contactus@elev8wellness.com 
​Member Login / Register

612.554.7231

start your path to live. awesome.

How to Change. No. Seriously. 3/7/2019 0 Comments   Just acknowledge a different way to live, shame yourself when you fail, and pile on the guilt for not following through, right? Obviously wrong. So obviously so wrong. Yet, that’s what most people do over and over again. Listen: I’ve seen tens of thousands of gym members and worked with hundreds of health and fitness professionals who’ve coached and treated thousands and thousands of patients and clients. I’m going to tell you what I’ve seen that is 100% successful and what tactic is 100% unsuccessful. It is 100% counterproductive to talk about what you should and shouldn’t do, what you can and can’t do, and have the scale or some other “accountability” device to make you feel bad. NEVER EVER WORKS. What does? Identity. The secret is it’s all about the self-image identity and its accompanying narrative we’ve written in our minds and/or the identity we’ve allowed others to place on us. You are who you say you are to yourself. And sadly, you are who you’ve perceived others to say you are. Then, you do what the person you think you are must do. It’s that simple. You can convince yourself that the RIGHT thing to do is not eat that cookie; but if the self-image you have is “cookie eater,” you will behave like the internal narrative. Smokers smoke. Drinkers drink. Cookie-eaters eat cookies. And so on. Vilifying a behavior, therefore, is pointless. Calling something “bad” and calling ourselves “weak” accomplishes ZERO benefit. It doesn’t matter how bad or wrong we convince ourselves that something is, as long as it remains part of our self-image, we will continue. As long as we box other people into an identity, they will generally continue the accompanying behavior. To change, there must be a shift in narrative. There is a critical question attached: “Does the person I am becoming do this?” It’s no longer about should or shouldn’t, can or can’t. If you desire change, all that matters is the narrative shift. Avoid saying things like “I should go to the gym,” “I can’t eat that,” “I need to start,” “I hope I won’t be too overwhelmed,” and so on. These statements actually reinforce an unmoved self-image and essentially restate that your identity is at odds with the intended behavior or response. Instead, shift the language. The person I am becoming practices this new language every day. The person I am doesn’t eat that. Who I am will encounter stress and persevere through no matter how difficult it is. The “should”s and “if”s and “can”s are all well-intentioned; but they don’t get it done. In tens of thousands of examples, I’m telling you they just don’t get it done. And it’s not just me saying this. Reference all of behavioral psychology. We don’t do a darn thing because it’s a good idea. We do it because we’re convinced it’s part of our identity and we are reinforcing the narrative. Word choice isn’t splitting hairs. Our minds are very good storytellers and obedient to the script. We will play out our role for good or for bad. It’s no small thing, then, to rewrite the lines so we may act our new part. 0 Comments How To: Abs, Part III 3/7/2019 0 Comments   IF THE SPINE AIN’T BENDIN’, YOU’RE JUST PRETENDIN’ continued...  We’re continuing to teach how to actually work the abdomen instead of faking it. In this video I show one way to perform a cable crunch effectively in the first four reps. Then I try show how NOT TO in the last two reps: https://www.instagram.com/p/BulrJf8jW49/ You’ll notice how in the “how to” reps I am making a clear distinction between open/stretched abdomen at the top and closed/shortened abdomen at the bottom. If anything, I try to tuck my butt under (posterior pelvic tilt) at the bottom of the movement. Notice how I’m tall through the hip and not just sitting back/bowing forward. Contrast against the “how not to” reps. Unfortunately, my version here is somewhat sensible (I was supposed to show you how everyone never flexes the spine at all) since it’s now quite difficult for my nervous system to do a “bad” rep. But you get the idea. I drop the hips back, flex at the hip, and throw the weight of the torso down. I’m exerting almost no energy from the rectus abdominis. If you watch closely at the gym or videos from influencers with millions of followers, they may not even flex the trunk at all. Usually, it’s just a lot of hip action and little to no spine movement. If it ain’t bendin, they’re just pretendin. 0 Comments How To: Abs, Part II 3/7/2019 0 Comments   IF THE SPINE AIN’T BENDIN’, YOU’RE JUST PRETENDIN’. Reference our Instagram for how-to videos: https://www.instagram.com/jonathan.watters/?hl=en I’m expounding on this concept here and on IG. If you think your core is strong, you’ll benefit. If your core is actually strong, you’ll still benefit. If your core is weak, you’ll benefit. If you don’t know what a core is, you’ll benefit. In the abs videos provided, I have some simple variants to just check your control. Notice I don’t even bother with the “lowing cow” position. That can become a real distraction for people in the developed world, as it just reinforces hip flexion (which we all do too much already). Thoracic and cervical extension, sure, we need more. But for this, just focus on the “cat back” and rest. I go neutral in the “rest.” Then extreme flexion in the “active” portion.  Again, that the abs work trunk flexion is not my singular opinion in a sea of fakery. Check a physiology textbook. I get the sense that a lot of “experts” don’t own a single one, nor seem to have ever glanced at one, since they absolutely never reference defined muscle action.  In this series I am going to continue showing some common core exercises which people think are hard or advanced, but are actually incredibly easy/wrong. I’ll provide the variant which is actually effective. Stay tuned. One of the first on the chopping block is toes-to-bar, perhaps the easiest "core" exercise on the planet once you're beyond the absolute beginner stage. It's nonsense for most people performed the way it typical is performed. Throwing your feet at the bar is indeed a credit to your quads, hip flexors, and hamstring flexibility. Abs? Doubtful. That said, you can perform an actually effective exercise reaching your shins or any portion of the lower limb toward the bar, as long as the distance between the rib cage and pelvis is the focus and you're REDUCING that distance. Generally, I've seen people perform this one wherein the hips travel backward, increasing the stretch of the abdomen, and kicking the feet to the bar. Great (heavy sarcastic tone). You went A to B. Big thumbs down. Try contracting the appropriate muscles. 0 Comments How To: Abs, Part I 3/2/2019 0 Comments   1.) visible abdominal muscles are the product of only one spot-reducing exercise: Push-aways - you must practice this exercise daily with high reps and sets. Push away the food. Push away from the dining table. Push away treats and non-nutritious “food”. 2.) training the ABILITY of abs appropriately comes down to understanding one single thing: The action of the abdomen is to flex the trunk, bringing the pelvis closer to the rib cage. This is not my opinion. This is physiology. If you feel your back when working abs, you don’t understand this. If your hips hurt when training abs, you don’t understand this. Primarily, people flex at the hip and think they’re working “core.” For simplicity’s sake, reference the “cat back.” Learn to control spinal flexion. Do not train “core” or abs until you grasp this. Once you do grasp this, only perform exercises in which you are moving into trunk flexion with no back strain, hip pain, or momentum. 3.) progressing ab strength/core development returns to a single principle: Can you produce more force with the abdomen and with greater control? If you don’t understand #2, the answer is “no” regardless if you can do a 3 hour plank or 10,000 sit-ups. In fact, people who perform crazy long planks and tons of sit-ups generally have incredibly terrible control of the abdomen, are frozen through the trunk (which is a bad thing), and simply developed outrageously rigid hip flexors with fair to moderate muscular endurance in the psoas major, minor, ileacus, sartorius and quads. Watch these two videos (https://www.instagram.com/p/BudscSOHqEi/) of high level abdominal force production exercises. Watch the spine bend. That’s the abdomen working. How to work up to these? Here's how: 1.) Practice cat backs - this is essential. You must gain a solid understanding of trunk flexion, both in the feel, and the look, and the bifurcation between it and hip flexion. You should be able to extend at the hip and flex at the trunk simultaneously. Don't misunderstand me. You CAN flex at both simultaneously. But you should understand and learn to control them both independently and dependently. As such, you want to widen your knees in the kneeling position while practicing cat backs. That spacing provides the ability to better rotate at the hip joints. And you want to think about contracting the glutes (as if you were going to extend at the hip), while tucking the pelvis "under" (posterior pelvic tilt). The end position will have your hip joint lower than your shoulder joint, and your knee joint behind (not directly under or ahead of) the hip joint. I'll provide additional video examples on IG. 2.) Practice trunk flexion while standing, lying face up, against a load, etc. Starting with the first step is essential. But then you must take this newfound skill and progress it somewhere. Before you have gained mastery of the first, this second step is not simply jumping ahead. You WILL NOT BE ABLE to do it. Specifically, I have people perform planks in a knees-down position with extreme trunk flexion. Advanced athletes will fail in under 30 seconds. If you can hold it for minutes, you are performing it incorrectly. I have had Division I athletes who cannot do this at the beginning. People are so incredibly out of touch and weak through the specific action of the abdomen (even most people with visible abs) that it will be shocking to the layperson reading this. But I have seen this literally tens of thousands of times. Check back to Instagram for more video examples. 3.) Keep reminding yourself of what specifically we're trying to do here. It's going to be very easy to fall back into your old patterns even after you have gained mastery of step 1, and proficiency in step 2. But as soon as you attempt to raise the bar, your body is going to attempt to rely on momentum and hip flexion to get the job done. Thus, whether you are choosing a lying hip peel or a weighted ab crunch, you must be outrageously strict and mindful that it is trunk flexion ALONE we're after. I know you can hinge at the hip. Everyone can hinge at the hip. Every single darn person at the gym is flipping their legs around while they think they're training abs. NO. Flex the trunk. Every influencer I've seen does this incorrectly. In fact, just before writing this I saw an article about some lady with 1.4 million followers who has specific programs she's selling for ab training programs, and NONE of her videos have her in a flexed trunk/shortened abdomen position. She is not even at Step 1 and she's selling ab training programs to hundreds of thousands of people. ​4.) Endeavor toward advanced core exercises. The most advanced abdominal movements are extremely high load with the hip assist removed or mitigated such that it wouldn't matter if you tried to call upon them anyway. The front lever, hanging wipers, weighted floor wipers, flags and such in gymnastics/calisthenics are among the top in difficulty, but they begin to get distracting for people as there is more going on with upper body strength, lever lengths, etc. I featured the lying hip raise (called the "dragon flag", sometimes referred to as Rocky Hip Raise) and ab wheel, because there is a clear way to do an intermediate/beginner version which can progress to the versions I showed or even beyond. Dragon Flag - first, we must be able to lie face-up on the ground and without momentum peel the hips and lower body off the ground. I prefer a decline bench with hands anchored firmly. Little by little we are aiming to peel the spine (via flexion) until we one day achieve a reverse shoulder stand. If you can use momentum to hike yourself into the reverse shoulder stand, then you can interface with this exercise by starting there. From the reverse shoulder stand, you will do partial descent reps and/or forced negatives as slowly and strictly as possible. Ultimately, you will achieve a position with the body mostly parallel to the ground, yet only your shoulders and hands will be in contact with anything. Don't do more than 8 reps. And usually you should probably think more like 3. Your time under tension is a lot even for single rep efforts. And it's a lot of focus. So don't do many reps. Don't do many sets. Once you've progressed through the first three steps, we're mostly interested in developing more force production. Long training sessions will drain you and you'll find you can't outdo your performance the following week. Every single time you return to this exercise, you want to increase the range of motion, the length of the lever, and eliminate hip action or momentum. Those are the standards by which you should be measuring progress. Ab Wheel - first, you want to make sure you can nail the flexed-spine plank both kneeling and non-kneeling. Again, going back to step 3, your body will want to just move at the hip and shoulder. You understand those better and may still be more powerful there; so it's the natural default. Instead, think about it like your torso is an accordion. You are lengthening the torso from the start position (like pulling an accordion apart) and then compressing the torso together via trunk flexion (like pushing the accordion closed).  The only thing that happens when you go to your feet, versus knees, is the lever lengthens, and the hip tries a little harder to be involved. Like with the Dragon Flag, every singly time you return to this exercise, you want to increase the range of motion, the length of the lever, and eliminate (or in this case minimize) hip action and momentum. As such, rep and set schemes likewise need to be minimal. 0 Comments How To Achieve A Real Muscle Up In 7 Steps 2/27/2019 0 Comments   I find it odd that there are world class crossfitters between 150 and 200lbs who can’t do momentumless muscle ups. Everybody is kipping and swinging and jumping and whipping around on the bar. And they never get better. They never do a clean rep without extreme momentum. I’m 30-100lbs heavier and doing it with added weight. Follow 7 steps, and you can get this in the next 2-8 weeks, depending on where you are in the first three prerequisites: a pull-up, a dip, full shoulder extension mobility (with which we may pair control within loaded internal rotation).  Before we get to the steps, be ready to change what you’re doing. Before we get to the steps, make sure you can actually achieve full shoulder extension. Before we get to the steps, be ready to scrap the ego and quit kicking your legs around to fake this. 1.) Make sure you can do a single solid pull-up - yes, just ONE - that’s all you need, if you are able to squeeze your body high enough. There is a common mistake when people are training the muscle-up where they keep trying to build more pull-up prowess. After one clean pull-up, you're good. Trust me. I can outperform competitive rock climbers and gymnasts in pull-ups for reps or added weight; and they CRUSH me in momentumless muscle-ups. Doing 40 reps of weighted or partial pull-ups doesn’t get you any closer to a true muscle up than one bodyweight rep cleanly executed with collarbone near or above the bar. 2.) Make sure you can do a single solid dip  - yes, just ONE - that’s all you need, if you have the shoulder mobility and control to lower your armpit to the hand or below it. 3.) Stop training pull-ups and dips. There are many guys and gals who are absolute beasts when it comes to pull-ups and dips. They can do hundreds of additional pounds and/or hundreds of reps. But they cannot perform a single clean muscle-up without momentum. You have finite physiological resources: willpower, time, recovery, etc. If you're going to get this skill down, you must focus your energy on it to the exclusion of peripherally-related exercises. Those exercises, though inherently beneficial, will likely reduce your chances of getting this sooner than later. 4.) Train the transition. Train the transition. Train the transition. That is, either set up some parallel benches as I do in the Instagram videos (https://www.instagram.com/p/BuTu15MjWaX/ ) or start at the top position above a bar or parallel bars. Then, beginning with the top of the “dip,” brace yourself as hard as possible, lower in a very controlled manner, as low as you can safely do. 5.) The transition training focus is to get the elbow below the hand contact point. You likely lack the shoulder mobility to train this yet. And there is an incredible amount of forearm power required to be safe. So be very gentle. 6.) Once you can do this on the way down, begin to train it down near your limit and attempt to come back up. 7.) Limit sets to 1-3 reps. Rest at least two minutes. No more than 5 sets (and be 90% recovered before adding it to a training day again) or you’re going to get the worst tendinitis of your life. For most people, even once they’re ready, this will be at or above a 1RM effort. The rings are substantially easier than the bar or parallel bars, yet don't necessarily afford you good transference of skillset. Relegate the training to parallel benches, a bar, or parallel bars.  Happy training. 0 Comments Shoulder Tips Continued 2/27/2019 0 Comments   I promised I’d reveal the secret for shoulder magic. Here it is. During Lyme disease, I had radiating nerve pain 7-10 on my left side. A year later I had partial paralysis in my left arm from physical therapy. MRI showed some cervical spine abnormalities. Lots of hypotheses. Then, a live ultrasound found that I had a 75% tear in my left supraspinatus (part of the rotator cuff) from who knows how long ago (it was old accumulated damage). The avulsion had pulled a fleck of bone off the greater tubercle of the humerus and it was grinding around on the nerves. How is it that I can rep out at least 100lb dumbbells in overhead press now without any irritation? I answered that partially in the first shoulder tips article. Another piece is this prone strict external rotation: • Lateral abduction begins to shorten supraspinatus (this is orienting the elbow at the same “forward” coordinate as the shoulder) • Horizontal abduction shortens a little more (further orienting elbow at same objective height as shoulder) • The end (top of the movement) of external rotation pulls everything into its shortest position EVEN for someone like me with this injury (that is, in the top position, you cannot make out even a full tear in the supraspinatus on imaging - indicating we create an opportunity for your body to close the fissure) • Many coaches have argued this force production should be at least 10% of your max press to ensure balance at the shoulder girdle • This exercise is not at odds with hypertrophy or max strength, although it is a magnificent measure of mobility and assessment of a common deficit in all three • Though biopsy studies show disproportionate Type I muscle fiber cross-sections here, I increasingly lean toward heavy loading as the client can maintain form and bracing  The standing version of this loads the stretch position greatest and doesn’t load the shortened position much. That can actually worsen should instability. A standing variation with bands or cables where the anchor point is in front of or slightly above the end hand position is analogous to the prone variant here. Check out this video and others (as well as comments and additional insights) on our Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/jonathan.watters/?hl=en 0 Comments Tips for Training "Bad" Shoulders 2/27/2019 0 Comments   Neck and shoulder pain can be frustrating. They make upper body training less clear, to be sure.  I solve spinal issues, nerve irritation, and injuries, including my own. No need to stop training. Keep in mind a couple things, and you’ll find you can rep out at least 100lb dumbbells and high rep Arnold presses with 60s. 4 things: 1.) The well-intentioned cue to “relax neck” is asinine nonsense during shoulder training. The greater the ambient tension, the more stable and braced all nearby structures are.  2.) Yes, OVER-stressing neck and persistent, needless shrugging is bad technique. But to think you can put a vertical load on the upper body WITHOUT vertical support structures producing vertical force is folly. Ever see a gymnast nail handstand work with upper traps OFF and shoulder blades “unshrugged” and “tucked down into back pockets”? Nope. 3.) For moderate and heavy loading, absolutely someone ought to have full-flexed shoulder function (the capacity to press behind the neck). Watch Olympic lifters and throwers rehab with behind the neck jerks at 400lbs. That said, the true vertical or rear position can be bothersome when you’ve had nerve irritation, and one should go lighter for that. A slight recline keeps heavier load more reliable. 4.) Secrets - sorta - prone external rotation; thoracic mobility; and understanding that the shoulder is effectively 7 joints, not 1, plays a big role (and often leads us to look at the biceps for “shoulder” issues). Check the blog for forthcoming shoulder health tips as we explore what all this means. 0 Comments 100% of Exercise Frequency Recommendations Are Make-Believe Garbage 2/27/2019 0 Comments   Shape Magazine tells you to tone your abs in 10 minutes a day. News headlines read “Workout Only 30 Minutes 3 Days Per Week.” Your trainer says it’s gotta be five. Your best results were from six once upon a time long ago. Someone else tells you four. How about this: WHATEVER YOU WILL DO. I’ve had clients who gain strength with an average practice of once weekly. I’ve built pretty darn good pull-ups with only 9 minutes of exercise 3 days per week. I know coaches who will only have a client attempt a personal record lift every 3-6 months. I like Cal Dietz’ recommendation: waking heart rate dictates exercise intensity and frequency. That is, 29-39 beats per minute, you can go hard twice a day every day. 39-49, intense six days per week. 49-59, moderate to high five days. And so on. I’d argue you’re better off to plan it based on heart rate variability than rate. Either way, it’s all wrong and moot points versus the pragmatic question, “what will you do?” Start there. Actualize. Then we can get into theoretical best practices. 0 Comments Super Simple Weight Loss Or Mass Gain For People Who Track 2/27/2019 0 Comments   Loss: - Take a week off; focus on sleep; reduce or eliminate stress (including caffeine) - Start kcal at bodyweight X 15 to distribute macros - First week of activity, start low - Focus on short workouts, lifting and short sprints - DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES FALL INTO THE LONG STEADY STATE CARDIO TRAP  - Each week that weight loss slows or stalls, multiply weight by one factor lower (i.e. - 14, then 13, and so on - rapid loss tends to happen around 11 and under) to distribute new macros - Keep workouts relatively short for as long as possible - keep progressing your lifting and sprinting as long as is possible  - In the reduction of food, never take protein below 1.2g/kg bodyweight (and keep in mind that research indicates better sparing of lean tissue at around 2.4g/kg bodyweight per day), never take fiber lower than 20g, never remove essential omega 3s, minerals, essential vitamins  - If tolerated, conservatively but progressively add caffeine each week Strength/Mass Gain: - Take a week off; focus on sleep; reduce or eliminate stress (including caffeine) - Start kcal at bodyweight X 10 - First week of activity, start low - Focus on short workouts, lifting and short sprints - Each week, outdo the prior in sprint intensity, lifting force production on some lift(s) and/or volume of work performed - Any week that there is a slow or stall in performance increases, multiply weight by one more factor (i.e. - 11, then 12, and so on). If the goal is outright size, not simply strength (they are related but different), you may raise the factor when average weight for a given 2 week period is not at least a half pound greater.  - At the beginning you will need to be somewhere between 1.2 - 2.4g of protein per kilo per day. When your factor is beyond 15, you may be able to tolerate sub 1.2g intake. - If tolerated, progressively dose caffeine accordingly for performance improvements. This is not my absolute favorite system; but it is a simplified version for people who do track. There are versions where we account for activity in the calculation in the beginning, or do metabolic testing, hormone profiles, etc. But this is one that is relatively self-regulatory for hunger, activity, comp, water weight fluctuations, monthly cycles, metabolic conditions, variances, etc. I didn’t outline the three “M”s: maximums and minimums and maintenance. I prefer 2-4 week periods before shifting variables. In competitors, 2-3 DAYS is more appropriate. There is a place for different kinds of fasting. If ever you hit overwhelm or burnout, return to week 1. Beware the three “I”s: Inconsistency  Impatience Insufficiency With inconsistency in execution there is inconsistency in outcome. To prevent or address this we get impatient. Impatient programming reinforces inconsistency. During both, there WILL be insufficiency of necessary nutrients, recovery, and positive feedback. Insufficiency, therefore, likewise reinforces both impatience and inconsistency. ​ When I did my most aggressive mass gain effort in 2006, I exploded with strength and size, but impatience led me to gain too much body fat, as I far exceeded the 10 factor at the beginning and the 20 factor at the end. As the mind wanders, recall the thee “I”s. 0 Comments Do We Want People to THink or Simply to Think Just Like Us? 2/27/2019 0 Comments   The joy of someone disagreeing with you for the right reasons outweighs the hollowness of someone agreeing with you for the wrong reasons. It's not an error that this article has only one line in the body of it, after a very simple question title. Think about it. 0 Comments <<Previous Forward>>

start your virtual coaching session today

schedule free initial consult