The goal here is to build speed, agility, strength, and the stamina to go all day long. While these goals all make sense and should be priorities, they cannot all be trained simultaneously.

Train for Sport Over Toughness

Mental and physical toughness is a valuable goal, but it can be developed without sacrificing development of speed and agility. Athletes who train in an aerobic fashion with infrequent to non-existent breaks are not getting faster or more agile. They’re not even being conditioned in a way that translates to football, basketball, baseball, or any primarily anaerobic (fast glycolysis) or phosphate system driven sport. Training in this way would only help them in a sport where they were expected to move at 60-70 percent effort for a long time with no breaks. This is not characteristic of most sports.

For example, the average football play is 4-7 seconds, with 35 seconds between plays. Baseball players are routinely asked to give a quick burst of energy, followed by a long complete recovery. This training approach completely misunderstands the way in which programs develop speed, agility, and sport-specific conditioning.

Form and Function Will Beat Fatigue

In order to improve speed and agility, athletes must perform drills with good form, and each action should be done at 100 percent effort. Therefore, each repetition should be done from a non-fatigued, fully recovered state. Sure, we demand that athletes give 110 percent in each drill, but as anyone who has ever worked out to exhaustion knows, you aren’t as fast or strong in a fatigued state. This is why coaches make the decision to give an athlete rest in a basketball game or why the star running-back usually does not play defense for the whole game.

For an athlete to be better conditioned to withstand fatigue, their conditioning must replicate the physiological demands of their sport. For most sports (cross-country being an obvious exception), running for miles will do little to nothing to improve an athlete’s ability to thrive or resist fatigue late in competition.

Many of you might be thinking, “In a game, the athlete will be tired and have to put together these movements at top speed.” This is true. However, the athlete will rely on improvements in speed or agility that were created in a non-fatigued state. Once these movement mechanics – increased neuro-muscular recruitment, rate of motor units firing, reduced stretch reflex time, and so on – have been programmed, then the improvements will be more available on the playing surface, even in a fatigued state.

The following factors will allow your athletes to use these improvements to greatest benefit:

1. The amount of repetitions and practice they’ve put into the speed and agility drills while in a non-fatigued state
2. How well conditioned they are to handle the physiological demands of their sport

Plan to Win by Planning Smart

So what about making your athletes tougher and better conditioned for the sport? This is an essential element of any off-season program, but it requires a little more creativity. The idea that, “If it is hard, then it is good for them” is the recipe for a tough team that is weak and slow. We are smarter than that.

The first step to designing a conditioning plan is to plan. The plan should follow a periodization scheme, just like the resistance training plan. It should also match the physiological demands of the resistance plan.

Here are some pointers:

• Pair interval conditioning with high-rep hypertrophy phases and pair your low-rep max strength phases with short sprint, agility, and speed work.
• As you approach the season, make sure the conditioning builds on past phases while spending a bulk of the time replicating the metabolic demands of the competitive season.

Too many people just throw exercises and gadgets at their athletes. A good plan is organized and builds on itself while matching consistent training goals. It also builds to a comprehensive end point. Without these essential elements, the plan will underachieve, regardless of how good the exercise selection or equipment may be.

3 Must-Dos for Game-Ready Athletes

Here is a quick summary of the elements coaches must understand to get their athletes faster, more agile, and in playing shape:

1. Separate Out Training Variables

Speed, agility, and conditioning should not be trained simultaneously until close to competition. Agility work and speed work are not the same thing as conditioning. They require adequate recovery.

Use the principles of general adaptation syndrome (GAP) to guide your programming and recovery:

• Shock, Alarm, Resistance: This is how the body reacts to appropriate training. With proper recovery, the body enters the resistance phase and becomes stronger and better adapted.
• Shock, Alarm, Exhaustion: When not properly recovered, the body breaks down. Training has an effect like a sunburn. If the skin is burned and you don’t allow it to heal before subjecting it to another long bout in the sun, it will break down even more. Allow it to heal and it adapts with more melanin so that it is more resistant to future sunlight exposures. The body reacts similarly to resistance training and conditioning. ¹

2. Use Progressive Overload

Start slowly and with perfect form. Hardwire this. Then increase volume or load. Do not attempt a program just because a successful athlete does it. High-level athletes can handle a lot more volume and technical skill-dependent exercises. The number one reason for not realizing big results in the weight room is poor form. Start with mastering the fundamental movements.

3. Remember: Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands

The body will only adapt to specific challenges that it faces repeatedly. In short, train for the specific improvement you want to see. Don’t make a shortstop run a few miles every week. This is also why ground-based training is far superior to a lot of the latest trends, such as stability balls and wobble boards.

World-renowned trainer Joe DeFranco elaborates on the training implications of this approach:

“In all of sports it is the athlete that moves while the playing surface remains still. Because of this, true ‘functional’ training should consist of applying resistance to an athlete while his/her feet are in contact with the ground. The athlete must then adapt to those forces.”²

So… stop running miles!

You’ll Also Enjoy:

• Everything You Need to Know About Speed Training
• The 4 Most Important Exercises You’re Probably Not Doing 
• Conditioning for Strength Sports: Optimizing Both Strength and Conditioning
• New on Breaking Muscle Today

References:

1. Brad Schoenfeld, The M.A.X. Muscle Plan. New York: Human Kinetics, 2013.

2. Joe DeFranco, Joe D. Talks Strength. Industrial Strength Podcast episode #15.

Photo 1 courtesy of Shutterstock

Photo 2 courtesy of Jorge Huerta Photogrpahy

The post Plan to Win: Speed, Stamina, and Agility for Sport appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

I agree, and over the years I’ve made working out a priority. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings at 9:30 a.m., I’m at my CrossFit box laboring away.

Unless there’s a snow day for my kids. Or they’re sick. Or I’m sick. Or the doctor/dentist/teacher/speech therapist/freelance client can only meet with me during my scheduled WOD. Or my freelance work exceeds my babysitting/kids-in-school hours for the week.

Most of the time, I can schedule around my workout or move my training to another day. But I won’t feel guilty for the days when I just can’t make it in. I’m tired of being told no excuse is ever good enough.

Editor’s note: This article is an op-ed. The views expressed herein and in the video are the author’s and don’t necessarily reflect the views of Breaking Muscle. Claims, assertions, opinions, and quotes have been sourced exclusively by the author.

Exercise Is Important. So Are Many Other Things.

Believe me, I know the stakes. I had an endocrinologist write out “Exercise 60 min. three times per week” on a prescription pad and hand it to me when I was overweight and near diabetic. He wanted to make it clear exercise was as important to my health as the medication he prescribed.

Another doctor, after my first child was born, shared the beautiful idea that the time we spend exercising and taking care of ourselves is given back to our children over and over because it will make us live longer and more fully. That hit me.

And I’ll stipulate upfront that I’m sure there are people who have oodles of time to spend at the gym, but instead play video games and eat junk. I’m not talking about them. I’m talking about people with busy, demanding lives that make it difficult to do laundry, let alone an hour-long workout.

Lecturing [people] about how important it is to prioritize their fitness without helping them find the time is cruel.

But all that “fitspiration” doesn’t even begin discussing what these people experience when they complain they don’t have time. And it makes no mention of what gym owners and trainers can do to help busy clients start creating more time to be healthy.

People work out more when it fits easily into their lives and they don’t have to neglect legitimate priorities like work and family. So how do you know if your gym is a break from the stress or yet another burden to your clients? Ask yourself the questions below:

Are Your Classes in the Middle of Crunch Time?

Do your training sessions all start in the early evening between 4:00 and 6:30? Do they end by 7:30 a.m. in the morning? I have never worked a full-time job that allowed me to take a group class. The typical morning class time didn’t give me enough time to get ready for and commute to work.

Not to mention, as a parent, the normal group class times are actually the busiest parts of my day. In the evening, I’m dealing with cranky, tired kids, getting dinner ready, and taking kids to sports practices and classes. (In a world where most parents work, few kid activities start before 5:30 p.m.) In the morning, I’m getting kids ready for school. I work out in the two-hour window between when I drop one child off and the other comes home, and my husband works out at 9:00 p.m. after our kids are in bed.

Do You Offer Childcare?

My gym doesn’t, and it can be a struggle. I work part-time from home, so if my kids aren’t in school, I either bring them (and their electronic babysitters) with me or I have to leave them with my husband.

Before my gym offered a late morning class, I missed a lot of evening CrossFit classes because my husband had to work late and I didn’t want to drag a toddler and kindergartener to the gym.

Do You Make Feeding a Family More Difficult?

Paleo, I’m looking at you. If you advise your clients who are cooking for partners and children to follow a restrictive diet without showing them how to do it in a way that won’t turn dinnertime into a full-scale nightmare, you are not serving your clients.

I am (mostly) paleo. My family is not. It took me a solid year to figure out how to do that effectively. It is still stressful, time-consuming, and expensive. Cooking for a partner and two, three, or even four children, like many of my CrossFit friends do, is hard enough without having to cook a separate meal for one of the adults.

Do You Offer Family Programming?

Families have precious little time to spend together. It’s easy to write off what parents feel as simply guilt, but I’d argue it’s more like longing. I love my kids and my husband. I want to spend time with them. It brings me far more joy than going to the gym.

If your goal is to get people moving and healthy, consider a yoga class for parents and babies or a playground strength class where older kids can play while their parents workout nearby. The next time your gym runs a fundraiser WOD, consider adding a non-competitive kids WOD so the whole family can attend. Do all the youth sports teams in your town practice in the same area? Try holding a boot camp on the sidelines for the parents while their kids practice.

Do You Encourage a Workout or an Active Life?

With two kids, it’s easy for me to be active outside the gym. We ride bikes, hike, play soccer in our backyard, sprint down the sidewalk, and explore museums. I often do pull-up negatives on the monkey bars when we go to parks. We shoveled a lot of snow this winter. Just because I skipped my workout doesn’t mean I didn’t exercise. Help your clients find ways to be active outside the gym on busy days.

Help Your Clients Help Themselves

Now, I know what you’re thinking: “Wake up and go to the 5 a.m. class! Your kids will understand if you go a whole day without seeing them! Exercise at home while trying to keep your small child entertained!” (Side note: If you have never tried to keep a small child entertained while you work out with weights heavy enough to send them to the hospital, you have no right suggesting it.)

People are already stressed out, lacking family time, and struggling to do even basic, necessary things know that they should do. They are beating themselves up because they can’t figure out how to do it all. Lecturing them about how important it is to prioritize their fitness without helping them find the time is cruel. Fitness professionals need to make getting healthy fit into, not work against, people’s busy lives.

Featured Image: Flamingo images/Shutterstock

The post Stop Time-Shaming Clients. Help Them Get the Work in Instead appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

On the other hand, there are some severe limitations to the traditional model of group class instruction that do not lend themselves to holding an effective “weightlifting class.” In a typical group exercise class, the instructor leads the activities by designating the nature of the activity and providing parameters to standardize the activity. There is a short lifespan under which this type of instructional model can prevail for a group of different levels and abilities. Even teaching the most basic exercises for weightlifting will exceed the limitations of the group class model.

Know When to Individualize

So when is individualization necessary? The short answer is it’s necessary whenever it’s necessary. The goal of the coach is to make the athlete as efficient as possible. If over the course of a 10-year weightlifting career, the athlete’s body changes (and it will), then technique will have to undergo slight modifications, and the training will have to be suited to the specifics of the athlete’s training condition.

Furthermore, that same body will have to train differently depending on the point within the macrocycle, and this will require individual modifications. Although the movements being learned are the same, they will have to be modified to suit the specific body proportions and movement patterns of each individual. This means the coach will have to make specific adjustments.

On other occasions, a group made up of individuals with equal capacities who started at approximately the same time may have to modify certain aspects of the same training program. This requires the coach to do some individualization, which may include dropping or adding a set, eliminating or adding an exercise, adding repetitions on certain sets, or changing the number of sets performed in a specific intensity zone. To make these individualized modifications, the coach must have a deep working knowledge of the medium and a vision for the eventual goal of the training.

Group Training Has Its Place

Personally, during the sessions I host, we have 10 or more athletes training simultaneously on three different programs that vary according to each lifter’s abilities.

There is great energy in the room, as many of the athletes are trying to do well on the same training program and are anxious to see how others are doing. The energy is helpful. The lifters encourage each other, reinforce the culture of the sport, generate enthusiasm for upcoming competitions, and share common knowledge that lies beyond the training advice that I dispense as the coach.

The group also maintains a common pace that keeps the training active and inhibits lagging. For the less accomplished, there are role models to observe and performance models to mimic. Each team member is reinforced by the others. Performing such demanding training on a solitary basis will not last as long as is necessary to benefit from rigorous training.

Final Word

The conclusion here is that training must be individualized for it to be most effective, but must be performed in a group setting that encourages full participation and maintains enthusiasm. As a coach I’ve found this to be true in a wide variety of venues around the world. It is the most productive way to organize a team of lifters to achieve their highest potential.

You must coach individually in a group. 

Featured Image: Flamingo Images/Shutterstock

The post The Right Way to Approach Group Training for Optimal Results appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Kettlebells aren’t the easiest tool to grab, and the ballistic nature of many kettlebell movements makes them even harder to hang onto. What’s more, your ability to grip, and grip tightly, actually facilitate stronger and more powerful lifts. And it all starts with your muscle fascia.

The Importance of Grip

The fascial lines of the body are many and varied. This article isn’t intended to be a primer on fascia but on better understanding it to enhance our training. The arm lines are particularly relevant to our grip needs. There are four of these lines, and all play some part in grip and its effect on supercharging our performance.

This experiment uses the principles of irradiation of muscle tension to demonstrate just how vital grip is:

1. Let your arms hang loosely by your side and notice where there is tension. Now make a fist. Notice it’s not just the muscles of the hand that are tight. The tension travels up your forearms.
2. Now grip even harder. Notice the abdominals engage. Observe how the tension is now not just in your shoulders but also the muscles within your shoulders. How you grip grip has the potential to activate every muscle in your body.

Let’s try our experiment again, this time to demonstrate the importance of the arm lines:

1. Grip as hard as you can, but focus on squeezing the thumb and index finger the hardest. You should feel the pec and delt engage forcefully.
2. Now focus on gripping hardest with the little and ring fingers. This time you should feel the muscles in the back — the lats, rhomboids, and rotator cuff muscles — engage.

Applying this knowledge to exercise is common sense, yet few people do it. The conclusion to make from these tests is that if the body is ready for pushing (via the pecs and delts being engaged), your grip needs to have the index finger involved. The opposite applies to pulling motions, where we want to make sure that the pinky and ring finger are in direct contact with the bar or bell.

Hand Position for Smarter Grip

The most common hand position when using kettlebells is a grip that slides the wrist into the corner of the bell where the handle and body of the bell meet. This allows the handle of the bell to run diagonally across the hand and minimizes discomfort on the back of the wrist.

Then, most folks will close their index finger and thumb around the handle. You may mistakenly believe this grip is acceptable. It’s not acceptable. This grip will actually decrease performance while increasing injury risk. 

Here’s why: During pressing, you need to address not only shoulder flexion but also shoulder stability. If the pinky doesn’t grip the bell, the rotator cuff won’t be fully engaged. And when it comes to swinging or pressing a heavy object overhead, you definitely want all the musculature of your shoulder to be engaged.

A better way to grip a kettlebell for pressing (or get-ups or snatching) is with the handle of the bell going directly across the hand, in line with the calluses. This grip allows both for use of the prime movers and for optimal function of the stabilizers.

Stronger Grip for Better Movement

If we extrapolate this for other kettlebell exercises, such as squats or swings, we can see these fascial lines connect the fingers to the muscles around the shoulder and also become muscles of the trunk on both sides. The front and back functional lines create two large Xs, one on the front of the body and one on the back.

The correct use of grip will switch on our postural control muscles and enhance all of our bigger lifts. For kettlebell squats, the flat grip is once again the better option (as opposed to the diagonal grip), since it activates the most support muscle.

Once you’re used to gripping this way, you’ll find your performance improves while your injury risk decreases. Changing your hand placement will perhaps make a difference in how much load you can move, but that shouldn’t be a concern unless you’re a powerlifter. Focus on how well your body can move and function as a unit.

More on Breaking Muscle:

• Get a Grip: 3 Ways to Grip a Deadlift and How to Get Your Grip Stronger
• More Insight Into Developing Grip Strength: Your Hand Digits
• Beyond the 2-Handed Swing: 5 Effective Kettlebell Movements You May Be Neglecting

The post This Kettlebell Grip Cue May Change Your Training for the Better appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

More importantly, a coach’s job is to help reduce injury both on and off the field. New York University Head Strength and Conditioning Coach and Assistant Athletic Trainer, Joe Mosher (M.Ed, ATC, CSCS, USAW) feels that:

“We have a duty to our athletes to provide them with a program that not only helps enhance their athleticism but also, and maybe more importantly, provides them with a higher level of injury resilience than they had before. I base everything on the idea that if my athletes are healthy and can compete, then they have at least some chance at winning, regardless of who we play. If they are injured and cannot compete then they have zero chance of winning. Even a one percent chance of winning is still better than a zero percent chance at winning.”

No matter how much stronger, bigger, and faster your athletes are compared to the opposition, if they aren’t healthy, they don’t play. Add these five exercises to your programming to give your athletes the best chance at staving off injuries and staying in the game.

Disclaimer: The content on Breaking Muscle is meant to be informative in nature, but it shouldn’t take the place of advice and/or supervision from a medical professional. While many of our contributors and experts have respected certifications and degrees, and while some are certified medical professionals, the opinions and articles on this site are not intended for use as diagnosis and/or treatment of health problems.

Eccentric Hamstring Slide

• What: Hamstring eccentric strength and posterior chain engagement.
• Why: Whether you are an athlete, runner, or fitness fanatic, your hamstring health plays a pivotal role in performance. The hamstrings are a critical component of force development for jumping, running, pulling, Olympic weightlifting, and strength training. Additionally, the hamstrings work to decelerate and absorb muscular force throughout the landing phases of the running/gait cycle and help to stabilize the knees and hips during open chained activity. Without proper hamstring health in both the concentric and eccentric phases of muscle actions, you could be leaving your athletes and clients open to nagging injuries, such as muscle pulls and strains and loss of training development.
• How: Perform this exercise either in the corrective or accessory segment of the workout. The key to doing these is to have controlled lengthening (eccentric) of the muscle, keeping tension and full range of motion (ROM) throughout the movement. Try adding these into your training regimen twice per week, for 2-4 sets of 10-20 controlled (2-3 second eccentric) reps.

90/90 Breathing

• What: This diaphragmatic breathing technique from the Postural Restoration Institute is great for teaching athletes and clients correct breathing and bracing during lifts and in life. Poor breathing techniques can create stiffness and pain in the neck, shoulders, pectoral muscles, lumbar, and anterior hip. This stiffness, combined with intense exercise, can lead to serious injury if left unnoticed.
• Why: The ability to brace and breathe through the diaphragm and abdominals is key to more stability and joint function in the hips, shoulders, and spine. By teaching athletes how to breathe under both non-stressful and stressful situations, they can improve performance and decrease the likelihood of injury during running, contact sports, overextended and rotational movements, and life.
• How: Perform this breathing protocol in the warm-up routine prior to resistance training. This exercise is a great way to mentally prepare athletes and clients to become more in tune with their breathing. More importantly, it gives them the core stabilization they need to perform optimally and safely.

X-Band Walk

• What: Glute activation, hip external rotation, and hip/knee/ankle stability.
• Why: Glute development is critical for hip health, which is a key player in deadlifts, squats, Olympic weightlifting, jumping, landing, and running, as well as power production and injury prevention. Additionally, the glutes stabilize the hip and knee joints, which tend to be susceptible to injury without adequate stability.
• How: Perform this movement either in the corrective or accessory segment of the workout. Depending on the band thickness and the position of the straps, the difficulty can be altered based on the athlete. The farther the bands are from the hip joint, the more resistance. Start with a few sets of 8-10 steps per leg, focusing on strong, controlled steps.

Marches and Skips

• What: Running, jumping, sprinting mechanics and leg drive technique.
• Why: The ability to create force is one thing, but most fitness enthusiasts and even some athletes fall short on the ability to apply maximal force using efficient movement mechanics. The result is decreased running speed, economy, wasting of energy, and an increased risk of potential injury. By understanding and engraining sound marches, skips, and running drills in warm-up sets and pre-competition drills, you can teach athletes to not only run faster, but also safer and more efficiently.
• How: Perform these drills in warm-up sets and/or pre-competition drills. It is imperative to teach the athletes to not allow knee extension as the leg drives upwards, and to maintain proper alignment of the base leg under the torso. Additionally, be sure to have the athlete actively pull the heel to the glutes with the hamstring, and drive his or her foot directly under the center of mass.

Arm Bar

• What: Scapular stabilization, rotator cuff stability, and shoulder awareness.
• Why: Whether you are a throwing athlete (baseball, football, softball, volleyball, tennis), weightlifter (snatches and jerks), or avid fitness enthusiast, scapular and shoulder stabilization are critical for optimal force development and injury prevention. The ability to anchor the posterior shoulder will increase the amount of force than can be controlled, decelerated, and ultimately produced at the shoulder joint. Additionally, Mosher states: “[T]he arm bar is a great shoulder disassociation exercise. It teaches the body to move around a stable shoulder. It also trains the rotator cuff in its first actual role of centering the joint as it moves through a full ROM. Lastly, it allows the athlete to develop thoracic mobility at the same time as teaching the shoulder joint to pack tight but still move independently.”
• How: Perform arm bars either in the corrective or accessory segment of the workout. The key to doing these is to have controlled stability of the shoulder as you turn your body. Make sure to keep the shoulder blades and abs tight, as you stay “stacked” through the upper/mid back. Try these out for 8-10 repetitions per arm, focusing on a brief pause at the top of each repetition.

The Proactive Approach

Take the time to address your athletes’ needs by including these fundamental exercises in their programming. This proactive approach will bulletproof your athletes from injury and keep them on the field and in the gym for years to come.

Learn more about injury prevention:

Programming for Injury Prevention: How to Keep Your Athletes Healthy

The post 5 Exercises to Help Athletes (Possibly) Prevent Injury appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

• Muscular strength and power
• Hypertrophy
• Fat loss
• Cardiorespiratory endurance
• Speed, quickness, and agility
• Joint flexibility and stability
• Injury prevention

How can all of those be addressed within limited training time, unmotivated athletes, and limited resources?

Programming Is More Than Sets and Reps

Let’s break these goals down into their fundamental requirements:

• There must be a well-planned program that addresses the desired qualities.
• There must be an overload effect from applied stress.
• Time must be allowed for proper nutritional intake and healing for adaptation to that overload stress.
• The plan must be progressive, increasing the overload over time as the body adapts to existing levels.

So far, so good. However, recovery can throw a wrench in the works. Without as much attention placed on it as the workouts themselves, overtraining can rear its ugly head, leaving you with athletes who have:

• Difficulty progressing in workouts
• Increased potential for injury
• Increased risk of illness
• Decreased performance in competition
• Apathy toward training

In short, lack of proper recovery or too much training volume destroys everything else you’re trying to do.

Recovery Factors to Consider

Let’s consider some other factors in programming to ensure adequate recovery:

• Training components are normally scheduled within the five-day workweek at the college level.
• The imposed overload must be strong enough to create a demand on the system(s).
• Energy is required to meet that overload, then to recover from it. Many coaches forget that second part.
• Athletes also have other daily commitments, and are usually on their own when it comes to proper nutrition and rest (sleep) habits.

Adequate recovery from stressful exercise sessions does not necessarily conform to a 24-hour day, or a five-day work week. The greater the volume of work, the greater the recovery time required. Dig a deep hole, and it will take more time to fill in. Energy stores are depleted that must be replenished; muscle tissue is damaged that must be repaired.

When multiple adaptive responses are desired from one body (i.e., strength, endurance, speed) even more logical planning of the training stresses is required. The athlete doesn’t go to a closet mid-day, pull out a new body, and toss the fatigued one in the laundry basket. It’s the same body that needs to deal with all imposed stresses that day, until there is time for recovery. There is some overlap there, as some training components address multiple qualities simultaneously. For example, increased muscle strength can lead to improved running speed, all other factors remaining equal.

Even the average Joe Sit-at-a-desk-all-day requires recovery from a less-than-demanding lifestyle to do it day after day. How much more so, your hard-charging athletes?

And recovery isn’t just day-to-day. How long do your athletes rest between sets? Between interval runs, agility drills, and speed work? What work to rest ratios are needed? Moreover, what about two-a-days? Do you program strength training and conditioning on the same day? Speed work on a leg strength day? Which one to address first?

Say that your athletes have total body fatigue from a Monday workout. What should you do on Tuesday? Complete rest? But wait, that leaves only three more days to squeeze in more strength training, endurance running, speed work, etc. Help!

Programming Tips to Ensure Recovery

Don’t panic. Remember, the strength and conditioning coach at rival State U is dealing with the same dilemma. We know that rest days are just as important as work days, and that all training components require energy and create a recovery demand.

Take advantage of that training component overlap. Performing speed and agility work creates fatigue (a conditioning effect). Leg strengthening exercises in the weight room indirectly help running speed, and contribute to injury prevention.

Don’t be afraid to take what the calendar gives you. It’s okay (and necessary) to plan occasional complete rest days during the training week. They’ll give your athletes a chance to look after their academic commitments, and a day off can create greater enthusiasm when returning to training. Take advantage of scheduled school breaks (i.e., spring and between-term breaks) to ramp things up. In the offseason, you can challenge your athletes with more volume, and the net positive effects will carry over into the competitive season, when volume must decrease for game-day preparedness.

Example Training Plans for Planned Recovery

I recommend a maximum training segment duration of 8-10 weeks. Below are some example 10-week out-of-season training plans, broken down in terms of stress exposures and recovery time. I’ve laid out two traditional and three non-traditional plans for five days per week, and one non-traditional approach for seven days per week. Strength training (ST) is any weight room work. Conditioning (Cond.) would include any interval running, agility drills, or speed work.

Traditional Five-Day Plan #1

• Number of strength training sessions: 40 (20 each upper and lower body)
• Number of conditioning sessions: 25
• Total number of exercise sessions: 65
• Number of total rest days: 25
• Ratio of actual work days to total rest days: 45:25

Traditional Five-Day Plan #2

• Number of strength training sessions: 30
• Number of conditioning sessions: 25
• Total number of exercise sessions: 55
• Number of total rest days: 20
• Ratio of actual work days to total rest days: 50:20

Non-Traditional Five-Day Plan #1

• Number of strength training sessions: 20
• Number of conditioning sessions: 20
• Total number of exercise sessions: 40
• Number of total rest days: 30
• Ratio of actual work days to total rest days: 40:30

Non-Traditional Five-Day Plan #2

• Number of strength training sessions: 30 (15 each upper and lower body)
• Number of conditioning sessions: 15
• Total number of exercise sessions: 45
• Number of total rest days: 40
• Ratio of actual work days to total rest days: 30:40

Non-Traditional Five-Day Plan #3

• Number of strength training sessions: 15
• Number of conditioning sessions: 15
• Total number of exercise sessions: 30
• Number of total rest days: 40
• Ratio of actual work days to total rest days: 30:40

Non-Traditional Seven-Day Plan

• Number of strength training sessions: 18
• Number of conditioning sessions: 17
• Total number of exercise sessions: 35
• Number of total rest days: 35
• Ratio of actual work days to total rest days: 35:35

Training Plan Comparison and Discussion

If 10 sessions each of quality strength training and conditioning will result in good progress, imagine the results possible with the number of exposures offered in the non-traditional training formats above, especially coupled with a greater number of recovery days.

For example, the 15 upper body and 15 lower body strength sessions in the second non-traditional plan are plenty of opportunity to induce strength gains in a single out-of-season period. Also, 15 conditioning sessions are more than adequate to increase cardiorespiratory fitness. Note that 40 complete rest days are scheduled here to facilitate recovery from the 30 actual training days, making this a sound training plan.

The 7-day example uses 18 full-body strength training sessions and 17 conditioning sessions coupled with 35 complete rest days. Again, a more-than-adequate number of exercise exposures with plenty of built-in recovery time to allow for optimal adaptation.

Compare these to the traditional examples. In the first, 40 strength sessions and 25 conditioning exposures, but only 25 complete rest days in the 70-day plan. Overtraining may be more likely here. Similarly—and possibly quite worse than #1—example #2 is characterized by 30 full-body strength sessions, 25 conditioning workouts but only 20 complete rest days.

More is not always better when it comes to physical training. Properly planned overloads in the weight room and on the track must be logically placed over a training period, along with built-in recovery days. Train your athletes hard, but also train them intelligently. 

Featured image: VK Studio/Shutterstock

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Thankfully, the intentions behind this industry chatter are typically genuine. Coaches want to help clients achieve results, and the general public is simply looking to feel better. However, amidst the confusion is a growing need for the fitness industry to develop a common language that both professionals and consumers can understand. And that common language should focus on helping society move better and more often for the long haul.

Promote Movement Quality

Changing the language of the industry may feel like an impossible task, but two principles are undeniable:

• Put movement quality first.
• Help people move more.

Regardless of your goals (muscle hypertrophy, strength, performance, etc.), these two factors are critical for the industry to head in the right direction. A movement-based approach to training has the potential for magic, and it needs to start in gym class for kids. The lack of a proprioceptive-enriched movement lifestyle for children is a major concern for society.

However, it is never too late to restore what Gray Cook calls “movement competency.” Here is Gray’s definition of how to find movement competency:

This we test with movement screening. If screening reveals pain or dysfunction in the form of limitation or asymmetry, there is a movement competency problem. Alternatively, there is a basic movement-aptitude problem—pick your term, but make the point. Adequate competency suggests acceptable fundamental-movement quality.

Achieving movement competency will be hard if we focus our fitness programs purely on looking better. I am a bodybuilder at heart and have worked on building bigger muscles and looking better since I was 15. Fast-forward almost 20-years and I have realized that my chase for aesthetics has left me with faulty movement patterns. I am now forced to work on improving my movement competency instead of working on looking good.

This doesn’t mean that I will never be able to work out for aesthetics, but I do need to earn the right to make that the sole focus of my training. Building muscle is increasingly important as you age, but you can still have a high-level of movement competency at any fitness level. Building muscle and getting stronger should be your main goal, once you start moving well.

A Catalyst for Change

This was my catalyst for developing a movement-based approach to hypertrophy training. In the past, bodybuilders would maybe perform light static stretching, five minutes on a cardio machine, and a few warm-up sets before jumping into a 25-set workout of chest and triceps. Young lifters without a lot of miles on their body can get away with this method for a while, but this approach may eventually leave you with asymmetries, injuries, pain, and frustratingly slow progress.

You don’t have to be in your fifties to have an old training age. As Dan John says, “It’s not the years, it’s the miles.” I have been training hard for almost 20-years with a week off here and there, but not often. The miles are deep in this young body.

If you want to last in the lifting game for the long run, endless sets of eight to 15 reps per body part may not be what your body needs. So, what should a person chasing a bodybuilding-type physique do instead of the typical splits? Revisit and master fundamental human movements and do them with realistic sets, reps, and loads. If you focus on moving better first, you will be surprised how fast your body will be able to get back to lifting heavy objects, often.

A Collaborative Design

Like any other trainer or strength coach, my philosophy has evolved over the years. These days, I follow philosophies of various tried-and-true methods.

Functional Movement Systems (FMS) is a useful approach to understand movement baselines and exercise modifications. Most people would benefit from an FMS screening. Along with a detailed health history at intake, FMS provides a solid foundation when designing programs. For the beginner or veteran, the fundamentals are where you start and finish.

Every strength and muscle hypertrophy program should include some variation of the following movements depending on the goal of the individual. This list is largely inspired by the legendary Dan John:

• Push: push-ups, bench press, overhead press
• Pull: dumbbell row, inverted row, chin-ups, pull-ups
• Squat: goblet squat, front squat, back squat, single-leg squat
• Hinge: deadlift, kettlebell swing, single-leg deadlifts, Olympic lifts
• Loaded Carry: farmer’s carry, suitcase carry, overhead carry, sandbag carry
• Groundwork: rocking, rolling, creeping, crawling, Turkish get-ups
• Core/Rotation/Anti-rotation: ab wheel rollouts, cable press outs, chops, lifts

The New Age Bodybuilding Template

Below is a foundational hypertrophy template that consists of lifting 3 days per week for 6 weeks. Dividing your strength and conditioning into four to six week phases will keep your body fresh, resilient, and improve general physical preparedness. This length of time seems to be the sweet spot, since most people have what I call “Exercise ADD.”

Program Components:

1. Correctives
2. Movement Preparation
3. Lift Weights
4. Finisher

Correctives

Correctives are based off of FMS and health history. For example, a perfect score for an Active Straight Leg is 3/3, 0 for pain. Your goal should be to achieve symmetry (a score of 2/2 or 3/3). If your score is 2/1, the following corrective exercises will use core and motor control to improve alternating hip flexion and extension.

• Alligator Breathing: Lay down in a comfortable position for 2-3 minutes. I prefer on the stomach to feel the abdominal wall. Breathe in and out through your nose. Focus on pulling air deep into your belly. It may help to imagine pulling air down into your feet.
• Assisted Leg Lowering: 10 reps each leg
• Cook Hip Lift: 5 x 10-second holds each side

Movement Preparation

Before you begin your workout spend 5-10 minutes on the following movement preparations:

• Kettlebell arm bars: 5 each side
• Half-kneeling kettlebell halos: 10 reps
• Goblet squat w/prying knees: 5 reps
• Lunge Matrix: 6 reps
• Plank to Down Dog: 10 reps (not in video)
• Inch Worm: 10 reps (not in video)
• Jump Rope: 2-5 minutes (not in video)

Lift Weights

Below are the rep rotations for the three lifting days. Organize your week so that you don’t lift two days in a row.

• Monday (or Tuesday): 5 x 5
• Wednesday (or Thursday): 8 x 3
• Friday (or Saturday): 3 x 8-12

The following exercise options are based on the fundamental movement patterns:

• Push: One-arm kettlebell press, single-arm bench press, push-ups
• Pull: Inverted row, chin-ups
• Squat: Goblet Squat, single-leg squat, front squats
• Hinge: Deadlift, single-leg deadlift, kettlebell swing
• Loaded Carry: farmer’s walk, suitcase carry
• Ground Work: Turkish get-ups, crawling and rolling
• Core (rotation/anti-rotation): McGill Big 3, rollouts, anti-rotation press outs

Finisher

Pick one conditioning finisher per training session:

• Air Bike Sprints: 6-8 rounds of 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off
• Concept2 Rower: 1,000 meters
• Ski Erg Sprints: 3 rounds of 1-minute on, rest 2 minutes in between sprints
• Sled Push/Pull: 5 x 50 yards
• Battling Ropes: 8 x 20 reps for 2 arm slams. Rest 30 seconds between sets.

Cool-Down

Proper recovery will provide your body with a better base to keep building muscle for the long haul. Before you skip out of the gym after your workout, run through this cool-down routine:

• Alligator breathing: 2 minutes
• Head nods: 10 reps up and down and 10 reps side to side
• Bird dogs: 10 reps/side
• Rock backs: 20 reps
• Egg rolls: 20 reps
• Get up and down off of the ground: 5-10 reps
• Baby crawling, Spiderman crawling: 30-40 yards each

Change Is Here

I will always be a meathead at heart. I love bodybuilding and I am amazed at the amount of weight powerlifters can move. But the “pedal to the metal” workouts eventually take their toll.

If we continue to direct the general public towards endless sets of body-part split workouts, force Olympic lifting on people who are not ready and may never be ready to perform, and max out on the squat, deadlift, and bench press, the long haul may never come. Let’s focus on keeping people moving instead.

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I’ve been coaching for almost twenty years now, and I am obsessed with hill running. I have Payton to thank for this, and since speed is the ultimate goal in all of my programs, hills (or stairs for those of you who don’t have a suitable hill close by) are an absolute must in any speed or conditioning program. I’ve spent the bulk of my career split between Cal Poly and San Jose State and both places have significant hill/stadium inclines that are perfect for hammering my athletes.

Why Hills?

Strength and power are critical when we are talking speed, especially during the acceleration phase. Forty-yard dashes, great running backs darting through a seam, a batter racing down the first base line trying to beat out a throw, or a forward exploding to the hole, the sudden burst of speed is the most important factor. It’s the first three to five steps that determine the success of the effort.

Watch the NFL combine. When you see the athletes run their 40s, it’s the start that is the greatest determiner of a good time. Inversely, when you see a guy stumble out of the gate or take a sloppy step, you can rest assured that the time will be less than impressive.

Hill running teaches the drive phase of a sprint as nothing else can. Because of the incline, the runner must use the forefoot to climb. One of the most important speed training cues we use is that front of the foot is for speed, the heels are for braking. Even big guys, who by virtue of their size and propensity to heel contact first when they run on flat ground, are forced into an “appropriate” sprinting position. Think of the lean that you see world-class sprinters use in the first 50-70 meters of a 100-meter dash — that is the position we want to teach and the hill automatically does it for us.

The most obvious benefit is the load hill running puts on the legs. I have always thought that parachute pulling, banded running, and partner towing are silly given that all of those devices or routines are targeting the benefits of time on the hills. Next to squatting, Olympic lifting and/or kettlebell training, nothing will address leg strength and explosiveness like sprints up a hill.

Use Hills for Lateral Applications

Because the vast majority of the teams that I train for speed don’t actually get opportunities in their sports to run straight ahead where track workouts would benefit them (think top-end speed), we devote nearly all of our time working change of direction training. Many kids have little or no understanding of how to turn. They have no understanding of where their body is in space, insist on using their toes to slow down, and more often than not, have little control of their momentum when they run.

Because of the incline of your chosen hill, the runner must naturally situate his/her drive foot in a “toe-in” position when they laterally climb. If they don’t, their efficiency goes down the toilet and they will feel, almost instinctively, a need to adjust. When one are on flat ground, one of the major takeaways in footing that I teach is a subtle toe-in on the outside leg of a directional turn. This does two things. First, it allows the runner to access the big toe completely when they drive. Second, it directionally is in sync with where they are trying to go. Believe it or not, this is something that many of these kids do not possess when they show up at first. And, what you get when they don’t own this technique is a slow, power-stripped attempt at redirecting themselves.

Next, gravity is a bully. The natural incline of the hill demands a very forceful push. One that is necessary on flat ground when the athlete is attempting to accelerate.  If I can get a kid to haul ass up the hill, either laterally or straight ahead, they have context and I can get that type of understanding on flat ground. 

The Benefits of Backward Hill Sprints

Hill running backward is the perfect way to hammer your athletes. The hill I use is out behind our sports complex at Cal Poly is about a 35-yard climb at approximately a 14 percent grade. Steep. We have integrated backward running into the final phase of our hill workouts. Part of it is because I want my kids considerably uncomfortable, part of functional speed for my defensive backs and linebackers, and the other part is because I want them to develop a degree of toughness.

When I was in college, we used to have to backpedal around the outside of the Begley Building at EKU. Truthfully, it was a by-design way to make us miserable. The changes in incline outside were constant and there was an intimate relationship with misery because we would be told to do this for 15 minutes or more without stopping. It was a total jerk move but it taught us a lesson — learn how to push through pain. Nothing careless, just a leg burn that would make you nearly gag on your own vomit.

The foot drive that backward hill running produces basically cannot be duplicated anywhere else. It teaches the kids how to push with all they have off of the forefoot. Remember, acceleration happens at the front of the foot and braking happens in the heel. This trains the runner on the appropriate pressures, where to put them, and how to use their feet in an economic way.

Hills Teach Running Efficiency

Again, because of the incline, the runner is put into a position where they have no choice but to give an all-out effort. Because of the distance, they have to travel up a hill, casual jumping or sissified hopping only makes the getting up the hill take 10 times longer. Because they want it to be over as soon as possible, you get a natural full effort.

The bounding has turned out to be the hardest thing for my kids. Other things might hurt more, but the bounding makes them work as hard as they can, coordinate movements to be as efficient as possible, and it completely burns their anaerobic energy systems to the ground. It’s a pleasure to watch.

Featured Image: KieferPix/Shutterstock

The post The Benefits of Hill Running — More Speed, Better Mechanics, and Power appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The methods that worked like a charm 10 years ago are relics by today’s standards. Teaching methods and coaches are evolving, as are the cookie-cutter software programs. In many respects, the convenience of these programs is worth its weight in gold. But are we losing some of the magic when we do it this way?

My Coaching History

I can’t speak for all coaches because I don’t know what they are up against. My story is a bit of an unusual one for a college strength coach. I paid my coaching dues in a unique way. I started at Eastern Kentucky University as an intern in the spring semester of 2000. Six weeks into my internship, my Head Strength Coach, Mike Kent, took the head job at the University of Louisville and had to leave. Because of the relative newness of his position at EKU, the administration was unprepared and asked me to fill in until a search could be conducted for Coach Kent’s replacement. I worked for three months alone, trying to keep an athletic department strength program afloat.

One of the most difficult tasks while filling in for him was programming the way he programmed. Get this: Kent wrote out every individual program by hand. Each team would have either one sheet or a series of sheets that would carry that team for a month or two. He created each plan in Excel, where the exercises would be built into the framework of the sheet. Then he would spend his weekend hand-programming loads for each athlete over the scope of the entire athletic department. One red pen, followed by hours and hours of work. Kent’s meticulous programming ensured every athlete got the level of individual attention that he felt they needed.

The Difference Between Sheets and White Boards

The coach-athlete relationship is an interesting one. When it comes to compliance, athletes are mandated to show up whether they like it or not, and they don’t have a say in their programming. If you are a private trainer or own a gym/box, your clients have more say. But one thing shines clear in all settings — the people training in your space want to feel like they are being given their due attention, not just as members of a group but as individuals.

There are only a few instances where using a whiteboard is acceptable in my facility. Most of the time, we use whiteboards when we are teaching. When we are trying to get techniques dialed in and where loads are not necessarily a priority, the first month or so is a great time to rely on a whiteboard. Again, in my situation, which is very specific, we will also keep a team on the whiteboard if the team members are not showing a level of dedication. Let’s face it, nobody on campus takes weight training as seriously as I do, and there are some teams who “go through the motions.” I advise my assistants to act accordingly. There’s no need to devote hours and hours of programming for a team that will not give an acceptable effort.

Again, I understand that in a CrossFit box, most clientele can be transient and not as consistent as a college team that is required to show up. That makes the individuality piece more of a headache since you don’t know the next time your clients will show up. But nothing tells your clients you are all in with them, like handing them each a sheet with their name on it. It’s a simple gesture that speaks volumes about your commitment to their progress. Yes, it can be time-consuming, but it can also be a difference between a lackluster effort and a herculean one.

Computer Programming Vs. Hand Programming

I have never used a computer to run percentages for one of my programs. I have always done it by hand. And honestly, I have never used a set percentage to assign loads except for deciding loads for the beginning of a hypertrophy cycle based on a newly minted one-rep max. The method I use is one that Coach Kent taught me, and it’s based on that method’s natural evolution after 16 years of doing it that way.

Computer programming based on percentages, to me, makes some pretty bold assumptions for the duration of a training cycle. First off, if you use a linear method as I do, you probably write for eight to 12 weeks at a time. If I write a twelve-week hypertrophy/strength/power program for a football player, code the weeks with prescribed percentages, and then tap in a one-rep max to be our baseline for the percentages, I am asking the athletes to be perfect with their nutrition, their rest, their effort — at all times. And let’s face it, none of them are. It’s nearly impossible for a person to be that dialed-in all of the time.

Hand programming gives me several advantages that a computer will never provide. First, even though I use what looks like an algebraic formula in my head to determine loads, I get the flexibility to adjust on the fly. You need that flexibility when Joe Blow rolls his ankle the Friday prior. Hand programming gives me an out when I realize that the whole team is about to bonk, and an impromptu deload week is what is needed. It allows me (or forces me, really) to get a complete read on each individual and holds my ass to the fire to stay engaged with each of my athletes. You can ask me at any time of a training cycle what the weight on so-and-so’s bench is on his second set, and 99 out of 100 times, I will know what’s going on.

How I Program

If you were to watch me program, this is what it would look like: I have a stack of sheets, and each one gets the signature “pause and think.” I have to look at the athlete’s name and quickly review and remember what this person did last week. Then the writing begins. I will program a sheet twice a week in some training phases, once for the first half, then once for the second. It keeps me as current as possible for each individual.

When it comes to coaching, I am selling an idea. I am selling a formula. I am asking my athletes to have complete faith in me as I make decisions for them. The way I operate gives my athletes complete freedom not to think. They come in, and their job is to be focused and present and, most importantly, ready to perform. I do all the thinking for them days earlier, so they can just come in and kick ass.

Hand programming is part of that. If I hand you a sheet of computer-printed numbers, it will excite you as much as combing your hair or putting mustard on your sandwich. But when I give you a sheet with my handwriting on it, you should see someone who is partnered with you. The handwriting tells the athletes I have taken the time to think about them every day of every week.

The post It’s 2021 and I Still Handwrite My Training Programs. Here’s Why appeared first on Breaking Muscle.