Gun Show: Paul and Jason style
It’s not often that I give up a beautiful Sunday afternoon to be in the gym. I like to use Sunday as a day to rest. It is a way to make sure that I don’t train every day. Two days ago was an exception. Why? Geoff Girvitz and Paul Valiulis*.
Mr. Geoff Girvitz
Enter the S2B Seminar at Bang Fitness. Let me say one thing, these two guys know how to talk shop. I’m fortunate enough be able to talk to Geoff on a regular basis…and Paul…not so much. For those of you who don’t know, Geoff Girvitz is the owner of Bang Fitness in Toronto, Ontario. Geoff is a fitness genius. He’s one of those guys that you know you should listen to in the gym; he always has something smarter to say than you do. On the other hand, Paul Valiulis is one of the Scrawny to Brawny coaches from Precision Nutrition. He is a nutritional God. In this case, take the word “God” literally. Picture Thor from Norse mythology. That’s Paul.
Paul's Scrawny to Brawny transformation
What is Brawny?
The seminar started with Paul asking the group, “What is Brawny?”. The funny thing is: most guys didn’t have the answer. All they knew was that they wanted to be bigger. Paul, himself, said that he didn’t even know what “brawny” was until he decided to enter his first bodybuilding show last month (in case you were wondering, he won). It seems that when you finally figure out what brawny is, you will see “brawny” as something different than your neighbour. One person may picture their favourite bodybuilder, while another may picture their favourite athlete. It is important that when you set a goal for yourself, you actually need to know what the goal is.
Paul just being Paul AKA Brawny
S2B Takeaways
Aside from creating our own definition of brawny, the meat and potatoes of the seminar was movement related. This was Geoff’s forte. What were the key takeaways? Here’s your answer:
- While deadlifting, it is easier to injure yourself while lifting submaximal weights. This is because you are not properly engaging your core, thus, not protecting your spine.
- On the deadlift, only work in the range of motion where your pelvis doesn’t start to tilt (butt tucking under your belly). When the pelvis starts to tilt, you will start to feel lower back pain. Instead, raise the barbell up and perform a Modified Deadlift (MDL; basically a rack pull). Load the shit out of the MDL and get yoked.
- If shoulder mobility is a problem in the push press, you have to regress to a seated incline shoulder press. The incline should be approximately 80-85 degrees. Do not use the smith machine. There are no straight lines when it comes to the motions of the body.
- In order to increase shoulder mobility, do a wall slide, but on the floor (floor slide?). Move the hands far from your head, point your thumbs to the floor, and drive your shoulder down, focusing on firing the lats. You want to crush the ground with your hands.
- “Your body is what it is”. That’s a Geoff Girvitz quote. Accept your mobility while lifting, but focus on increasing this mobility while foam rolling and during your dynamic warm-up.
- “If you’re going to push someone, do you put your elbows in or out?” (Krista Schaus; she was one of the few females at the seminar, but she sure deserved to be there). This question will help you answer the age-old question of where your elbows go while bench pressing. Hint: approximately 45 degrees from the body.
- Power stance: contract glutes, spread floor, shoulders down, lats engaged, core braced, hands squeezed. Now that’s how to unlock your strength potential!
- Paul was the “foam rolling guy” during the seminar. Every day for the next two weeks, everyone should be foam rolling their adductors, glutes, and IT bands. Remember your stripper butts! (inside joke, but you probably laughed even though you didn’t understand it).
- “Professionals are here for a reason. Listen to them 100% and try to prove them wrong. It is only after this that you can conclude that something doesn’t work” (Paul Valiulis). This is great advice. Don’t tweak your programs or nutrition. “Even though your mom may have told you that you were special, you’re not special enough to change your workout programs and nutrition” (Geoff Girvitz). The truth hurts.
Krista Schaus and Paul Valiulis checking out some dude's stripper butt.
All in all, it was an awesome afternoon. I feel like it is safe to say that the ones who decided to attend this seminar are a step ahead of the rest. Enough said. Special thanks goes out to Geoff, Scott, Michael and the rest of Bang Fitness for hosting the event, and to Paul Valiulis for coming all the way from Vancouver (ok ok, he may have been in town to see his family as well). Yeah buddy!!!
*To hear Paul Valiulis’ Scrawny to Brawny story, check out this video:
Scrawny to Brawny: A Case Study from Brandon Peister on Vimeo.
Paul, Geoff, Scott
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