO BUILD A HEAVY BAG

It's been a while now, but we shared a video on how to build a sandbag for general purpose use. In that video, we briefly discussed the massive ROI building your own sandbag has when compared to spending big money on more traditional training equipment like barbells and bumper sets, which, of course, are great if you can swing the price tag and have space for it all.

For those of you that can't, or that train in the tight quarters of your garage, or who just want to include more odd object training into your program, we also discussed some of the sandbag exercises that are MUSTS. These lifts and exercises place a huge demand on you and provide a unique training stimulus that is difficult to replicate. 

Now, in an effort to provide y'all with more of the same (hopefully) valuable info, we wanted to show y'all our new heavy bags that we purchased from StrongFit, and how they can further diversify your training possibilities.

These bags are more durable and can handle much heavier weights - offering an alternative to atlas stones and/or kegs, both in shape and training stimulus, but won't destroy your floor when dropped. 

The video below is the "how-to" build your heavy bag. After you've made yours check back here for more vlogs on all the possibilities you have when it comes to training with the heavy bag! 

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NOW YOU HAVE A SANDBAG. HERE'S WHAT TO DO WITH IT!

Out of the endless sandbag exercise possibilities, there are three exercises that are crucial for developing your grip strength, mid-line stability as well as providing you with a massive ROI. The sandbag clean, Zercher squat and get-up are those BIG 3.

Once you've read through each of the brief descriptions of these sandbag exercises, check out the video at the bottom to really drive each movement home. We recommend you start putting in to your programming as soon as possible. And, as always, have fun with these exercises! Feel free show us how you performed your sandbag exercises or drop us a line with any questions you may have.

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THE BIG 3

1. SB Clean
This exercise teaches the lifter to generate power. It starts just like a Deadlift. Back flat, midline tight, and arms locked out. By quickly extending your hips and driving your feet through the ground, pop the sandbag up and drop into a receiving position to catch the bag.

2. Zercher Squat
This exercise is great for midline control, building leg strength and requires that you maintain proper posture while squatting, which will keep you safe and efficient. Support the sandbag with your arms forming a "basket" in front of you with palms facing up. The sandbag should be placed in the crooks of your elbows as you engage your lats in order to keep the bag close to your body as you perform your reps.

3. Get Up
This exercise can be performed any number of ways, but we encourage that as you start out, that you take it slow, hit each progression with intention and find good positions throughout the entire range of motion. When done in this fashion, the sandbag get-up recruits nearly all major muscle groups with the completion of just one rep. To say that there's a big return on investment with this movement would be an understatement.

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HOW TO BUILD A SANDBAG

If you are someone that trains out of your garage, you probably have a limited area for a ton of more traditional equipment. Not to mention, the cost of buying all of that stuff is enough to deter even the most hardcore worker-outers. But don't stress. The answer is very simple and very inexpensive: build a sandbag.

Sandbags have become more mainstream recently due to the growing popularity of strongman, but there are many of you out there that are still missing the boat. Implementing sandbags into your training program has a multitude of advantages, but two big ones are:

1. They are inexpensive and easy to make. Major ROI.

2. They more accurately represent the types of object manipulation we face day-to-day. Let's just simplify this by saying that sandbags provide a more real-life experience than a barbell. Evenly distributed weight on a convenient barbell doesn't really happen in nature....just a thought.

Now, contrary to the name, you don't want to literally fill a bag full of sand and go crush a workout. Trust me, that's a bad idea. You'll find that to be a major pain in the ass to use and clean up after. Just picture coming out of the ocean and rolling around on the beach - that pretty accurately depicts the outcome. 

Instead, watch the video below. Chapa and I walk you through the process of building a solid general purpose sandbag. The video is a long one at 6 minutes, but I think that if you are serious about your training and creating a well-rounded program, it will totally be worth it to you to watch. Then, after you build your bag, we will be sharing another blog covering the 3 sandbag exercises you NEED to be doing to get strong. These exercises provide major bang for your buck - especially when performed with the sandbag, so you'll want to stay tuned for that one. 

Until then, get that bag built!

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LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO YOUR MID-LINE.

As a coach, one of the most valuable things we can teach our athletes is how to control their mid-line. All too often, athletes and general fitness enthusiasts are exposed to physically demanding movements and positions without first establishing proper control over the musculature that is responsible for keeping their pelvis, low back and rib cage in safe, solid and efficient positions. Obviously we want this safety and efficiency present when moving our body through space, as well as when we move external objects through various ranges. As you can imagine, not having this control is a recipe for poor, potentially harmful, movement patterns to develop, which will eventually lead to injury. It's just a matter of time.

The good news is that we have ways to turn this trend around and build beneficial movement patterns and habits. It's not too late.

The video below is designed to help you introduce the Dead Bug Extension in a way that will be extremely valuable to both your newbs and seasoned athletes. This is one of those things that will only make you better - as long as you and your athletes pay attention to the details and move with intention. 

Check it out.

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