An Iota On Your Microbiota :)

The Gut Microbiome 

TL:DR 

Look, I know what it’s like to scroll through seemingly countless pages of a foodie blogger’s life story when all you want is the recipe. (And yet, I continue to write paragraphs. Frankly, I just can't help it. Bless y'all for telling me you read these.) Anyway, here’s the short of it:

For a happy gut and brain, prioritize foods rich in probiotics, prebiotics, healthy fats, and lean, unprocessed sources of meat.

Easily digestible (pun intended) sources of information are: here, here and here. 

And now, the whole shebang:

What is the Gut Microbiome?

Your large intestine is home to a collection of microbiota. Not just a collection, an army - estimated at 3.8 x 10^13, you have slightly more bacteria than total cells in your body! These bacterial buddies consist of both helpful and harmful varieties (symbiotic and pathogenic). In a healthy body, the mix lives harmoniously until a disturbance in the balance (catalyzed by infectious illness, dietary changes, a round of antibiotics, etc.) puts normal interactions at risk, resulting in greater susceptibility to disease. 

While your small intestine easily absorbs simple sugars like glucose and lactose, complex carbohydrates (starches and fibers) travel down to the large intestine, where billions of bacteria go to work digesting them, and preventing pathogenic organisms that enter the body through eating and drinking. [Read more here.]

Your microbiome plays an enormously important role in your digestive system, obviously - but less evident is the incredible role it has in healthy immune, neural and endocrine function. It helps break down potentially harmful food compounds, and synthesizes vitamins, amino acids and neurotransmitters (think dopamine, serotonin, noradrenalin).

Tellingly, patients with psychiatric disorders have shown notable distinctions in the composition of their gut microbiome, and both psychiatric patients and healthy study participants have demonstrated improvements in mood and decreases in anxiety as a result of addressing the gut microbiome with probiotics, prebiotics and dietary changes. 

When it comes down to it - as amazing as it is that bacteria in your gut can hold so much power - none of this should be surprising. We’ve all had butterflies in our stomach paired with a hint of digestive distress before athletic competitions, public speaking gigs, final exams, anxiety-inducing situations, whatever the event - we knew from a young age about the gut-brain-axis, before we knew it by name.

Alright, I get it. It's cool. It's powerful. It does a lot of stuff. Our next Marvel superhero should definitely be Microbiota Man.

Okay, you didn't say that last part, because your brain comes up with jokes that are actually funny. But you *are* wondering:

What does this have to do with eating?

Well, what you eat directly affects the nature, composition and function of your microbiome. And as we just established, your microbiome affects everything from your ability to digest certain foods to your mental health to immune function to neurotransmission.You probably already knew this, but regular dietary incorporation of probiotics, prebiotics and certain foods and spices can have a wonderfully positive influence on your tiny intestinal superheroes! 

Probiotics are living bacteria, and we’re familiar with the fermented sources - yogurt, kefir, kombucha, kimchi, sauerkraut, etc. Fermented foods have been shown to increase microbiome diversity and stave off inflammatory proteins. 

Prebiotics - mostly fibrous, indigestible carbohydrates - are the substrates that selectively enhance bacterial growth. You can think of eating prebiotics as feeding your gut microbiota! Garlic, leeks, legumes, soybeans, whole grains - a variety of fruits and vegetables all fall into this category. 

It is important to keep in mind that certain foods do have the potential to harm your microbiome. Processed meats, hydrogenated oils, fried foods, refined carbohydrates - no bueno. Excessive use of artificial sweeteners, caffeine and sugar alcohols can also have deleterious effects. Leaner cuts of meat - chicken and fish - are easier to digest than red meat, and ginger, hemp, flax and chia are RD recommended for happy guts! 

Okay friends, that’s it for this week - go ferment some veggies or tea, and enjoy your week!

Milkshakes and Mindset

It’s been well over a year since I’ve written here, and despite the fact that I’ve been informed via podcasts and reels and a hint of common sense that blogs are long gone and definitely dead, I’m not ready to give up on my hobby of writing things for fun just yet. If only for myself. Plus, I’ve been writing weekly contributions to Industry Athletic’s daily email for quite a while now - so I thought, in case one or two people find their way over, why not share them here? :) So, without further ado…

Milkshakes and Mindset

Now that I’ve gotten your attention with a top five dessert option, I wanted to share one of my favorite studies at the intersection of psychology and nutrition. I know, I know “...favorite research study?” you may be thinking, “shouldn’t favorites be reserved for topics like hero workouts, hobbies and sandwiches?” 

Perhaps. (And now I’m tempted to suffer through Holleyman before eating a Mushroom and Goat Cheese Panini, yum). But hear me out on this one, because the topic is truly fascinating AND the findings have implications for how you think about eating. 

This 2011 study has become quite well-known over the past few years, so perhaps you’ve heard of it: Mind over Milkshakes: mindsets, not just nutrients, determine ghrelin response (Alia J Crum et al.). It took place at the Yale Center for Clinical and Translational Research, where Crum and her team told participants that they would be consuming milkshakes on two separate occasions, one week apart. 

Participants were misleadingly informed that the shakes varied significantly in nutrient concentration, as they were designed to meet distinct metabolic needs of hospital patients. One was labeled as a 620 calorie “indulgent” shake, high in fat and sugar; the other a low fat and sugar, 140 calorie “sensible” shake. In reality, both were the same - falling somewhere in the middle at 380 calories. 

Gut peptide responses were measured by looking at ghrelin levels. Ghrelin is commonly known as the ‘hunger hormone’ - when levels rise, your brain prompts you to seek out food. When levels fall, hunger dissipates and metabolic activity increases for improved digestion. Participants’ hormone levels were measured three times: once upon arrival, again after reading the nutrition labels, and once more after consuming the shake. 

Here’s the fun part: Findings showed that when people *thought* they were consuming the “indulgent” milkshake, ghrelin levels dropped THREE TIMES the rate of when they *thought* they were consuming the “sensible” milkshake. Which is to say: Due to participants’ mindset about what they were consuming, their bodies responded as if they consumed more food - despite the fact that the shakes were nutritionally identical. 

“Participants’ satiety was consistent with what they believed they were consuming rather than the actual nutritional value of what they consumed....The effect of food consumption on ghrelin may be psychologically mediated, and mindset meaningfully affects physiological responses to food.”

This was one of the first studies to show objectively that your belief system about a food does indeed affect your physiological/metabolic response to eating that food. If you currently have or have ever experienced digestive distress surrounding the consumption of a personally or culturally demonized food, it may be worth considering to what extent mindset played a role in your physiological response. Something as simple as a personal check-in before and after - Do I feel anxious, bloated, uncomfortable, etc.? 

  Crum discusses (here, too) how these findings changed her own perspective on how to approach eating - that contrary to what she originally believed, thinking you’re eating healthfully may leave you still feeling hungry and unsatiated. The implication here being (my words, not hers) that ‘healthful’ is often synonymous in our culture with ‘restrictive’. It then follows that in order to promote fullness, the belief that what you are eating is satiating plays too significant of a role to ignore.

From a practical standpoint, this means choosing recipes and meal options that boast whole, nutrient dense foods AND sound delicious. This may mean experimenting and compromising, especially at first, and especially if you are not used to variety or venturing out of your comfort zone, but in that intersection of nutrient density and deliciousness lies the perfect recipe for a satiety-promoting mindset that fuels happy digestion.

On Being Happy to Move

An Essay On Beating Myself Over the Head with Realistic Self Compassion

Hello Fitness Friends, and Happy Rainy Thursday (in Baltimore, at least). 

Today I’ll diverge from my more predictable movement science-y material to talk about perspective. Specifically, the perspective of Being Grateful to Move. I understand if you just rolled your eyes. 

After all, we’re this close to being home free from The-Year-Which-Shall-Not-Be-Named (Hallelujah + good riddance), and many of us have shifted perspective and taken initiative more times than ever before. It feels high time for reality to meet us halfway with a shred of positive effort. 

Ever since the Western world realized that there’s more than a handful of neuroscience studies to back up the effectiveness of age-old yoga and meditation practices, it can sometimes feel like we’re getting beaten over the head with messages of ‘being present’ and ‘improving mindset.’  Many of us get regular reminders to pause and breathe, ironically enough, from technology and social apps - which we know are unsurprisingly one of the largest modern contributors to distraction and mental health struggles, especially for our young people.

It follows that for me to suggest that we “Be Grateful” for anything (in this case - the ability to move) comes across as a silly platitude - or, as with any adult who receives instructions by someone or something who has no place to do so - incite huffy opposition. (You ever see a coaster at Marshalls inscribed with “Laugh!” or “Breathe.” and your first reaction is to frown and hold your breath? Because “Who is that coaster to tell me what to do with my life?” Even though you ‘forgot’ to meditate every day last week... and also maybe the past year. Yeah. That’s what I mean.)

I’ve come to realize that words sometimes have to sit and gather dust, buried in the basement, until circumstances brush them off and bring them to light, revealing a full and paradigm-shifting significance. Or, to recycle another platitude - some things you just have to learn through experience. 

This  brings us back to the original point - perspective. See, up until recently, I thought I was harbouring a full, unadulterated appreciation for movement, but what I’ve actually had this entire time was an expectation and value-attachment to specific movement capabilities according to my privileged expectations.

Basically, it went something like this:

 Me: “I am grateful to move!” 

What My Subconscious Actually Meant: “Due to my previous experiences as a young and healthy athlete, I expect boundless potential for, and the inevitable realization of, high performance as defined by meeting competitive movement goals, often in relations to others’ performance standards. Predicated on my body’s ability to meet these goals, I am grateful to move.” 

Let’s take a step back: It’s inevitable that we, being the highly adaptive humans that we are, expect the continued presence of those beneficial fixtures which we are used to experiencing and receiving. We become disappointed when these things, people, abilities, etc. are taken away. It messes with our regular state of being, perception of reality, and, depending on the situation, sense of safety.

I am privileged in many ways (privilege being another hot button topic), and one of them is the ability to move without pain or restriction up through my early twenties. While the past several years of ligament tears, knee surgeries, and osteoarthritis have been frustrating, they’ve provided great awareness as to what it means to develop a healthy relationship with movement. 

I believe that this shift of perspective is something that every athlete must experience over time, in varying degrees of severity. It is the inevitable result of bodies that don’t last forever - ones that we have to take care of, especially when we ask so much of them. On the opposite side of the spectrum, for those who discover exercise later in life, the joys of experiencing movement potential after decades of sedentary lifestyle can feel like uncovering the fountain of youth. 

In both instances, perspectives change - and while it seems from the outset that one is quite negative (learning to manage loss of performance and/or function) while the other is positive (gaining new abilities), I think they can both be humbling and empowering in their own right.

Lately, I’ve experienced a level of overarching self-compassion in regards to my own movement that I’ve never experienced before. There are a few things I really miss at the moment, three in particular - running, heavy lifting, soccer, more running. Still, I’ve become extremely grateful for the things that I am able to do, of which there are many. I used to get pretty frustrated if I finished a workout without accomplishing whatever goal I set for myself that day. While frustration is an inescapable part of life, especially when expectations are high, putting the negatives into perspective instead of allowing them to eat you alive is a skill - and almost all skills can be learned. 

So far, working on this skill (or rather I should say, having found myself in a position where this skill becomes more or less necessary for continued improvement) has paid off in the form of patience, self-compassion, and happier workouts. I feel grateful for having the opportunity to be in the gym, continuing to push myself and slowly progress - even if things don’t go to plan, or I’d rather work on a skill I can’t currently pursue, or I fail an embarrassing number of times in a row, or I have to stop because of pain. These are all obstacles that can be overcome with a little creative thinking and willingness to adjust, if we’re just willing to rearrange. 

And so, I leave you with these thoughts, which I hope make some sense and provide a bit of relatability: I am happy to take part in the imperfect, frustrating process, because that is where we find joy. I am, more than ever, truly grateful to move. 

-Laura

10 Programming Principles

10 Programming Principles:

Structuring a Progressive, Well-Rounded and Sustainable Training Plan

Yesterday, I was asked to lend a critical eye to a workout log; the individual’s concern being that their training was insufficiently thought-out and not quite scientific enough. Perhaps because taking the initiative to record workouts requires an especially motivated type of person, this was only the second time that I’d been asked to look at a pre-existing log or program. Clients typically come to me as a blank slate, or looking for a fresh start. This being the case, I shouldn’t have been surprised to conclude that this person was on a more structured, goal-oriented path than they were willing to give themselves credit for.

By looking at the process of programming in reverse order, and in explaining to the lifter all the things I felt they were doing right before I filled in the few remaining pieces, I started thinking in more detailed terms about the criteria I’ve learned and applied to successful training plans over the years. While I am still very much in the weeds of learning the art and science of programming (with so many variables at play and a range of methodologies to manage them, there’s always more to learn), here are some reflections on ten tried-and-true principles that I don’t foresee changing my mind about any time soon:

1. Minimum Effective Dose 

In pharmacology, the therapeutic range of a drug lies between the Minimum Effective Dose (MED) and the Maximum Tolerated Dose (MTD). The MED is generally defined as the lowest dose level that provides a beneficial response, while the MTD is the highest level that allows for a therapeutic effect without being toxic or otherwise causing damage. While it should be self evident why this range is critical to determine for safe drug prescription, how does it translate to training? 

The biochemical processes that occur in your body when you lift weights are the direct cause of muscle failure, muscle fiber damage and CNS fatigue. Your body’s ability to recover, and the subsequent adaptation, results in increased strength. This means that training = stressor; recovery = strength. 

Goodness knows we all have enough stressors competing for our body’s limited resources these days; why apply an arbitrarily higher dosage of any stressor that exceeds what is needed to result in a direct health benefit, produce a specific training outcome, or sufficiently prepare an athlete for competition? Anything more is risking increased potential for burnout, injury, or even detracting from the overall effectiveness of the program due to a decreased ability for the body to sufficiently recover before the next training session. (Requirements for meeting health vs. performance goals are predictably different, but that’s a conversation for another time.)

At a certain, extremely elevated dosage, you will exceed your body’s ability to recover, and training effectively becomes toxic. In the CrossFit world, we’ve all been warned of rhabdomyolysis; in endurance sports, athletes have been known to suffer heart attacks (albeit rarely); on the field and court, ligament tears are a dime a dozen. These are, of course, examples at the tail end of the exertion spectrum - testaments to finding the very real limits of what a body can tolerate, and the unfortunately acute consequences that may result.

 Realistically, what we have to consider when it comes to laying out a program is more long term. Overtraining (or, under-recovering) surfaces in many forms, such as: extended bouts of decreased performance, often coupled with lack of motivation; elevated resting heart rate and blood pressure; decrease in appetite on unplanned weight loss; trouble sleeping; increased epinephrine and norepinephrine levels beyond normal exercise-induced levels, constant soreness, nagging injury, and plateau. These are all signs that your intensity, volume or training frequency currently exceeds your body’s ability to recover, adapt and reap the rewards of training.

While a program can’t force the athlete to sleep, eat nutrient-dense foods, or RICE sore limbs, it can incorporate the principle of minimum effective dose as a first-rate preventative measure against overtraining. Effective implementation includes:

1. Planning 1-3 non-negotiable rest days per week. Adjust up or down as needed based on the athlete’s response.

1.  Moderating volume and intensity for strength training by adhering to a reasonable rep range for a given percentage across all primary lifts (see Prilepin’s table below or this article by Mike Reinold on using RPE scale to gauge intensity).

1. Implementing conditioning workouts that take into consideration the appropriate variation and frequency of workout duration + heart rate zone given the athlete’s capacity.  Joel Jameison’s article summarizes this nicely, and goes into much more detail about how to test conditioning levels, definition and importance of the three HR zones, along with other criteria for writing effective conditioning workouts:

“Clients with low conditioning levels – 3-4 days per week of 30-45 minutes in the activation zone, 1 day per week of 20-30 minutes in the threshold zone.

Clients with moderate conditioning levels – 3-4 days per week of 45-60 minutes in the activation zone, up to 2 days per week of 30-40 minutes in the threshold zone, no more than 1 day of 15-20 minutes in the VO2 zone.

Clients with high conditioning levels – 2-3 days per week of 60 minutes in the activation zone, up to 1-2 days per week of 30-45 minutes in the threshold zone, no more than 2 days per week of 20-30 minutes in the VO2 zone.”

1. Not relying on workouts that serve the sole purpose of subjecting an athlete to reckless volume just for the sake of crushing their soul or making sore, and ensuring that movements are chosen to serve a purpose. 

1. Most importantly - if the athlete is not meeting the goals of the training program, and especially if they are experiencing any symptoms of under recovery, continue to adjust variables until this resolves.

2. Progressive Overload

Progressive Overload refers to the well-accepted method of implementing gradual increases in the stress placed upon the musculo-skeletal and nervous system over time to stimulate muscle growth and promote strength gains.  This stress can take the form of increased volume, intensity, frequency or time. An example would be: adding 5 pounds to your back squat each week, or keeping the weight the same while adding 1 rep.

Seems like common sense? The method was developed by U.S. army physician Thomas Delorme as he rehabilitated soldiers in the 1940s, at a time when the exertion caused by  lifting weights was considered potentially dangerous for the heart. It’s safe to say that science has come a long way since then! The tricky part is not so much in understanding the concept, but implementing it in a way that isn’t so aggressive that it leads to burnout, or so conservative that you end up holding the athlete back from reaching their potential. Unfortunately, the sweet spot  is extremely variable from athlete to athlete. Fortunately, athletes are self-aware, and can let you know how they feel! This is where the RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) scale is extremely valuable - check in, see how things feel, and adjust accordingly. 

3. SAID: Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands

If Progressive Overload looked like common sense masquerading as science, this one will make you laugh. Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands (SAID) refers to the concept that you get better at doing the thing you train to do. Literally, that’s it. If you perform 10x50m sprints each week, you’ll get better at sprinting. If you perform 6x800m, a 45 min long run, 3 x mile repeats and a 20 min fartlek as your weekly training routine for a month straight, your 5k time will almost certainly improve. If you do a wall ball EMOM to failure each Thursday, your wall balls are gonna be great - but you won’t expect to get better at pull ups, cleans or sit ups. It’s almost laughable, right? Why would I even bring it up?

Here’s why: Sometimes, we forget that random training leads to random results. It’s easy to get distracted with fancy exercises from the internet, or cherry pick workouts, or veer off of a plan without even realizing it. And while that’s all fine and fun when no real goals are at stake, we can’t turn around and be disappointed when muscle ups pop up  in a workout and you begin, seemingly inexplicably, to fail at reps. Basically: A) Train the skill you want to have,  and B) Boring, consistent, repetitive work leads to exciting, rewarding, repeatable progress. 

4. 2-3 Goals/Focal Points at a Time 

This one is the first thing I establish when designing a program, before anything else goes on paper. What one to three lifts, skills or performance points will dictate this training cycle?  I’ve observed that trying to attack more than three goals makes sustainable progress a challenge - and sometimes, if it’s big enough - one goal is the way to go. Keeping goals sweet and simple leaves important room for creativity and variation in the remainder of the week's training, ensures that you also have space to incorporate the necessary accessory work to assist with primary goals, and allows your body and brain to stay on track without getting overworked and overwhelmed. An example of goals that may coexist in one 6-12 week training cycle would be:

 1) Achieve 10 Unbroken Pull Ups   2) Hit a #200 lb Clean   3) Handstand Walk 25 feet

-or-

1) Improve Positioning in the Snatch Pull   2) Overhead Squat #150

-or-

1. Run 1600m in under 5:00

   5. Work Within the Larger Scale of Intelligent Periodization

(image taken from academy.sportylizer.com)

Periodization is the systematic planning of training in order to achieve peak performance at a given point in time (e.g. a test-out day or competition). It involves breaking down periods of training into cycles. The first and largest cycle, the Macro cycle, is usually associated with one year of training. The goal may be to peak for a single important competition, in which case all training occurs with this intention in mind. Macrocycles are made of a handful of Meso cycles, which may be anywhere from 3 weeks to 4 months in length. Meso cycles typically represent a phase of training in which a major facet of performance is prioritized - foundational strength and work capacity; speed and power development; strength and intensity. Microcycles are typically represented by one week of training. 

Even if you’re not training for a major competition(s), taking a step back to look at the larger framework enables you to be smart about not trying to attack too much at once - going back to point 5 (setting no more than 3 goals at a time), prioritizing cycles reminds you to be patient. Say that the first 6-8 week cycle of the year serves to prioritize back squats and pull ups, the next for deadlift and bench, and third for endurance and skill work, and the fourth snatch and clean and jerk. Knowing your current goals as well as what lies ahead allows you to train in peace knowing that each movement that holds a level of importance will get it’s time and place. YOU choose what to prioritize and when - there are countless ways to effectively organize your training - so that you can sit back and trust the process without trying to cram in everything at once. It’s also great to reserve a cycle for prioritizing your favorite means of exercise outside of the gym - hiking, trail running, pickleball, soccer, mountain biking or swimming. After all, being able to do the fun stuff is likely part of the reason why you show up to the gym.

Finally, remember that just because your current cycle is, for example, back squats and pull ups DOESN’T mean that you never deadlift or do a conditioning workout. ALL primary movement patterns and aerobic/anaerobic work should continue to play a role no matter what cycle you’re in - periodization simply means that you shifting the percentage of work to allow for progress vs. maintenance, (or ‘attack mode’ vs. ‘backburner’ ... however you want to look at it).

6. Unilateral Movement is Necessary, Not Accessory

I’ve yet to meet a single athlete or client whose body functions symmetrically. We’re too efficient at adapting to life and sport’s one-sided demands for that. It thus follows that despite having two sets of limbs, we have to look beyond the obvious, and train beyond the barbell. Many of us get away with it in our early years, only to reap what we sow somewhere down the line. Kettlebells, single leg deadlifts, lunge variations, suitcase carries, banded pressing, pulling and resisting - these tools and movements act as continuous preventative measures for injury, and do wonders for staying in the fitness game for a lifetime. If one side is stronger, don’t ignore it like your least-favorite vegetable. Bolster it with unilateral work. It’s okay to let your stronger side relax for a while - it’s done plenty already. 

7. Know when and how to be flexible.

Not a single program will be followed as-written. People get sick, injured and have bad days. The worst thing you can do is force feed a worn-down athlete  the day’s training with no regard for their current capacity to handle more stress. The best thing you can do is listen, make appropriate adjustments on the fly, and then send them home early to eat and sleep so they can attack the next day with gusto.

8. Program for the individual in front of you, not everyone or anyone else.

It doesn’t matter what anyone else is doing -  if their training plan or approach to fitness doesn’t meet your client’s goals (or yours, if you’re writing your own programming), it’s not for them. It’s easy to get distracted, but do your best to stay the course until it’s time to re-evaluate and set new goals. 

9. Set a Daily Goal

Similar to the macro-meso-micro cycle structure, your goals need to be organized accordingly. This includes yearly, monthly, weekly and even daily goals. I realize that the concept of daily goals sounds intense, and probably excessive.  (Especially for someone like myself, who is as averse to goals and metrics as I am intrigued and motivated by them. Then again, they would be neither intriguing nor motivating if they didn’t require a bit of bucking up.) I came to the idea of daily goals when I heard a weightlifting coach request them of his youth athletes. My first reaction - as with anything that incites accountability and intimidation - was to scoff. That’s ridiculous. How are you supposed to meet a new goal every day, let alone come up with one? Isn’t that too much to ask of yourself? Is it even necessary? I had this same reaction when I went through Yoga teacher training and was taught to start class with a daily intention. 

When it comes down to it, these two instances are the same. Their purpose is to remind you to:

a) check in to your body and brain’s current situation and state

b) usher concerted effort and mental presence to that day’s workout

c) create accountability to ensure that your efforts in the workout align with your longer-term goals

Your goal on any given day could range from: 

“Hit my lifetime Back Squat PR” 

to 

“Show up to the gym.” 

to 

“Hold myself accountable to not hitching my cleans today, and drop down in weight or slow the pace as needed.” 

to 

 “Take a nap instead because I got 4 hours of sleep before a 10 hour workday and my body is not in a place to workout right now”. 

to

“Hit all my wallballs for the workout in sets of 15.” 

 Those are all great examples of daily goals that serve the purpose of making them in the first place. If you have a training log (which is always a great idea), I would include a separate category for outlining your daily goals, as well as other notes for how the workout went. Did you meet your goal? Why or why not? What else did you notice about how the workout went? Record, reflect, reassess!

10) Leave time for creativity and spontaneity.

You know how kids around the country are experiencing the negative effects of reduced time at recess? Well adults are, too. When was the last time you did a cartwheel or skip for the heck of it? I hope, for your sake, that it was very recently. Realistically, social barriers and racing minds keep us away from that sort of childish nonsense. Which is really too bad, seeing as the benefits of unstructured play are uniquely powerful.  Not only does it remind you to find light and joy in your training, it acts as a destressor while facilitating creative thinking skills. Plus, excessive structure and rigidity is never fun, and we NEED to have fun if we’re going to keep doing this for the rest of our lives. Balance out the progressive skill, strength and speed work with a weekly 30 minutes of do-whatever-you-feel-like? Sounds like a great way to keep you coming back in full force for the hard stuff. Tony Gentilcore, co-founder of Cressey Sports Performance and Boston-based Trainer, wrote about the benefit of allowing his clients ten minutes at the end of each session to work on whatever they want. Not only does this provide the client/athlete with agency in their own training, it facilitates coach-athlete teamwork and may serve as a learning process for the coach, too.  

Well, there you have it. Ten principles for a well-rounded training program, as I see it. I hope it helps! There are always exceptions, alternative opinions, and so forth. If anything doesn’t sit right with you - or you have any other relevant notes, or similar lessons and experiences, write a comment and let me know!

Why Squats Are Snowflakes

How Anthropometrics and Hip Positioning Can Determine Your Ideal Squat Variation

In honor of the Industry Athletics community continuing to squat its tailbone off each Tuesday for the next few weeks, I thought we’d briefly address why the squat, a movement so seemingly simple and non-complex, is a deceptively special snowflake. 

If you take a second to consider, it makes sense that there would be as many distinct squat patterns as there are people that squat. Starting with anthropometric variance (height, weight, limb ratios, etc.) and adding in an individual’s specific musculoskeletal adaptations to years of sport, exercise, repetitive movements and postures (or lack thereof), we’re presented with a litany of explanations for why your squat will never be the same as anyone else’s. 

Despite the fact that everyone holds their own non-replicable movement capacity, we tend to harbour an expectation that each athlete is one of about five general cues (plus a mobilization or two) away from exhibiting a ‘perfect’ squat. We visualize this ideal squat to involve, in no particular order: feet symmetrically aligned somewhere between hip and shoulder width apart, a neutral spine with lumbar curve in-tact, unrestricted depth below parallel, zero lateral/medial hip shift, knees tracking in line with toes, relatively vertical torso, with heels and toes anchored to the ground throughout. 

Because we know that achieving this ideal requires a generous range of actively accessible motion though the ankles, knees, hips, and spine, we prime our squats with foam rolling, spine and joint mobilizations plus glute activations to stimulate our neuroreceptors, get the juices flowing and open up positions we avoid or don’t move into throughout the day, which our brains have a tendency to protectively restrict. 

Basically: we’ve got a solid, basic working knowledge of the squat, we’ve got our bases covered with movement prep, and yet many athletes still struggle with feeling like their squat doesn’t look or feel ‘right’.

A quick detour before I move on: An unsatisfactory squat may be an issue of *actually* taking the ten minutes a day, every day, to do your prehab. I know, I know. It’s boringgg. I’ve been known to slack on my ankle dorsiflexion and eccentric hamstring work, too. More often than not, I just have to take a deep breath, set a timer for 10 minutes, and get it done. It’s always worth it. If you’re reading this and realizing that you have no idea what your personal ‘weakness work’ is, see a PT (like the lovely people two literal steps away at FX!) and find out. Remember, to pave the most efficient path to your health and fitness goals: Assess, don’t guess.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, we can address the fact that there are certain anatomically-determined aspects of your squat that we simply cannot change. The easiest ones to pick out of the weeds are: trunk vs. femur proportions and position/angling of and between the hip sockets. What? Okayyy, here we go...

1. Femur Length: 

Those with long femurs (a long femur = more than 26% of your total height) usually boast strong and comfortable deadlifts, but are at a mechanical disadvantage when it comes to keeping the hips close to their center of gravity throughout a squat. Let’s give our long-femured gym-goer a purely hypothetical name: Laura. Laura’s tendency is toward stronger deadlifts but proportionally weaker squats. She struggles to keep her trunk upright, folding aggressively forward while attempting to maintain balance over the midfoot - especially if she struggles to drive the knees out. If you are like Laura, your goal is to find a squat style that allows you to maintain an upright posture. Taking a wider stance and strengthening your capacity for hip abduction (getting the knees out) will work in your favor, as they both effectively reduce the distance that your hips have to travel away from your midline the closer you get to and front parallel. If hip abduction is a struggle or a wider stance feels off, you’ll likely benefit from wearing lifters/ using a heel block (2.5 or 5 lb plates work, too), along with allowing the knees to track forward - again, reducing the distance your hips move back and trunk dips forward. You may also find that front squats are more comfortable, as the anterior position of the weight is easier to keep in line with your center of gravity (yay, levers). 

1. Trunk Length: 

Long trunk + short femured lifters, congratulations: you’re built to squat! Your body is set up to keep your hips closest to your center of gravity throughout the movement. How do you know which category you fall into? Good question. Let’s take it from Greg Nuckols: 

“...the femur averages 26% of the body’s total height, so measure from your hip to the outside of your knee joint.  Divide that number in inches or centimeters by your height in inches or centimeters.  If you get .26 on the dot, then you’re average.  If you get more than .26, you’re erring farther towards “long femured” and if you get less than .26, you’re erring farther towards “long torsoed.””

1. Anteverted vs Retroverted Hips: 

The final point we’ll consider today is the specific articular geometry happening at your hips. The visual above shows how the angle from which the femoral neck snuggles into the actetabulum affects everything along the chain, down to the direction your feet point. This explains much of why some people are able to keep the toes directly forward without rotational compensation from the tibia/femur, while others feel right at home sitting into a deep squat without significant discomfort or adjustment of stance and toe angle. 

Dean  Somerset discuss at length in this article, but here’s the crux of it all: 

“The shaft of the femur doesn’t just always go straight up and insert into the pelvis with a solid 90 degree alignment. On occasion the neck can be angled forward (femoral head is anterior to the shaft) in a position known as anteversion, or angled backward (femoral head is posterior to the shaft) in a position known as retroversion. Zalawadia et al (2010) showed the variances in femoral neck angles could be as much as 24 degrees between samples, which can be a huge difference when it comes to the ability to move a joint through a range of motion.” 

Of course, there are other factors at play to further complicate things: 

A) The acetabulum itself may be angled forward or backward, to the the tune of thirty plus degrees - which translates to thirty or more extra degrees of flexion compared to your retroverted friend, who would exhibit that much more extension. 

B) The center-edge angle, which indicates the difference between the center of the femoral head through the vertical axis and the outer edge of the lateral hip socket, has been shown to vary from 20.8 to 40 degrees according to a study done by Laborie et al (2012).

C) Not only that, but there can be significant difference (20+ degrees)in anteversion and retroversion between your right and left sides, according to more studies done by Zalawadia. How fun! This means that it is entirely possible that, for those of you who naturally assume a staggered stance when you squat and can’t seem to shake the habit, this is exactly why. Now again - this could also be the result of soft tissue differences. So now the question remains - how do you know what’s caused by what? And what do I do about it?

For one, if you’re having regular pain or feel ‘off’ while squatting (despite your best efforts to mobilize and activate), you can try a few passive mobility tests that can at least give you feel for whether or not certain ranges of motion are accessible right off the bat. If they are, then you know you’re not limited by things you can’t change. Your homework is then to get there actively (see a coach for help). Even better - see a PT to help determinoe whether your tendencies are geometrically determined, soft tissue related, or both - and as a result,  help you future out which pre-squat routine and squat pattern is best suited to you. Happy Squatting!

What To Do When Your Body Feels Like Jello:

Using an RPE Scale for Percentage-based Training

When your back = this tree.

If you’ve been working out regularly for even one month, you’re likely familiar with the issue of weights feeling heavier on some days than others. Some days, you pick up a barbell and put it right back down, because you must’ve made a mistake and grabbed the wrong one. You double check the bar only to see the correct weight, and indulge yourself in a moment of despair. How dare gravity play you like that?! The gall! Go visit another planet and leave my barbell alone, would you? When gravity rudely but inevitably ignores your sincerest requests, self-defeating thoughts start creeping in. My body feels terrible... Should I even bother trying to squat today?

The good news is - as you probably realize - this is very much a shared experience. None of us get to escape the ebb and flow of regular stressors and energy-affecting variables (sleep, nutrition, work, family, school, health - the usual culprits) that dictate whether or not we feel like a +100 or -10 when we start a workout. While 1RM testing has been repeatedly shown as a valid and reliable assessment of strength, there’s also evidence of up to 18% variability in 1RM* performance on any given day. That’s a pretty significant statistic to validate the foreboding “Did I trade my legs for a bowl of jello?” feeling that hits us all too often.

When the unloaded barbell feels like 10 million pounds.

 So... how do I apply this information?

Knowing that each of us walks into the gym on any given day looking at the same workout card, but dotting individual points across a spectrum of Feeling from fresh cloud to zombie, we have to be cognizant of modulating our effort and intensity accordingly. We all know about scaling options, but many of us view scaling as a linear progression - once you master ring rows, you progress to lower ring rows, then assisted pull ups, then negatives, then strict, then kipping; Once you hit a #400 deadlift, #350 should always feel doable. 

Right?

In reality, #350 and kipping pull ups feel completely different from one week to the next. Let’s say that again: You cannot expect your body to have a robotic, identically repeatable response to the same movement and weight each and every day. We all know this (because we’ve experienced the frustration), but do we internalize it? Instead of settling for poor quality movement, do we turn bad days around by taking ownership of those tough moments and adjusting on the spot according to expectations that are true to work at our current capacity? Some days, in order to preserve technique, prevent potential injury, or simply be able to pick the weight off the floor - we have to scale back. This is not only fine, this is to be expected - and both your longevity and progress as an athlete depends on how you handle it. 

Let’s take a look at the RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) scale used by Mike Robertson (founder of Roberston Training systems and legend of strength and conditioning):

• RPE of 10 – Max effort/limit lift. This is either one heckuva grinder, or they flat out miss a lift.

• RPE of 9 – Heavy lift, but one rep left in the tank.

• RPE of 8 – Heavy(ish) lift, but two reps left in the tank.

• RPE of 7 – Moderate weight, multiple reps left in the tank.

Seems pretty straightforward, right? Fortunately, it is! Let’s take a look at using this methodology in a hypothetical workout:

Say the workout calls for a 3x3 Back Squat at 90% 1RM. This would be a high intensity, low volume day - typically programmed toward the end of a strength cycle, in a week prior to deload before retest or competition. Your work effort should be right around 90% of max capacity, or a 9/10 rate of perceived exertion (RPE) - hence the 90% 1RM.

On this day, you pick up the bar, go for your first set, and can barely do two reps at the prescribed weight. Your second rep is sloppy, and your third rep is a textbook example for ‘how not to squat’. Bummer. You re-rack the bar but don’t even consider taking off weight, because that would be ‘failing’ or ‘giving up’ at your programming - which is not something you do. You commit to the work at hand, so that you can make progress. This is the work of a good athlete.

... right?

Let’s reconsider: 

1. If the intended stimulus is 90% , with a feeling of ‘one rep left in the tank’, but you’re working over 100% of your capacity for the day...  Are you really following the programming? 

1. If your trunk is collapsing under the weight of the bar, your knees are caving in, or your hips are shooting up - errors which you can control at lower percentages - what movement mechanics are you training? What muscle recruitment patterns are you reinforcing? Is that really contributing to your best and strongest movement? I can almost guarantee if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, it’s not a chicken. We want chickens, not ducks. (Duck = shitty squat. Chicken = good squat. See where my head’s at?)

1.  Training to failure is important, but should be reserved for test, retest and competition days. The rest of the time, training to technical proficiency will allow you to keep making progress - or keep training at all.

If all of that makes at little sense, or at the very least strikes a chord, then we arrive back at: What to do when my body feels like poo?

In this case, if I were your coach, I would tell you to take off *just* as much weight as you need in order to get to that which feels the most like 90% for that day. All the time, I tell athletes to use percentages as “guidelines, not absolutes”, and this is a perfect example of when to put that into play.

The best way to incorporate RPE into your percentage based training is keep a consistent mental note of how you’re feeling. Check in with your exertion, be self-critical when it comes to form, and you’re less likely to move through workouts with blinders on. Effective use of RPE clearly requires honesty - it’s a subjective rating system, which is arguably the hardest selling point. That said, if the result of keeping tabs on RPE is greater awareness and intention in your day-to-day movement, then the benefits will keep coming for as long as you decide to keep putting in the work.

*I searched the internet somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes trying to find the study Robertson cites in the linked podcast, but could not find it. I decided to reference his insight anyway, because a) the guy does his homework, and precedent means I trust what comes out of his mouth, b) the statistic really puts things into perspective. So, take that information as you will.

Sometimes, all you need is a teaspoon of You Got This.

You Are Not Your Score

You Are Not Your Score:

An Essay about Friendship, Self-Worth and CrossFit

*Post-Workout Sweating + Panting* 

Friend: “What did you get?” 

Me: [ a number ] + [ an excuse ] 

Lately I’ve been talking to my friend @thesassydietitian about the pros and cons of CrossFit (of which there are many, on both sides): 

The Pros:

*Location of daily happy place

*Lot of heavy circles to lift 

*Rings and things to swing on

*Super strong, extra smart, fun-loving people 

*A community where friendships form on the basis of lifting each other up and celebrating common goals, a place where people take joy in others’ success and push each other to do the things that they think they cannot do, but eventually accomplish through their own grit, bolstered by the encouragement of others. 

The Cons: 

*Needs more diversity (across the board).

*Sometimes “pushing ourselves” goes too far, when we ignore our body’s innate warning signals to slow down for a minute and focus on a necessary prerequisite capacity for completing a movement (or workout) safely. 

*We want to come in first, or not come in last, or beat an old time from a different, younger, less-stressed stage of life, or lift a certain number of pounds that we feel as though we “should” be lifting based on a generalized standard which does not take into account our individual level of strength. 

*We lose patience, fear judgement, or feed our egos, sacrificing the admittedly painstakingly-slow process of building a bullet proof foundation that forms the basis of sustainable fitness for a lifetime in favor of short term gain and pride. 

By now, we should all know the difference between fitness and performance. In the performance world, training centers around shorter term goals, and cycles are designed to peak for competition. While the first priority of a strength and conditioning coach is to prevent injury and increase resiliency for sport, said sports don’t care about your body, they care about whatever physical and mental sacrifice you need to win. That’s it. 

Training for performance is not a health-related goal, it’s a competition-related goal. Training for fitness involves a health-related goal of living your strongest AND most mobile life for as long as your days on Earth. While the cycles of sports performance center around off season vs. in season, the cycles of fitness center around *the rest of your life*. School, work, family, hobbies, travel, etc. create a natural ebb and flow of “in” and “out” of regular training - and that’s nothing to beat yourself up about. 

This brings me full circle to my first sentence, when @thesassydietitian said, as a reminder to us both: “Being the best athlete does not make you a good person.” And that is when I realized, to my utmost relief and utter frustration, that I attach far too much of my value - almost my entire value actually, as a whole human! - to being ... fast. Just, fast. 

I grew up feeding off of years of praise for being a ‘good’ runner and in the younger years, a good soccer player.... something I never learned to grow past. As embarrassing as it is to admit, for most of my life, all of my frustration boiled down to: “If I get the best time, then I am allowed to continue holding my value as a likeable human.” This whole time, I’ve done myself the disservice of failing to recognize that my friends would no longer be my friends if I decided to suddenly turn into a jackass - not because I suddenly cannot run a 5:30 mile (and I know this is true, because I currently can barely run, and yet none of my friends have told me “You are slow, and therefore no longer worthy of my friendship.”) 

And so, the next time you feel sad because you wish your score in the workout was better - because you better believe I know you’ve felt this way too, in at least one point in your life, if you’ve ever competed in anything (and if not... please let me know what that’s like?!?) - look across your 6x6 foot socially-distance fitness square and smile at your friends, because you just inspired each other to come out from the other side of a hard workout sweaty, happy and with zero judgement attached to the number of pounds on your bar, time on your row, or reps on your metcon. Your friends like you because of the joy you bring them when they see your face, not because of the number on your scorecard. 

Scattered throughout this post are the pictures from my most recent birthday, which I celebrated by asking as many friends as I could in this time of Covid to participate with me in a Federal Hill scavenger hunt. My friends Candace and Jen graciously organized the challenges, and what ensued was the most fun I’ve had since I was a kid. My friends are fantastic, and it has nothing to do with how much they lift, but everything to do with how much fun we have together. And I have a feeling they feel the same about me. :)

Breathing Techniques for Hardstyle Kettlebells

Hardstyle Breathing

Breathing for kettlebells can be categorized by two different functions:

1️⃣ Ballistic/Explosive Movements (swing, clean, high pull, snatch)

2️⃣Strength/Grind Movements (heavy deadlift, squat, press)

The former involves a sharp inhale through the nose during the passive phase of the swing, followed by a rapid, hissing exhale that corresponds with an explosive contraction of the hips, trunk and leg muscles. The “tsssst” sound comes from forcing air out with your lips nearly closed, while pressing your tongue to the roof of your mouth behind your teeth.

The latter involves an inhale through the nose upon bracing to begin the lift, followed by a slow, controlled, hissing exhale to get you through the hardest part (aka grind).

While both involve a diaphragmatic inhale, the rate of the exhale corresponds with the optimal amount of intra-abdominal pressurization needed to facilitate stability and strength for rapid versus drawn-out muscular contractions.

Now, let’s talk about the elephant in the room: awkwardly sounding like a piston while you workout. I know, I know - the first time someone taught me how to breathe correctly for kettlebells, I was like “yeahhhh..... no, thank you, I’m good”. So, I totally get it if you’d rather not be ‘that person’ while you workout. (I got over it… obviously.)

BUT, lucky you, while we’re all stuck at home you get to practice this stuff now in the comfort of your own home, where no one except your pets, family or roommates can judge you! (It’s fine; they’re judging you anyway. Out of love, of course.) Unexpected benefits of #quarantine2020!

If you’ve never attempted this style of breathing before, I highly recommend slowly integrating it into your technical warm ups, then building from there.

Breath powers movement, and kettlebells are no exception. Plus, when you get used to it, it becomes second nature! Keep in mind, you may be forced to slow down your typical workout pace in order to maintain proper breathing techniques at first. That’s okay. Keep at it.

New Kettlebell Program!

Swing, Squat, Sweat 

8 Week, 24-Workout, Full Body Kettlebell Program You Can Do At Home

Designed to be scalable for all levels of experience

What You’ll Need:

1. (at least) 1 Kettlebell* + 1 Exercise mat +  1 Sturdy Chair, Bench or Couch

2. About 45-60 minutes, 3x/ week for 8 weeks  OR  2x/ week for 12 weeks

3. That’s it

What It Involves:

A Days: 8 Strength Workouts 

B Days: 8 Circuit Workouts 

C Days: 8 Conditioning Workouts

Includes: Warm up for each workout, hyperlinked exercise demos 

Optional Add-On: Virtual coaching sessions for kettlebell technique. Please email me directly at lauraldiebold@gmail.com if you are interested in supplementing this program with coaching sessions. 

What You’ll Develop:

Strength, Flexibility, Power, Aerobic Capacity, Technical Skills

About the Program

The single kettlebell focus was chosen as a direct response to the time in which this program is being created - March 2020, when COVID-19 has forced every gym in the United States and throughout the world to shut its doors. Many of us are doing our best to stay physically and mentally healthy under the circumstances, while limited by the primary barriers of small spaces, minimal equipment, and a tendency to feel inconsistent and aimless with training plans due to this sudden, unprecedented change. There are thousands of free, at-home workouts being posted online every single day, but I still hear friends say “I don’t know what workout to do. I really miss when someone was writing my program for me.” This program is my answer to all of the above. 

About Me

I have been working with individuals and teams in the realm of fitness and performance since 2013, when I graduated from McGill University with a B.A. in Philosophy. I am a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), 200-Hour Yoga Instructor (RYT-200), Level 1 Olympic Weightlifting Coach (USAW-SP), CrossFit Coach (CF-L1) and Hardstyle Kettlebell Instructor (RKC). 

How to Use this Program

There are a couple ways you could choose to approach this program. You may use it as your complete workout plan; or, if you are interested in 5-6 days per week of exercise, you may choose to supplement with other domains of fitness. There are many ways to break it up, and none of them are wrong. The most important thing is that you find a routine, level of activity (total volume and intensity),  time and place that works for you. What works for you is largely dependent on your prior experience with exercise, your work, school or volunteer schedule, the demands placed on you by friends or family, how much sleep you get each night, and your recovery time frame (How quickly can your body recover from a workout? Do you need 12, 24, or 48 hours between workouts to feel energized, fresh and injury-free?). As you can see, this makes for huge variability in what works for any given person.

For example, I personally would approach the program as such, since I am used to more volume in my weekly routine:

Monday: KB Strength Day 

Tuesday: Swim, Bike or Row Workout

Wednesday: KB Circuit Day

Thursday: Active Rest - Yoga/Stretch, Long Run 

Friday: KB Conditioning Day

Saturday: Tempo or Interval Run

Sunday: Active Rest - Yoga/Stretch, Long Walk

A beginner exerciser’s routine may look more like this:

Monday: KB Strength Day

Tuesday: 30 min Walk

Wednesday: KB Circuit Day

Thursday: Rest

Friday: KB Conditioning Day

Saturday: 30 min Run, Bike, Walk, Run or Swim

Sunday: Rest

What Weight Ketttlebell Should I Buy?

Short Answer: 

This is really going to vary by person. That said, the following is my best generalized response:

For women:

If you can choose three: #18, #35, and #44

If you can choose two: #18, #35

If you must choose one: #26 or #35 

For men: 

If you can choose three: #26, #35, #53 

If you can choose two: #35, #53

If you must choose one: #35 or #44 

If you already weight train, use your prior experience to choose a weight that feels good for you. If your home gym budget is flexible, grab two bells of each weight so you can do double up on movements!

(Bells are traditionally measured in kilos, so the # options may seem un-intuitive/confusing at first.)

Long Answer: 

The question I get asked most frequently by aspiring kettlebell users is: “What weight should I buy?” Unfortunately, this is hard for me to answer without having worked with you before. In an ideal world, you would have three or more kettlebells: one heavy (for deadlifting, two-arm swinging, etc.), one medium (for cleaning, snatching, lunging, squatting, etc.) and one light bell (for bottoms up presses, warm up, skill development, and technical work) . Each movement requires different muscle groups of varying strength, size and function, for which a different weight will be most appropriate to create the most effective stimulus without resulting in either zero training effect (on one side of the spectrum) or overuse/injury (on the other side of the spectrum). 

On Regressions, Progressions and Modification Options

Throughout the program I will specify certain holds and progressions. Always use common sense and good judgement to modify up or down based on your level of strength, movement proficiency and equipment availability.  If the program specifies “Lateral Lunge Front Rack Hold”, but you cannot currently get your hips parallel with your knee on a lateral lunge, or the movement feels wobbly and challenging at bodyweight, then eliminate the kettlebell and do the movement unloaded. As another example, if your bell is too heavy for a front rack hold for that particular movement, swap for a suitcase or goblet hold. Conversely, if you are highly proficient at lateral lunges, and you have two bells available, go for a double bell, front rack lateral lunge. Always adjust the movement to your ability level and equipment limitations. Everything is scalable. 

Hardstyle Kettlebell Training (in a nutshell)

The tenets of this program are based on Hardstyle Kettlebell training methodology as taught via the RKC (Russian Kettlebell Challenge) certification, which I achieved in June of 2017. Hardstyle is a term used in martial arts to describe techniques that meet force with force. In practice, this means being alternately explosive and relaxed throughout ballistic movements (like the swing and snatch) while using total body tension to get through grinding strength movements (like presses and squats). It relies on the effective practice of consistent, specific breathing techniques and focused, technical efforts. When done correctly, it results in an effective strength and conditioning program that increases strength, speed, flexibility and athleticism. 

Hardstyle Kettlebell Training (in more depth)

According to the RKC Instructor Manual (a Dragon Door publication), pg.18:

“Most historians trace the recent popularity of the kettlebell as beginning in 1998 with the publication of an article by Pavel entitled “Vodka, Pickle Juice, Kettlebell Lifting and Other Russian Pastimes” in a publication called MILO: A Journal for Serious Strength Athletes. Pavel’s publisher, Dragon Door, proposed Pavel write a book and Dragon Door would start manufacturing cast-iron kettlebells in the United States.”

Since then, kettlebells have only continued to grow in popularity throughout the world - and for good reason: Kettlebell training is effective, efficient and simple. Great athletes move from their hips, and kettlebells are all about the hips. 

Ballistic practice (swings, cleans, snatches) develop fast twitch fibers by means of explosive force production, resulting in strength gains despite training with lighter loads.  

Classic strength movements (deadlift, squat, lunge, press, row, etc.) can be performed with significant challenge whether through anterior, overhead, bilateral or unilateral loading while resulting in less strain on the central nervous system due to lighter overall loads than a barbell. 

The kettlebell’s offset center of gravity challenges the shoulder stabilizers through a full range of motion, acting to reinforce shoulder health and resiliency. 

Movement How-To’s:

How to Hinge

How to Breathe

How to Hold the Kettlebell

Russian SwingKettlebell Clean

Kettlebell Snatch

Turkish Get Up

Windmill

Arm Bar

Refer Here for Entire Collection of Movement Demos

When in doubt, refer to any content produced by StrongFirst.com, or a SFG or RKC certified instructor, for reliable information on proper kettlebell technique.

Single Leg Deadlift Progression

The Single Leg Deadlift is an effective way to ensure that your weaker side gets a fair chance at building strength (in bilateral exercises, there tends to be an uneven split of work) while simultaneously working on balance, lumbo-pelvic stability, and spinal stabilization. Even though you simply can't lift as much weight balancing on one leg compared to a traditional dead lift, there's a lot going on and plenty of benefits to be gained. Plus, once you've mastered the movement pattern, you can always add a second bell to the mix for a very real challenge. These make for an excellent lower body accessory movement to any strength training program. Here is a learning progression for technical mastery:

1. Wall Press Single Leg Romanian Deadlift

Set up just in front of the wall, facing away. Reach your non-working leg back into the wall, so that your shin is more or less parallel to the floor (scoot farther or closer to the wall as needed). Keeping the mid line braced (no spinal flexion), allow the weight of the bell to pull you down into a hinge, pressing equally as hard through the grounded foot as the elevated one. The purpose of the anchoring foot is to create a second point of stability and tension in order to help groove a strong hip hinge and familiarize positioning without having to worry about balance. Stop and come back up to the starting position once your chest is parallel to the floor.

2. Staggered Stance/Kick Stand/B-Stance Romanian Deadlift

The intermediary between a wall-assist and full single leg deadlift involves allowing the forefoot of the non-working leg to remain just behind the grounded one, creating a less-active but still-present point of stability. Think about a 70/30 split of weight between the front and back leg, respectively. Use this one to feel out more of the balance component and gain some mental assuredeness. Not to mention, sometimes your balance just isn't there - keep this one in your back pocket as a substitute option for those less-coordinated days. We all have them.

3. Single Leg Deadlift

This is the one where the working leg gets no assist as the back leg moves parallel to the floor, which means you have to be conscious of not allowing the hips to rotate open (if you're familiar with yoga, it's like a Warrior III as opposed to a half moon pose). Think about the toes of the elevated leg as dictating the position of the hip - if your femur is externally rotated (which we don't want), then the toes will point out to the side. Keep the toes pointing down and gently drop the hip, rotating the inner thighs together. Press strong through the back heel, remembering how it felt to generate tension by pushing into the wall. My favorite imagery here is a see-saw: your torso only lowers as your back leg raises, and vice versa.