A Philosophy of Strength and Health

  I don't ever remember being intimidated by overhead lifting. I was lucky to get expert instruction early in my career. But there are many sport and medical professionals who are unsure of the safety of lifting overhead. Some are adamantly against it. Bilateral work with a bar, overhead and behind the head, is advanced and demands full ROM. It doesn't require extra ROM, but it does require normal, full ROM. Athletes and non-athletes who do not have normal, full shoulder ROM clearly need to do more remedial, single-arm overhead work. Everyone needs to earn the right to do advanced movements. Many just need to take some time to find the motion they actually have; if you haven't put your hands over your head very often, you probably don't know what you are capable of doing. But let me be clear: I've worked with many people who never ever need to use a barbell. I did what was appropriate and necessary for their needs, not my ego or somebody else's idea of what...

 "We did core today."  That phrase makes me furrow my brow and chuckle at the same time. I suppose it is a vestige of bodybuilding and assigning body parts to workouts. We can do better for our athletes if we evolve our mindset and programming to think beyond the isolated torso. And that black hole of training called "stability." If you must give a session or a part of a session a name, I'd like to suggest an alternative framework. We'll stay on the "c" theme, but start from a foundation of movement, not stillness. To do this, I ask you to leave behind ideas of isolating and activating torso muscle groups. Embrace the terms connection, coordination and control. --- Most of life (and sport, for that matter) are not still.  In archery, biathlon, gymnastics or rowing, the stillness we observe is part of one or many transitions from one posture to another. The athlete demonstrates significant control and coordination for a relatively short time; moving...