"The muscles don’t move because of cardiovascular demand. It’s the reverse. The cardio system is elevated because of muscular demand. We need to program the body based on the movements it’s going to perform – not based on the cardiovascular system.
The only reason that there is any demand on the cardiovascular system is because the muscular system places that demand – the muscles require oxygen in order to continue to work. In fact cardiovascular exercise is impossible without moving the muscle first."- Alwyn Cosgrove
Another excellent post by Alwyn Cosgrove. Really makes you think. Here it is in full:
Cardiovascular programming is an ass backward concept.
I don’t know when I first thought this – but it was confirmed to me when viewing
Lance Armstrong’s performance in the New York Marathon. I’d been taught through my college education and countless training certifications and seminars that
cardiovascular exercise was necessary to improve the cardio vascular system
and subsequently aerobic performance.But there seemed an inherent flaw in that argument…. Let’s say I tested your aerobic fitness through a treadmill test. Then – for sixteen weeks – we developed a five-day per week aerobic training program that involved you running at various heart rates and for various lengths of times – progressively increasing in difficulty and duration – and this resulted in a very significant improvement in your aerobic fitness.At the end of this sixteen week period, how much do you expect your swimming times to have improved? Marginally, if at all.
Seems dumb to ask right? However – if we have one cardiovascular system – why doesn’t your cardiovascular system improve across the board regardless of the activity? Why didn’t Lance Armstrong – with perhaps the highest recorded VO2 max in history – win the New York Marathon? Or beat people with lesser aerobic levels than himself? The greatest endurance cyclist (and possibly endurance athlete) of all time – the seven time Tour De France winner – finished 868th and described the event as the “hardest physical thing” he had ever done. Runners World Magazine actually examined Lance's physiology (and VO2 max which was tested at 83) and compared them to the numbers of Paul Tergat (the World Record holder and defending NYC Marathon Champion at the time).
They concluded:
" This figure wouldn't mean much if it weren't for the pioneering research of famed running coach Jack Daniels, Ph.D., who first published his Oxygen Power tables in 1979-- According to Daniels, who's rarely off by more than a smidgen or two, a max VO2 of 83 is roughly equivalent to a 2:06 marathon" Based on his other physical qualities the magazine suggested that Lance was capable of running 2:01:11.
The world record at the time was 2:04:55 Lance ran 2:59:36 (and don't misinterpet me - that's still a great time). But it's clear that the physiology didn't transfer the way even the running community expected.
The flaw in this thinking was looking solely at aerobic capacity -- VO2 max - the "engine" as it were. And it's fair to say that Lance had a "Formula One" engine. But he didn't have the structural development for running. Lance was a cyclist - his body had adapted to the demands of cycling. But NOT to the specific demands of running (in fact Lance had only ran 16 miles at once EVER prior to running the marathon). Lance had developed strength, postural endurance and flexibility in the correct "cycling muscles” - but it didn't transfer to running the way his VO2 max did.
The muscles don’t move because of cardiovascular demand. It’s the
reverse. The cardio system is elevated because of muscular demand. We need to program the body based on the movements it’s going to perform – not based on the cardiovascular system.
Basically, if that muscular system cannot handle the
stress of thousands of repetitions (which is what running, cycling etc is) then we have to condition that muscular system first. And by doing so, we automatically improve cardiovascular conditioning. The only reason that there is any demand on the cardiovascular system is because the muscular system places that demand – the muscles require oxygen in order to continue to work. In fact cardiovascular exercise is impossible without moving the muscle first.
I’ve seen this across various sports. The cardio conditioning required
to run a 10K won’t transfer to motocross or jiu-jitsu.
Conclusion - If cardio training doesn’t transfer well from one activity to another – and it only ‘kicks’ in because of muscular demand – why don’t we program muscular activity first – in order to create a cardiovascular response.
And another solid one from Vern Gambetta on sport-specific speed training. The picture below is from it. It's from the perform better website which has a good number of entry-level articles.
http://www.performbetter.com/catalog/matriarch/OnePiecePage.asp_Q_PageID_E_34_A_PageName_E_Training3
And just cuz it's that awesome, the top 15 jukes of all time. Check out Barry Sanders in case you've forgotten what Reggie Bush is trying to look like. If the two main concepts in athletic movemement is: 1) An active, but stable core and 2) Arms & legs that move independently and explosively, then Barry is Text.Book.
http://theangryt.com/?p=539
Workout:
Movement Prep: Standard, see previous posts if you need detailed info.
Medicine Ball: 3-throw sequence mixed in with mini-band shuffles and skips
Plyometric training: Did 2 sets of box-jumps landing on 1 foot for landing mechanics & proprioception. 8 jumps landing with each foot, followed by 4 jumps on 1 foot landing with same foot. Landing should be with no noise and with proper balance, if you don't stick it becomes an exercise in reaction skills, land and bounce out safely.
Functional Lifts:
1: Jump Shrugs: http://www.exrx.net/WeightExercises/OlympicLifts/JumpShrug.html
4 sets- 6,6,4,4
2A: Deadlifts: 3 sets of 8
2B: Jumping tuck pullups- 3 sets of 15
3: Overhead walks: Just like they sound, grab a barbell, put it overhead and lock the arms and walk. I was on the basketball court and set up a figure-8 scheme as well as some lateral movement.
4: Plyo arm-swings: 5lb weights in hand, swings arms like you're sprinting while keeping pillar strength in an athletic stance. 40 swings- 4 sets mixed with a core circuit.
This week:
Monday: Recovery
Tuesday: Field work w/lateral movement & agility emphasis
Wednesday: Workout Above
Thursday: Heavybag & hill runs
Friday: Weights
Saturday: Field work w/plyo emphasis
Sunday: Football
click-clack,
#40
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