Dutch Lowy

All that is left of my latest Grok’s Treats shipment…  Already crushed a whole bag of granola and a couple bars.

I am not sure if ya’ll have noticed but i don’t pimp much shit on this blog.  I do however feel compelled to bring to light things that can help you and your clients be and stay healthy.  That is the reason behind this post.

A good friend of mine, client and hard charger has started a company that sells Paleo treats.  It is called Groks Treats.  Let me tell you from personal experience they are all fantastic!!  I have not tasted anything paleo that so closely resembles the traditional treats.  She has everything from granola to brownies.  I have done my best to milk the recipes out of her but to no avail.  If you get the occasional craving for a treat, it is certainly worth checking these out!!

Interested in training with me?  Don’t feel like you have the financial resources to commit to personal attention?  have a specific goal you are trying to accomplish?

We are working on something just for YOU!

Stay tuned for details and leave a comment if you have any special requests.

I will have to come back to the Poll. I just can’t get it sorted out right now. I didn’t want to leave you hangin so here is something to think about in the mean time.

Back when i worked for HQ i would address this specific issue all the time. Since i have carved out my little corner to live in i hear it less and less but it still something to address especially for new trainers. I received a question a bout the butt wink and mobility in a squat and what to do about it.

For something like this it is hard to diagnose a non specific case. In my opinion the Butt wink is not dangerous in certain situations. I would never say that its acceptable but it is certainly not dangerous in everyone. I labeled this post Training age for a reason. If we have someone that has been squatting for years and still has a butt wink, i’m not too concerned with loading it. If i have a 45 year old guy walk in the door that hasn’t gotten off the couch in years i WILL NOT Load him.

The first example (person with squatting experience), is not as much of a concern for me so long as there is a good enough range of motion to snatch and clean and jerk.

The second example (No training experience), will have a close eye on them all the time. They will be limited in load and range of motion. Many times the butt wink is laziness so addressing that is important. Sometimes simply “waking up” the necessary muscles will fix the problem.
If that doesn’t help there is usually some severe hip immobility so try hammering that for a couple week/months. remember this is a process and you should be looking for gains in range over time vs immediate changes. If you see immediate changes i would be cautious of laziness or simply body awareness.
Lastly you could have issues in both the ankles and the thoracic spine. Tightness on either end of the chain will prevent the perfect squat. Be aware that sometimes you have to look else where to find a solution.

My quick tips are as follows:

• Look at the hips and torso angle.  If they are bent way over in a squat, address the quads, and hip flexors.  Something has to be pulling them forward.
• If the torso is upright but still get a little wink, get your hands on the lumbar and test awareness/laziness
• If there is something that resembles a turtle back, check the thoracic spine and try to loosen up the shoulders, lats and T-spine
• If Depth is an issue, use all the above and then check ankle mobility.

My go to problem solver is the “Foam Roller” or PVC/ lacrosse ball.  Something hard that can actually impact the muscles.  Not always a great idea to start people on something so hard but eventually get them moving that way.

Basically, if you have been training for a couple years and still have a butt wink, try to address it by increasing your hip mobility.  This will keep you healthy and aid with recovery.

If you just started training and have the butt wink, be cautious in loading the squat.  Put in the effort to improve mobility and it will pay off.

Ok, Time to get to know you. I stole the idea from a friend of mine over at 70sbig.com. You will probably like this site if you are young and male, but the rare females stick around. Check it out if you haven’t already. There is actually some really legit info over there.

I have created a poll to get to know the people that follow this blog and help me to know who my audience is. If you have any additional info, please feel free to post in comments.

Forgive me if this doesn’t work flawlessly. I am still learning how to use this tool.

I will be out of town this weekend so if you were planning on stopping by to lift… Don’t.  Maybe someone else locally would take you band of vagrants in for the day… Volunteers?

Enjoy your weekend!

Dutch

My last post talked about the little things like taking pride in your work and noticing the details of people.  This time i am going to talk about being an expert.

I walked into the local framing shop a couple days ago and didn’t really know what to expect.  I wanted something simple framed for my girlfriend (she doesn’t know yet so shhhh..).  I thought it would be an easy, “i want this framed.”  “Ok, come back on Tuesday.”

I was surprisingly pleasantly surprised by the guys knowledge and attention to detail.  After sitting and watching him go through matting, that all looked white to me, for 15 minutes.  He would mumble things like “thats too pink” or “not grey enough.”  I can honestly say that i was impressed with his attention to detail.  He mentioned that he had framed something like this for his brother a couple years ago and didn’t want the color to fade and look funny down the road.

So i sat back and watched him work.  I was impressed by his attention to detail specifically as i could relate that to coaching.  Many times we want to advance people when they aren’t ready or don’t have the basics down.  Recently i have taken many of my athletes back to the high hang snatch and hang snatch in order to drill those positions.  Its important to have this foundation as you will only have to go back and fix errors you don’t account for in the beginning.  This is why the framer spent so much time trying to find the perfect mat and i make people work on basics.

It will pay off in the end.  Trust Me!

Get back to basics!

Recently i have experienced a couple things that have shown me value and are important things to keep in mind when you are running a business.

First, I recently drove a couple hours to pick up some grassfed beef.  When i say a couple hours, i mean 6 hours round trip.  Probably could have thought that one out a bit better.  My mistake is not the point here.  I was told to call the farm when i reached paris, TX.  Which is about 20 minutes from my final destination.  I called, got directions that sounded something like “when you see the red barn on the right, turn into the next drive way…”, and was on my way.  In the conversation about directions i asked if they had hot food for sale.  No, i’m sorry was the reply.  No problem with that on my end.  I was hungry though so i just planned on stopping after picking up the beef.

I arrived at the drive way and the gentleman that greeted me had four hotdog weenies (more like sausages) warmed up and waiting for me.  With a chuckle he said, “Carolyn said you were a bit hungry from the drive.”

Something like this doesn’t seem like much to some, but to me the small attention to detail is very important and more importantly keeping the client (me) happy.  We all know that we get a little cranky when we get hungry.

Look at your business or service and ask if you notice the small things like was Dutch hungry?

On this same trip i walked into a BBQ joint.  I am a BBQ fiend and take pride in visiting local joints anytime i get the chance.  A couple of my favorites are Central Market here in Fort Worth and surprisingly a place that ben took me to in Atlanta (thanks Dude).  Anyway, back to the point.  I walked into this place in Paris TX and ordered a two meat plate with “moist” brisquet and ribs.  Like every other place i have been to the  guy pulled out a hunk of beef and unwrapped it.  Then he did something that surprised me.  He sliced the beef and then actually took the time to cut the fat layer out and toss it for me.  Now, i like fat, but i’m not always sure of the meats source so i am sometimes timid about crushing all the fat on a plate.

The meat was decent as i would add it to the list if you are in Paris TX.  Might as well go, there isn’t much else going on.

The next way this place impressed me was again an attention to detail.  Usually you sit down at your table with your plate of meat and have the sauce in front of you (cold).  At this place the kept all the sauces in a pot of warm water.  The understand that if i have hot BBQ i don’t want cold sauce messing it up.  So something so simple as warming up the sauce made all the difference.

The point here is that when you take pride in what you do, it shows.  For the BBQ joint they showed that by trimming my meat and warming the sauce.  How do you show that pride in your business??