530lb Deadlift Pr from the CPL powerlifting meet at the Vancouver Pro Show

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A few Client Testimonials

"For the past 10 years or so I have struggled to be able to achieve personal fitness goals because of prior injuries. It's been a constant battle for me attempting to stay fit when I can so easily throw my back out. I'm the type of person who will push themselves even when they shouldn't and consequently doing things on my own often resulted in a re injury or severe aggravation.

Today I am happy to say that I am BEYOND thankful that a friend of mine met Shawn and started training with him at The Bar and convinced me to give him and his program a try.
Not only is he an amazingly supportive coach, he's extremely knowledgeable and his techniques for helping with injuries have been far more effective, even in the short time of working with him, then any chiropractor or massage therapist that I have seen so far. It's a
completely different approach that is already proving to work for me. (I will add that I have some pretty unique and undiagnosed injuries)

He's carefully watched and corrected my form on every movement we have gone over. Mobility and balance are key and I've had issues there as well, happy to report that I'm convinced this whole program is going to be life changing for me.
In the short time we have been working together, not only do I feel like I'm getting stronger, my body as a whole is starting to feel better then it has in a long time. I still have a long ways to go but I am SO EXCITED for what the future holds and finally feel like I'm in the perfect place with the right person to help me conquer my roadblocks of injures and achieve my goals! Thank you :)' - Beth
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'When it comes to personal trainers there really are very few who are worthy of this title. Before working with Shawn i was struggling with poor squating, due to an old injury. In just a few session i went from struggling to box squat 135lbs to lifting 285lbs (a feat i had not achieved since my rugby days). Not only did my strength go up but my mobility improved and my technique has meant i am able to get to that 90 degree angle. I would defo recommend Shawn to anyone, by far one of the best personal trainer in the Vancouver area I have trained with.' - Mike

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"It has been an amazing experience training with Shawn at The Bar Strength and Conditioning, the energy was through the roof and I literally felt that I can’t do anything but get better! I came to Shawn looking to increase my strength and explosiveness for basketball. Within a month, he has helped me hit a 405lbs squat PR and a 55 inch running box jump! I have seen tremendous improvements in my strength and speed on the court and I am definitely a BIG step closer to my goal ofdunking a basketball (at 5’8 )! Shawn is a very supportive and friendly person who is highly knowledgeable in his own craft. 

He challenges his clients and pushes them out of their comfort zone while ensuring good form and technique, that’s what make his training really intense, but safe at the same time. He uses a variety of exercises to keep his workouts challenging but exciting, and he constantly communicates with you to make sure you are getting the most out of it. No matter if you’re an average person looking to get in shape, or an aspiring athlete looking to dominate your competition, Shawn is definitely the Go-To guy to help you achieve your goals!" - Eugene

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'What can I say, if your looking for a gym with a sense of community in the Vancouver area where everyone wants to help everyone progress and succeed this is the gym!!!
The trainers are phenomenal, Shawn Adair, out of this world, his ability to see and break down any movement your having trouble with is unbelievable, he ll give u how ever many corrections you need and whatever ur trying do will be achieved in a matter of time. The other great part is that form and technique are above all taught first!! I will say with out a doubt best gym ever!! You ll have gains and gains!!! And even more gains!!' - Dustin

How Deep should you squat?

Walk into any commercial gym and 90% of the time people are doing quarter squats, I have even had people come up to me and say I'm squatting to deep because if I go below 90 it's bad for the knees........😐 

Now depending on the individual and joint mobility, the majority of people should be able to get the hip crease below the knee without any issues. I'm not saying you have to hit ass to grass but breaking just past 90 should be your main goal to work towards when squatting, doing anything above 90 is not a squat in my opinion. Now this doesn't just affect strength, aesthetics are affected as well as you can see from the photo where the most activation occurs during the movement. Learn how to squat correctly and get a coach that knows how to find your optimal squat for the goals your trying to achieve, remember there is no one way to squat everyone is different so you need an Individualized approach 💪🏼 "

There are a few studies showing no correlation between deep squatting and injury risk. In fact, there is some evidence that those who perform deep squats have increased stability of the knee joint. In a study using a knee ligament arthrometer to test nine measures knee stability they found that male powerlifters, many of them elite class, demonstrated significantly tighter joint capsules on anterior drawer tests compared to controls. Moreover, both the powerlifters as well as a group of competitive weight lifters were significantly tighter on the quadriceps active drawer tests at 90 degrees of knee flexion than control subjects. 

ACL and PCL forces have been shown to diminish at higher degrees of knee flexion. Peak ACL forces occur between 15 – 30 degrees of flexion, decreasing significantly at 60 degrees and leveling off thereafter at higher flexion angles. PCL forces rise consistently with every flexion angle beyond 30 degrees of knee flexion, peaking at approximately 90 degrees, and declining significantly thereafter (10). Beyond 120 degrees, PCL forces are minimal" 

Do you know how to perform a proper push up with regressions if needed

A staple exercise in calisthenics and general fitness, the average person should be able to perform at least 1 body weight push up with decent form but you would be amazed to know how many cant. There are a lot of different ways to teach push ups depending on each individual's stability,mobility,strength and body control.
This is how I personally teach the push up to clients and others around me, I've applied these techniques over the last few years with great results from all different types of people. In this video I'm showing some very common mistakes most people make, also how to properly progress the push up so that anyone can learn no matter what level your at.

Run through this check list next time you do some push ups,

The set up
-Hands pointed forward
-Shoulders over wrist
-Screw hands down to develop torque and stability in the shoulder
-Pack scaps (shoulder blades)
-Chin tucked
-Ribcage down/Neutral Spine
-Contract glutes
-Whole body tension

Try to keep your body like this through the whole movement💪🏼 The execution
-Breath into your belly and compress your mid section activating your TVA
-Actively pull yourself down into position keeping your forearms pretty much vertical and until the elbow breaks 90"
-Think about "Pushing the floor away" as your coming back up and then exhale and repeat

That's a basic overview of the push up, it gets WAY more advanced like weighted, clapping, 180s, 360s ect... this is just a general overview hoping to help some of you as well, More videos coming soon! Let me know what exercises you want to see next, Vancouver Personal trainer - Shawn Adair

Do you have good POSTURE?

As some of you are reading this..... are you in a kyphotic / forward head position? 
Did you know for every inch your head moves forward it increases the weight of the head on the spine by an additional 10 pounds. This is a major contributor to issues like neck pain, shoulder pain, tightness, weakness, headaches, osteoarthritis and even decrease lung capacity by 30% so it's important to be aware of these issues and take care of them as needed.

Posture affects everything we do in and out of the gym and is often overlooked by most personal trainers, before an individual starts any intense exercise program posture should be assessed and corrective work given as needed. It's the main foundation for every movement our body makes no matter what type of activity/training your doing, posture will even affect your form on certain exercises.
No matter how hard you train in the gym if you have any major postural issues it will limit your ability to use your body to it's full potential and will also increase your chances for injury. Performing corrective work with a qualified coach will greatly help improve any imbalances and restore proper length tension relationships for optimal control of your body, this will transfer over to improvements in all areas of training even improve your breathing/bracing and over all appearance as well.

Come down to The Bar and get a full postural assessment, we base our gym on quality of movement and helping people train PAIN FREE is my main goal, learn how to take care of your body because it's your only place you have to live 😊

Client Transformation

💥@inaz_irock💥 I'm so proud of her and how far she has come in such a short time! The photo is from about 4 months ago you can see not just aesthetic changes but postural changes as well! Her right shoulder was elevated and protracted forward in a kyphotic position, now she's almost neutral and in good alignment with some back shredz to go along with it. 
She's following her macronutrient intake very well and averaging 1 pound a week for consistent safe fat loss to keep in off in the long run, this is only the begging she's going to make even more gainz with a little more time! Great work Naz🙏🏼😊

Getting messages like this really makes my day😊 it lets me know that I'm doing something positive and helping others in all different areas. This is motivation to keep learning as much as possible and fuel my passion for helping people become better in all aspects of health and fitness💪🏼

The Importance of proper joint alingment throughout your kinetic chain

Most problems with pain or poor movement patterns are normally not just localized in 1 area, everything is aligned through your kinetic chain and if one of those chain links are off it will affect your joints up stream and down stream from the issue. 
For anyone with knee problems I would first look at what the feet and hips are doing because they play a major roll in alignment and stability of the knee, you can see from the photo that once the feet collapse the knee moves inward (valgus) putting undue stress on the hip then putting stress on the back and even affecting alignment of your shoulder as well😁

If you are starting an exercise routine and have these issues it's very important to plan in some corrective work to help realign your body for optimal performance and stay injury free!
It's very common in bootcamp style classes people get yelled at and completely destroyed by a "coach" doing hundreds of repetitions with so many movement dysfunctions and very little if none of actual movement corrections or corrective work being thought.

Always remember with any sort of exercise class/program you do, if this is something you want to do for life it should always be quality before quantity. Anyone can make you tired,sweaty and sore but not everyone can make you better so choose wisely 🙏🏼😊

💥Do you have limited SHOULDER MOBILITY ?💥

This is a sagittal plane shoulder assessment to check "SHOULDER FLXION" I use it with all my clients before starting any exercise program to see each individual's joint mobility/strength/weakness or motor control problems with the shoulder, limited shoulder flexion will have a huge impact on exercises like overhead pressing, handstands, Olympic lifting and overall injury prevention for the shoulder. 

Shoulder flexion is the ability to get your arms overhead without any restrictions or compensation in the spine, having full range means you should be able to go from 0-180 degrees of flexion ending with the humerus beside your ear without any pain or restrictions. Before taking this test it's important to be aware of any individual postural alignment issues that could be affecting joint kinematics and the outcome of this test, if the shoulder or scapula has any major alignment issues it's going to have a big impact on your shoulder flexion and over all mobility of the joint. 

The 2 main assessments I use are passive and active shoulder flexion, here is how to do them. 

💥Passive shoulder flexion test: 

-Lay on the ground in a prone position, knees bent, hands beside hips and thumbs pointed to the ceiling

-Posteriorly rotate your pelvis so lower lumbar stays flat against the ground throughout the entire movement

-Start by raising your arm while keeping the shoulder, elbow and wrist in a straight line then with the help of a partner or gravity try to let your humerus drop down beside your ear and thumb touching the floor behind you. Make sure to stop if your back lifts off the floor at any point of the movement, if you can remain in neutral and reach the floor move onto the active assessment.

💥Active shoulder flexion test:

-The same rules apply as the passive test but this time you will be actively contracting the shoulder flexors (Anterior delt/
Coracobrachialis/
Biceps brachii/
Pec major) also the traps/ serratus anterior are involved in flexion above 90 degrees along with a few other muscles.

-Standing with your back flat against a wall, keep your feet 6-8" away and maintaining a neutral spine position during the entire movement. 

-Raise your arm with thumb pointing up and stop if there is any change in positioning of the spine or you feel you hit end range.

There are actually a lot of areas that may be limiting or inhibiting the ability to get your arms overhead including soft tissue, length tension relations, motor control, joint capsule restrictions or alignment issues and it's very individualized. These are some of the main areas that I work on with clients that make a big improvement to the vast majority of people.

Latissimus dorsi
Pec minor/major
Triceps
Teres Major
Delts
Traps
Rotator cuff