Listen in to Dr. Tyna Moore’s podcast with our very own John Odden speaking on the subject of Strength Coaching and why everyone needs a trainer.
Simply click to listen:
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In Damon’s past career, he was professional cyclist with a quite a few achievements and accolades under his name. But, unfortunately, what came with those accomplishments were a host of back issues and very severe, chronic pain. He had gone to nearly two dozen other professionals, before he found Empowered Strength and was able to find relief and a return to strength.
When he first began with us, almost two years ago, he had never been able to comfortably touch his toes, and he was convinced that he was doomed to a life of immobility and back pain. However, as we introduced the principles of the Functional Movement Screen and systematic strength training, he began to believe something quite different. He discovered that Empowered Strength’s process was quite a bit different from anything he had experienced before, as regained lost strength and mobility.
These days, Damon is super comfortable touching his toes, stronger than he’s ever been, and able to keep up with his toddler of a daughter with ease.
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Are you stuck where Damon used to be? Are you ready to be strong and out of pain?
Empowered Strength could be the game-changer in your life!
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A NEW AGE IN TRAINING.
THE MACE IS A UNIQUE AND ANCIENT TRAINING TOOL. MEET THE MAN WHO HAS MASTERED IT.
Rik Brown (Mr. Maceman) is an internationally known unconventional trainer specializing in Mace Training. He has held Mace Training workshops and certifications in countries all over the world, emphasizing life-long functional training at each one.
As such, Empowered Strength is proud to bring you the first mace certification course in the Pacific Northwest!
This certification course will cover the history of the mace (gada), competition and traditional use, plus performance benefits for athletes and those looking to add another dimension to their training.
As a bonus, Empowered Strength’s owner and Head Coach John Odden will be hosting this event and sharing his unique training experience with the mace. Coach John recently used the mace in his preparation for his win at the Highland Games Lightweight National Championship.
Course details:
10am to 3pm, Saturday February 24th, 2018.
Cost -$299 for early bird though January 27th, $349 afterwards.
Let’s face it.
While it may not always be our main concern, we’re all interested in strength training for at least one of the following reasons:
That’s a pretty comprehensive list of why people get started with strength training. Did we miss anything?
With that in mind, there’s something that we enjoy communicating to all newcomers and veterans alike. Which is simply:
“What does ‘Strength’ look like?”
“When will I look like I lift?”
Or, what can you expect to see in your bodily aesthetics once you have achieved all-around Strength?
To answer that question, look no further than to both of our Coaches, John and Aaron.
Both of these men are pretty strong, but they both represent two different camps of strength. One is a world-class athlete with multiple world records and medals to his name. The other is a dude that enjoys exploring his body’s capabilities and is satisfied with feats of Strength that range from, “Decently alright,” to, “Well, that was impressive.” Each has their own motivations and levels of achievement, but each can legitimately be called “Strong.”
As with all things human, there are certain limitations and varying factors towards achieving a specific look. No matter how hard Aaron trained, he would never look exactly like John because, well, he’s not 6’2″, Caucasian, or endowed with the same bone structure and muscular attachments. Genetics, although they’re not the ultimate deciding factor, do determine quite a bit of your end-game superficial sexiness. Sometimes, the best exercise towards achieving a certain look is making sure to choose the right parents.
We’re only half serious, of course.
So, how strong do you have to be before you’ll start looking like one of these guys?
While it’s not so cut-and-dry, it would make sense that in order to have a similar look of overall fitness that Aaron has, you might need to first be capable of doing at least a few of the things he can.
Here’s a list of what Aaron can do or has done:
That’s a relatively decent list. By themselves, those accomplishments may not be the most amazing, world-class level feats, but being able to do all of those is definitely a rare sort of all-around strength. However, it’s definitely achievable for most individuals who are willing to be consistent with their training for a few years.
When you start getting to the level of Aaron’s strength capabilities, you’ll probably start looking a little something like him. And, depending on your genetics and food-related habits, you might even look even better! Just don’t tell him that.
But, what about John? What about his ultra beastly aesthetic? How can you achieve that?
Here’s a list of what John can do or has done:
Similarly, just because you may be able to do these these things, does not necessarily mean you’ll look the way he does. And, the opposite is also true. Just because you can’t do any of those things, does not mean you can’t look the way he does.
Some individuals will look absolutely fantabulous by doing less, some individuals will need to accomplish more to get the same.
Which brings us to the overall point of this article:
First, in order to “look” look strong, you must be strong. Second, in order to get strong, you must spend a significant amount of time developing that strength. Third, once you’ve developed actual strength, you must spend even more time making that your “new normal.”
Because it’s only after you’ve done these three things that “you” and “strong” begin to be synonymous.
So, what sort of strength should you be trying to develop? Glad you asked! Oddly enough, we actually have a list of those exacts standards:
We’ll be talking about these in greater detail soon, but this list of standards is what we help all of our members work towards accomplished.
The Empowered Standard is what we feel allows any man or woman to have the solid, base-level of strength that then allows them to do anything he or she wishes to pursue.
The Game-Changer Standard is exactly that. When you’re that all-around strong, you’re a rare breed. You’re “that guy.” You’re the one that everyone wants to pick first for their dodgeball team. It’s an awesome feeling. Yet, it’s challenging without being outside the realm of achievability. This Game-Changer Standard is also when individuals really begin to look like they lift, in our experience.
Here at Empowered Strength our main concern, as our name suggests, is to help you gain the strength that empowers you to live the life you want. Once you’ve achieved that, we can help you become even stronger than you ever thought was possible.
And, hey, if you look pretty great after achieving that, then that’s just an awesome bonus.
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Do you want to find out how strength training can fully empower you in ways you never thought? Maybe even achieve a certain look that you’ve never had?
We can help.
Make today the day by taking part in our FREE Intro Assessment:
Do you want to build bulletproof shoulders, have fun doing an exercise, and look like a badass the entire time while doing so?
Then, the Turkish Get-Up (or, just Get-Up) is the perfect exercise for you!
And, as a wonderful bonus, the Get-Up is also one of the best go-to Crash-Proof exercises we use. It’s great for shoulder strength, stability, and mobility, but also ensures that everything else is strong, stable and mobile. The Get-Up is a total body movement! So, you’ve got to use that entire body to do it.
Here’s how to do the Turkish Get-Up:
Now that you can see how it’s done properly, here are the reasons why we love it:
1) Coordination
As you can see, there’s quite a bit of steps to doing the full Get-Up. For many, especially those that have never ventured out of the sagittal plane (moving just up and down) or are new to exercise, this takes a considerable amount of time to learn to do well. But, once one has mastered the Get-Up, even if it’s without weight, that person will have gained an impressive improvement in overall coordination.
Which, as you may or may not find obvious, is very important for becoming Crash-Proof. Uncoordinated people are generally the ones that get hurt the most frequent and the most easily.
2) Strength, Everywhere!
It’s one thing to be strong. It’s a whole other matter to be strong within all planes and ranges of motion.
The Get-Up is one of the few exercises that forces you to adapt constantly within the movement because there are so many steps with the kettlebell fighting you the entire time. Being Crash-Proof means being strong, but not just superficially. You want to be the kind of strong that not only survives, but thrives, outside of typical ranges of motion.
3) Familiarization with the Ground
How often do you actually get on the floor and get back up? Probably not very much!
And, if you’re older, that’s a really big problem. Because, generally, when you avoid doing something, it means you’re probably not very good at that something and could stand to do it more often.
Which, in this case, is very important relating to becoming Crash-Proof. In training, you want to become very comfortable getting on floor and getting back up. You want to become an individual that is the envy of those individuals from the Life-Alert commercials crying, “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!”
Get good at the Get-Up. Do so, and the ground (and, falling as well!) will cease to be as scary as it may seem.
4) Bulletproof Shoulders
There are two things that destroy otherwise healthy shoulders: too much use and too little use.
Exercise junkies tend to get torn rotator cuffs, impingement issues, and tendinitis from doing too many bench press and overhead press repetitions without balancing out their shoulder joints.
Couch potatoes tend to get torn rotator cuffs, impingement issues, and tendinitis because they fail to use their shoulders at all. So, their shoulder joints tend to deteriorate from disuse, or fall apart at the first sign of struggle during an activity from overall weakness.
The Get-Up is perfect for both of these populations as it helps strengthen the shoulder joint outside of very high-stress areas, while still applying the right amount of stress to maintain healthy rotator cuff muscles and supporting tissues.
But, if you’ve got already healthy shoulders, the Get-Up will make them even more resilient
5) Confidence
One of the most interesting things we’ve found working with lots of different people is that movement, especially new and unfamiliar movements, can be kind of intimidating. The Get-Up is no different.
But, as with all of the coaching we provide, everything is progressive and appropriate, which is perfect for learning a movement like the Get-Up.
With that in mind, we find that once someone has learned the Get-Up and can do it with what that individuals feels is a “heavy” weight, he or she gains a new level of confidence and comfortability with his or her own body. It’s really cool to see the look on someone’s face go from, “Crap, this is hard,” to, “I got this!” That confidence is pivotal in not just developing a Crash-Proof body, but a Crash-Proof mentality as well.
The Get-Up is one of those movements that accomplishes a bit of everything. It can be used for mobility, strength, muscle gain, conditioning, or in support of other movements like the Press.
Here’s what we recommend:
For Mobility: Do the movement slowly as part of your warm-up; spend 10 seconds in each main position with a lighter weight, making sure to transition from position to position slowly as well.
For Strength: Do 5 sets of 1 on each arm. If pushing yourself, make sure to give yourself at least a minute or so between reps and have a spotter for safety.
For Muscle Gain: Do a Get-Up before/during/or after each set of Presses for extra Time Under Tension.
For Conditioning: Start at the top of the movement, and do as many Get-Ups as you can, switching sides as needed without setting the bell down. Add some swings, cleans, squats, and presses for even more fun!
For Press Support: Do 3-5 sets of 1 Get-Ups on each arm with a bell heavier than what you have been pressing on your non-training days.
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Want to learn how to do the Get-Up properly and make it part of your Crash-Proof training?
Sign up for a FREE Intro Session with us at Empowered Strength and get on your way to becoming the most resilient you’ve ever been!
Book it here:
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Are you interested in learning how to Become Crash-Proof in-person at Empowered Strength by our very own coaches?
You can easily enroll yourself into our up and coming Becoming Crash-Proof Clinics right through this link here:
