A year ago today, I published the first post on this blog with the intention of sharing what I’d learned during my kinda-backwards journey into the world of strength and conditioning. I believe I’ve effectively done that and I hope that you, the reader, have enjoyed what I’ve posted. The gracious feedback I’ve received helps me know that this blog is a worthwhile read and that I’m not, as my barbell brosef Miguel Aragoncillo would say, “just adding to the noise.”
First birthdays are special. I don’t remember much about mine, but it likely had something to do with Power Rangers, dinosaurs, Cookie Monster or some combination of the three. But since this is a bit more mature audience, let’s look back on the top five most-viewed posts of the past year.
This post easily had the most views of any post all year, and that makes me happy because that means people are getting their squat on. Here, we go over a handful of squat technique errors and present a simple, 4-step screening process to help you spot and fix your weaknesses.
THE PROBLEM WITH MOST CHEST EXERCISES
This one ruffled some feathers. Some people loved this post. And some people flat out hated it. It caused quite a stir with the highly-opinionated, often-ornery but always-entertaining folks over on Reddit. Here, I explain why the beloved bench press isn’t the king of all chest exercises like it’s proclaimed to be. A quick review of chest anatomy and biomechanics helps us understand that if we want to develop pecs like Terry Crews, you need to get creative. Special thanks to Sol Orwell over at Examine.com for publicizing this one and getting me a ton of views.
MY TOP 5 STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING INFLUENCES
My debut post got this blog off the ground in a hurry when Jason Ferruggia, founder of Renegade Gym in New Jersey and my number one coaching influence, reposted it on his Facebook and Twitter. Getting a shout-out from the best of the best is still one of the highlights of my young adult life. Since at the time I was (and still kind of am) so new and inexperienced in the grand scheme of strength and conditioning, it seemed fitting to pay homage to the five top coaches who influenced me to pursue strength and conditioning as a career – and life.
10 COMMANDMENTS OF PUSHING THE PROWLER
I wrote this off-the-cuff, tongue-in-cheek post while in a lactic acid haze, still shaking from the Prowler flu. I try to incorporate humor into all my posts, but this was honestly 100 percent for fun and not meant to really teach anything besides the sense of brotherhood shared between those of us brave enough dumb enough to sprint with the dreaded hunk of iron.
NO GLUTE HAM RAISE? NO PROBLEM!
Google is the blogger’s best friend. This post gets more hits via search engines than anything else, because people know they need to do glute ham raises if they want to be awesome, but most people don’t have access to the equipment. Here, I show you how you can engineer a makeshift glute ham raise with just a bench and your beautiful self.
That’s it – the top five most-viewed posts of the past year. Thanks a ton for reading.