One thing I try to constantly do in my life is assess and re-assess everything I am doing.  I believe it’s a huge part of being a self-aware adult with high goals and expectations.  I don’t want complacency, I don’t want to settle for ‘just OK’ and I DEFINITELY don’t want to be average.  Average scares the bejeezus out of me!  Lucky for me, I also have some close friends and family and a wonderful boyfriend who will let me know VERY quickly when they notice I am being complacent, not pushing myself the way that I could, settling for less than I deserve, or when my actions don’t align with my big-picture goals.  And thank goodness… because assessing yourself honestly can be a very difficult, often impossible task.  That’s why I have a coach for my training, that’s why I seek help with my nutrition goals, that’s why I read books and listen to interviews and podcasts with experts, and that’s why I surround myself with the incredible people that I do.  To keep me accountable and to help me see what I can’t always see.

That being said, recently I realized a couple of mistakes I was making in my training and nutrition that may be holding me back from the Elite level that I say that I want.  You know, saying you want something and actually wanting it and working for it are two different things.  My boyfriend always uses the example, “I would LIKE to play the piano… but I really don’t WANT to.  Otherwise, I would have bought a piano, carved out time for lessons, spent time practicing, and made it happen.”  See the difference?  So if I really DO want these things that I say that I want, I must constantly be searching for my weak areas and trying to make them stronger.  Without further ado, here is the first installment of 6 Areas in Which I Can Improve:

1. Giving it my all on warm-up sets -

You know, I’ve noticed a funny thing lately.  When I am in the gym and working up to a 1-5 rep max (RM) on an exercise, my warm-up sets will often feel heavier than my work sets.  For example, if I am working up to a heavy triple on close grip bench, often times 95, 115, 125… these weights will feel challenging, in fact, to the point where I might not have tried to go up in weight if I hadn’t been recording my weight training session.  (side note: always record your training sessions so you know what you’ve done and you know what numbers you are trying to beat).  Once I realize that the previous week I benched a solid 140 for 3, I quickly realize that 125 is not all that heavy, and if I hadn’t realized that, I may never have hit the PR shown below, 145×3.  Some people call this “sandbagging” which my good friend Jen Comas Keck wrote about last week here, and while I have definitely done this in the past, I don’t think that’s always my issue.  I think my issue is being a complete and total lazy-ass on my warm-up sets.  Yep… that’s right.  I am being lazy, pure and simple.

I remember being at the EliteFTS compound last September for the Learn to Train Seminar and I saw some of the biggest and strongest guys in the game warm-up with JUST THE BAR on bench for several sets.  And you know what?  They held their arch, their back was pulled together as tight as it can be, they were rowing the bar down with their lats and they were exploding up… just like they would have with 500 lbs., and yet they were only working with 45 lbs.  My good friend and coach, Mike Robertson always says, “You have to practice how you play.”  Meaning whatever you plan on doing in competition or when the weight gets heavy, you need to be doing when you practice.  And so that is a goal I am setting for myself from now on.  I need to give each set my all, including my warm-up sets which can feel ridiculous and boring at times.  The more often I can practice getting and staying in a good bench position, the easier it will be to get in and maintain that position when it really counts.  And who knows… maybe one of these days I’ll actually experience this whole “leg drive” thing everyone keeps raving about.

FYI:  here is a DEFINITE instance of me sandbagging.  One week I try so hard to Hip Thrust 225 x 12, and a week later I get it for 20, followed by 315 for 8.  THAT is the definition of sandbagging! =)

2. Planning out my cardio/conditioning/energy systems training sessions -

If you know me, you probably know that cardio is not my favorite thing.  (We’ll just call it cardio for now… I don’t feel like writing “conditioning” and/or “energy systems training” a million times).  Now making cardio fun always helps like I did here in this article about fun cardio and conditioning when it’s cold outside, but bottom line is, I would much rather be weight training, or sleeping, or eating, or even doing laundry than doing cardio.  That being said, when it does get done, it’s usually some combination of Kettlebell swings, Battling Ropes, Medicine Ball slams, Prowler pushes, Sled drags or something of that sort.  My main problem is, I need to do a better job of planning out my cardio ahead of time to not only ensure that it gets done, but also to ensure than it doesn’t interfere with my weight training.

Yeah… these probably weren't a good idea 2 days before a heavy lower body session….

Like I mentioned above, while I am not the biggest fan of cardio, there are times when I get a wild hair and really feel like doing something fun like sprinting or running hurdles… yes, hurdles.  Running hurdles in middle school obviously makes you a track running champion for life, so of course I decided that running some hurdles for the first time in 15 years was a brilliant idea the other weekend (this is why I have a Coach… to save me from myself and my hair-brained ideas.  I would NEVER let a client of mine run hurdles if they hadn’t done it in forever!  The risk: reward ratio is just not there!). But I digress.  So yes, I ran hurdles a couple of Saturdays ago, and then drove 5 hours back and forth in my car to go see my Grandmother for Easter, so as you can imagine, I was TIGHT when I got home.  I was also supposed to be maxing out on squats on Monday.  Oops.  I ended up having to switch my lower body session to Tuesday instead of Monday and it pretty much threw the rest of my week off track a little bit.  It was no big deal in the grand scheme of things, but if I had planned my cardio better, I could have thrown the sprints/hurdles at the end of my lower body session on Thursday, and had plenty of time to recover by Monday.  I also find myself doing this often with Kettlebell swings which can make my glutes and hamstrings super sore, or Battling Rope drills which can make my forearms and delts very sore…I always seem to do those movements the day before I am supposed to get in a good lower or upper body session, respectively.   This leaves me sore and somewhat unmotivated to get a killer training session in, when otherwise I would be chomping at the bit to kill it in the gym.  Again, not the worst training sin in the world, but if I want to be not just above average, but ELITE, I have to be willing to so the little things that other people wont’ to be the best.

So, in order to not overwhelm myself, these are two goals I am setting for myself for this week.  They shouldn’t be too hard… it’s just a matter of exercising a bit of discipline in order to maximize what I am getting out of my workouts.  I will keep you updated on how it goes!

Do you have anything in your life or training, big or small, that’s holding you back from your goals?  It can be hard to step back and objectively analyze what you’re doing (or not doing) that might be a limiting factor for you.  Let me know your thoughts below!

A few years ago when I was getting ready for my last Powerlifting meet in 2009, my then-Coach and now-business partner Jim Laird was doing my programming.  We were doing a slightly bastardized version of 5/3/1 (we switched out OH press for incline DB Press) on a 3 day a week rotation.  One the 4^th day, we were coming in and doing some mobility work, dragging the sled, and doing 1 all-out set of one of my favorite exercises of all times… the Kroc Row.

What’s a Kroc Row?

A Kroc Row is a row variation invented and popularized by one of the strongest and most all-around bad-ass guys on the planet, Matt Krocazelski.  It’s basically what most people would consider a 1-Arm “Cheating” DB Row.  It’s “cheating” because you use quite a bit of ‘body English’ when rowing the weight, as opposed to using really strict form.  The other thing that’s relatively unique about this type of row, is that the goal is to go extremely heavy AND get very high reps.  From my understanding, you are supposed to shoot for 20-30 reps each arm.  I should also note that I only did 1 set each arm.  I am not sure how many sets Matt would do per workout, but I would do a couple of warm-up sets, and 1 all-out set to failure at the end of my workout.  Below is a video of Matt using a 225 lb DB for 25 reps. YIKES!

Why Should I Listen to Matt Kroc?

Like I mentioned above, Matt is one of the most impressive athletes on the planet!  I had the pleasure of meeting and going to dinner with Matt and his beautiful wife Lauren at the EliteFTS Learn to Train seminar last September.  They are a wonderful couple and a ton of fun!  Matt is also one of the most humble guys you will ever meet (that’s saying a lot considering he is a World Record Holder in Powerlifting and also competes very successfully in Bodybuilding).  I also got to hear Matt speak which was a treat.  He is very smart, and so inspirational!  His intensity, drive, and work ethic is second to none.  For more information about Matt, you can check out his website here.

Do They Work?

While I haven’t seen any studies don’t specifically designed to test the effectiveness of the Kroc Row, based on Matt’s upper body development alone, I think it’s safe to say that Kroc Rows are extremely effective at adding both size and strength.  I also had a very unique experience when doing them.   You see…I am a slave to massage therapy work.  For a while I was rotating among 3 massage therapists and getting 3-4 massages a month.  At one point after doing Kroc Rows for 3-4 weeks, I went in to see my massage therapist and she started working on me.  This particular therapist had been my massage therapist for 3 years at the time, and since she is a meathead herself… she is very in tune with my body and my musculature.  When she started working on my back, (my lats in particular), she stopped and started straight at me and said, “What the hell have you been doing for your lats?!?!”  I thought about it for a second and said, “I dunno…. Why?”  And she continued on to say that she had never in her life seen such a huge gain in back width and thickness in such a short time period.  At that point I remembered that the only thing I had been doing differently was the Kroc Rows.  I was ecstatic!   I also went on to set a 26 lb DL PR at my meet that May.  While that PR was probably due to a combination of factors, I have no doubt that the Kroc Row was a big part of that equation!

Who Should Do Kroc Rows?

While I love Kroc Rows and think they are a fantastic exercise, they are definitely NOT for beginners.  In fact, unless you are a high-level intermediate or advanced lifter, I would stay away from them.  Once you get into really heavy weights, they can be hard on the elbows and very hard on the core. I remember at one point feeling like my obliques were going to rip when I was doing them!  Also, I wouldn’t do them all the time.  Like any other accessory movement, they should be subbed in and out according to your specific goals at the time.  One other thing to note: you will make very big gains in the beginning when doing this exercise.  I went from using a 50 lb DB to a 110 lb DB in about 8 weeks.  Obviously I gained some strength, but a big part of that jump was technique and learning how to use my body and how to strain.  And remember, if you take some time off of the rows, you will have to start much lighter than you ended the previous time you did them and work your way back up.  Finally, you may have to end up using straps on this exercise.  I didn’t need them until I hit 70 lb DB’s… but I tried 70 lbs without straps and got 14, I put straps on and got somewhere between 20 and 24.

Here is a video of me doing the 100 lb DB for 18 reps (my friend has the video of the 110’s… =( )

So there you have it.  One of my favorite upper back mass and strength builders.  Remember, ONLY do these once you have a strong base built, and start light.  Once you get over 20 reps at a particular weight, you can increase by 5-10 lbs.  Enjoy!

ADDENDUM:  

Where Do I Start Weight-Wise?

If you have never performed Kroc Rows before, I would start with a weight that you can strict row for 10-12 reps.  Once you get the hang of the movement, you should be able to bang out 20+ reps easily at that weight.

What do you think of Kroc Rows?  Have you done them before?  What was your experience with them? Good? Bad? Otherwise?

Many people have asked me lately what grip do I use for my front squats?  A Clean Grip or a Cross-Over Grip?  My answer?  Neither.

Here is an example of a "Clean Grip"

You see, years of gymnastic and cheerleading did a number on my wrists and I struggle very much trying to use a clean grip.  I am also majorly claustrophobic (I used to struggle wearing turtlenecks… no joke) so a crossover grip feels like I am about to choke to death.

This is an example of a "Crossover Grip"

I am sure many people want to tell me to, “Man up!” and get over it, and that’s fine.  I would much rather figure out an alternate solution to my problem… one that I am much more comfortable with.  Enter: The Safety Squat Bar.  I started using the Safety Squat Bar at my gym for Front Squats and Front Loaded Step-Ups several years ago.  It’s more comfortable, I don’t feel like I am choking, it doesn’t bother my wrists, and I am never going to Front Squat in competition… so why does it matter?  Why let my “grip woes” affect the effectiveness of my lower body workout if it doesn’t have to?  Sure, not using one of the other grips may be considered “less cool” or “easier”… but my lower body and my core still have to lift the weight… so who cares?

If you don’t have a Safety Squat Bar, you can try using wrist straps to hold the bar.  I haven’t done this with much weight so I can’t comment on how it feels, but some of my friends have done them this way with much success.

Here is an example of a "Wrist Strap Grip"

So there you have it.  2 wonderful alternatives for Front Squats for those of us that just can’t get comfortable using the other grips.  Now you have no excuse as to why you don’t Front Squat.  My only warning:  be prepared to set some major PR’s on front squat when you use a Safety Squat Bar.  You’re welcome.

PLEASE NOTE:  Safety Squat Bars weigh more than regular Olympic bars.  The one I use weighs 70 lbs.  Keep that in mind when loading up the weight!

ADDENDUM:  If your gym doesn’t have a SSB, you can find them at the link above for only $370.  Most gyms have a “new equipment” budget and often times if you ask the GM to buy something they will do it.  They want to keep the members happy… and remember: the squeaky wheel gets the grease!  Keep bugging them about it until they get you your safety bar! =) 

Have you tried using a Safety Bar for Front Squats?  What about Back Squats?  Do you like it? Love it? Hate it?  Do you have any other options for Front Squats?  Let me know what you think below!  Thanks!