I'd compare front squats to slowly submerging yourself into an ice bath.  It hurts, it doesn't get better until you're all the way in, and even the thought of it will make you shudder.

Naturally, I decided I needed to master them.  

Nicknamed "The Hunt for Quadzilla," my goal in January 2013 was to front squat 300 pounds.  My squats were terrible and hitting 300 would either A) make me a better coach or B) make me institutionalized.

I'm happy to report that I achieved the former.....but only time will tell with the latter.

In the year 2015 we know a few things:

• Pluto is almost a real planet again
• The Weeknd is Michael Jackson 2.0
• We could all use more push-ups

Wait, what?

Being a realist, I know it takes a special brand of crazy to LOVE push-ups the way I do. And I'm constantly trying to tinker and perfect exercise variations that give the most return on investment.  I've recently fallen in love with this push-up variation that I stole from Eric Cressey.  See here:

A few years ago I read the book “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers” by Robert M. Sapolsky.  Other than the author having a great Polish-sounding name, I read it because it’s all about human stress and recovery.  And it explains why – you guessed it – people get ulcers but (most) animals don’t.  But after 300 pages I came away with one glaring fact: I'm going to die early from chronic stress.

Great bedtime reading, right?

While I’m only half joking, my mistake was not in the decision to read this book.  Instead it was reading it too early in my career.

Did you hear that rustling? Don't worry, it's just my inner introvert hyperventilating into a paper bag.

Why?  Because I'll be speaking (yikes!) this Saturday, July 25th at the first TR Symposium.  While I'm still finishing my slides, it's going to be a great day of learning and information at The Training Room.  Having previously worked at one of the "top gyms in America" - as labeled by Men's Health - I can say with confidence that our staff at the TR is in the top 1% of the industry.  Plus, not only are we knowledgeable, we're also easy to look at. ;)

The topics are: Building a Stronger Runner, The TGU: Benefits and Breakdown, and Train Like an Athlete.  My topic?  Defeat and Dominate Your Deadlift.  With the help of Justin Bieber and Rich Uncle Pennybags (the real name for the Monopoly guy), I'll explain what transformed my deadlift over the last two years.  After all, I might know a thing or two about deadlifting:

"Those dang Turks!"

Kidding, of course.  But that's one of the kinder phrases people say when performing Turkish Get-Ups.  Well that or "Alex, I just sure love when we do Get-Ups!"

(I'm still waiting to hear the latter.)

To be honest  I don't "get" all the complaining. I love Turkish Get-Ups (TGUs) because they're A) tough and B) feel like an exercise Mr. Miyagi would have you perform. And who doesn't want to train like Daniel-San?