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Contextual Interference Workout

- Stability & Recovery Emphasis -

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**WORKOUT SUMMARY (+ CLICK TO ENLARGE)**
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Special Instructions for Today’s Workout

Today’s workout consists of a large superset of 8 exercises, perform as a full circuit 2-3x.Will specifically be using a protocol called contextual interference. To highlight, contextual interference is a term used in the field of motor learning where an individual is required to be more mentally and cognitively engaged in the activity they are performing simply because there are few/less repetitive tasks taking place back to back. Instead multiple activities, tasks, or skills are carried out sequentially thereby requiring the used to retrace their motor program before repeating the same task later during the training session. This helps improve motor learning, skill acquisition, and movement mastery due to the higher level of mental engagement and cognition required when performing each movement/task. This is something Dr. Joel Seedman discusses in great depth in his book MOVEMENT REDEFINED.

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EXERCISE	SUPERSET	SETS	REPS	REST	RPE	EI
Eyes Closed Toe Touch Stride Hold Swaps	1-8 (Complete Circuit)	2-3	4 per side	30"	4-5	N/A

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Here’s one of my awesome clients Matt Jordan demonstrating a very advanced and difficult variation of the kettlebell swap. As most of you know improving foot, ankle and hip function is something I work on quite extensively with my athletes and clients. One exercise I use on a consistent basis to do this is the Single-Leg or Kettlebell Swap. I've found it to be highly effective at improving lower-body function, alignment and muscle activation from the feet to the hips as well as the core. In fact, the swap is an exercise I developed out of pure necessity after witnessing a large number of athletes who displayed various types of foot and ankle deficiencies that were wreaking havoc on the rest of their bodies, particularly in the knees, hips and low back.

One of the great features of the Single-Leg Kettlebell Swap is that it's effective for improving nearly all forms of foot, ankle and hip deficiencies including pronation (valgus collapse), and supination. The Swap is also one of the single greatest drills for enhancing rigidity, stability, tightness and motor control throughout the entire body. Besides improving force production and power output, it teaches athletes how to absorb force, thereby enhancing performance and decreasing risk of injury. Similar, Single-Leg Swaps are also great for addressing energy leaks as there will be an almost immediate loss of balance. Learn to stabilize and maintain optimal alignment while swapping from side to side, and watch energy leaks gradually disappear.

This particular variation using a toe touch stride hold is also an excellent movement for teaching individuals to keep their feet and hips aligned with each other (a critical component of proper walking, running, sprinting, and overall gait mechanics). With eyes opened, this is actually a slight regression for those who are unable to perform the swap on one leg. Eyes closed is a different story. In fact, closing your eyes makes this one of the most mentally and physically challenging exercises you’ll ever perform as the level of focus needed to maintain balance and motor control is off the charts.

Fortunately Matt Jordan is training to be a Jedi knight for the upcoming star wars films so as Yoda would say "swap, he must”. As an added bonus he'll be a master at passing the drunk driving test.

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EXERCISE	SUPERSET	SETS	REPS	REST	RPE	EI
Bridge The Gap Squat	#1-#8	2-3	4-6	30-60"	5	3"

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MAIN OPTION

Although the single leg BTG variations provide numerous benefits, applying the “bridge the gap” protocol to bilateral movements has a surprisingly positive impact on exercises such as squats, hinges, bent over rows, deadlifts, standing overhead presses, and other standing exercises. One reason for this is that the athlete is requires to activate the daylights out of their entire foot and ankle complex which in turn has a tremendous impact on squats and hinges. Here I’m demonstrating several variations alongside two of my awesome figure and physique athletes Leslie Petch and Ben Lai.

For instance during the squat many individuals tend to either fall into valgus collapse and/or ankle pronation with fallen arches or they will excessively supinate and externally rotate their feet (oftentimes a by product of faulty cueing perpetuated by the fitness industry as a result of trying to over-correct valgus collapse). In reality proper movement always comes down to finding the optimal balance of various joint positions by maximizing joint centration and body alignment. Simply put we don’t want to exhibit a valgus collapse or produce excessive knee and hip spread as each of these presents its own unique issues over time that can lead to injuries, inflammation, and joint issues not to mention energy leaks and compromised force production.

The “bridge the gap” protocol particularly when combined with eccentric isometrics literally helps to self-correct these issues, provided the lifter goes barefoot or uses very minimalist shoes. That’s because any excessive valgus or varus collapse places extreme tension and pressure on the inner or outer regions of the foot respectively, making it quite uncomfortable. To produce a force vector that goes straight through the foot without any lateral or medial deviations requires the athlete to demonstrate perfect alignment and joint centration when performing any standing movement. This is true of both unilateral or bilateral movements. Additionally this does wonders for eliminating excessive squat depth as the athlete will inevitably terminate their ROM somewhere between 90 degrees and parallel – a byproduct of proper foot and ankle activation. Read more about proper squat form and depth here.

Alternate | No Block Option

I spend quite a few months out of the year working with high level athletes. Unfortunately oftentimes they only have several weeks to work with me while in between teams or in the middle of seasonal transitions. While enhancing speed, power, explosiveness, and muscle mass are an important part of the training process, improving muscle function, body mechanics, and overall quality of movement, as well as injury prevention are even more vital for the athletes career.

Unfortunately time constraints and scheduling can make this process quite challenging. Besides implementing appropriate cues, instructional tips, and proper coaching techniques to help lock in their movement mechanics, I frequently like to employ exercises that literally force the lifter to perform the movement correctly. While I’ve highlighted many squatting variations over the past several years that I utilize to create this technique-optimization effect, one that I’ve recently been using with great success is something I refer to as the longitudinal goblet squat.

Simply hold the dumbbell by the end of the weight and try to keep it as parallel to the floor as possible while performing squats. Here I’m performing the bilateral eccentric isometric version while my awesome client Leslie Petch is demonstrating the more advanced single leg variation.

Besides being deceptively difficult, this is without a doubt one of the most effective squat variations I’ve ever used to help clean up squat form and improve lower body mechanics. With that said here are 10 reasons why the longitudinal goblet squat is so effective.

Many athletes place too much load onto the front of their feet (towards their toes) when squatting. The longitudinal goblet squat forces the lifter to sit back onto their heels or else the forward weight shift will literally cause the front end of the dumbbell to tilt in which case they’ll dump the weight.
Many athletes tend to bend over excessively at the spine even when performing goblet squats. Any level of excessive forward torso lean or exaggerated hip flexion will result in the athletes dumping the weight as they’ll be unable to keep the dumbbell parallel to the floor.
Learning to brace the core and tense the abs can do more for squat mechanics and technique than just about any other cue. Fortunately the longitudinal goblet squat forces the core to be braced more intensely than just about any squat variation I’ve ever used. Just be prepared to feel as though you’re about to get punched in the stomach when performing these as the amount of core bracing is through the roof.
The longitudinal goblet squat also helps eliminate shoulder rounding which is another common problem particularly on anterior loaded squats such as goblet squats and front squats. Unless the athlete packs their shoulders and tenses their lats while bracing their core, they’ll be unable to hold the weight in the longitudinal position.
Similar to the core bracing cue, learning to create high levels of full body tension can do wonders for your squat by producing concurrent activation potentiation and irradiation. In other words it teaches you how to stay tight ultimately resulting in greater neural drive to the working extremities including the muscles of the quads, glutes, and hamstrings.
Few if any individuals will be able to use more than a 50 pound dumbbell when performing the longitudinal goblet squat. However, the amount of tension to both the lower and upper body is inordinately high. As a result this is perhaps the single most intense “lightly-loaded” squat variation you’ll ever perform. If you have low back issues, knee pain, or hip problems, this represents an ideal variation as it’s one of the most joint-friendly yet intense squat variations out there.
Because the longitudinal loading protocol creates a scenario where the dumbbell can easily tilt over and dump out of the lifters hands, it ends up eliminating any excessive momentum as it forces the lifter to squat in a slow and controlled fashion. In fact unless the athlete incorporates the eccentric isometric protocol they’ll find it quite difficult to perform these without losing control of the dumbbell.
While the amount of tension to the lower body is quite high especially considering how light of a load the lifter will be using, the amount of tension to the upper body particularly the upper back, biceps, shoulders, grip, and forearms is quite significant. In fact, some athletes will find that their upper body strength gives out before their legs do.
If in fact upper body strength is the limiting factor when performing these the longitudinal goblet squat is also very conducive for single leg squat variations ultimately resulting in the legs giving out before the upper body. Just be prepared to perform one of the most brutally challenging squat variations you’ll ever perform.
The longitudinal goblet squat is quite versatile. In fact it can be employed in a number of ways including as a warmup protocol to prep the body for heavier squat methods, as the main squat variation for a particular workout, or as a high intensity finisher. It’s also one that’s quite conducive for performing on days where you’re attempting to deload the spine yet create an intense full body training stimulus.

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EXERCISE	SUPERSET	SETS	REPS	REST	RPE	EI
Eyes Closed Bird Dog Row	#1-#8	2-3	4 per side	30-60"	5-6	2-3"

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OPTION #1

The quadruped bench row is my go-to rowing variation for teaching an athlete how to dial in their horizontal pulling technique. The reason for this is that any faulty mechanics, movement dysfunction, or flawed activation patterns result in the lifter immediately losing his or her balance. To successfully complete the movement, the lifter will literally have to make continuous adjustments and technique corrections until every component of body mechanics from head to toe are perfectly honed in.

Anything less will result in loss of body control and inability to perform the movement. Even without external coaching, the quadruped row or bird dog row does wonders for providing lifters with enough sensory feedback and internal cuing to gradually self-correct and auto-regulate their body positioning.

OPTION #2

The single leg bottoms up sprinter pullover is one of the best mobility and alignment drills you can do as it opens the t-spine and hips while working lats, core, triceps, shoulders and more.

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EXERCISE	SUPERSET	SETS	REPS	REST	RPE	EI
Eyes Closed Single Arm Bottoms Up Floor Press (Kettlebell or Dumbbell)	#1-#8	2-3	4 per side	30-60"	5	2-3"

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This is a great exercise for improving shoulder and core stability. Shown in the video is NFL quarterback and all-star collegiate QB Taylor Heinicke. After suffering a shoulder injury earlier in the season we used this exercise as well as many others to greatly improve the health, strength, and function of his shoulder in order to prepare him for the NFL.

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EXERCISE	SUPERSET	SETS	REPS	REST	RPE	EI
Longitudinal Bulgarian Goblet Squats	#1-#8	2-3	3 per side	30-60"	4-5	2-3"

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The Bulgarian squat is an incredible lower body exercise that literally targets every muscle in the legs. Unfortunately there are 2 common issues I often witness when watching individuals perform them. First, they tend to have an overly staggered stance position rather than a semi-inline stride position. Ideally, individuals should assume a semi-inline or semi-overlapping stride position during Bulgarian squats, lunges, or split squats. This means that the back and front foot should either intersect (when looking at the person from the front) or both feet should line up right next to each other with no space between them.

Unfortunately most individuals perform Bulgarian squats, lunges, and split squats with something I refer to as a straddled or staggered stance where there’s several inches of space or more between each foot. This ingrains faulty hip activation and dysfunctional stride mechanics that translates to groin pulls and inflammation to the hip joints. This also promotes energy leaks throughout the lower body that results in loss of torque, power, and stability, not only for the lunge itself but also during other related lower body movements such as sprinting.

Placing the back leg on a bench in a longitudinal fashion as shown in the video, rather than using the traditional width wise approach, teaches the athlete how to perform the Bulgarian squat with a more in-line position as they have little room to let their feet become overly staggered. Simply line up your body with the bench and keep the back foot from falling off. If you can maintain this while performing Bulgarian squats then you know your positioning is semi-inline.

The other common issue that many people complain about on Bulgarian squats is that the back foot often has a tendency to cramp. This is typically a result of extending too far in the top position. Rather than coming up fully to the top of the movement, focus instead on staying in the bottom half of the Bulgarian squat as Bryce demonstrates in this video. Not only does this eliminate the common foot cramping issue but it provides enormous levels of constant tension and metabolic stress to the quads, glutes, and hamstrings thereby promoting strength and size gains throughout the lower body.

And yes you can perform Bulgarian squats with the back leg on a barbell or smith machine bar to avoid the cramping effect however you’ll also forego the feedback mechanisms associated with using the longitudinal bench variation to create a semi-inline stride position.

Finally, you’ll notice that Bryce is performing the movement with a significant forward torso lean and hip hinge throughout. This is not an unusual or unique variation of a Bulgarian squat but instead represents the ideal and optimal form for any and all Bulgarian squat and lunge variations. Including the eccentric isometric (controlled eccentric with a pause in the bottom position) helps the lifter feel for these optimal mechanics and make the necessary adjustments. Inevitably this also leads them to a position of ample forward torso lean and solid hip hinge mechanics as this is the most natural and biomechanically sound position for any Bulgarian squat, lunge, split squat, or even a normal squat pattern.

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EXERCISE	SUPERSET	SETS	REPS	REST	RPE	EI
Eyes Closed Goblet Good Morning	#1-#8	2-3	3	30"-60"	4-5	2-3"

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If you’re looking for a good morning variation that reduces stress to the low back and spine while still pummels the entire posterior chain look no further than the front loaded variations such as this goblet version. Here I have a couple clients demonstrating it with an eccentric isometric protocol to help dial in their technique and reinforce proper hip hinge mechanics. The front loading position targets the core, abs, and spinal stabilizers quite intensely. These are also surprisingly brutal on the upper back, shoulders, and arms as you’ll be working overtime to keep the weight held tightly against the chest.

Ultimately, the good morning exercise is nothing more than a traditional hip hinge movement except the weight is loaded above the center of mass typically on the upper traps and back like a barbell squat. Rather than squatting down by bending the knees and hips at the same rate, the lifter will simply hinge over at the hips while maintaining a soft knee position throughout. When it doubt it’s better to have a bit more knee bend than not enough. Focus on finding the natural stopping position which will be at approximately 90 degrees (slightly above parallel). In reality, the movement pattern is identical to an RDL (Romanian deadlift) or any other hip hinge movement for that matter.

BENEFITS

Let’s highlight 4 benefits of this oftentimes undervalued exercise.

Increases glute and hamstring strength. Good mornings are one of the most effective posterior chain exercises when performed correctly as the amount of activation and tension throughout the glutes and hamstrings is unusually high. In fact, most folks will feel a greater stretch in their posterior chain on the good morning exercise than any other hip hinge variation.

Improves posture via increased upper back and lat activation. Because the barbell is loaded above the center of mass and the torso is bent over as a result of hinging at the hips this creates a very biomechanically disadvantageous position. However it's also a position that really engages not only the entire posterior chain of the lower body but creates extreme activation of all the spinal and shoulder extensors. In fact the entire back from the lower back muscles all the way to the lats, rhomboids, rear delts, traps, and neck have to work overtime to keep the spine and shoulders in a neutral position while resisting flexion forces. With that said the good morning is one of the best posture exercises in existence.

Increases squat and deadlift strength. For decades many powerlifters have claimed that the good morning exercise has improved their squat and deadlift strength more than any other movement. This is also something I’ve noticed with my athletes as it not only increases posterior chain strength but also teaches the athlete how to stay tight and maintain spinal rigidity during heavy axial loaded movements.

Bulletproofs the low back. The good morning can be a double edged sword. When performed properly it builds phenomenal back strength, improves postural alignment, and teaches the individual how to engage their hips all of which can improve low back health tremendously. However, if it’s performed incorrectly it can also be quite injurious to the spine. The key is to start off light and perform the good morning with proper mechanics particularly while using eccentric isometrics as this helps the athlete dial in their form. Read more about eccentric isometrics in my book MOVEMENT REDEFINED.

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EXERCISE	SUPERSET	SETS	REPS	REST	RPE	EI
Eyes Closed Lat Pulldown	#1-#8	2-3	4	30-60"	4-5	3-5"

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Most folks tend to screw up lat pulldowns as they try to use excessive range of motion at the bottom rather than 90 degree joint angles (approximately mid face stopping point). For today's pulldown, close your eyes and really feel rather than look for the proper movement. Use a longer eccentric isometric to find your proper mechanics as this will maximize your strength, size, and joint health.

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EXERCISE	SUPERSET	SETS	REPS	REST	RPE	EI
Eyes Closed Single Arm Bottoms Up Overhead Press	#1-#8	2-3	3 per side	2-4 minutes	4-5	2-3"

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OPTION #1

Bottoms-up exercises are some of the most difficult strength training movements there are. The single arm bottoms-up overhead press performed with the kettlebell is the most classic bottoms-up movement. Not only will these build the shoulders, upper back, core, and grip strength, but they will teach you to control offset loads as you'll be holding the weight on one side (unilateral).

OPTION #2

The cross body loaded overhead press is a great way to get a stretch in the traps on the hanging side which allows a stronger contraction of the shoulder on the pressing side.