Single Greatest Lifting Movement

What do you think is the single greatest lifting movement?

Benchpress?

Deadlift?

Shrug?

No, no, and no. Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce the goblet squat. The goblet squat is probably the greatest lifting movement to get someone to squat with perfect form. In today's society we have too many people sitting 8-10 hours a day, too many people spending their evenings on a hamstring tightening eliptical machine, and too many people that straight up don't know how to squat.

This toddler has absolute PERFECT squat form. The issue is, as we grow today, we loose the ability get into that position. How many of you can get into that position right now? Probably a lot of you think you can, but then when you try you are struggling to reach the 90 degree mark. This is simply because from our sedentary life styles and improper technique, we develop tight ankles, knees, hips, hamstrings, and lower backs. This causes us to have a "kyphotic" or rounded back when we squat. It also causes us to want to come up on our toes instead of driving through our heels, and causes pressure on the knees as we don't stick our hips back, but instead put our knees over our toes.

How do we fix this? Let me introduce you to the goblet squat:

This may seem like a very simple exercise. However, in my opinion it is the best teaching movement when showing somebody how to squat. Refer up to the picture of the toddler above. Can you get into that proper squatting position? If not, why are you going to throw one, two, three or more hundred pounds on your back and try to squat, if you can't even get into that position using your own body weight?

The goblet squat is good for several reasons:

*Anyone can do it-You can use anything from a 2.5lb dumbbell to a 44kb kettlebell. So whether your teaching the 15 year old football player or the 65 year old retiree, this exercise is great for everyone.

*It forces you to stick your hips back and drive through your heels-By holding the weight in front of you, it forces you to sit back on your heels, not bending with your knees, but having the first movement be at your hips. If you push through your toes, you are going to fall forward, thus forcing you to properly push the weight through your heels.

*It helps in maintaining a tight back, keeping your chest up, and having a strong core throughout the movement. Again, by holding the weight in the front, you are "forced" to keep your chest up, maintaining that good arch in the lower back, to prevent the weight from falling forward.

*It still builds strength-Even though it is a great teaching tool, the goblet squat is still an excellent strength exercise, building strength in the glutes, quadriceps, and hamstrings.

So, before you go throw 315 on the bar next time, just do a simple bodyweight squat, and analyze your form. The goblet squat may be your next best friend.

Any questions, comments, or suggestions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Stay Fit,

Doug Spurling, CSCS, NSCA-CPT

Spurling Training Systems, LLC

Kennebunkport, ME

spurlingtrainingsystems@gmail.com

On the go workout

As the holiday season begins, everyone is off to grandma's house. The busiest time of the year to travel is now. What does that mean for most people? There workouts are put on the back burner. Whether you are in a hotel or spending the weekend on the denim couch from 1970 at your grandparents house, you have options to workout. Here is great full-body workout you can do anywhere, anytime, to keep you in shape, and your metabolism up during the holiday traveling season! I wrote out a beginner and advanced model

Beginner

Warm-up: 1 minute jumping jacks

BW Squat to chair

Standing Alternating Lunge

Push-ups

Chair Dips

Back Extensions (Supermans)

Plank Hold 30-45 seconds

Each exercise could be completed for 8-12 reps each time with 3-4 sets for each exercise.

Be sure to get a good cool down and stretch in after.

Advanced:

Warm-up: 1 minute jumping jack combined with 1 minute jumping crossovers

BW Squat

Plyo Alternating Lunges

Push Back Push-ups-Click here for a great demonstration by Nick Tumminello

Inverted Row

Triceps Dips with feet elevated

Back Extension-roll over to V-up combo

Plank Variations (Forearm and side supported)

Each exercise could be completed for 8-12 reps each time with 3-4 sets for each exercise.

Be sure to get a good cool down and stretch in after.

Pretty simple and straight forward, but when you are traveling it is a good way to get a quick workout in without too much disruption in your schedule. If you invest in bands or TRX straps the exercises are endless. E-mail me for more information on programs only using resistance bands or straps.

Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving.

Stay Fit,

Doug Spurling, CSCS, NSCA-CPT

Spurling Training Systems, LLC

Kennebunkport, ME

spurlingtrainingsystems@gmail.com

Surviving Thanksgiving

Here is a blog post I did back in 2009. The same rules still apply. Enjoy the read!

Surviving the fatest holiday in America

The amount of calories consumed in a typical thanksgiving dinner isastronomical. If you sit down and think about what you put into your body between the turkey, potatoes, stuffing, appetizers, and desserts, it is very easy to consume well over 10,000 calories. That is all in a matter of 8 hours!!! The worst part is, on that day you do nothing but sit around, shoot the shit, and watch football. It back tracks even more to the whole week. I commonly hear people say, "Oh, its the week of Thanksgiving, I'll just get back on track next week." That next week turns into next month and that next month turns into a new years resolution to lose those 20 pounds that you put on since the week in late November when this all began.

Thanksgiving meals are not all that bad if you do it right. Here are a few tips that will be helpful in keeping those pounds off on turkey day.

Most gyms are open a few hours on Thursday so try and sneak in a workout.The best time would be about an hour before you consume all that glorious food. That way, when you return home, shower and begin to stuff your face your metabolism is screaming and at its peak for digestion.

I know as you are reclined back watching the Detroit Lions lose, you will probably have a ice cold beer in your hand. I'm not going to saydon't have it, because although that would be the best decision, for most it is not realistic. However, try to avoid excess alcohol and avoid sugary drink such as soda. Stick with water.

Avoid, high carbohydrate foods. You all should know by now that unused carbohydrates are stored as cutaneous fat. That means, limit your carbohydrates. Try to fill up on foods like turkey, nuts, and vegetables. These foods are relatively low in carbohydrates and will keep the pounds off.


Enjoy your dinner and eat it slowly. It takes a good twenty minutes or more for your body to realize that you are eating. So take it slow, enjoy the company, and eat the food slowly. You won't eat as much and will become full quicker.

I'm not even going to mention dessert. Everyone knows it is not good for you. Whether or not you eat it is up to you. Just think before you eat it. Summer is only 6 months away. Is that brownie sundae really worth it? Really? I think not

I hope everyone has a happy and safe Thanksgiving.

Stay Fit,

Doug Spurling, CSCS, NSCA-CPT

SpurlingTraining Systems

spurlingtrainingsystems@gmail.com

Plateau Busters

Your body will get use to whatever you throw at it. That is why you have to periodize a program so that it is constantly putting your body in a "shock" mode. Your body should have to guess what is coming next. Your body shouldn't know that every Monday you do bench press 3 sets of 10 reps, but if every Monday you do the same bench press 3 sets of 10 reps, it will know!

There are several things you can do, in addition to changing your program on a regular basis, that will "shock" your body, and bust through any plateau that may be coming.

These include:

• Super-sets
• Drop-sets
• Tempo-training
• Super-slow training
• Negatives

Super-sets:

A superset is where you combine two exercises back to back with no rest in between. You can either do same muscle group or opposing muscle groups. An example would be DB chest press with push-ups. Another example, opposing muscles, DB chest press with seated low cable row. You would do each set with no rest in between exercises and then rest before your next set is started.

Drop-sets:

Drop-sets is where you chose the same exercise, but you lower the weight each time. An example would be that same DB chest press. You would do 50lbs for 8 reps, right away "drop" them and do 30lbs for 8reps, "drop" them and do 10lbs for 8reps. Then rest, and repeat.

Tempo-training:

Chose a tempo that is different than what you normally do. For example a typical exercise tempo is 2-1-2. 2 seconds on the contraction, 1 second on the isometric hold at the top, and 2 seconds down on the eccentric phase. You may change that up to be 1-0-1, to work on speed and explosiveness. You may also slow that down to something like 5-2-5, where you are controlling the weight both concentrically and eccentrically, and getting a slight isometric contraction at the top.

Super-slow training:

Similar to tempo training, super slow training is just that, super slow. You may take 8 seconds to complete the concentric position, and 8 seconds to complete the eccentric position. This causes a big stress on the muscles, putting them in that "shock" mode you desire.

Negatives:

Negatives are a great way to do a little more weight than what you normally would. These are best done with a spotter. They can be done on every exercise, however you see them more commonly done on exercise like the chin-up, pull-up, and bench press. You take the eccentric phase, or the lowering phase and you lower extremely slow, with heavier weight than you would normally use, then on the concentric phase, you get help from your spotter to finish the rep off. So lets use the chin-up for example. You could use a jump or a spot to get up in the contracted position with your chin over the bar, then you would slowly lower your body all the way down, again getting help from your spotter to get back to that contracted position at the top of the bar.

These are all great ways to stress the body, and put it in that "shock" mode you are looking for. However, these should be used sporadically, or in a periodized program. These styles of training are stressful to the body, and if done to much can cause over training.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Don't forget to check us out on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Spurling-Training-Systems/167352573314714

Stay Fit,

Doug Spurling, CSCS, NSCA-CPT

Spurling Training Systems

(978) 994-1557

spurlingtrainingsystems@gmail.com

100 gram carb cure

Through both research and experience one of the best things I have found you can do to help with fat loss is to apply this simple rule: Limit yourself to no more than 100 grams of carbohydrates per day.

It works for several reason.

1. Easy to remember: Meal plans, calorie counting, carb cycling, low fat, high fiber, I could go on, and on. The thing is, people want to be simple. Having someone eat at a scheduled time, with certain foods, is almost near impossible. The guideline of 100 grams of carbs or less is simple to remember and simple to follow.

2. It's low enough : At 100 grams of carbs each day, you won't be going into ketosis. However, it is low enough that you won't be stroing any excess carboohydrates as you tuck under the sheets at night.

3. It's high enough: At 100 grams that leaves you plenty of room to get in carbs at the most imporant time, before and after your workout. We all know that is a crucial time, and with 100 grams a day, you still have plenty to spare.

4. Forces decisions: You only have to remember one thing, no more than 100 grams of carbs. It forces you to make smarter decisions, choosing better foods, cutting out junk foods, and picking things that will keep you full.

5. Schedule: You always here the recommendation to eat 5-6 times a day. Well, if you eat 5 times a day, do the math, that is 20 grams a meal. It works out perfect, and would look something like this:

Breakfast: 20gms

Lunch: 20gms

Preworkout: 20gms

Post workout:20gms

Dinner: 20gms

Obviously, carbohydrates is only one part of the diet. However, high-carbohydrate intake is the number one reason for fat gain. So, follow the simple rule, 100 grams of carbs or less every day, and I am sure you will see results in no time.

Remember, it all comes down to fundamentals and basics. Far to many people try to make fitness and nutrition more complex then what it is, if you follow simple rules like this one, you WILL see results.

Stay Fit,

Doug Spurling, CSCS, NSCA-CPT

Spurling Training Systems

PO Box 804

Kennebunkport, ME 04046

(978) 994-1557

spurlingtrainingsystems@gmail.com

How it all got started

As Spurling Training Systems continues to grow, I think it is important for all my fans to get to know me as a person and my reason for starting the business I did. I give you a fare warning, you might want to have tissues within arms reach!

The fans today I went to high school with are probably the ones the are most surprised about where I am today. I started high school as a freshman weighing in at about 350lbs. No that is not a typo, you read it, 350lbs. I was a large individual, and it never bothered me. I always rolled along with the jokes of being over weight, and never had a problem with it.

Four years of high school went by and I found myself miserable. I never went to my high school prom, or any social event for that matter. The summer after I graduated, I had a life-changing moment. To this day, I don't know what it was, but I woke up, looked in the mirror, and said it's time for a change. As the summer went on, I was preparing to attend University of New England (UNE) as a freshman. I had applied and been accepted into the medical biology program. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, maybe physical therapy, maybe medical school, but exercise science never crossed my mind. As the summer went by, I found myself getting addicted to the rush of the gym. I obviously had no clue what I was doing at the time, but it felt great. The pounds were falling off, and as the first day of college approached, I was almost under the 300lb mark.

I started at UNE in September of 2007. I began taking classes for my medical biology program, and found myself miserable going to class. Not the miserable feeling of not wanting to go to class, but the miserable feeling of not doing what I really wanted to do. After about 2 weeks of classes as a medical biology student, I switched my major to Applied Exercise Science. I have never looked back since.

I began gaining knowledge in the field, and actually started to learn what I was doing in the gym. So at this point, not only was I excelling academically, I was getting more and more results in the gym. I went home for Christmas weighing about 280lbs, 70lbs less then were I was 7 months ago when I graduated high school.

As I went through college, I developed my true passion for exercise science. I went to every conference, joined every organization, and read as many books as I could about exercise science and strength and conditioning. I found my future, my passion, and my career in strength and conditioning.

I interned with one of the most well respected performance centers on the east coast, Parisi Speed School. That experience not only was full of knowledge, but confirmed that mentoring kids, coaching, and working on improving the health and performance of all ages was what I wanted to do the rest of my life. I went into my junior year and became certified as personal trainer and strength and conditioning specialist.

As I continued to bust my butt in the classroom, in the gym, and at work, I was seeing amazing results in all three. I had hit the 100lb mark in weight loss, was down to 250lbs, had a killer GPA, and was helping run a private gym in Southern Maine. As the days flew by with all this going on, life came to a stand still on one Saturday afternoon. I had gone home to Massachusetts for the weekend, as I usually did about once a month. I walked into the house, and was greeted by my parents, per usual. We sat down for dinner that night and I could tell something wasn't right. Finally, after about 10 minutes of silence, my mom broke down into tears and informed my brother and I that she had been diagnosed with small cell lung cancer. I had two instant reactions. One, was the obvious denial, grief, depression, anger, etc. The other was my professional side, I considered my self a health professional, and wanted to help my mom. After a long night of discussion, I went back to school and continued my busy schedule of school, work, gym, conferences, coaching, etc. The exception, was my mother was on the back of my mind all the time. I began researching treatments, cures, I was going to cure cancer! Looking back, it was all just a dream, but at the time was my way of dealing with it. As the months went on and my mom got weaker and weaker, I began working with her. I would go from teaching a 16 year old baseball player how to deadlift, to calling my mom to make sure she got her 3 sets of chair squats in. During those few months my mom fought her battle with cancer, we became extremely close. I was checking in on here nightly, going over nutrition, exercise, rest, seeing what her doctors had to say, etc.

After 6 long months of struggling she finally had to go into a hospital because she needed daily chemotherapy treatments, and was to weak to take care of herself. As I tried to balance my college career, my academics, my work, and my personal life, I finally had to take a step back and focus on what was important. I dropped out of my summer course, took a leave from the gym I was working at, and moved home. I spent all day, every day, visiting my mom in the hospital. Unfortunately, on June 14, 2010, at the age of 52, as my brother and I each held a hand, my mom took her last breath, and lost her battle with cancer.

After spending a few weeks preparing the services, and helping the rest of my family grieve, I moved back to Maine to finish up my last semester of college. I had more drive then ever before, in the classroom, on the field, in the weight room, and in life. I graduated and began my career as a strength and conditioning coach both down at East Carolina University for a short time, and this past fall with University of Maine.

I stand here today, with clients ranging from the 16 year old baseball player, to the 45 year old morbidly obese working man, to the 86 year old retired fashion designer, knowing I have been through a lot more than the average 22 year old. I stand here weighing 110lbs less that what I did five years ago. I stand her without a mom to talk to at night. Through all that, I know I am who I am today, because of those experiences.

As I prepare to grown and expand Spurling Training Systems to be the best training center for all ages and abilities to improve their health and performance, I do it for one reason, to give back. I not only have the academic knowledge, the degree, and the certifications to support it, I more importantly have the life experiences. As I venture into the world of self-employment and the life of a business owner, all at age of 22, growing my future, I know these experiences are what brought me here today, and they are what will make me who I am tomorrow.

I have said from the get-go, I dedicate my business to my mom, because although not her in person, I know she is watching from above. She is guiding me through life with the traits and characteristics she instilled in me as a child.

I want to thank each and every one of you who read my blog, follow me online, use my services, and support me in life. You may not think it, but I value every one of you. I thank you for supporting Spurling Training Systems, and I will always be here for you.

As always, any questions, comments, concerns, or feedback please don't hesitate to contact me.

On a lighter note, final touches are going into the website, and it's scheduled to go live this week!

I hope you all have a great weekend!

Stay Fit,

Doug Spurling, CSCS, NSCA-CPT

Spurling Training Systems

PO BOX 804

Kennebunkport, ME 04046

(978) 994-1557

spurlingtrainingsystems@gmail.com

Going with the flow

Life is full of surprises, as we all have experienced in one way or another. You may have a routine of going to the gym everyday at 5:00pm, but things come up. Having the ability to take your workout "routine" and make it flexible enough to support life's crazy adventures is a true skill. You have heard me mention Eric Cressey before, and I will continue to mention him. I learn a lot from him, and when I really enjoy something that I think you all should read, I share it. Here is a great blog put out by Cressey, with some great videos, on why your workout shouldn't be "routine."

I want to thank everyone again for their continued support of Spurling Training Systems. We had a great first week, with new clients already signed up and getting after it! The website is under construction with hopes of getting out in the next week or two. As always, if you ever have any suggestions, feedback, or questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Thanks,

Doug Spurling, CSCS, NSCA-CPT

Spurling Training Systems

PO Box 804

Kennebunkport, ME 04046

spurlingtrainingsystems@gmail.com