Recent training videos

Where have I been?

I know I haven't been very active here for a little while. I guess life happened! I planned on going back to university in last September and that didn't worked exactly as planned. It was for the best really.

It made me realize that I missed manual therapy very much and that technically I still was a certified massage therapist. So I hit the books hard and practiced like a mad man! I got my certification as a strength and conditioning coach and a FMS specialist. Since I have never been convinced that Swedish massage was as good as I've been told, I have been teaching myself many more techniques inspired from Thai and Corean massage, Trager, Resistance-Release, Active Release and more stuff from osteopathy and physiotherapy. I also started a class in Osteodynamy, which follows exactly what I like : conditioning a proper movement.

So I've build my website (in french only) and started seeing patients. I guess my style and methods will change a lot in the next 3-5 years, but so far, I see very little serious pathology, such as tendinitis,  hernia or strain, and a lot of pain due to dysfunction. The Resistance Release technique, which I picked up from Deane Juhan works very well both to restore proper structure and recondition proper movement. It just doesn't fit most people's idea of a massage though!

Because of all that, I have danced very little for the past 2 months. Plus, +Vivianne Carrier hurt her shoulder and I suddenly became short of partners. On the bright side, I have been going out to social dance more than usual and I've even been having fun, which rarely happened when I was running my dance school.

Other great news, my left shoulder is starting to get better. I discovered a couple months back that I have a separation in my AC joint, which started hurting more than usual after a heavy pressing cycle. After that, I could only press upward! Going through the FMS certification and watching a lot of Gray Cook's material made me realize that I have a major asymmetry in my shoulder's mobility and that my pressing pattern was all wrong.

I have been working really hard on restoring proper mobility in my shoulder and make my sapulae move as they should. 2 weeks ago, I could floor press 115lbs again almost pain free! This is not a lot of weight by any standard, but it's a start.

Then last week, I pull something in my back practicing my sumo deadlift with bands... It's still a bit sensitive whenever my back is in flexion, but it's getting better going through some carefully planed rehab. I just turned 34yo, so I guess i have to stop being so careless and warm up before deadlifting.

500lbs pull beard

That's right! I refuse to cut my beard (trimming allowed) until I can easily pull 500lbs off the floor. It has become the symbol of my resolve!

Seriously, learn the TGU!

If I only have a barbell and I would a to pick one exercise...

Mmmmm McDonald's

Sometime I feel bad about it...

Check out the Fan Page for some epic posts! 

Pain in the AC joint = bad news!

At the end of my last cycle, I felt an increased pain at the top of my left shoulder. I have had the ''piano key'' poping up for a while whenever I was doing to much pressing or perhaps even before, but I can't clearly remeber. I asked around, but it never felt like anything important. After a little research, it seems it could be getting worse and I should pay a lot of attention to it if I don't want to end up on the surgery table.

So far, there are only 2 pressing movements that don't hurt : strict kettlebell press and the handstand push ups. Any horizontal forward press is sensitive, even the landmine press, dumbell floor press and turkish get up. So, I'm going to use the painfree movements instead and reduce the pressing to 2-3 times a week. I will add some more pulling and shoulders prevention movements I piked from Eric Cressey 2 days/week. Icing and rehab exercices and we'll see how that goes.

Everything seems under control and I believe I should be go to go if I'm really careful. Fingers crossed! 

In case of a zombie apocalypse, I want to be able to ....

Primary skills: 

• Run
• Squat to eat and take a shit
• Carry heavy stuff over a distance
• Picking stuff from the ground 
• Lifting heavy stuff overhead

Secondary skills : 

Smash a zombie's head with a heavy tool

Thow stuff

How to use a gun

General boy scout survival skills (Lit a fire, tie a rope, ...)

I should train accordingly.... better be ready right?!

Check out the Hot Sardines from NYC

This was at the Montreal Jazz Fest last Wednesday. Dancing was a bit challenging in the crowd and on the asphalt, but somehow it happened. Fun time! Check out the band's website. A must for any swing event.

Squats and side presses kinda max!

Back squat 295lbs x 2 reps with 1 maybe 2 reps in the bank

Hypothetical 1RM between 335-355lbs

Side press 75lbs x 2 reps with 2-3 reps in the bank

Hypothetical 1RM between 90-100lbs

In the SP, the 1st rep is the hardest, because you have to set the path of the bar, so there isn't much difference between 1 and 5 reps very often.

Best pic ever! Exactly how the brain works!!

Practice videos

Purebal dance : focus on paddle steps variations

Bal-swing : focus on lollies and swivel variations for +Vivianne Carrier 

Another minimalist strength program from Dan John

As I'm saying all the time, swing dancers don't need to be that strong, just stronger! I was listening to this podcast the other day and Dan came up with that ultra simplistic program that would be great for any swing dancer.

Pick 1 movement from both category and work on them for 2 weeks. Try all combinations for a total on 18 weeks.

• Squat - swing – deadlift
• Press – pull up - turkish get up

Isn't that awesome?! I guess you can start over the program simply by switching variations on every lift.

He doesn't talk much about frequency, volume and intensity which I assume we have to remember Easy Strength:

1. Use a limited number of “big bang” exercises—for example, the deadlift and the floor press. 

2. Lift two to three times a week.

3. Keep the reps in the 1 to 5 range, emphasizing doubles and triples.

4. Keep the volume around 10 reps per lift or 6 when using only singles—for example, 5 x 2, 2 x 5, 532, 3 x 3, 343, 424, 1234, 4321, 12321, 6 x 1, and so on. You may stay with the same weight or vary the weights from set to set.

5. Rest approximately 5 minutes between sets. Practice Fast & Loose relaxation drills in between.

6. Train in the 80% to 95% 1 RM intensity zone. Always leave at least 1 or 2reps in the bank.

7. Go for a PR, single or rep, when you are feeling exceptionally strong, but stop short of an all-out max. Set a “sort of max.” Always back off after a PR for at least two weeks.

8. Vary the intensity every workout, through different styles, cycling or through less structured advances and retreats.

9. Don’t stop strength training in season but reduce the volume by two-thirds to one-half. For example, do 3 x 2 instead of 5 x 2 or 3 x 2 instead of 3 x 3. You may switch from three to two strength workouts a week.

10. Finish your workout feeling stronger than when you started. Stop the workout if your performance is less than perfect, and come back another day.

I personally feel better with a higher frequency, 5 days per week, and lower intensity, between 60% and 80%, but since everybody is different you will have to experiment with this. I'm a bad presser and I found that I can make significant progress if I increase the volume a bit, around 15 reps instead on 10, without being sore too much.

No excuse to skip training in vacation!

I just love to visit new facilities anyway! There is only this one gym Oxyclub in Mont-Tremblant. Clean place, nice y any commercial gym standard. We can't see it on the clip, but they have this very high ceilling which would be pretty awesome for rings and ropes. Most people don't even use the one rack and prefere single joint exercices anyway...

Discussion: How do we teach follows to step proprely? (leave your mouse on title if you don't see it)

Post by Frédéric Barbe.

Let's check some real men's physiques

Bodybuilding has done some nasty damage to men's perception of what they should look like. I cheery picked those pictures of top athletes from many disciplines where full body strength is needed such as circus, gymnastic, MMA, early 20th century weightlifting, dance and pilates. You will notice the rectangular shape of the torso instead of the artificial ''V shape'' created by modern bodybuilding. Bodyfat is usually lower than 15% by the look of it and athletes who need to compete in a certain weight class, like GPS, got leaner for the event. Of course muscular emphasis will vary depending of the discipline of choice, but the bodies seems pretty balanced to me. Train hard for many many years, fix your nutrition and let your real body arises!

Balboa practices

+Vivianne Carrier got hurt and has to stop dancing for a couple of weeks, but now she is back! I have seen that happened too many times to believe in coincidence: some time off can help your game a lot! I don't fully understand the process, but it works. Work hard for many weeks or a couple of months, take a couple weeks off and enjoy the results.

Drill: leg work

General dancing

re-connect after a turn

Complete bodyweight strength training perfect for swing dancers

Swing dancers don't even need to lift weight for peaking performance. I discover GMB channel recently and the free material is oustanding and deconstructed in many small steps. I would probably suggest to add some easy sprinting sets 3-4 times/week to optimize your posterior chain and some walking for health, but again, less is often better than more.


First assess with those 4 basic forms



Pick and work on 1 ''pushing'' movement








Work on 1 ''pulling'' movement

Get some leg strength

PRs day!

Just when I've started having doubts about the program (damn me!), today got me back on track! 

Bodyweight : 198lbs

Double kettelbell snatch 28kg

You can see a little push at the end, but I was so freaking far from that 2 weeks ago ,that I call it a success! 

Deadlift 405lbs x 2reps

I used the same 5-3-2 protocol than last time. I put 20lbs in 6 weeks, my form is better and it honestly felt light, keeping 2-3 reps in the bank. This was my goal, so I stuck to it. 

Final thoughts

The 3sec hold deadlifts I have been doing is probably the best drill I have been using to improve my deadlift in the past year. It just puts you in the right position and forces your erectors to engage properly. You can still see from my rounded back how weak they still are, but stronger than before. From my experience, a close variation of what you are tying to accomplish will help you better than single joint assistance exercises. I fell that I understand better how to use my glutes now than after a cycle of hip thrusts even if I really like that exercise.