Man this one burned my quads up something fierce.
Simple enough. Load up a sled with some weight and push it X-amount of distance then pull it back. Repeat until life's answers are found.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Monday, July 23, 2012
Two a days - Its not just for football
Quick little blurb about training twice a day.
Probably thinking "well ain't that overtraining?"
Maybe. Everyone is different. Handling stress, fatigue, and training as such. Combating over training in this manner can be pretty simple when you go after it right.
Two-a-days can help this.
Not saying you need to train balls out double duty every single day BUT you can do a similar workout to reinforce the skills used in a prior workout. Poliquin even cited in one of his blogs quite a while ago about training similar muscle groups on the same day with about 5-7 hours apart. Granted most would think this is crazy and complain about "well I have a hard enough time getting ONE workout much less TWO every day!" Thats to each their own. But if you got a serious goal in mind don't trick yourself into thinking that one and done is the standalone approach to training.
Some of you may already be training twice a day and not realize it. If you got a workout in would you turn down a pickup game later on citing that you already got some work done and thats all you're allowed? Hope not.
Gave me an idea for the future. Now that Ill have my own facility I may be able to throw in some 2-a-days during break and downtime when the kids do not have school. Could be 'fun'.
Probably thinking "well ain't that overtraining?"
Maybe. Everyone is different. Handling stress, fatigue, and training as such. Combating over training in this manner can be pretty simple when you go after it right.
Two-a-days can help this.
Not saying you need to train balls out double duty every single day BUT you can do a similar workout to reinforce the skills used in a prior workout. Poliquin even cited in one of his blogs quite a while ago about training similar muscle groups on the same day with about 5-7 hours apart. Granted most would think this is crazy and complain about "well I have a hard enough time getting ONE workout much less TWO every day!" Thats to each their own. But if you got a serious goal in mind don't trick yourself into thinking that one and done is the standalone approach to training.
Some of you may already be training twice a day and not realize it. If you got a workout in would you turn down a pickup game later on citing that you already got some work done and thats all you're allowed? Hope not.
Gave me an idea for the future. Now that Ill have my own facility I may be able to throw in some 2-a-days during break and downtime when the kids do not have school. Could be 'fun'.
Friday, July 20, 2012
Never neglect your balance
Working with a younger baseball/ football athlete today got me thinking a little about an old topic that I've dealt with quite a bit and wanted to discuss some.
Balance. Stability. Control.
It you look at many workouts (mostly generic ones) you will see that these aspects are, for the most part, completely forgotten and avoided. Its a bit of a tragedy, really. Fixing some simple aspects that allow the body to become more efficient can lead to some great results. You're eliminating weaknesses AND building on strengths.
First, before I start, let me throw some counter arguments Ive heard in the past. That doing stability work is a waste of time. Performing standard exercises under heavy loads will still build stability and control. Also, it will not help develop strength and power.
Both arguments are partially true. Going back to what I mentioned earlier performing stability exercises can help to increase EFFICIENCY. Like putting a better transmission in a sports car. Sure you did nothing to increase horsepower but if more available horsepower gets to the tires isn't that, in a sense, the same thing? Sure I can just put a bigger engine in under the hood but typically it takes a lot longer to add pounds on the squat bar then to develop a bit of fine tuning to the suspension.
So first off let me go at the "Heavy loads argument". I've seen this argument a bit more and usually its accepted because, in all honesty, it makes the most sense. If you can squat 500lbs you likely have some strong stability and core strength to hold that sort of weight to begin with and the power and coordination to squat it. Same to assume that if someone benches 350 then they should have strong shoulder stability and upper body power. Once again, usually.
What's interesting is how many of these strong athletes can do a 1-legged squat? Speaking from experience only, however consult some of Mike Boyle's works and you will see the same, I have yet to see many of these heavyweights able to handle just their body weight on 1 leg. So this leads to a problem- How often are we playing a sport and are on 1-leg? Yes, we teach that we are stronger on 2 legs and thats where we should be in a perfect world but how often is that? Watch a football game, soccer, basketball, ANY game and you will see that time spent on 1 leg is quite often. Sprinting, lateral movement, lunging, jumping, etc. all are dominated by 1 leg at a time movements.
Now thats not to say the heavy back squat is useless- Im all for it. However, there needs to be at least a minute or two to evaluate single leg control and function. This is where the argument "Its a waste of time" can be valid or not. I see it a bit where workouts during season or at odd times have an entire team performing planks, single leg stands, bosu squats (which I think are dumb as hell), etc. when realistically only a few athletes actually need to work on those aspects of their physical game. If you have a 6' athlete that can stand on one foot and touch his nose chances are he doesn't need to spend much time balancing on one foot. Now that 6'10" lanky bastard that can't walk straight much less stand on one foot is a different story. There is progression you can throw in there. Instead of just standing on one foot have the more experienced athlete add some movement- cone touches, med ball squats or rdl's, or even multi-direction jumps (think start at 0-degress, jump to 90, back to 0, etc.)
Point with that last statement is if you're absolutely bent on putting stability work into a team workout make sure that adjustments can be made for more advanced or less advanced athletes. Otherwise the more developed individuals are wasting time while the underdeveloped are struggling to keep up. I've done this for upper work as well with my baseball athletes through pushup progressions and shoulder stability work. Looked something like this:
Group A (beginner) Group B (intermediate) Group C (adapted) Group D (advanced)
Assisted bar pushup Standard pushup Hand on ball pushup Divebomber
Chest to ball pushup Band resisted pushup T-Position Pushup 3-position pushup or plyo
With those mentioned each athlete is given the option to challenge themselves. All athletes are getting similar work done but can progress at their own rate or, if I deem fit, at my rate. Sometimes they just need a boot in the hind quarters to give them that extra push.
So whats the take away here? Each athlete is different and workouts should be treated as such. That last example is my favorite way of still training similar muscle groups but at a steady rate of progression for the individual. That way you're not only working stability, function, and core strength but also developing strength and power through continued resistance. Also, note that this type of training is done on our hypertrophy or dynamic days. NOT on max effort workouts.
Balance. Stability. Control.
It you look at many workouts (mostly generic ones) you will see that these aspects are, for the most part, completely forgotten and avoided. Its a bit of a tragedy, really. Fixing some simple aspects that allow the body to become more efficient can lead to some great results. You're eliminating weaknesses AND building on strengths.
First, before I start, let me throw some counter arguments Ive heard in the past. That doing stability work is a waste of time. Performing standard exercises under heavy loads will still build stability and control. Also, it will not help develop strength and power.
Both arguments are partially true. Going back to what I mentioned earlier performing stability exercises can help to increase EFFICIENCY. Like putting a better transmission in a sports car. Sure you did nothing to increase horsepower but if more available horsepower gets to the tires isn't that, in a sense, the same thing? Sure I can just put a bigger engine in under the hood but typically it takes a lot longer to add pounds on the squat bar then to develop a bit of fine tuning to the suspension.
So first off let me go at the "Heavy loads argument". I've seen this argument a bit more and usually its accepted because, in all honesty, it makes the most sense. If you can squat 500lbs you likely have some strong stability and core strength to hold that sort of weight to begin with and the power and coordination to squat it. Same to assume that if someone benches 350 then they should have strong shoulder stability and upper body power. Once again, usually.
What's interesting is how many of these strong athletes can do a 1-legged squat? Speaking from experience only, however consult some of Mike Boyle's works and you will see the same, I have yet to see many of these heavyweights able to handle just their body weight on 1 leg. So this leads to a problem- How often are we playing a sport and are on 1-leg? Yes, we teach that we are stronger on 2 legs and thats where we should be in a perfect world but how often is that? Watch a football game, soccer, basketball, ANY game and you will see that time spent on 1 leg is quite often. Sprinting, lateral movement, lunging, jumping, etc. all are dominated by 1 leg at a time movements.
Now thats not to say the heavy back squat is useless- Im all for it. However, there needs to be at least a minute or two to evaluate single leg control and function. This is where the argument "Its a waste of time" can be valid or not. I see it a bit where workouts during season or at odd times have an entire team performing planks, single leg stands, bosu squats (which I think are dumb as hell), etc. when realistically only a few athletes actually need to work on those aspects of their physical game. If you have a 6' athlete that can stand on one foot and touch his nose chances are he doesn't need to spend much time balancing on one foot. Now that 6'10" lanky bastard that can't walk straight much less stand on one foot is a different story. There is progression you can throw in there. Instead of just standing on one foot have the more experienced athlete add some movement- cone touches, med ball squats or rdl's, or even multi-direction jumps (think start at 0-degress, jump to 90, back to 0, etc.)
Point with that last statement is if you're absolutely bent on putting stability work into a team workout make sure that adjustments can be made for more advanced or less advanced athletes. Otherwise the more developed individuals are wasting time while the underdeveloped are struggling to keep up. I've done this for upper work as well with my baseball athletes through pushup progressions and shoulder stability work. Looked something like this:
Group A (beginner) Group B (intermediate) Group C (adapted) Group D (advanced)
Assisted bar pushup Standard pushup Hand on ball pushup Divebomber
Chest to ball pushup Band resisted pushup T-Position Pushup 3-position pushup or plyo
With those mentioned each athlete is given the option to challenge themselves. All athletes are getting similar work done but can progress at their own rate or, if I deem fit, at my rate. Sometimes they just need a boot in the hind quarters to give them that extra push.
So whats the take away here? Each athlete is different and workouts should be treated as such. That last example is my favorite way of still training similar muscle groups but at a steady rate of progression for the individual. That way you're not only working stability, function, and core strength but also developing strength and power through continued resistance. Also, note that this type of training is done on our hypertrophy or dynamic days. NOT on max effort workouts.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Quick, easy, but intense Kettlebell workout
I havn't put one of these up in awhile but this ones a doozy.
Setup:
-A few heavier kettlebells are needed. Or at least doubled up on the lighter weights.
-If you sweat a lot chalk may be a good idea
Exercises:
Swings (thats it)
Routine:
Perform 20 swings as fast and as hard as you can. Some know this as 'hardstyle'. I just refer to them as quick swings.
Rest for 1 minuter (60 seconds)
Repeat for 5 to 10 rounds.
Notes:
Check your pulse as you do this workout. Its pretty amazing to watch it spike as high as it will. Especially if you hammer a good weight throughout. I had to get the total weight to around 120-140lbs using a mix of 60's, 70's and a single 125lb KB to get some good results. So don't shy away from the heavy stuff.
If you only have the option of lighter KBs then use only pairs and if that doesn't work go with high swings instead or even snatches.
I wrote a brief summary on my first experience with this workout here - http://thebodyforgeaf.com/effects-of-kb-and-interval.html
Enjoy!
Setup:
-A few heavier kettlebells are needed. Or at least doubled up on the lighter weights.
-If you sweat a lot chalk may be a good idea
Exercises:
Swings (thats it)
Routine:
Perform 20 swings as fast and as hard as you can. Some know this as 'hardstyle'. I just refer to them as quick swings.
Rest for 1 minuter (60 seconds)
Repeat for 5 to 10 rounds.
Notes:
Check your pulse as you do this workout. Its pretty amazing to watch it spike as high as it will. Especially if you hammer a good weight throughout. I had to get the total weight to around 120-140lbs using a mix of 60's, 70's and a single 125lb KB to get some good results. So don't shy away from the heavy stuff.
If you only have the option of lighter KBs then use only pairs and if that doesn't work go with high swings instead or even snatches.
I wrote a brief summary on my first experience with this workout here - http://thebodyforgeaf.com/effects-of-kb-and-interval.html
Enjoy!
Monday, July 16, 2012
Updates need updating
Just hit me I havn't touched my webpage in a long damn while. Well hopefully that'll get fixed soon enough. Just got a new cash register that I've been playing with the past hour. Go figure the genius sold me the wrong paper so Im already low. Either way this reminded of something I thought of earlier - "Things Id never thought Id buy in the history of ever: A friggin' cash register."
Anyways, I should have my webpage fixed up tonight later on. Time to go to work. I swear if this guy cancels again Im charging him for all his sessions. Fitness takes SOME sort of commitment. Not a magic pill that lets you lose possibly a couple pounds a year.
Didn't hear about that yet? FDA approved, too. Ill talk about it later. It's rather amusing.
Anyways, I should have my webpage fixed up tonight later on. Time to go to work. I swear if this guy cancels again Im charging him for all his sessions. Fitness takes SOME sort of commitment. Not a magic pill that lets you lose possibly a couple pounds a year.
Didn't hear about that yet? FDA approved, too. Ill talk about it later. It's rather amusing.
Friday, July 13, 2012
WTF are we doing in the weight room?
Its amazing how three capital letters can summarize how I feel sometimes when I see these programs that are put together for athletes.
Well lets back track a little. Im getting a quick lift in today. Have a big 7's rugby tourny tomorrow and need to make sure I still have some energy left in the tank. I happen to see the board and this is what I come across:
Chest-
Bench 15,12,10,8,6,4,2
Incline (same)
Incline Flys 4x8
Pushups x100
Shoulders
Lat and front raise 3x15
...and some other nonsense.
I actually took a picture but don't feel like linking it.
Anyways, heres my gripe with seeing this shit.
What ATHLETE needs this sort of training? And before you answer think of where Im coming from. An athlete needs to develop the muscularity to to become better at their sport. Now, I know exactly which sport this 'workout' belongs to but thats neither here nor there. The point Im getting to is how would this workout benefit any athlete in the existence of sport?
Got an answer yet?
I sure as hell don't.
Training chest and only chest, as far as Im concerned, is good for 2 people; Bodybuilders and those who only care about looking good naked. Thats it. This sort of workout should never touch an athletes regimen much less a high schoolers or jr. high.
Especially considering the sport, or any sport for that matter, an overdeveloped chest is usually more a problem than a good way to train. Try having a kid do a pullup, or a simple row, or hell even just walk upright for more than a few steps. Its difficult to find this outside of a gymnast these days. Piss poor posterior strength and shitty workouts.
So whats the fix?
Well for one no workout should just focus on one muscle group in athletics. Time is valuable and that time needs to be spent honing their abilities. If we train 1 or 2 muscles groups a day we WILL need to train 6-8x's a week to hit everything. Thats a lot of hours spent just doing isolation work when combo lifts and functional movements can clear that all out in a hurry. Unfortunately I still see this quite a bit. Apparently a coach or athletes reads a cute little article about their favorite bodybuilder or fitness buff and wants to do that workout. I usually goes something like this day to day;
Chest/tris
Back/Bis
Abs/cardio
Legs
Shoulders/arms
Once again if you're only concern is looking good naked then knock yourself out. Hell in another decade that probably will be my workout. But I figure until they cart me off the field and out of the ring on a stretcher that day is still a long ways off. So anyways back to the topic...
Stick to the basics! Especially with younger underdeveloped athletes. My favorite splits are like this;
Upper/Lower (Squat, single leg, glute ham / Bench, row, pushups, pullups)
or
Push/Pull (Bench, squat, pushups / Floor pull, row, pullups)
or
Combo (upper/lower same day all inclusive)
All of those splits are typically 2-4 days a week. You can make the split days up to 6 days but combo are best limited to 3 maybe 4 a week to allow a recovery day. Once again the point is that strength in the weight room should transfer to the game. Not just lift for the sake of lifting.
A good S&C coach from a long time ago once told me "You need to train to be good at your sport, not train to be a good lifter." This message apparently does NOT get around much. Especially considering the workout I just posted at the beginning here.
Now if you go back to those splits I mentioned things can get a bit more complicated. Did you know that you can get stronger without just using conventional lifts? Oh yes, its true. It happens quite a bit actually.
An example to increase leg strength and power just simply do full intensity sprints uphill or bleachers. As long as theres sufficient rest and intensity is near max the body will adapt and grow stronger. Similar to doing things such as playing the game more or doing similar tasks that emulate the game situation. As long as these tasks are performed to full intensity with some rest the body will adapt and grow AND continue to develop USEABLE skills.Then theres the topic of plyos, jump training (yes they are two different things), throwing, playing, etc.etc. but thats for a later date.
So just think of this next time you're cranking out that 8th set of 45lb barbell curls with your 140lb buddy ask yourself "Is this shit really going to make me a better athlete?" If you even have to stop and think, without any doubt, hell, if you need to even ask that question, then the answer is more than likely NO. Everyday you put something together always check it with the question "will this make me better?". And at the end of the day if you dont feel like you have gotten something accomplished then you really need to get back on that drawing board.
Well lets back track a little. Im getting a quick lift in today. Have a big 7's rugby tourny tomorrow and need to make sure I still have some energy left in the tank. I happen to see the board and this is what I come across:
Chest-
Bench 15,12,10,8,6,4,2
Incline (same)
Incline Flys 4x8
Pushups x100
Shoulders
Lat and front raise 3x15
...and some other nonsense.
I actually took a picture but don't feel like linking it.
Anyways, heres my gripe with seeing this shit.
What ATHLETE needs this sort of training? And before you answer think of where Im coming from. An athlete needs to develop the muscularity to to become better at their sport. Now, I know exactly which sport this 'workout' belongs to but thats neither here nor there. The point Im getting to is how would this workout benefit any athlete in the existence of sport?
Got an answer yet?
I sure as hell don't.
Training chest and only chest, as far as Im concerned, is good for 2 people; Bodybuilders and those who only care about looking good naked. Thats it. This sort of workout should never touch an athletes regimen much less a high schoolers or jr. high.
Especially considering the sport, or any sport for that matter, an overdeveloped chest is usually more a problem than a good way to train. Try having a kid do a pullup, or a simple row, or hell even just walk upright for more than a few steps. Its difficult to find this outside of a gymnast these days. Piss poor posterior strength and shitty workouts.
So whats the fix?
Well for one no workout should just focus on one muscle group in athletics. Time is valuable and that time needs to be spent honing their abilities. If we train 1 or 2 muscles groups a day we WILL need to train 6-8x's a week to hit everything. Thats a lot of hours spent just doing isolation work when combo lifts and functional movements can clear that all out in a hurry. Unfortunately I still see this quite a bit. Apparently a coach or athletes reads a cute little article about their favorite bodybuilder or fitness buff and wants to do that workout. I usually goes something like this day to day;
Chest/tris
Back/Bis
Abs/cardio
Legs
Shoulders/arms
Once again if you're only concern is looking good naked then knock yourself out. Hell in another decade that probably will be my workout. But I figure until they cart me off the field and out of the ring on a stretcher that day is still a long ways off. So anyways back to the topic...
Stick to the basics! Especially with younger underdeveloped athletes. My favorite splits are like this;
Upper/Lower (Squat, single leg, glute ham / Bench, row, pushups, pullups)
or
Push/Pull (Bench, squat, pushups / Floor pull, row, pullups)
or
Combo (upper/lower same day all inclusive)
All of those splits are typically 2-4 days a week. You can make the split days up to 6 days but combo are best limited to 3 maybe 4 a week to allow a recovery day. Once again the point is that strength in the weight room should transfer to the game. Not just lift for the sake of lifting.
A good S&C coach from a long time ago once told me "You need to train to be good at your sport, not train to be a good lifter." This message apparently does NOT get around much. Especially considering the workout I just posted at the beginning here.
Now if you go back to those splits I mentioned things can get a bit more complicated. Did you know that you can get stronger without just using conventional lifts? Oh yes, its true. It happens quite a bit actually.
An example to increase leg strength and power just simply do full intensity sprints uphill or bleachers. As long as theres sufficient rest and intensity is near max the body will adapt and grow stronger. Similar to doing things such as playing the game more or doing similar tasks that emulate the game situation. As long as these tasks are performed to full intensity with some rest the body will adapt and grow AND continue to develop USEABLE skills.Then theres the topic of plyos, jump training (yes they are two different things), throwing, playing, etc.etc. but thats for a later date.
So just think of this next time you're cranking out that 8th set of 45lb barbell curls with your 140lb buddy ask yourself "Is this shit really going to make me a better athlete?" If you even have to stop and think, without any doubt, hell, if you need to even ask that question, then the answer is more than likely NO. Everyday you put something together always check it with the question "will this make me better?". And at the end of the day if you dont feel like you have gotten something accomplished then you really need to get back on that drawing board.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Rogue Globes
Damn I love getting new toys.
Last night this big ball of fun came in the mail along with my new Onyx Bands from EFS and between that and the truck being delivered with my racks and other items I'm like a fat kid at a buffet...or just me at a buffet. I get pretty happy about buffets.
So anyways I couldn't wait to get this thing hooked up and rock some pullups. Or at least a few. Its tough! As in theres nothing to grab onto so hold on for life sort of tough. Not having any sort of grip really puts the stress on the arms and chest since you have to squeeze the living hell out of the ball in order to stay on. Otherwise you will just slip right off.
This thing will definitely be a good time and Im glad I got one while they are in stock. I've been pining for one since the Arnold so many months ago and Rogue has been out of stock since. I have some ideas for this that Im sure will add some fun twists to workouts later on.
Last night this big ball of fun came in the mail along with my new Onyx Bands from EFS and between that and the truck being delivered with my racks and other items I'm like a fat kid at a buffet...or just me at a buffet. I get pretty happy about buffets.
So anyways I couldn't wait to get this thing hooked up and rock some pullups. Or at least a few. Its tough! As in theres nothing to grab onto so hold on for life sort of tough. Not having any sort of grip really puts the stress on the arms and chest since you have to squeeze the living hell out of the ball in order to stay on. Otherwise you will just slip right off.
This thing will definitely be a good time and Im glad I got one while they are in stock. I've been pining for one since the Arnold so many months ago and Rogue has been out of stock since. I have some ideas for this that Im sure will add some fun twists to workouts later on.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Battling Ropes - Arms and Shoulders Conditioning
...because using 'normal' equipment is too maintstream.
Nah, but in all seriousness who like using dumbbells anymore when you can just swing around a 30lb rope? In this case its more a 25ish pounds of 1.5"x50' polyurethane punishment.
Which reminds me, quick shout out to http://www.contractorsrope.com/ for the awesome deals on ropes. If I had any place to recommend anyone to buy their new ropes I would definitely order from these guys. Not only are their prices cheaper but can't beat free shipping on orders of $300 or more. Saved about $60 bones just on that fact alone.
So, anyways, onto the workout-
This vid is me going through a quick circuit using the "Tabata Method" style of interval training.
Heres the skinny;
Each round is 20s of high intensity work with a very short 10s of rest in between.
The workout lasts a total of 8 rounds or 4 minutes in length.
You can do practically ANYTHING for the exercises but be warned there are some pretty exhausting ideas and workouts out there. Try squatting for example....bleack!
With this particular workout I just picked a bunch of random shoulder and arm movements with the rope that is looped around a weighted down box.
Nah, but in all seriousness who like using dumbbells anymore when you can just swing around a 30lb rope? In this case its more a 25ish pounds of 1.5"x50' polyurethane punishment.
Which reminds me, quick shout out to http://www.contractorsrope.com/ for the awesome deals on ropes. If I had any place to recommend anyone to buy their new ropes I would definitely order from these guys. Not only are their prices cheaper but can't beat free shipping on orders of $300 or more. Saved about $60 bones just on that fact alone.
So, anyways, onto the workout-
This vid is me going through a quick circuit using the "Tabata Method" style of interval training.
Heres the skinny;
Each round is 20s of high intensity work with a very short 10s of rest in between.
The workout lasts a total of 8 rounds or 4 minutes in length.
You can do practically ANYTHING for the exercises but be warned there are some pretty exhausting ideas and workouts out there. Try squatting for example....bleack!
With this particular workout I just picked a bunch of random shoulder and arm movements with the rope that is looped around a weighted down box.
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