Inside-Out: RELEASED!!

Yes, it has been a while hasn't it, but I have been quite busy.

I've actually just recently released my latest training project with Mike Robertson (www.robertsontrainingsystems.com) of T-Nation fame.

It's called Inside-Out: The Ultimate Upper Body Warm-up!

www.inside-out-warm-up.com

Here's what some of the top fitness pros are saying about it:


"At my job, I have the opportunity to learn from the best minds in the fitness industry. In fact, over the years, I've interviewed and worked with literally hundreds--maybe thousands--of trainers, PhDs, and doctors. And in that time, I've never met any expert who's more knowledgeable than Bill Hartman. Which is why I was excited when he asked me to to review "Inside-Out." It was a chance to take a shortcut to learning some of what Bill knows, a culmination of his experience and education. Add to that his collaboration with Mike Robertson, one of the bright young minds in the field, and it was clear that this was going to be a special product.
Turns out, it is. Exceptional, actually.
Now don't let the name fool you; the information the authors provide is far beyond most people's concept of a warm-up. Truth is, I wouldn't call it warm-up at all. That implies it's something you do just to prepare for your primary training session. While, in actuality, the plan you'll find within should be a mandatory part of your primary training. I know from personal experience, having used Bill's programs for years, that the instruction that Bill and Mike give in both the manual and DVD will make you stronger, enhance your performance, and help you shore up long-time weak spots--not to mention prevent injuries. And if you're like me, and work at a desk 10 hours a day, it'll also help your body feel a whole lot better when you aren't working out.
The bottom line: If you don't have Inside-Out, your workout isn't nearly as good as it could be."

Adam Campbell, MS, CSCS Sports and Nutrition Editor Men's Health


"The Inside-Out DVD and Manual have me excited for two reasons. First off, Bill and Mike are two of the brightest minds in the industry, and it comes as no surprise that they've put together an outstanding resource. Second, and more selfishly, I'm thrilled about how much work this manual will save ME! In light of a lot of my articles, I've been labeled a 'Shoulder Guy,'

So I get dozens of email inquiries each week from those with shoulder problems. Thanks to these two, I now have a comprehensive, highly effective resource to which I can send these individuals. And, just as importantly, Inside-Out will keep thousands of others healthy in the first place. This will be a 'go-to' resource for years to come."

“The Inside-Out concepts consist of 7 key components that need to be addressed prior to each upper body training session.”

Eric Cressey
www.ericcressey.com


“Many times old information is rehashed and stuffed into a new format, but this is something more, something new – new movements that could really make a difference to people. All of us need to incorporate this type of warm-up into our training. This information will correct problems you may already have in your shoulders and upper back, or it will keep you from creating any. This is essential information!”

Lisa Holladay
Personal Trainer

"It's hard to admit, but before watching the Inside-Out DVD, I had seriously neglected any upper body warm-up in my athlete's training. Fortunately, Bill and Mike have done an outstanding job putting together loads of practical drills that I have successfully added to all of my programs. I challenge coaches and trainers like me to take an honest look at this DVD and rethink the way we prepare our athletes for safe and effective training. "

Curtis Turner, SCCC, SSCAssistant Speed, Strength, and Conditioning Coach Vanderbilt University


"To be a great trainer takes a lot more than simply knowing how to design work outs. Preparing them for the workout is every bit as important as the workout itself! If you want to keep your clients long term, avoid orthopedic injuries, and maximize their performance in the gym, this DVD is exactly what you need. In fact, the moment I got this DVD I watched it and followed along all the exercises and could immediately feel the difference, and could see how much it was going to benefit me and my clients.

Hartman and Robertson are wellsprings of the best training information I have ever come across each in their own right, but the fact that they are collaborating now means you absolutely don’t want to miss this. The fitness gods are smiling!"

Jean-Paul Francoeur
www.JPFitness.com


"When you're talking about efficient and effective warm-up exercises, the "Inside out: The Ulitmate upper body warm-up" manual is about as good as it gets. Bill Hartman and Mike Robertson are two of the sharpest minds in strength and conditioning today and this manual is just a small sample of what they have to offer. I highly recommend this manual to anyone working with athletes, general population clients, or for people like myself who are active and always looking for exercises to help keep them going strong. "

Robert Dos Remedios
Head Strength and Conditioning Coach
College of the Canyons
NSCA Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year 2006


"Hartman and Robertson have given the fitness profession a new guide on how to warm up and increase flexibility. The "Inside out: The Ultimate upper body warm-up” is a must have for any coach, athlete, trainer. I have implemented what they have in their manual after just one day of reading, because it is so simple and thorough. Anyone who is active or trains should not pass this up as a way to improve their own flexibility or improve their clients"

Matt Durant
Strength & Conditioning Coach
University of La Verne


"I found the” Inside-Out: The Ultimate Upper Body Warm Up” very easy to follow. My business’s main focus is keeping people safe, setting good postural habits and decreasing the chance of injury before even thinking about strength work. I will be using a large number of these movements in my Postural and Foundation programs and also my Rotational and Torso programs will now have a new look to them also. I can also now set clients home exercises to follow knowing they are in no danger of hurting themselves and will have no confusion about how to complete them due to their simplicity and in so doing achieving results faster. "

David Virgo
www.cricketfitness.net


"With Inside Out: The Ultimate Upper Body Warm-up Bill Hartman and Mike Robertson have combined their unparalleled knowledge and years of practical experience in the field of sports conditioning to create one of the most amazing resources to hit the industry in years. The easy to understand, yet extremely informative manner in which they demonstrate the drills make them beneficial to athletes of all ages and ability levels. If you’re an athlete who uses their upper body at all, you simply must own this DVD. If you’re a swimmer, a pitcher, a quarterback, or any other athlete who relies heavily on their upper body, you’ll wonder how you ever got by without it. Definitely a must have in my view!"

Mike Mejia M.S. CSCS
Exercise Advisor to Men’s Health magazine and co-author of Scrawny to Brawny: The ultimate guide to building muscle the natural way.

"Bill Hartman and Mike Robertson have, without question, produced a kick-ass product!

After years of training every protocol known to man, my body was beat up! I didn't realize how limited my upper and lower body movements had become. After watching this DVD, I now realize how mobility and optimal postural alignment of the hips and spine relate to the functionality of the my shoulders. If you have a chronic rotator cuff issue, your bench is stuck, your hands go numb during squats or you want to learn some of the latest information around all things upper back mobility – get this manual and DVD ASAP!

Great detail has been placed on functional anatomy, static and dynamic postural assessments and progressive correction and prevention of chronic / acute limitations. The information is detailed and lays the exercises in a step-by-step progression – it really drives the information home!

I've spent years training the same movement patterns and my mobility sucked! I immediately have felt relief after 1 week of implementing the exercises in this manual and DVD set. Thanks Mike and Bill!"

Jim Smith "Smitty", CSCS, CFT, USAW
The Diesel Crew
http://www.dieselcrew.com/
www.TheGripAuthority.com

Alwyn Cosgrove thinks we screwed up?!! You can read it here...

Inside-Out: Bill and Mike screwed up!

Later

P.S. www.inside-out-warm-up.com for the best upper body training of your life.

How to Weigh 600 Pounds

My wife was watching The Discovery Channel the other night. They were profiling two women who were undergoing a series of surgeries to reduce their weight.

They initially weighed 600 pounds...each.

Rhetorically, my wife asked while shaking her head in disbelief, "How do you get to weigh 600 pounds?"

My mental answer was, "Systematically."

Think about the process that it must have taken for these women to reach such a lofty "goal."

They had to devote themselves to a rigorous program of years of physical activity avoidance.

Their moto? "Never stand when you can sit and never sit when you can lay down." (of course, I'm just guessing here)

Not only that but just think about their commitment to their eating program. Multiple meals per day of calorie dense non-nutritious foods. Certainly more than the typical 3 squares a day. Day in and day out. Eating when you don't really want to eat, but rather just eating when it's time to eat.

Then of course there's their support system. I mean someone had to bring them food and encourage them to eat after they lost the ability to walk to the kitchen and get their own food, right?

This whole process didn't take place over just a few weeks. It took YEARS to get to this level of physical "development."

So what we have here is couple of people that followed a very simple plan consisting of synergistic behaviors that led to an amazing result.

Sounds a lot like the ultimate fitness (fatness?) plan, eh?

They were so close. They had a system and with a few small changes they'd be the picture of health instead of having to buy two seats on an airplane AFTER a surgically-induced 300 pound weight loss.

The System:
1. Devote yourself to a program of regular physical activity based on your fitness goals
2. Eat frequent, nutrient-dense meals that are supportive of your training and goals
3. Spend time with like minded people with similar interests and goals
4. Repeat forever

It is that simple.

Later

The Sweet Smell of Success

Success doesn't smell sweet.

Actually, it smells a lot like a sweaty t-shirt.

Later.

P.S. this could be an original quote?

Happy Birthday Phil!

Phiiiiiiiillllll!

Yes, it's that time of year again where I wish my good buddy Phil, the happiest of birthdays.

It's also the time of year that I make a feeble attempt to convince my good buddy to move back to Nap Town, The Circle City, the home of the Brickyard....Indianapolis.

See Phil bolted from the fine state of Indiana soon after graduation from PT school. Seems he felt it necessary to spread his wings and become the guy he wanted to be.

It worked (as much as I hate to admit it...was a great move on his part).

Phil has become an outstanding professional as well as a great man. He also not too long ago married just the right gal, Julie (Uh, you kids do actually live in the same city now? I also like the burgundy wall in the living room :)) .

Could he have become the man he is by staying behind with the rest of us?

Yeah, but it wouldn't make as good a story now would it. Where's the legacy if you don't take the calculated risks?

Congrats on another degree (how many is that now?), keep running (you ran the Indy Mini-Marathon in a couple hours, right? I cover the same distance in about 15 minutes because I take a car like all the other normal human beings), and hopefully we'll see you soon.

For all of us in Indy, Happy Birthday.

Later

P.S. So, uh, Phil, when you think you might be moving back to Indy?

The Stand-up Desk Part 2

Adam Campbell, super-guy at Men's Health Magazine, has taken my advice an shifted to using a stand-up desk (SUD). I must say that it sure is pretty.

You can check it out here: http://thefitnessinsider.menshealth.com/

Perhaps Adam's co-workers are on to something and these SUD's should come with an optional urinal attachment to raise productivity even further, eh? (don't forget the small rack with anti-bacterial wipes!)

Of course, the female workers may get a tad jealous because most likely there'd only be a "mens" version.

The female version would cost WAY to much to produce with all the fuzzy seat covers, potpourri and candle holders, matching decorative privacy curtains, towels you don't actually get to use and such.

Later

Pat Rigsby and Fitness Riches

My friend Pat Rigsby has just started his new blog. www.patrigsby.blogspot.com. Pat is a master of the fitness business having developed some powerful strategies that trainers can use to grow their own businesses.

His latest venture Fitness Riches brings together fitness marketing wizard Eric Ruth and trainers like Alwyn Cosgrove, Craig Ballantyne, Stephen Holt, and even myself talking about how to niche your business. This manual explains how each of us use different strategies to build our businesses.

In the words of Craig Ballantyne, Alwyn's section alone is worth the price of the manual and I agree.

This isn't a book on the theories of marketing and building a fitness business, but rather it's the real-life things we're doing. The stuff that's proven itself to work the best.

If you're building your personal training business, you need this resource.

Later.

Intention Deficit Disorder (IDD)

No it’s not a misspelling.

Your Intention Deficit is equal to the difference between what you intended to do and what you actually did.

Your IDD is really a measure of the quality of your life, and there’s no pill (Tom Cruise can now breath a sigh of relief) that can control the symptoms.

Think about it. How great would your life be had you only followed through on everything that you intended to do up to this point?

You’d have the successful career that you love.
You’d have a great marriage.
You’d live in the perfect house in the perfect neighborhood.
You’d have healthy, well-adjusted kids.
Your lawn would be the perfect shade of green.
You wouldn’t know what night Desperate Housewives is on.

While this concept applies to any aspect of your life, it’s never more apparent than in your fitness programming…especially the eating component.

“I really wanted to stick to my eating plan, but those cookies just looked so good.”

“I planned on going to the gym, but I had to run some errands and got side-tracked.”

The larger the IDD, the more you seem to struggle with your fitness programming and the more frustrated you become.

The way I figure it, if you keep your IDD at 10%, you will have an amazing life.

Do the same with your eating and exercise plan, and you’ll find that reaching your fitness goals will be a piece of cake (the cake obviously falls into that 10%).

Side Note…It’s pizza night. The one night where I don’t fall off the wagon, but rather take a full-out dive from the horse-driven cart of my fitness program to enjoy the insanity that can only be provided by my favorite food. My wife enjoys a piece or two of the large ‘Za (it’s cut in very small bite size squares) while I gorge myself like Takeru Kobayashi (http://www.ifoce.com/eaters.php?action=detail&sn=22) trying to fit in one more piece as the clock winds down to win another Nathan’s belt.

I don’t bring this up to show you that I’m human (that’s debatable). I bring this up to tell you about my pizza delivery guy. It’s always the same guy. Spiked up hair, black eye-liner, black nail polish, spikes coming out of his lower lip and eyebrow, multiple tattoos, and black pants that are 8 sizes too big and cover his motorcycle boots (he drives a Ford Festiva).

Normally, I wouldn’t give this guy the time of day, but he does bring me my pizza for crying out loud.

But I have to say, that he always gets an extra large tip from me.

Why?

He calls me sir. He’s exceptionally careful with my food. He asks how I’m doing…SIR. Then he wishes me a good night and says thank you.

I have no doubt he will become a great success just as soon as he realizes that he doesn’t need to look like The Joker with a hangover to get attention.

Last one…I caught up with an old classmate of mine this week. She mentioned that her boys were now 10 and 6-years-old. She says, “They’re at the age where they think burping and farting is the most hilarious thing.” I chuckled and thought, “At what point were we supposed to grow out of THAT?”

Later.

Got Books?

You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.

Charles "Tremendous" Jones

I'm a better student now than I have ever been. Back in my early college day, when my hair was long, My TV stand was another TV that was broken, and the closest thing to strength training literature we had was Muscle & Fitness, I hated to read. Maybe it's because I was forced to read.

Don't get me wrong, I was an A-student (note to young'uns...go to class and actually pay attention). Just didn't like to read.

Now that I'm an information junkie, there isn't enough time in the day to read enough. I hate fiction (that includes the newspaper...what a waste of time. If anything important ever happens, don't worry, someone will try to tell you all about it). I'd rank it right up there with soap operas (anyone know if Hope's baby is Bo's or that other guys?). The exception would be the occasional Spider-Man or Batman comic just to stay in the loop (I kinda like Spidey's new suit).

These days it's business-related and training/rehab stuff. Getting a new shipment in tomorrow. I can hear my wife/CFO now, "You got more books (she always says that)? Aren't you smart enough already (smile)?" She understands.

So I guess my question to you is, what did you read today that will make you better...at anything?

Side note...I tried to read The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People on multiple occasions but kept falling asleep (seriously). So I just bought the unabridged anniversary edition of the audio book to listen to in the car. Don't worry. No one was hurt in the accident because I woke up just in time.

Pink Floyd is the most overrated band of all time.

Later

Get Off Your Ass

Since I'm new to the whole Blog thing. I was trying to think of what is actually Blog-worthy.

Well, here's something I'm telling everyone I know AND their sister.

Get off your ass. Not in the exercise sense although it's never a bad idea. Rather, I'm referring to changing to a stand-up desk.

In the publish or perish world of fitness information and shameless self-promotion, I find myself spending countless hours pecking away at my fairly new laptop keyboard or the ol' standby desktop computer. Well, my posture had gone to hell and my hips were feeling about two decades older than my 70-year-old shoulder.

Rather than blow $400 on a keyboard tray that adjusts to a standing position (and because if I don't use my laptop, my wife may try to take it away from me), I found an adjustable table that is the perfect height.

After a couple weeks of accomodation, I have to say it was a great idea.

There were some initial adjustments like a mild pressure in the lower back which resolved quickly with some improved abdominal recruitment (bonus #1) , but otherwise the typical discomfort in the upper back that made me feel Quasimoto-ish after about an hour at the fancy typewriter machine is now gone.

I can also do a few simple exercises like muscle activation for the glutes and some low load passive stretches to some shortened muscles like the TFL and gluteus medius as well as some ankle mobility work (bonus #2).

I also get to spend more quality time with my wife and CFO (uh, for the record they are the same person) as we are now able to ignore one another while working in our spacious home office simultaneously (although I frequently catch her checking out my ass - bonus #3).

Alright, enough time wasted and here's my wrap up. Be a stand-up guy, stand-up and be counted, stand by your man, stand for something...you get the point.

Later.

Congratuations Dos!!!

I got a text message (first I start blogging and now I get a text message...which by the way I have no idea how to return a text message) today saying that my friend Robert Dos Remedios, strength and conditioning coach for College of the Canyons, was named NSCA Collegiate Strength Coach of the Year.

If you don't know who Dos is, you will very soon. He's got more real world experience in training athletes than most will ever have.

It's about time he gets the recognition he deserves.

Oh, and for the record, I will never grasp the concept of text messaging. I'm going to take the time to type out a message on a phone keyboard rather than make a call that'll achieve the same thing in 10 seconds?

Later.

So apparently this is how life works.

You get educated, find a job or start a business, marry the perfect gal, and then you Blog. The internet continues to be a source of joy and frustration for me. Because lord knows, that everyone has something important to say at least once in their life. Hopefully, that'll happen here at least once in a while.

My good friend and super editor/writer who works for Men's Health Magazine, Adam Campbell, kinda talked me into this whole thing. If you'd like to send any hate mail in response for my thoughts taking up too much space on the WWW, please comment at Adam's blog (you knew this was comin' didn't ya?) at http://thefitnessinsider.menshealth.com/

Actually, Adam has recently started on a quest to break the 5 Minute Mile. I didn't have the heart to tell him that Roger Bannister actually broke the 4 minute mile mark in 1954. He seems rather motivated and far be it for me to crush somebody's groove.

In all honesty, I support Adam fully in his quest. I think as humans, the day we no longer challenge ourselves, we begin to die. It doesn't need to be a physical challenge like Adam's. It can be something as simple as being a better mate, continuing to educate yourself, or sticking to a healthier eating plan.

Speaking of Men's Health, you can find my latest article on page 122 of the August 2006 issue.

Anyway, before we get too deep here, I'm trying to figure out what one does with a blog. I figure since it's got my name on it, I can do as I please. I'm sure I'll make announcements of what's going on in my world, answer questions, do a lot of name dropping, and answer more questions. Just don't expect it to have a great deal of organization. Not my strong point.

While I'm thinking about it

Here's something that's coming down the pike...

Mike Robertson, well-known from t-nation.com, elitefts.com, and his own home on the web, www.robertsontrainingsystems.com, and I are in the editing stages of a new DVD called, Inside-Out (O/I): The Ultimate Upper Body Warm-up. This is going to be a must have for any athlete that does any strength training, throwing, or swinging of a club or tennis racket. I don't want to say too much yet, but I'll be sure to give you whole run down in the not too distant future.

More Later...