Expert Trainer Tony Gentilcore is 'Pro Kale.'
If you don’t know Tony Gentilcore yet, then I will except all of your “Thank Yous” in advance, because I am about to spin kick you in the face with one of the most knowledgable trainers this side of the Green Monster.
Tony Gentilcore is a CSCS that knows a shitload about moving lead, getting healthy and becoming jacked. His years “in the trenches” at one of the most pretigious sports training facilities in the country, Cressey Performance, has ensured that all of his methods are time tested and muscle approved.
He’s been published in Men’s Health, T-Nation and a boatload of other credible fitness publications that only people who actually know things about fitness and nutrition can be published in.
Put it this way…he has more credibility with a barbell than Martha Stewart with a glue gun. Shit, he might even bedazzle a workout plan if you ask him to…
Crafty--Martha Stewart ain't got nothing on Tony Gentilcore!
After following Tony’s blog myself and utilizing his advice to the fullest, I came to the conclusion that no matter how much you think you know, there is always someone out there that can teach you something new…Plus he is a funny bastard!
Having realized this, there was some questions of my own that I had for Mr. Gentilcore.
Come take a look at my 3 Questions with Trainer Tony Genitlcore…
1.) There is much debate over what someone’s level of fitness is, whether they are beginner, intermediate or advanced. As we all know after one year of lifting and crushing your rib cage with 95lbs on the bar—that athlete can consider themselves pretty advanced–note the sarcasm.
Being that you train all athletes and gym rats on both ends of the spectrum–What do you feel defines someone as ‘advanced’– if there is such a thing?
TG: Great question to start. Here I was thinking that you were going to start things off with the typical” tell my readers who you are, what you do, and how awesome you are” rigmarole. Instead you just get right to it. I like it.
To answer your question: there’s definitely a fine line between what separates someone who’s a beginner, from someone who’s an intermediate, to someone who is considered more of an “advanced” lifter.
Beginners, with few exceptions, are those who have never really followed a structured training program in the past. Sure, he or she may have stepped into a gym once or twice in their lifetime, but for all intents and purposes, they’re pretty wet underneath the ears. Jazzercise gets them sore.
Intermediates, on the other hand, are a bit easier to define. These are the people who read sites like t-nation.com, mikearonefitness.com, (I get bonus points for the plug, right?) or maybe follow the monthly Men’s Health workout. Generally speaking, they know their way around the gym, can perform a proper push-up without making my eyes bleed, know that squats/deadlifts should be the corner stone of any decent training program, and heck, they may even be able to name all the rotator cuff muscles. But I doubt it.
In short, intermediates tend to be those you see at your local commercial gym on a consistent basis.
Lastly, are the advanced trainees. It’s funny: EVERYONE thinks they’re advanced. I’m always perplexed as to why a lot of people follow advanced training protocols when they can’t even perform one simple bodyweight chin-up, or do a lunge without tipping over.
They think just because they can load the leg press up with all the 45s (and piss everyone off to boot), and do those 1/4 ROM thingamajigs, that they somehow know what the hell they’re talking about.
Lets put it like this: you’re not advanced if you can’t deadlift at least 2x your bodyweight. (as an example). More to the point, I was listening to Dan John speak a few weeks ago at Mike Boyle’s Winter Seminar and here are the MINIMUM number for his HIGH SCHOOL varsity requirements:
Power Clean: 205 lbs
Front Squat: 205 lbs
Back Squat: 255 lbs
Deadlift: 315 lbs
Power Clean and Jerk: 165 lbs
Military Press: 115 lbs
One-Arm Bench Press: 32 kg Kettlebell (5 right, 5 left)
I’m sure many reading right now would be hard pressed to hit a lot of those numbers. Still think you’re advanced?
I’m sure I could go on and throw out specific numbers that I feel defines someone as “advanced;” but the truth of the matter is – it depends.
There are plenty of people out there who can’t squat 400+ lbs, but they can pound out picture perfect one-legged pistol squats like it’s their job. Who’s to say they’re not advanced? Likewise, watch any of those Cirque du Soleil shows. Are you telling me that they’re not advanced because they can’t bench press 1.5x their bodyweight?
I think many of us in the industry are quick to ONLY use quantifiable numbers to label someone as advanced. While that’s a nice starting point, and I feel those are good measures, there’s so much more that goes into it.
2.) With all of that said in regards to ‘advanced’ fitness levels, how does nutrition contribute to how you train your athletes and trainees? What is the most overlooked and underestimated concept in regards to nutrition in trainees?
TG: There’s a saying that I like to use with my of the athletes and clients that I train:
“You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.”
Essentially, with regards to nutrition, people can be really freakin stubborn, and it’s often the crux of most trainees. People like what they like, are set in their ways, and it’s hard to get them to change. That said, I feel that nutrition can undoubtedly make or break anyone’s progress (or lack thereof). I’m often amazed at how I’ll have some of our high school athletes walk up to me and be like, “dude, I can’t put on ANY weight no matter how hard I try. “
I then simply ask, “did you eat breakfast?”
[Crickets chirping]
Don’t even talk to me about progress if you’re not even making an effort to do something as simple as eating breakfast on a consistent basis. If they’re not willing to at least do that, then I have no sympathy for them when they complain about not getting results.
As far as overlooked/underestimated concepts; I’d say that PRE-workout nutrition ranks right up there. People are so caught up in the POST-workout side of things (and it is important, don’t get me wrong), that they often lose sight of the fact that pre-workout nutrition is just as equally important (if not more so). Using an example, I really don’t get this fasted state training mindset.
The idea is that if you train on an empty stomach, you’ll burn more body fat. Looking at the research (and I am admittedly dumbing things down here), eating beforehand (particularly carbohydrates) has little to no barring on substrate utilization post-training. Meaning, just because you have some carbs before training (assuming, of course, the exercise session was on the “intense” side of things) doesn’t mean you’re body won’t burn body fat afterwards.
Besides, even if you did train on an empty stomach, you’d be running on fumes, which is kind of pointless if you ask me. You wouldn’t be able to train nearly as intense enough compared to training with something in your system to use as fuel. And much like a domino effect, you won’t burn as many calories, won’t burn as much fat, and girls will pretty much ignore the fact that you exist. True story.
3.) The BOSU ball. Now I know you, as well as myself, have a pure disgust of the infamous BOSU ball. I feel at this point, because I have poked fun of the contraption for so long, that if it did ever serve a purpose that I STILL would not use it.
Give me your insight on the BOSU and that what, if any, benefits does it offer?
TG: People like to do things that look different. Moreover, people also like to do things that are easy. The BOSU ball fits both scenarios to a tee. Now, this isn’t to say that there aren’t ANY instances where they’re useful and warranted. Contrary to popular belief, and as my good friend (and business partner) Eric Cressey noted in his The Truth About Unstable Surface Training manual; for injured athletes there is some efficacy for their use – particularly with regards to proprioceptive feedback with ankle injuries.
Outside of that, though, BOSU balls are about as useful as a screen door in a submarine. For starters, they promote aberrant motor patterns- just watch anyone try to squat on one, and you’ll see what I mean…knees cave in, feet pronate, hips internally rotate, a little piece of my soul dies. It’s basically THE recipe for an ACL injury.
And this is doing...Nothing.
Secondly, and probably most important of all, they reduce force production. You can’t use nearly as much weight on BOSU ball compared to the same exercise performed on a STABLE surface. So, unless you’re in the market to make your clients and/or athletes smaller, weaker, and more prone to injury, they’re basically a complete and utter waste of time.
Note: BOSU balls suck. Just wanted to clarify my thoughts more succinctly.
*Check out Tony’s past article on BOSU balls here.
MA: Tony, thanks for taking the time man—some really great insight. Come by anytime–my readers would love to have ya!
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So there you have it, an uppercut to the gut of pure, no nonsense, no bullshit knowledge coming from the source itself.
You want more of that?
Rhetorical question genius…
Do yourself and your muscles a favor and head over to Tony’s site here where you can keep up to speed on his latest quest for muscle, fitness and humility.
Got questions for Tony?
Send them over—maybe next time we’ll answer yours!
The post Wicked Smaht!: 3 Questions with Trainer Tony Gentilcore appeared first on Mike Arone Fitness.