"If you train hard, you'll not only be hard, you'll be hard to beat." -Herschel Walker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCKuLT9wqP8
That clip is probably the most athletic thing I've ever seen.
Changed things up a bit today. Got up early to do an AM workout. Not really a huge fan of early morning lifting because it usually takes my body a lot longer to warm up and sometimes I feel like it doesn't respond as well...almost like my muscles are used to being in a resting state at that time. Huh. But it's good to keep 'em guessing, and I should get used to working out in the morning as first round games are definitely in the AM. Plus now I can play golf tonight. Booyah. Here's todays workout:
Movement Prep: (no rest between these exercises)
Jump-rope TF (to failure)
Lunges w/med. ball
Handstand pushups
squats w/med. ball
Jump-rope TF
Side lunges
Handstand pushups
1-foot'd squats
Jump-rope TF
Walking lunges w/med. ball
Hand-stand pushups
side-step squats
Jump-rope TF
That was set #1. Switched up the handstand pushups for 1-handed pushups (on an incline platform) and also added some hanging leg-raises on set 2. Finished that and jump-roped for another 8 minutes or so going through the different variations to warm up further. (Remember that 10 minutes of jumping rope burns as many calories as 30 minutes of running. Something to think about.) I'm also a big fan of 1-leg squats right now. They are SO much harder than they look, and really work the intertior/exterior stabilization muscles. Legs were feelin' pretty saucy by this point so I knew it was going to be a good workout. Had to move fast today as well as I only had an hour to get through all the lifts before work so I decided to do a lot of circuit n' superset (moving from exercise to exercise without rest) work after the heavy lifts.
Multi-joint Lifts:
As always, started with hang cleans. Don't forget the primary focus of these strength-training sessions is on the Posterior Chain (back, lower back[& core], glutes, hammy's, calves). Legs were springy today so I was able to pound through the first 3 sets of cleans pretty fast, ended up doing 6 sets total. Cleans are fun because it's 100% maximum output on a quick-burst movement vs. slow n' steady lifting, so while they are immensely tiring n' difficult, they only last 3-4 seconds per lift.
Hang Cleans 6 sets @ 4 reps
Deadlifts 2 sets @ 8 reps
Front-squats 2 sets @ 8 reps
Regular squats 3 sets @ 6 reps (heavy)
Front-squats are still one of my favorite lifts right now because nothing makes my core work as hard and you can really feel it in the wrists n' grip strength as well. (Great for holding onto that disc). Dropped down the reps on the regular squats but went heavy throughout. When doing your squats remember to go slow on the way down, no reason to rush at all. Should take you 3-4 seconds to completely lower. Focus, as always, is on form and control.
Core/Stability/Circuit:
Physioball pushups 3 sets TF-(feet on a small physioball, hands on large. Balance for 10 seconds then attempt pushups. Notice I said attempt. Only could do pushups on the first set. Those mofo's CRUSH.)
Did a Pillar Strength Circuit next:
Cable-chops to medicine ball twists to physioball knee-tucks without rest.
Moved directly into Army Ranger standards just to make sure I could still hang:
80 pushups in 2 minutes
80 situps in 2 minutes
14 pullups
(Super-set)
Technically I should run a 2-mile in under 15 minutes immediately following to truly say I kept up with Army Ranger standards, but I'm fairly confident that I could do that pretty easily if I ever wanted to run for 2 miles. In a row. Without catching a football or frisbee. Just running. Yeah...sounds like fun. Bleh.
Last Multi-joint lift:
Walking lunges w/weight 6 sets @ 12 reps
Finished with a super-set of Power-band walks @ 4 sets TF
Second time using the powerbands, those things are S-O-L-I-D. Will post further about them in a future blog. But I will say that they are lateraliffic.
Only had 7 minutes left on the clock by now, only enough time to get one last lift in. Decided to stick to an oldie-but-goodie, also one of my top 3 favorite lifts right now: 1-handed Snatches. Same lower-body and core movement as the hang-clean, exploding up out of a squat and catching yourself back in it, but the single arm goes straight overhead following the natural line of the body. It's a phenomenal exercise because you're using the whole body and strengthening the abs at it's weakest point (arms extended). You're teaching your body to stay strong n' stable while fully extended from the torso up...exactly the same body positioning when you're at the height of your jump skying some chump for the disc.
Seems to fit all the criteria for an effective ultimate-specific exercise:
Full-body and functional: check.
Explosive n' fast-twitch: check.
Body positioning during lift translates over to body positioning during on-field movement: check.
Stimulates muscles in way different from previous exercises: check.
Makes me tired: check.
Final Synopsis:
Count Snatchula is up in da heezy.
Here's a visual example for all ya suckas that don't know:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bg77Os9mtXs
Ran the 'dors through the speed movement program on Saturday for the first part of practice. I managed to get through the first 3 phases in under an hour and threw a good amount of information at them. Almost all of them picked right up on the concepts and were able to recognize how it translates to on-field movement. Because that's what it's all about: how does what I do while training apply to how I move and react on the field.
The most rewarding part was seeing how f'ing athletic some of my teammates are. I had them doing movements that they had never done before and some of them looked like they'd been practicing it for years. All good signs. I'm very excited to progress further into the program with them and see how they respond to it. Most importantly, I got some of them to analyze my program and methods against their current workouts and compare/contrast. Anything I can do to get my teammates to cognitively analyze their training will only serve to enhance their training. (even if they disagree with me for some weird reason) Because the point is not just to train hard, but to train smart as well.
Practice was both days this weekend and they were constructive, informative, and exhausting. Our captains do a great job of setting up smart, tough practices that make the most of the few hours that we have together. Very fundamental practices...exactly what I need. And love. I am SO fired up for the upcoming season. Our team is starting to come together and find it's sense of identity. We're practicing with fire n' intensity and everybody seems to be on the same page in terms of discipline and commitment. This squad definitely has heart n' grit. Two things I'm a big fan of.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Friday, June 22, 2007
ST Workout 6-21
"I can barely lift my arms, I did so many" - Ron Burgundy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwbDoQGdDKo&mode=related&search=
My Strength-Training program (you'll notice I don't refer to it as weight-lifting because...well...you do so much more than just lifting weights that it's actually insulting to my Strength-training program to call it that. Seriously. She told me she was insulted. We're all about new-age terminology 'round here) also follows a four-phase system.
Phase 1- Movement Prep
Movement Prep is SO much more than just warming up. It's about getting your body (with emphasis on legs + core) ready for the madness you're about to put it through while also raising your internal body temperature. You're going to perform the movements you're about to do but with body-weight.
The single greatest activity for Movement Prep is jumping rope. If you fancy yourself an athlete and jumping rope isn't a part of your routine then you are simply selling yourself short. Jumping rope for 10 minutes burns as much calories as 30 minutes of running. There's a reason jumping rope has been a staple of boxing and other sports for many, many years. Because to jump rope successfully your body must be in correct positioning. Everything from your head down must be in perfect alignment and your core holds your body stabilized while your legs are plyometrically and anaerobically moving. So you're warming up, getting lighter on your toes, and teaching your core it's proper alignment. Name me another activity that does all of that as effectively. Plus it's pretty f'ing fun when you can go for a couple of minutes and do all the many variations that there are. Still workin' on the double-jump crossovers though...not much luck there yet. Yet.
I like to mix in different body-weight functional movements in between my jump rope intervals. (Functional is defined as any full-body activity that resembles any movement either on the field or in your normal daily activity. Two examples would be a side-lung, such as when you're trying to stop a backhand break, or a deadlift, like when you're picking your grocery's up off the floor).
Last night's MP went something like this:
Jump rope TF (to failure)
body-weight lunges-10 reps
hand-stand pushups against the wall-10 reps
Jump rope TF
body weight side-lunges
hand-stand pushups against the wall
Jump-rope TF
1-legged squats
hand-stand pushups against the wall
Jump-rope TF
That's one set. In 7-8 minutes I've done 3 different types of full-body functional movements for my core and legs, an upper-body stabilization exercise that also hits the core, and done high-intensity anaerobic and plyometric movements.
For set 2 I switch the Hand-stand pushups for some variation of a plyometric pushup (like doing the "clap" pushup without the clap part, simply springing off the ground with your hands and landing back down into the pushup and plyometrically repeat) and mix-in hanging leg raises (for further core activation and to warm up my grip) or a pull-up set and some type of twisting activity with a medicine ball. The point is to do different activities, keep moving, and make sure every activity is functional and full-body. There is NO body-part training involved in these workouts. For further clarification on the reasons for that read my previous blog.
I usually do 2 or 3 sets depending on how I feel. I also like to grab a 25 or 35lb pound and perform the lunges and squats while holding the weight over my head with locked arms. This strengthens the abs and core at it's weakest point (fully extended upper-body) and works the stabilization muscles in the upper-body. If I'm doing a 3rd set I'll again change up the movements in between the jump-rope sessions. Inch-worms, backwards-walking lunges, cross-over squats are all examples of other body-weight activities.
Phase 2- Multi-joint full-body lifts
This, as my old football coach used to say, is where we separate the men from the boys. Phase 2 is the nitty-gritty. The emphasis on this phase is on working the Posterior Chain (from your Erector Spinae and Core down through the hip muscles and glutes (ass) through the hamstrings and calf). Your Posterior Chain controls all of your movement, especially running and jumping. The two exercises I always do religiously is the hang-clean and the squat. They are without a doubt the two greatest strength exercises ever. After that I pick 2 other full-body lifts to perform along with them.
Last night:
4 sets of hang-cleans @ 4 reps each
2 sets of dead-lifts @ 8 reps each
4 sets of squats @ 10-8-8-6 with increasing weight.
Also, every other workout I do front-squats to switch things up. If you've never done those, give 'em a whirl. They f'ing CRUSH. Usually by this time my legs need a lil' break before I can jump into the next full-body lift so I move into Phase 3, then come back and finish the last full-body lift. Cuz that's how I roll. :-)
Phase 3- Core and upper-body supersets
This phase is all about working your core, or what Mark Verstegen calls your Pillar Strength (core + hips + stabilization muscles in the legs) while also hitting the upper-body with supersets (moving from one directly to the other) to keep your heart rate up, to work when you're tired, and to push that threshold further, further, further. The only isolated upper-body work I do is body-weight activity (dips, pull-ups, push-ups...etc). Boxing takes care of the rest of my upper-body strength so I can focus on my legs and core. It's been a long time since I've bench-pressed anything, there's simply too many other better exercises to be done.
Last night:
Physioball push-ups- balancing on two physioballs, one for the hands and one for the feet TF
Pull-ups TF
Dips TF
Physioball Pikes TF
Chin-ups TF
Plyometric push-ups
Physioball Plank w/feet on bench TF
Close-grip pull-up TF
Dips TF
Twists w/medicine ball TF
All these exercises are done as a circuit, without a break. Keep moving, keep pushing. None of these activities are using weight so you've really got nothing to piss n' moan about. Pushing through when you're tired now means you won't be as tired on double-game point. Hopefully.
By now my core and stabilizer muscles are rocked so it's the perfect time for that last multi-joint lift. Here's where you figure out what kind of mental toughness you have. Walking lunges, step-ups, donkey-press (1-legged if you're a badass), squat-presses, straight-leg deadlifts...etc are all examples of full-body multi-joint lifts. Enjoy this last exercise knowing it's the last heavy lift of the day.
Phase 4- uni-lateral/stabilization training w/disassociation
Phase 4's emphasis is on performing 1-footed (unilateral) leg + core exercises intermixed with stabilization training with upper-body disassociation(being able to maintain an athletic position while your upper-body is moving independently and explosively...sound familiar?).
85% of your stride is done on one foot (think about it) so we want the body to be so unbelievably comfortable working on one foot that it's second nature. I usually pick 2 exercises and mix them in with 2 stabilization/disassociation exercises
Last night:
-1-legged russian deadlifts 2 sets @12 reps
-split-squat medicine ball presses (while in a lunge, hold a medicine ball and chest-pass it against a wall, catching it still in the lunge. Maintain the stance and hold. That. Core. Strong. ) 1 set w/each leg forward. 10-12 reps.
-Step-ups w/medicine ball toss (step-up onto a platform while pressing the med. ball up, catch and come down, repeat with opposite leg) 2 sets @ 12 reps
- split-squats w/overhead med. ball tosses (same thing but throw the med. ball like you would soccer-style on an out of bound throw-in) 1 set w/each leg forward. 10-12 reps.
Recovery
Eat. Eat. Eat. You have a 15-minute window from when you finish your workout for maximum amount of absorption of protein and carbs for muscle-building potential. Every 15 minutes after that window passes your body's ability to absorb that food is decreased exponentially. I know you're not hungry, but it doesn't matter. Food is not food anymore, it's fuel. And your body needs it irregardless of what your stomach or head says. So Eat, and eat healthy. Protein and simple carbs are essential right away. Follow with complex carbs and more protein. and Drink a mad grip of water, but you should be doing that anyway.
Rest, stretch, and buy a foam roller. It's like your own personal massage. LOVE those things.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwbDoQGdDKo&mode=related&search=
My Strength-Training program (you'll notice I don't refer to it as weight-lifting because...well...you do so much more than just lifting weights that it's actually insulting to my Strength-training program to call it that. Seriously. She told me she was insulted. We're all about new-age terminology 'round here) also follows a four-phase system.
Phase 1- Movement Prep
Movement Prep is SO much more than just warming up. It's about getting your body (with emphasis on legs + core) ready for the madness you're about to put it through while also raising your internal body temperature. You're going to perform the movements you're about to do but with body-weight.
The single greatest activity for Movement Prep is jumping rope. If you fancy yourself an athlete and jumping rope isn't a part of your routine then you are simply selling yourself short. Jumping rope for 10 minutes burns as much calories as 30 minutes of running. There's a reason jumping rope has been a staple of boxing and other sports for many, many years. Because to jump rope successfully your body must be in correct positioning. Everything from your head down must be in perfect alignment and your core holds your body stabilized while your legs are plyometrically and anaerobically moving. So you're warming up, getting lighter on your toes, and teaching your core it's proper alignment. Name me another activity that does all of that as effectively. Plus it's pretty f'ing fun when you can go for a couple of minutes and do all the many variations that there are. Still workin' on the double-jump crossovers though...not much luck there yet. Yet.
I like to mix in different body-weight functional movements in between my jump rope intervals. (Functional is defined as any full-body activity that resembles any movement either on the field or in your normal daily activity. Two examples would be a side-lung, such as when you're trying to stop a backhand break, or a deadlift, like when you're picking your grocery's up off the floor).
Last night's MP went something like this:
Jump rope TF (to failure)
body-weight lunges-10 reps
hand-stand pushups against the wall-10 reps
Jump rope TF
body weight side-lunges
hand-stand pushups against the wall
Jump-rope TF
1-legged squats
hand-stand pushups against the wall
Jump-rope TF
That's one set. In 7-8 minutes I've done 3 different types of full-body functional movements for my core and legs, an upper-body stabilization exercise that also hits the core, and done high-intensity anaerobic and plyometric movements.
For set 2 I switch the Hand-stand pushups for some variation of a plyometric pushup (like doing the "clap" pushup without the clap part, simply springing off the ground with your hands and landing back down into the pushup and plyometrically repeat) and mix-in hanging leg raises (for further core activation and to warm up my grip) or a pull-up set and some type of twisting activity with a medicine ball. The point is to do different activities, keep moving, and make sure every activity is functional and full-body. There is NO body-part training involved in these workouts. For further clarification on the reasons for that read my previous blog.
I usually do 2 or 3 sets depending on how I feel. I also like to grab a 25 or 35lb pound and perform the lunges and squats while holding the weight over my head with locked arms. This strengthens the abs and core at it's weakest point (fully extended upper-body) and works the stabilization muscles in the upper-body. If I'm doing a 3rd set I'll again change up the movements in between the jump-rope sessions. Inch-worms, backwards-walking lunges, cross-over squats are all examples of other body-weight activities.
Phase 2- Multi-joint full-body lifts
This, as my old football coach used to say, is where we separate the men from the boys. Phase 2 is the nitty-gritty. The emphasis on this phase is on working the Posterior Chain (from your Erector Spinae and Core down through the hip muscles and glutes (ass) through the hamstrings and calf). Your Posterior Chain controls all of your movement, especially running and jumping. The two exercises I always do religiously is the hang-clean and the squat. They are without a doubt the two greatest strength exercises ever. After that I pick 2 other full-body lifts to perform along with them.
Last night:
4 sets of hang-cleans @ 4 reps each
2 sets of dead-lifts @ 8 reps each
4 sets of squats @ 10-8-8-6 with increasing weight.
Also, every other workout I do front-squats to switch things up. If you've never done those, give 'em a whirl. They f'ing CRUSH. Usually by this time my legs need a lil' break before I can jump into the next full-body lift so I move into Phase 3, then come back and finish the last full-body lift. Cuz that's how I roll. :-)
Phase 3- Core and upper-body supersets
This phase is all about working your core, or what Mark Verstegen calls your Pillar Strength (core + hips + stabilization muscles in the legs) while also hitting the upper-body with supersets (moving from one directly to the other) to keep your heart rate up, to work when you're tired, and to push that threshold further, further, further. The only isolated upper-body work I do is body-weight activity (dips, pull-ups, push-ups...etc). Boxing takes care of the rest of my upper-body strength so I can focus on my legs and core. It's been a long time since I've bench-pressed anything, there's simply too many other better exercises to be done.
Last night:
Physioball push-ups- balancing on two physioballs, one for the hands and one for the feet TF
Pull-ups TF
Dips TF
Physioball Pikes TF
Chin-ups TF
Plyometric push-ups
Physioball Plank w/feet on bench TF
Close-grip pull-up TF
Dips TF
Twists w/medicine ball TF
All these exercises are done as a circuit, without a break. Keep moving, keep pushing. None of these activities are using weight so you've really got nothing to piss n' moan about. Pushing through when you're tired now means you won't be as tired on double-game point. Hopefully.
By now my core and stabilizer muscles are rocked so it's the perfect time for that last multi-joint lift. Here's where you figure out what kind of mental toughness you have. Walking lunges, step-ups, donkey-press (1-legged if you're a badass), squat-presses, straight-leg deadlifts...etc are all examples of full-body multi-joint lifts. Enjoy this last exercise knowing it's the last heavy lift of the day.
Phase 4- uni-lateral/stabilization training w/disassociation
Phase 4's emphasis is on performing 1-footed (unilateral) leg + core exercises intermixed with stabilization training with upper-body disassociation(being able to maintain an athletic position while your upper-body is moving independently and explosively...sound familiar?).
85% of your stride is done on one foot (think about it) so we want the body to be so unbelievably comfortable working on one foot that it's second nature. I usually pick 2 exercises and mix them in with 2 stabilization/disassociation exercises
Last night:
-1-legged russian deadlifts 2 sets @12 reps
-split-squat medicine ball presses (while in a lunge, hold a medicine ball and chest-pass it against a wall, catching it still in the lunge. Maintain the stance and hold. That. Core. Strong. ) 1 set w/each leg forward. 10-12 reps.
-Step-ups w/medicine ball toss (step-up onto a platform while pressing the med. ball up, catch and come down, repeat with opposite leg) 2 sets @ 12 reps
- split-squats w/overhead med. ball tosses (same thing but throw the med. ball like you would soccer-style on an out of bound throw-in) 1 set w/each leg forward. 10-12 reps.
Recovery
Eat. Eat. Eat. You have a 15-minute window from when you finish your workout for maximum amount of absorption of protein and carbs for muscle-building potential. Every 15 minutes after that window passes your body's ability to absorb that food is decreased exponentially. I know you're not hungry, but it doesn't matter. Food is not food anymore, it's fuel. And your body needs it irregardless of what your stomach or head says. So Eat, and eat healthy. Protein and simple carbs are essential right away. Follow with complex carbs and more protein. and Drink a mad grip of water, but you should be doing that anyway.
Rest, stretch, and buy a foam roller. It's like your own personal massage. LOVE those things.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
New Strength-Training Program
Things they are a' changing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90xhaI8TNgA
A huge study was recently published and has been causing a mini-revolution in the weightlifting world because it's shattering some old time bodybuilding dogma. The study was done on male subjects with a variety of fitness levels (something like 20 thousand separate workout sessions were recorded) and what they found is really interesting, and makes a lot of sense when you get all the info. Here's the jist of it, and a new program to try out:
Old Program: "Body-part Training"This is the type of program that we've all grown up on. It consists of dividing the body into specific muscle groups and dedicating an entire session to working each individually. (ex: back and bi's one day, chest and tri's the next.) The first main problem with this program is that even though you are training daily, each muscle group is targeted only once a week. Twice a week if you're aggro. This limits the body's muscle-building potential because multiple studies have shown that "muscle-protein synthesis is elevated for up to 48 hours after a resistance-training session." Which means that after the 48-hour muscle-growth period has expired, the biological stimulus for your body to build new muscle returns to normal. With the old body-part training method the 48-hour muscle growth period will have passed by the time you get to that muscle again. (ex: you do chest on Monday, the earliest day to do chest again would be Friday, if you rest a day. Obviously missing the 48hr window). By taking too many days between individual muscle sessions the program simply isn't taking enough adanvantage of the body's full muscle-building potential.
The other problem is since body-part training is usually performed intensely on consecutive days, it impedes the recovery process because the nutrients your body needs to repair the muscle damage from the previous day are allocated toward providing energy for your workout instead. The important thing to remember about muscles is that they grow best when you're resting, not working. The new program erases this problem because a day of recovery automatically follows each workout.
New Program: A full-body workout three times a week, resting a day after each session. With this program you are going to work each muscle more often, and it's going to spend more total time growing. (Note: rest is defined as a non-weightlifting session. You obviously can do ultimate practice/training on these days. I prefer to do my abs on these off days also.)
Day 1: 4 sets with 5 reps with 90 seconds rest between.
Day 2: 2 sets with 15 reps with 30 seconds rest between.
Day 3: 3 set with 10 reps with 60 seconds rest between.
Each workout choose 2-3 exercises for each muscle major muscle group (chest, back, shoulders, legs) and 1 exercise for the smaller muscles (triceps, biceps, calves..etc). Vary it up each time, choosing different lifts each day (ex. regular bench-press Monday, incline Wednesday, decline Friday). If you stick to the rest schedule you can easily get out the door in an hour. For legs, make sure at least two lifts is a full body movement i.e. squats, deadlifts, powercleans, lunges...etc
Important: The other major change you are going to make is on the the lift technique itself. The focus of this lift is going to be on the negative. During the lift you are going to take 3 seconds to lower the weight and 1 second to raise it. Literally count to three while on the negative part of the lift.This can be a change for some, but slow the lift down on the negative, control the weight, and let it burn on the way down. You might to have start lighter than you usually do, but don't worry about that. Do whatever weight that allows you to perform the lift in true form and in total control. Think of momentum as your enemy, void it from your workout completely, and never ever let it bounce off your body or swing it. Don't be that guy. This rep/set range stimulates both your strength/power and endurance muscle fibers and the variance also keeps the routine from getting stale. To do this right you should have a stopwatch and keep to the schedule, especially the rest between. Don't forget, it's the intensity of the session that counts, not how much weight you throw around.
The obvious objection to this program that bodybuilders argued is that total-body training doesn't allow you to work muscle groups hard enough. They are basing this on the assumption that a single muscles requires 30+ minutes to work out. (Meaning you'd be in the gym all day to hit every muscle). But if you compare the set/rep numbers of each program, you can achieve the same number of exercises per muscle per week, if not more. For example, the old body-part program would have you do 4 chest exercises at 3 sets each per week (total= 12 sets). With the new program you can achieve 12 sets simply by doing 4 sets 3x a week. According to Alwyn Cosgrove, the trainer that collected the data, "you need to think of training like a presciption. You wouldn't take an entire bottle of Advil on Monday to relive pain all week; you'd take smaller doses at regular intervals."
Also refuting the bodybuilder's argument is a concept called volume-threshold theory that states that "muscle growth occurs once a muscle has been exposed to 90 to 120 seconds of total tension." The beauty of the negative-emphasis lifting technique is that each repetition is going to last around 6-7 seconds. So it's very easy to achieve that 120 second total tension bar and stimulate muscle growth.
Important: To save on time and increase your workout intensity even more you can also perform alternation sets. When possible, pair exercises that work opposite muscle groups and cut the rest period between sets in half. (ex: one set of bench press, followed by quick rest, then upright-row for back. That's one set. Repeat according to what rep/set schedule you're doing that day). This concept is based on the the law of reciprocal innervation that states "for every neural activation of a muscle, there is a corresponding inhibition of the opposite muscle" So by working your back the opposite chest muscles are forced to relax, thereby resting. This can cut 8-10 minutes off your workout time and increases heartrate, calories burned, and workout intensity. Just don't forget to emphasize the negative, and keep that form perfect.
Here's an example of an alteration set:
Exercise 1: Wide grip deadlift
Exercise 2: Dumbbell incline press (chest)
Exercise 2A: Cable Row (back)
Exercise 3: Wide-grip Lat pulldown (back)
Exercise 3A: Swiss ball pike (pushup positon with shins resting on swiss-ball. Raise your hips as high as you can as you roll the ball toward your body. Pause at top, then return to start by lowering your hips and rolling the ball backward.)
For more info check in with the man himself at http://www.alywncosgrove.com/ and Mark Verstegen's site at http://www.coreperformance.com/.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90xhaI8TNgA
A huge study was recently published and has been causing a mini-revolution in the weightlifting world because it's shattering some old time bodybuilding dogma. The study was done on male subjects with a variety of fitness levels (something like 20 thousand separate workout sessions were recorded) and what they found is really interesting, and makes a lot of sense when you get all the info. Here's the jist of it, and a new program to try out:
Old Program: "Body-part Training"This is the type of program that we've all grown up on. It consists of dividing the body into specific muscle groups and dedicating an entire session to working each individually. (ex: back and bi's one day, chest and tri's the next.) The first main problem with this program is that even though you are training daily, each muscle group is targeted only once a week. Twice a week if you're aggro. This limits the body's muscle-building potential because multiple studies have shown that "muscle-protein synthesis is elevated for up to 48 hours after a resistance-training session." Which means that after the 48-hour muscle-growth period has expired, the biological stimulus for your body to build new muscle returns to normal. With the old body-part training method the 48-hour muscle growth period will have passed by the time you get to that muscle again. (ex: you do chest on Monday, the earliest day to do chest again would be Friday, if you rest a day. Obviously missing the 48hr window). By taking too many days between individual muscle sessions the program simply isn't taking enough adanvantage of the body's full muscle-building potential.
The other problem is since body-part training is usually performed intensely on consecutive days, it impedes the recovery process because the nutrients your body needs to repair the muscle damage from the previous day are allocated toward providing energy for your workout instead. The important thing to remember about muscles is that they grow best when you're resting, not working. The new program erases this problem because a day of recovery automatically follows each workout.
New Program: A full-body workout three times a week, resting a day after each session. With this program you are going to work each muscle more often, and it's going to spend more total time growing. (Note: rest is defined as a non-weightlifting session. You obviously can do ultimate practice/training on these days. I prefer to do my abs on these off days also.)
Day 1: 4 sets with 5 reps with 90 seconds rest between.
Day 2: 2 sets with 15 reps with 30 seconds rest between.
Day 3: 3 set with 10 reps with 60 seconds rest between.
Each workout choose 2-3 exercises for each muscle major muscle group (chest, back, shoulders, legs) and 1 exercise for the smaller muscles (triceps, biceps, calves..etc). Vary it up each time, choosing different lifts each day (ex. regular bench-press Monday, incline Wednesday, decline Friday). If you stick to the rest schedule you can easily get out the door in an hour. For legs, make sure at least two lifts is a full body movement i.e. squats, deadlifts, powercleans, lunges...etc
Important: The other major change you are going to make is on the the lift technique itself. The focus of this lift is going to be on the negative. During the lift you are going to take 3 seconds to lower the weight and 1 second to raise it. Literally count to three while on the negative part of the lift.This can be a change for some, but slow the lift down on the negative, control the weight, and let it burn on the way down. You might to have start lighter than you usually do, but don't worry about that. Do whatever weight that allows you to perform the lift in true form and in total control. Think of momentum as your enemy, void it from your workout completely, and never ever let it bounce off your body or swing it. Don't be that guy. This rep/set range stimulates both your strength/power and endurance muscle fibers and the variance also keeps the routine from getting stale. To do this right you should have a stopwatch and keep to the schedule, especially the rest between. Don't forget, it's the intensity of the session that counts, not how much weight you throw around.
The obvious objection to this program that bodybuilders argued is that total-body training doesn't allow you to work muscle groups hard enough. They are basing this on the assumption that a single muscles requires 30+ minutes to work out. (Meaning you'd be in the gym all day to hit every muscle). But if you compare the set/rep numbers of each program, you can achieve the same number of exercises per muscle per week, if not more. For example, the old body-part program would have you do 4 chest exercises at 3 sets each per week (total= 12 sets). With the new program you can achieve 12 sets simply by doing 4 sets 3x a week. According to Alwyn Cosgrove, the trainer that collected the data, "you need to think of training like a presciption. You wouldn't take an entire bottle of Advil on Monday to relive pain all week; you'd take smaller doses at regular intervals."
Also refuting the bodybuilder's argument is a concept called volume-threshold theory that states that "muscle growth occurs once a muscle has been exposed to 90 to 120 seconds of total tension." The beauty of the negative-emphasis lifting technique is that each repetition is going to last around 6-7 seconds. So it's very easy to achieve that 120 second total tension bar and stimulate muscle growth.
Important: To save on time and increase your workout intensity even more you can also perform alternation sets. When possible, pair exercises that work opposite muscle groups and cut the rest period between sets in half. (ex: one set of bench press, followed by quick rest, then upright-row for back. That's one set. Repeat according to what rep/set schedule you're doing that day). This concept is based on the the law of reciprocal innervation that states "for every neural activation of a muscle, there is a corresponding inhibition of the opposite muscle" So by working your back the opposite chest muscles are forced to relax, thereby resting. This can cut 8-10 minutes off your workout time and increases heartrate, calories burned, and workout intensity. Just don't forget to emphasize the negative, and keep that form perfect.
Here's an example of an alteration set:
Exercise 1: Wide grip deadlift
Exercise 2: Dumbbell incline press (chest)
Exercise 2A: Cable Row (back)
Exercise 3: Wide-grip Lat pulldown (back)
Exercise 3A: Swiss ball pike (pushup positon with shins resting on swiss-ball. Raise your hips as high as you can as you roll the ball toward your body. Pause at top, then return to start by lowering your hips and rolling the ball backward.)
For more info check in with the man himself at http://www.alywncosgrove.com/ and Mark Verstegen's site at http://www.coreperformance.com/.
In the Beginning
"Did you take sterioids? Yeah, 'bout a cup. Cup and a half."- Will Ferrel
"Absorb what is useful; reject what is useless"- Bruce Lee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKRMEDK14iY&mode=related&search=
Yup, I jumped on the Blog-bandwagon too.
This blog will be filled mostly with ultimate-specific workouts as well as post-tourney recaps and other nonsensical nonsense that I feel like writing about.
The past few months have been really exciting in terms of gaining further advanced knowledge in sports-movement. I've been voraciously consuming any piece of info I can come across in order to become bigger, faster, stronger for the upcoming season. Well, not bigger, but you know what I mean. Fortunately my great friend Chris (who's the best workout partner ever and 'bout damn near my twin) and I have been constructing an ultimate-specific workout program using the techniques and knowledge from Athlete's Performance, the training center based out of the Home Depot Center in Carson. These is the company that trains Beckham, gets the Phoenix Sun's in shape for the Run n' Gun, and gets the NFL rooks ready for the combines. If you don't know about the combines, it is the purest test of a football players athletic ability. They test you on everything from 40-yrd dash, vertical leap, shuttle run, bench-press...etc. Even your gait is analyzed. That part always reminds me of a horse on show, they make the player simply walk across the room and back. Apparently biomechanic experts can predict how fast a player could be just by their walk. Performing well there single-handedly determines their draft status and size of their signing bonus.
Simply put, Athlete's Performance is the foremost authority in the world of athletic movement, and the stuff they come up with is jaw-droppingly brilliant, functional, and makes so much sense when applied onto the field. Chris is a baseball coach and teacher at a local HS and was able to attend a week-long training session and learned exactly what they teach the pros from the leaders of the industry. We have since then been training twice a week together and I get to absorb all this information from a top-notch teacher. I couldn't have asked for a better situation (other than attending the course myself, obviously).
Saturday I'll be teaching this program for the first hour of the Condor practice. It's my goal that we will be able to apply this directly onto the field from Day 1, not only becoming faster and quicker, but have increased high-end endurance, better body positioning, and faster recovery to an athletic position (example: while marking being able to go from off-balance with your weight all on the right side of your body to stop the backhand back over to the left to prevent the IO forehand faster than the thrower can pivot). I am really excited to show this to the guys and have them realize what kind of athlete they can become.
The two basic concepts to efficient athletic-movement is:
1. An active but stable core.
2. all four extremeties working independently and explosively, with power and fluidity.
By core I don't just means your abs, but the entire core from the obliques (side abs), back (including the erector spinae, the muscle that's involved in pretty much every type of movement) and the transverse abdominis (your body's weight belt) through the internal hip muscles that connect the legs to the core. Google those words if they are foreign to you.
The Transverse Abdominis. When you contract your core and lock it, this is the muscle that does a bunch of the work. Your body's "natural weight belt"
The Erector Spinae. The name is pretty self-descriptive. It holds your spine erect and helps with any type of movement.
Best visual example of the two concepts working together I can give is Reggie Bush running. When he's running his Core is LOCKED....and I mean locked. He's in a dead-sprint to the endzone and his numbers barely move at all...while his legs and arms are flying explosively and independently. He honestly looks like he's swiming.
Here's a typical speed-movement workout we'll do. Some of the stuff we've just named ourselves so it might look mighty confusing to the layman.
Important: Do NOT stretch before beginning this. Static stretching temporarily disables your muscles elasticity and should be done post-workout. Ya hear me? POST-workout. Static stretching is great, but it doesn't have anything to do with getting ready athletic movement. So forget everything your Jr. High Basketball coach told you and save that time before for a proper warm-up, and do your stretching AFTER.
Phase 1- Movement Prep 2 sets of each exercise to 20 yards
Jog/stride check-in
Shuffle Jacks
Butt Kickers/Backward BK with extended reach
High knees
Straight-leg kicks Short/Long
Forward Lunge w/twist + knee extension/Backward lunge w/over shoulder
Falling Leaf Hip Circles/Backwards over-extension
Karoake-short n’ quick to over-hip progression
Sideways high-knee
Sideways high-knee crossover’s
Inch-worms to spiderman
Shuffle Switches forward/backward
Double-double point block w/shuffles
Warriors to hip swivel
Skip-kicks
Progression jog-to-sprint
Phase 2- Rapid Response- Rapid response is short-burst movement in rapid succession. Each exercise is 2 sets to failure.
2-inch runs in place
2-inch runs in place with arm switches
2-inch runs w/forward movement
2-inch runs with single leg sideways disassociation
2-inch runs to sprint
2-inch runs to sprint-ladder
2-inch runs to sprint-ladder w/star jumps
2-inch runs to sprint-sideways ladder
Phase 3- Long Response- Long response is the converse of rapid response. It's generating maximum force in a single full-body action. 2 sets to 40-60 yards
Marches
Skips
Bounds- bounds are a combination of rapid & long response. It's maximum full-body movement in rapid succession. Focus is on form and pace.
2 inch run progression: in place to arms switches to moving forward to skip to bound
1-leg runs
Phase 4- Plyometrics/Sprints 2 sets to 20 yards
Skips for height
Skips for distance
1-foot’d jumps
1 foot’d diagonal jumps
1-foot’d backwards diagonal jumps
15-yard sprints with 4 progression starting stance: on ground, 4-point stance, sprinter stance, receiver stance
Shuffle-to-sprint
Back-pedal to sprint
Bear Crawls
Lunge Jumps
Lunge Jumps switches
You're probably asking yourself exactly what the 2-inch runs are. Unfortunately there is no good way to explain them other than actually being on the field and doing them, but here goes: Assume an athletic stance (knees bent, chest out, head up, ready to explode in any direction) and while maintaining that stance (literally sitting in it) you plyometrically (explosively and fast-twitch) pop your legs up n' down at a height of about 2 inches as fast as you can for as long as you can. Like doing high knees in place, except only 2 inches off the ground. The focus is on repeated ground contact with consisten pace and form activated by the glute muscles. It is the supreme example of atheticism, the ability to move the feet explosively and fast-twitch while sitting in an athletic stance, with a low center of gravity, and able to move lickety-split in any direction. You start just doing them in place, then progress to involving the arms at about a 1/3 of the rate the feet are moving. This works on dissasociating the arms from the legs. After that you progress to moving forward while in the 2-inch run, and then doing a 2-inch run for 8ish seconds to a 10-yard sprint...etc.
The 2-inch runs are done to failure. This goes along with the threshold concept of working out. You should be pushing a new threshold every time you workout. Otherwise you're never going to improve. Your body HAS to be pushed a little harder each time if you want it to respond effectively. Approach every workout with that mentality and you'll be starting with your head in the right spot.
The long response phase is to improve stride efficiency and stride power. A 180lb person can generate around 370lbs of force with their stride. Being able to generate that much force with every foot strike is one huge element to becoming a faster sprinter. Combine that with proper body positioning (keeping your legs under you and a low center of gravity) and you're on the way to sprinting much more efficiently.
Note: your feet should be in dorsal flexion (toes raised up) the entire time, landing on the ball of your foot for all the activities.
So there ya go. Hopefully I can convey this workout better out on the field than I've done in this blog. Will post back with how it went, but I'm stoked that I've been given this opportunity to teach it to the 'Dors. If nothing else, I'm going to have some sore-ass teammates at the Sunday practice.
"Absorb what is useful; reject what is useless"- Bruce Lee
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKRMEDK14iY&mode=related&search=
Yup, I jumped on the Blog-bandwagon too.
This blog will be filled mostly with ultimate-specific workouts as well as post-tourney recaps and other nonsensical nonsense that I feel like writing about.
The past few months have been really exciting in terms of gaining further advanced knowledge in sports-movement. I've been voraciously consuming any piece of info I can come across in order to become bigger, faster, stronger for the upcoming season. Well, not bigger, but you know what I mean. Fortunately my great friend Chris (who's the best workout partner ever and 'bout damn near my twin) and I have been constructing an ultimate-specific workout program using the techniques and knowledge from Athlete's Performance, the training center based out of the Home Depot Center in Carson. These is the company that trains Beckham, gets the Phoenix Sun's in shape for the Run n' Gun, and gets the NFL rooks ready for the combines. If you don't know about the combines, it is the purest test of a football players athletic ability. They test you on everything from 40-yrd dash, vertical leap, shuttle run, bench-press...etc. Even your gait is analyzed. That part always reminds me of a horse on show, they make the player simply walk across the room and back. Apparently biomechanic experts can predict how fast a player could be just by their walk. Performing well there single-handedly determines their draft status and size of their signing bonus.
Simply put, Athlete's Performance is the foremost authority in the world of athletic movement, and the stuff they come up with is jaw-droppingly brilliant, functional, and makes so much sense when applied onto the field. Chris is a baseball coach and teacher at a local HS and was able to attend a week-long training session and learned exactly what they teach the pros from the leaders of the industry. We have since then been training twice a week together and I get to absorb all this information from a top-notch teacher. I couldn't have asked for a better situation (other than attending the course myself, obviously).
Saturday I'll be teaching this program for the first hour of the Condor practice. It's my goal that we will be able to apply this directly onto the field from Day 1, not only becoming faster and quicker, but have increased high-end endurance, better body positioning, and faster recovery to an athletic position (example: while marking being able to go from off-balance with your weight all on the right side of your body to stop the backhand back over to the left to prevent the IO forehand faster than the thrower can pivot). I am really excited to show this to the guys and have them realize what kind of athlete they can become.
The two basic concepts to efficient athletic-movement is:
1. An active but stable core.
2. all four extremeties working independently and explosively, with power and fluidity.
By core I don't just means your abs, but the entire core from the obliques (side abs), back (including the erector spinae, the muscle that's involved in pretty much every type of movement) and the transverse abdominis (your body's weight belt) through the internal hip muscles that connect the legs to the core. Google those words if they are foreign to you.
The Transverse Abdominis. When you contract your core and lock it, this is the muscle that does a bunch of the work. Your body's "natural weight belt"
The Erector Spinae. The name is pretty self-descriptive. It holds your spine erect and helps with any type of movement.
Best visual example of the two concepts working together I can give is Reggie Bush running. When he's running his Core is LOCKED....and I mean locked. He's in a dead-sprint to the endzone and his numbers barely move at all...while his legs and arms are flying explosively and independently. He honestly looks like he's swiming.
Here's a typical speed-movement workout we'll do. Some of the stuff we've just named ourselves so it might look mighty confusing to the layman.
Important: Do NOT stretch before beginning this. Static stretching temporarily disables your muscles elasticity and should be done post-workout. Ya hear me? POST-workout. Static stretching is great, but it doesn't have anything to do with getting ready athletic movement. So forget everything your Jr. High Basketball coach told you and save that time before for a proper warm-up, and do your stretching AFTER.
Phase 1- Movement Prep 2 sets of each exercise to 20 yards
Jog/stride check-in
Shuffle Jacks
Butt Kickers/Backward BK with extended reach
High knees
Straight-leg kicks Short/Long
Forward Lunge w/twist + knee extension/Backward lunge w/over shoulder
Falling Leaf Hip Circles/Backwards over-extension
Karoake-short n’ quick to over-hip progression
Sideways high-knee
Sideways high-knee crossover’s
Inch-worms to spiderman
Shuffle Switches forward/backward
Double-double point block w/shuffles
Warriors to hip swivel
Skip-kicks
Progression jog-to-sprint
Phase 2- Rapid Response- Rapid response is short-burst movement in rapid succession. Each exercise is 2 sets to failure.
2-inch runs in place
2-inch runs in place with arm switches
2-inch runs w/forward movement
2-inch runs with single leg sideways disassociation
2-inch runs to sprint
2-inch runs to sprint-ladder
2-inch runs to sprint-ladder w/star jumps
2-inch runs to sprint-sideways ladder
Phase 3- Long Response- Long response is the converse of rapid response. It's generating maximum force in a single full-body action. 2 sets to 40-60 yards
Marches
Skips
Bounds- bounds are a combination of rapid & long response. It's maximum full-body movement in rapid succession. Focus is on form and pace.
2 inch run progression: in place to arms switches to moving forward to skip to bound
1-leg runs
Phase 4- Plyometrics/Sprints 2 sets to 20 yards
Skips for height
Skips for distance
1-foot’d jumps
1 foot’d diagonal jumps
1-foot’d backwards diagonal jumps
15-yard sprints with 4 progression starting stance: on ground, 4-point stance, sprinter stance, receiver stance
Shuffle-to-sprint
Back-pedal to sprint
Bear Crawls
Lunge Jumps
Lunge Jumps switches
You're probably asking yourself exactly what the 2-inch runs are. Unfortunately there is no good way to explain them other than actually being on the field and doing them, but here goes: Assume an athletic stance (knees bent, chest out, head up, ready to explode in any direction) and while maintaining that stance (literally sitting in it) you plyometrically (explosively and fast-twitch) pop your legs up n' down at a height of about 2 inches as fast as you can for as long as you can. Like doing high knees in place, except only 2 inches off the ground. The focus is on repeated ground contact with consisten pace and form activated by the glute muscles. It is the supreme example of atheticism, the ability to move the feet explosively and fast-twitch while sitting in an athletic stance, with a low center of gravity, and able to move lickety-split in any direction. You start just doing them in place, then progress to involving the arms at about a 1/3 of the rate the feet are moving. This works on dissasociating the arms from the legs. After that you progress to moving forward while in the 2-inch run, and then doing a 2-inch run for 8ish seconds to a 10-yard sprint...etc.
The 2-inch runs are done to failure. This goes along with the threshold concept of working out. You should be pushing a new threshold every time you workout. Otherwise you're never going to improve. Your body HAS to be pushed a little harder each time if you want it to respond effectively. Approach every workout with that mentality and you'll be starting with your head in the right spot.
The long response phase is to improve stride efficiency and stride power. A 180lb person can generate around 370lbs of force with their stride. Being able to generate that much force with every foot strike is one huge element to becoming a faster sprinter. Combine that with proper body positioning (keeping your legs under you and a low center of gravity) and you're on the way to sprinting much more efficiently.
Note: your feet should be in dorsal flexion (toes raised up) the entire time, landing on the ball of your foot for all the activities.
So there ya go. Hopefully I can convey this workout better out on the field than I've done in this blog. Will post back with how it went, but I'm stoked that I've been given this opportunity to teach it to the 'Dors. If nothing else, I'm going to have some sore-ass teammates at the Sunday practice.
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