Robertson Training Systems Newsletter

In This Issue:

- Robertson Training Systems Updates
- Testimonials
- Training Tip
- Nutrition Tip
- Recap: Aussie Seminars
- Upcoming Interviews
- New Articles
- Schedule

 

 

Robertson Training Systems Updates:

Congratulations to the UHS Lady Trailblazers!

On Saturday, my University High School Lady Trailblazer basketball team had the privilege of playing for the Class A basketball championship. The girls have had an amazing year; with a roster stacked with young talent, these girls consistently over achieved, playing against the best competition in the state.

Unfortunately, on Saturday, the chips just didn't fall in to place. I've watched and played a lot of basketball in my day. When shots are going in, everything looks a lot better. When they don't, everything seems a lot worse. On Saturday the girls just never got into a groove shooting the basketball, and it ended up being their downfall. Fort Wayne Canterbury was well coached, running a Triangle-and-2 defense to blanket our leading scorers. In the end, it wasn't meant to be.

Regardless, I wanted to take a moment and congratulate the girls on an amazing season. Not only are they an amazing group of basketball players, but more importantly, they are a great group of human beings. Not one of them walks around with an ego or big head. Quite simply, they may be the best group of athletes I've ever had the pleasure of working with. I wish you all nothing but the best in the future, and hopefully next year we can put it all together and win the big one!

 

Testimonials:

I am very happy with Inside Out - The Ultimate Upper Body Warmup by Mike and Bill. Incorporating the dynamic stretches from the book/DVD into my workout routine has eased any shoulder discomfort I had in the past while lifting. I feel more flexible and powerful through a greater range of motion, and the flexibility limitations I had before are either gone or minimized.

I'd recommend the book to any aging workout warrior who feels like he or she is getting 'tighter' as they get older.

Kaiser W.
Chicago

 

Training Tip:

Is Yoga bad?

At both of my Aussie seminars, I had people ask questions about Yoga/Pilates. The main question: Is it bad?

Here's my take on things, for what it's worth. I believe there are specific biomechanical principles that should be applied regardless of sport. For instance using the joint-by-joint approach, we know the lumbar spine should generally be stable. Will there be a certain amount of natural movement there? Sure. But we shouldn't strive for excessive ranges of motion in this area when the hips and thoracic spine have so much more movement potential.

So in my estimation, if Yoga and Pilates follow the same biomechanical principles that I believe in, then I like them. In the worst of cases, they are at least getting people to stretch more! The key, as always, is getting proper movement in the proper areas. Reinforcing poor movement patterns or mobility in inappropriate areas is a recipe for disaster.

 

 

Nutrition Tip:

Don’t Cut Calories Too Low
by Mike Roussell

When you reduce your calories below your body’s needs the body responds by down regulating (or slowing down) your metabolism. When trying to lose body fat the last thing you want is a slower metabolism!

Instead of focuing on drastically reducing your calories find ways to increase your energy expenditure (exercise). This approach will boost your metabolism not slow it down.

If you like this tip and want to learn more about Mike and his products, check out his Naked Nutrition website.

 

 

Exclusive Interview: Aussie Seminar Recap

As many of you know, I just returned to the states last week. I had the pleasure of putting on two seminars in Australia, which was one of the coolest experiences of my entire life. Here's a little recap for those who are interested (and I promise to talk about more than just the seminar!).

I arrived in Sydney at 8 am Thursday morning. The flight was a little rough; a 215 pound guy flying in a standard economy seat doesn't make for a comfortable flight! I got in, showered, and met with Paul Reid. Paul was the seminar coordinator and owner of Centrality (www.centrality.com.au). Not only is Paul a great guy and VERY smart, but he's a great tour guide as well.

We spent the first two days checking out all the sites in Sydney: Bondi Beach, Darlington Harbor(?), and even took a boat over to Manly Beach on Friday. One of the most refreshing things about this trip was how great the food was! Everything was very fresh and prepared to a T. If it wasn't for all that walking, I probably would've gain 10 pounds while I was there!

 

Saturday was our Sydney seminar. Since Centrality has only recently tapped into that market, the seminar was a little smaller with ~50 people in attendance. I could tell from the outset this was a very well-read group; they were very attentive and had some insightful questions as well.

After the Sydney seminar, we wrapped things up and hopped on a plane to Melbourne. I only got about 6 hours of sleep that night, and woke up the next day with a terrible stomach ache and flu-like symptoms. 30 minutes out, I didn't think I would be able to present! I sat down, drank a green tea, and things started to settle down a bit.

The Melbourne group was much larger as Centrality is based out of Melbourne. When it was all said and done, we had almost 150 people there! Needless to say, I was really excited to speak to such a large audience. With the few minor kinks from the first day worked out, I felt like all the presentations here went really smoothly. It helped that we held all questions until after the sessions as well. As a presenter, it helps if you can get through all the materials and develop momentum throughout the presentation. When you allow for questions in the middle, you have a tendency to get off task and not develop the same type of continuity that you would like. Overall, I was extremely pleased with both days.

I think the coolest thing about both seminars is the great people that showed up. Let's be honest: There are 1000 things we would probably prefer to do on a weekend than listen to someone speak. But these audiences showed up with open minds and great questions throughout. I sincerely hope my presentations gave them food for thought and will help take their training/coaching to the next level.

Paul and I got out for a bit on Sunday night, and I got to experience a small taste of the Melbourne night life. Needless to say, after we'd both worked extensive hours the past two days, we were in relatively early to get some much needed rest.

Our day Monday revolved around seeing some of Melbourne's best sites - Eureka tower, the MCG, and the Docklands. We enjoyed a steak dinner with Paul's assistant Eleanor and her husband, and capped things off by watching a pyrotechnics show at the Crown Hotel and Casino.

Tuesday came way too quickly and I was ill-prepared for the flight home. Almost 28 hours of travel later, I came home jet-lagged and sick. I'm still recovering now, but things are getting better.

All in all, this was a flat-out amazing trip. If you're in the Sydney or Melbourne areas, you should definitely get together with Paul and Centrality for some of the seminars. Paul is an extremely intelligent guy and I expect big things from him in the future. More importantly, he's one of the most upstanding individuals I've ever met in this industry. I'd love to go back in the future and work with him again.

As well, I'd just like to thank a few other people before wrapping this up:

- Simon (Paul's business partner), for helping pull this together - it only took a year!
- Eleanor and the entire Centrality staff for all their hard work on Sunday
- All the seminar attendees for taking the time to come out and learn
- My lovely wife, Jessica, for supporting me throughout all these crazy things I do!

 

 

Upcoming Interviews

March 10th - Geoff Neupert, Coach and owner of Rapid Results Fitness (rapidresultsfitness.net)

March 17th - Greg Simmons, IPF Masters World Champion in Powerlifting

March 24th - Eliot Feldman, USAPL Executive Committee Board Member

March 31st - Jim Wendler, Powerlifter, Writer, and member of Elite FTS (www.elitefts.com)

 

If you would like to submit a question for one of our upcoming interviewees:

1) Please send an e-mail to info@robertsontrainingsystems.com
2) In the subject heading, please list the person your question is directed towards (i.e. Mike Boyle)
3) In the body of the text, list one or two questions you'd like to have answered.

We can't promise that our interviewees can answer all questions, but we'll do our best to get a nice mix of questions. Thanks for your support!

 

 

New Articles:

Here are Mike's most recent articles:

10 Reasons You're Still Jacked Up

The Mobility-Stability Continuum

The Intermediate Deadlift Cycle

 

 

Schedule:

April 18th-20th, 2008 - Perform Better Functional Training Summit (Chicago, IL)
Contact: Perform Better (www.PerformBetter.com)

May 17th, 2008 - 2008 Indianapolis Performance Enhancement Seminar (Indianapolis, IN)
Contact: Robertson Training Systems (info@robertsontrainingsystems.com)

 

 

Stay strong,

Mike

www.RobertsonTrainingSystems.com

 

 

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