However, sometimes you can argue that a study uses participants that aren’t advanced enough athletes. Sure, cold water immersion might not work well for newbies, but maybe it works well for advanced athletes. In a recent study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, investigators sought to find out if Olympic level lifters would recover faster by using cold water immersion.

The seven lifters who participated were the German male Olympic weightlifting national team, a solid weightlifting crew of highly advanced athletes. A team that would be able to settle the issue of whether or not cold water immersion could help an athlete recover even though he frequently walks the line between full recovery and overtraining. With elite athletes like these, even a very small advantage can make a large difference.

The authors of the study did find some modest support in favor of testing this particular population. They discovered that cold water immersion might benefit weight bearing sports more than non-weight bearing sports, and that power (but not strength) and coordination might recover quicker by the use of this therapy. So the weightlifters might be just the right candidates for the task.

The athletes all completed two four-day phases of weightlifting, one in which they performed cold water immersion, and one where they didn’t. Whichever phase came first was randomized to reduce the influence of the training effect. Between the two phases was a ten day “wash-out” period, meaning they took some time off to make sure the first phase didn’t affect the second.

They did their normal workouts, which averaged 18-25 working sets, typically in the 3-5 rep range. The sets consisted of the exercises you’d expect: the competition lifts and their accessories like front squats, high pulls, and so on. Some of the exercise choices varied slightly from phase to phase, but the volume and intensity was the same.

The first day of each four day cycle consisted of two of the above mentioned sessions, as well as a performance test and some blood testing. Day two was just one session and more blood testing. Day three was another two sessions for a total of five. The fourth day was for collecting the final blood samples and repeating the performance test from day one. Subjective measures were also taken throughout the study.

Despite the potential benefits the researchers found, the cold water immersion therapy didn’t work. On average, the athletes didn’t experience a significant benefit from using it. In short, nothing really happened.

In a study like this, it’s impossible to eliminate two important variables. The first is inter-individual variability. Most of the athletes didn’t see any important difference between using the immersion therapy and not. However one athlete saw a significant improvement by using the immersion therapy, and two of them saw a loss in performance using it. This suggests at the possibility that some are benefited, and some are hindered by cold water immersion, but more research would be needed.

The second confounding variable is the placebo effect, as well as its opposite, the nocebo effect. Because there is no way to hide the treatment condition from the participants or authors of the study, there is no way to rule out that participant or author expectations influenced the results. These effects could influence the results and the individual variability seen in the study.

Even though there’s an outside chance that the seemingly ineffectual use of cold water immersion therapy is consistently the consequence of the nocebo effect, it would seem rational to skip this method of recovery. Either the effect is not real and this method is useless, or the effect is real and you’ll expect it not to work now that you’ve read this article.

Reference:

1. Jan Schimpchen, et. al., “Can cold water immersion enhance recovery in elite Olympic weightlifters? An individualized perspective,” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2016, DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000001591.

The post Cold Water Immersion Therapy Shown Ineffective for Advanced Athletes appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

To determine the accuracy of each of the devices in energy expenditure, the researchers compared each of them to a known quantity: the SenseWear Armband. This armband is research grade wearable tech that measures acceleration in three directions, takes skin temperature, galvanic skin response, and more. Its validity has been determined in several studies in which it was compared against other scientific gold-standards like indirect calorimetry. This device was considered suitable for scientific research in free-living conditions, which was the goal of the study. The participants wore the SenseWear simultaneous with the monitor being tested.

For sleep, the participants used a self-report log to measure the length of sleep, although the SenseWear included a function to measure both the time asleep and the time laying down, (which were included in the study).

There were 95 participants in the study, and they each wore the SenseWear in addition to two or three of the other monitors as available. They wore each monitor for a couple days, collecting data for one full day and night each.

On average, the energy expenditure was almost universally underreported. Only the Polar Loop measured higher than the SenseWear Armband on average, and only by 50 calories. Every other device measured lower than the armband for calories burned by 400 to 500 calories (or more). The Polar Loop also had the lowest standard deviation, meaning it measured calories in a pretty tight band. This could suggest a more consistently accurate reading of energy expenditure as well, however, it is possible that this is by chance as well.

When it came to how long they slept, the results were closer on average, but with a greater degree of variation. It seems that wearables aren’t so great at determining sleep on a day-to-day basis, but over time will probably come pretty close to matching how well people report that that they sleep.

In terms of which devices did the best, the Polar Loop was the best at determining energy expenditure, with a standard error of 13%, followed by the Misfit Shine (15.2%) and the Fitbit Flex (15.5%). For sleep, the Garmin Vivofit (4%), Fitbit Flex (8.8%), and Jawbone UP 24 (10.2%) were the top three respectively. However, it is worth it to note that the three that did best on reporting sleep required the user to initiate sleep mode, which wasn’t automatic. It would appear that an automatic sleep detection lowers the accuracy of the device, the tradeoff being convenience.

Before you run out to buy the Garmin if you’re most interested in monitoring your own sleep, there’s a further consideration. Sleep was measured relative to a sleep log, and the devices without automatic detection performed best. This should come as no surprise, because it more or less means that the devices work as an electronic sleep log.

What’s most interesting about the sleep log is that it was closer to the SenseWear’s laying-down-detection feature than it was the SenseWear’s sleep detection feature, which indicated much less sleep than participants reported. If we were to assume for a moment that people are likely to report their sleep time as a function of their laying down time, and not, say, high quality sleep time, then we would have a pretty good explanation for the SenseWear’s low reported sleep time. And if that sleep time was more accurate than the self-reported data, it might be true that the average device overreports sleep. If all of that is true, and I suspect it is, then it’s the Polar Loop that wins yet again, followed by the Jawbone Up 24, and Fitbit Charge HR. Please note, that’s speculative, and wasn’t reported by the researchers, but seems apparent in their data.

When compared to the SenseWear, the Polar Loop is the clear winner for overall accuracy and ease of use and would be a good buy, with a strong showing from Fitbit as well. If you’re interested in a more user-controlled sleep log type feature, the Garmin Vivofit should be your choice.

The post Science Weighs In: Are Wearables Worth It? appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

In the initial round of research, the P75 neurotrophin receptors were experimentally removed in a group of mice. These receptors are what allow the neurotrophin proteins to do their job, and without the receptors, the proteins were rendered useless. Then these mice and normal mice were fed a high fat diet to see what would happen.

The diet the mice ate was enough to make the normal mice obese, with large fat cells, higher insulin levels and insulin sensitivity, and the beginnings of fatter liver disease. So the diet wasn’t great for their health to say the least. But the mice with their P75 neurotrophin receptors removed had no such effects. Remarkably, they remained healthy, without liver or insulin problems, and they resisted weight gain, even remaining lean.

Except that they obviously burned more fat, it isn’t entirely clear why the p75 depleted mice resisted weight gain. The mice all ate the same diet, and had the same amount of physical activity. And yet they still had greater energy expenditure, perhaps through some mechanism like Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT). In humans, NEAT is the major factor in adaptive thermogenesis that changes with alterations in diet. Essentially, you fidget less, and make fewer energy burning choices outside of exercise which eventually add up. For the mice without P75 neurotrophin receptors, it added up to enough of an effect to remain lean on a diet substantial enough to cause fatty liver disease.

Now this was a study done on mice, so we don’t know what effect a P75 neurotrophin intervention would have on people. Theoretically, without experimentally eliminating this receptor, humans could take a drug which blocks the receptor to find out if the effects are consistent.

A possibly alarming effect in human beings could be that, in the human brain, P75 neurotrophin is involved in neuron growth and neuron survival. Whatever effects it has in mice, this seems to be a pretty important receptor in human beings. Although some drug or genetic therapy might reduce the negative effects of high calorie diets in humans, we’d have to know at what cost.

As if anticipating the possible harm to human beings, the researchers conducted a follow up experiment in which the receptor was removed only from fat cells in the body of the mice, but not in the brain. “Since neurotrophins and their receptors control the communication between the brain and peripheral organs, they could be new therapeutic targets with implications in both metabolic and neurologic diseases,” said the senior investigator, Katerina Akassoglou. So it is possible to essentially remove this signal while leaving the P75 neurotrophin receptors in the brain intact. This could theoretically reduce some of the potential side-effects.

Indeed, the experiment to remove the P75 neurotrophin receptors in just the fat cells was as successful in eliminating metabolic disease and body fat as the initial experiment.

The researchers suggest that the development of a drug to perform this task would be the next step. Presumably, the tests would be performed in animal experiments long before something was developed for human use. Should it prove successful, we could have a human drug that eliminates some lifestyle diseases. Of course, there would be further uses for the drug, like helping athletes stay lean while on high calorie diets that promote longer-duration exercise.

As incredible as the possible benefits to athletes and non-athletes could be, we are still a very long way off from knowing if this could be safe or effective in humans. Until then, good old-fashioned hard work and healthy eating will do the trick.

Reference:

1. Gladstone Institutes. “Brain receptor regulates fat burning in cells: Decreasing levels of p75 neurotrophin receptor prevented obesity and metabolic diseases in mice fed a high-fat diet.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 12 January 2016.

The post This Protein May Keep You Lean on Any Diet appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The authors of the study explain that caffeine is an adenosine receptor antagonist, meaning that it assists in blocking the perception of pain. As such, they suspected on the outset of the research, that DOMS might be reduced by caffeine intake.

The 30 adult test subjects completed a 164 km recreational cycle ride to induce the soreness, primarily in the quads. They then ingested either 3 mg per kilogram of bodyweight or a placebo immediately after the ride, and each morning for the next four days. They consumed the same dose again in the afternoon for the next 3 afternoons. That amounts to about 1 large cup of coffee for a 150 lb (68 kg) person with each dose.

It’s worth noting that most people form an increased tolerance, and blunted effect from habitual use. In other words, the dose they took represented a lot of caffeine for someone who consumed no caffeine prior to the study, but not a huge dose for daily users, of which the test subjects were the latter. They consumed an average of 230 mg of caffeine daily already. Based on the average weight of the participants, those in the caffeine group consumed about double their normal dose total each day. Still, half a gram of caffeine daily is more than enough to cause sleep problems in many people.

After the study, both perceived soreness and perceived leg function (how strong their legs felt during daily tasks) were measured for the next few days to see if the caffeine affected either variable.

It may not be for everyone, but caffeine may provide some relief from DOMS.

The caffeine was actually effective as the researchers suspected, especially the first day after the race. Both function and soreness were reduced on that day. After that, perceived leg function was no different between the groups, but soreness did seem to be less in the afternoons for the next few days. So it would seem that caffeine can provide some pain relief.

Of particular importance to these results would be athletes who are participating in multi-day events. Soreness can affect the effort an athlete puts into subsequent efforts by making it unpleasant to continue. However, it’s important to note that soreness was reduced, but the feelings of leg function were not after the day following the exercise. For events lasting longer than two days, confidence could still be sapped, even with this regimen.

If you do plan on trying caffeine as a means of reducing post exercise pain, the researchers indicated that the effect is short-lived. Some of the other benefits of caffeine diminish after two to four hours. This suggests the pain attenuation probably only lasts about that long as well. The researchers propose that taking caffeine a few times through the day might be required to maintain effectiveness, although they are silent on the option of taking more caffeine in a single dose as a means of extending its effects.

When trying out the pain relieving effects of caffeine, note that the participants consumed most of the caffeine after the workout, not before as you might normally do. All of them did ingest a small amount (averaging 44 mg) during the ride. Also, bear in mind that if you’re already accustomed to consuming the doses used in this study (approximately half a gram of caffeine daily) it may no longer have this effect for you, and doubling it would be inadvisable. If you currently consume little or no caffeine, the effective dose in this study may be too much for you. Play with the dosage and err on the side of too little at first.

References:

1. Aaron Caldwell, et. al., “Effect of Caffeine on Perceived Soreness and Functionality following an Endurance Cycling Event,” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2016, DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000001608

The post Caffeine Can Reduce Muscle Soreness appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Boys and girls aged about 13 years old performed both a resistance training workout, and a HIIT workout in random order and separated by at least three days. They did a four week familiarization program where they got accustomed to the training and intensity levels used for the final workouts being tested. The workouts were time-matched, both with 30 seconds of work followed by 30 seconds of rest. The children were tested for their limits and their working sets for the test were submaximal.

The resistance training included pushups, squats and modified pullups (of the inverted row variety). They also occasionally performed other associated exercises during the familiarization phase, but everything was done with the body as the only source of resistance with one exception. Some of the stronger children used a sandbag to add resistance to the squats. They did four sets of 30 seconds for each exercise for a total of 12 sets (6 minutes of work).

The HIIT was performed on either an exercise bike or on a boxing bag. The kids learned a “non-contact” technique. They did 6 sets of each of these two exercises per workout for a total of 12 sets for the same duration as the resistance training.

The resistance training and HIIT both increased salivary cortisol levels (representing physiological and psychological stress) and blood lactate levels, although the HIIT increased the lactate levels higher. Average heart rate was about 9 beats per minute higher during the HIIT workout. The researchers determined that could have resulted from the horizontal position of two out of three of the resistance training exercises. The heart doesn’t need to work as hard when horizontal. They also indicated that the heart rate was still classified as “vigorous” despite the difference.

The substance Alpha Amylase was also studied to gain reference values for children, but the individual differences were too great to find anything useful there.

In terms of results, the HIIT received a stronger acute response across the variables, but the authors believe that the values were similar enough to represent a comparable training effect, especially since some of the differences between the two workouts could be explained merely by other confounding variables like what the kids ate that day, how well they slept, and so on.

Perhaps the most interesting part of this piece is the authors’ suggestion of applications. Assuming a safe resistance training program – a topic that is controversial already – the authors suggest the possibility that resistance training might be preferable in adolescents. They note that the cardiovascular response of the resistance training was similar to the high intensity interval training protocol, but that that resistance training has other benefits. Namely, they will also receive the neuromuscular benefits of resistance work, such as improved strength.

Photos courtesy of CrossFit LA Kids.

It’s also worth noting that two of the individuals didn’t have data in the HIIT training because the masks that provided the gas analysis for the study became too uncomfortable. However, they wore the same masks during the resistance training protocol. This might indicate that the HIIT itself was uncomfortable. The authors don’t discuss this issue at length, but as a coach, I find that people have a difficult time sticking with HIIT programs because of how unpleasant they feel. In support of this possibility, the children reported a higher perceived exertion during the HIIT training than the resistance training.

The authors drive the point home by stating that both the HIIT and the resistance training should be categorized as “vigorous” activity and there’s a limit to how much vigorous work a child should perform weekly. Since resistance training confers both cardiovascular benefits and improved strength, the workloads of children are perhaps better spent on resistance training.

Reference

1. Nigel Harris , et. al., “ACUTE RESPONSES TO RESISTANCE AND HIGH INTENSITY INTERVAL TRAINING IN ADOLESCENTS” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

The post Resistance Training Plans Might Be Superior to HIIT For Kids appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Day 1

Dynamic Warm up

Deadlift 3 x 5 with 7 rep max

Back bridges, two leg x 20

Back bridges, one leg x 15 each leg

Front kick/teep for height x 20 each leg

Side kick for height x 20 each side

Back kick/mule kick for height x 20 each side

Thai kick/roundhouse kick for height x 20 each side

Foam Roll – Lower body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Day 2

Dynamic Warm up

Row – 3 x 5 with 7 rep max

Overhead squat x 10 with 20 rep max

Push Up into Downward Facing Dog x 20

Kimura Stretch x 20 each side

Americana Stretch x 20 each side

Wall slides x 20

Half Foam Roller or tennis ball crunches x 10 in three different spots on upper spine

Foam Roll – Upper Body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Day 3

Dynamic Warm up

Bench Press 3 x 5 with 7 rep max

Back bridges, two leg x 20

Back bridges, one leg x 15 each leg

Front kick/teep for height x 20 each leg

Side kick for height x 20 each side

Back kick/mule kick for height x 20 each side

Thai kick/roundhouse kick for height x 20 each side

Foam Roll – Lower body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Click on the number below that corresponds to the week of training you’re in.

Week 2

Day 1

Dynamic Warm up

Row – 3 x 5 with 7 rep max

Overhead squat x 10 with 20 rep max

Pushup into Downward Facing Dog x 20

Kimura Stretch x 20 each side

Americana Stretch x 20 each side

Wall slides x 20

Half Foam Roller or tennis ball crunches x 10 in three different spots on upper spine

Foam Roll – Upper Body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Day 2

Dynamic warm up

Row – 4 x 5 with 7 rep max

Back bridges, two leg x 20

Back bridges, one leg x 15 each leg

Front kick/teep for height x 20 each leg

Side kick for height x 20 each side

Back kick/mule kick for height x 20 each side

Thai kick/roundhouse kick for height x 20 each side

Foam roll – lower body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Day 3

Dynamic Warm up

Bench press 4 x 5 with 7 rep max

Overhead squat x 10 with 20 rep max

Pushup into downward facing dog x 20

Kimura stretch x 20 each side

Americana stretch x 20 each side

Wall slides x 20

Half foam roller or tennis ball crunches x 10 in three different spots on upper spine

Foam roll – upper body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Click on the number below that corresponds to the week of training you’re in.

Week 3

Day 1

Dynamic Warm up

Deadlift 5 x 5 with 7 rep max

Back bridges, two leg x 20

Back bridges, one leg x 15 each leg

Front kick/teep for height x 20 each leg

Side kick for height x 20 each side

Back kick/mule kick for height x 20 each side

Thai kick/roundhouse kick for height x 20 each side

Foam Roll – Lower body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Day 2

Dynamic warm up

Row – 5 x 5 with 7 rep max

Overhead squat x 10 with 20 rep max

Pushup into downward facing dog x 20

Kimura stretch x 20 each side

Americana stretch x 20 each side

Wall slides x 20

Half foam roller or tennis ball crunches x 10 in three different spots on upper spine

Foam roll – upper body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Day 3

Dynamic warm up

Bench press 5 x 5 with 7 rep max

Back bridges, two leg x 20

Back bridges, one leg x 15 each leg

Front kick/teep for height x 20 each leg

Side kick for height x 20 each side

Back kick/mule kick for height x 20 each side

Thai kick/roundhouse kick for height x 20 each side

Foam roll – lower body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Click on the number below that corresponds to the week of training you’re in.

Week 4

Day 1

Dynamic warm up

Deadlift 7 x 5 with 7 rep max

Overhead squat x 10 with 20 rep max

Pushup into downward facing dog x 20

Kimura stretch x 20 each side

Americana stretch x 20 each side

Wall slides x 20

Half foam roller or tennis ball crunches x 10 in three different spots on upper spine

Foam roll – U\upper body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Day 2

Dynamic warm up

Row – 7 x 5 with 7 rep max

Back bridges, two leg x 20

Back bridges, one leg x 15 each leg

Front kick/teep for height x 20 each leg

Side kick for height x 20 each side

Back kick/mule kick for height x 20 each side

Thai kick/roundhouse kick for height x 20 each side

Foam roll – lower body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Day 3

Dynamic warm up

Bench press 7 x 5 with 7 rep max

Overhead squat x 10 with 20 rep max

Pushup into downward facing dog x 20

Kimura stretch x 20 each side

Americana stretch x 20 each side

Wall slides x 20

Half foam roller or tennis ball crunches x 10 in three different spots on upper spine

Foam roll – upper body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Click on the number below that corresponds to the week of training you’re in.

Week 5

Day 1

Dynamic warm up

Deadlift 2 x 7 with 7 rep max

Back bridges, two leg x 20

Back bridges, one leg x 15 each leg

Front kick/teep for height x 20 each leg

Side kick for height x 20 each side

Back kick/mule kick for height x 20 each side

Thai kick/roundhouse kick for height x 20 each side

Foam Roll – Lower body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Day 2

Dynamic warm up

Row – 2 x 7 with 7 rep max

Overhead squat x 10 with 20 rep max

Pushup into downward facing dog x 20

Kimura stretch x 20 each side

Americana stretch x 20 each side

Wall slides x 20

Half foam roller or tennis ball crunches x 10 in three different spots on upper spine

Foam roll – upper body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Day 3

Dynamic warm up

Bench press 2 x 7 with 7 rep max

Back bridges, two leg x 20

Back bridges, one leg x 15 each leg

Front kick/teep for height x 20 each leg

Side kick for height x 20 each side

Back kick/mule kick for height x 20 each side

Thai kick/roundhouse kick for height x 20 each side

Foam roll – lower body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Click on the number below that corresponds to the week of training you’re in.

Week 6

Day 1

Dynamic warm up

Deadlift 3 x 7 with 7 rep max

Overhead squat x 10 with 20 rep max

Pushup into downward facing dog x 20

Kimura stretch x 20 each side

Americana stretch x 20 each side

Wall slides x 20

Half foam roller or tennis ball crunches x 10 in three different spots on upper spine

Foam roll – upper body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Day 2

Dynamic warm up

Row – 3 x 7 with 7 rep max

Back bridges, two leg x 20

Back bridges, one leg x 15 each leg

Front kick/teep for height x 20 each leg

Side kick for height x 20 each side

Back kick/mule kick for height x 20 each side

Thai kick/roundhouse kick for height x 20 each side

Foam roll – lower body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Day 3

Click on the number below that corresponds to the week of training you’re in.

Week 7

Day 1

Dynamic warm up

Deadlift 4 x 7 with 7 rep max

Back bridges, two leg x 20

Back bridges, one leg x 15 each leg

Front kick/teep for height x 20 each leg

Side kick for height x 20 each side

Back kick/mule kick for height x 20 each side

Thai kick/roundhouse kick for height x 20 each side

Foam roll – lower body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Day 2

Day 3

Dynamic warm up

Bench Press 4 x 7 with 7 rep max

Back bridges, two leg x 20

Back bridges, one leg x 15 each leg

Front kick/teep for height x 20 each leg

Side kick for height x 20 each side

Back kick/mule kick for height x 20 each side

Thai kick/roundhouse kick for height x 20 each side

Foam Roll – lower body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Click on the number below that corresponds to the week of training you’re in.

Week 8

Day 1

Dynamic warm up

Deadlift 5 x 7 with 7 rep max

Overhead squat x 10 with 20 rep max

Pushup into downward facing dog x 20

Kimura stretch x 20 each side

Americana stretch x 20 each side

Wall slides x 20

Half foam roller or tennis ball crunches x 10 in three different spots on upper spine

Foam roll – upper body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Day 2

Dynamic warm up

Row – 5 x 7 with 7 rep max

Back bridges, two leg x 20

Back bridges, one leg x 15 each leg

Front kick/teep for height x 20 each leg

Side kick for height x 20 each side

Back kick/mule kick for height x 20 each side

Thai kick/roundhouse kick for height x 20 each side

Foam roll – lower body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Day 3

Dynamic warm up

Bench press 5 x 7 with 7 rep max

Overhead squat x 10 with 20 rep max

Pushup into downward facing dog x 20

Kimura stretch x 20 each side

Americana stretch x 20 each side

Wall slides x 20

Half foam roller or tennis ball crunches x 10 in three different spots on upper spine

Foam roll – upper body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Click on the number below that corresponds to the week of training you’re in.

Week 9

Day 1

Dynamic warm up

Deadlift 2 x 9 with 7 rep max

Back bridges, two leg x 20

Back bridges, one leg x 15 each leg

Front kick/teep for height x 20 each leg

Side kick for height x 20 each side

Back kick/mule kick for height x 20 each side

Thai kick/roundhouse kick for height x 20 each side

Foam roll – lower body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Day 2

Dynamic warm up

Row – 2 x 9 with 7 rep max

Overhead squat x 10 with 20 rep max

Pushup into downward facing dog x 20

Kimura stretch x 20 each side

Americana stretch x 20 each side

Wall slides x 20

Half foam roller or tennis ball crunches x 10 in three different spots on upper spine

Foam roll – upper body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Day 3

Dynamic warm up

Bench Press 2 x 9 with 7 rep max

Back bridges, two leg x 20

Back bridges, one leg x 15 each leg

Front kick/teep for height x 20 each leg

Side kick for height x 20 each side

Back kick/mule kick for height x 20 each side

Thai kick/roundhouse kick for height x 20 each side

Foam Roll – lower body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Click on the number below that corresponds to the week of training you’re in.

Week 10

Day 1

Dynamic warm up

Deadlift 3 x 9 with 7 rep max

Overhead squat x 10 with 20 rep max

Pushup into downward facing dog x 20

Kimura stretch x 20 each side

Americana stretch x 20 each side

Wall slides x 20

Half foam roller or tennis ball crunches x 10 in three different spots on upper spine

Foam roll – upper body x 10 to 20 minutes

Stretch

Day 2

Dynamic warm up

Row – 3 x 9 with 7 rep max

Back bridges, two leg x 20

Back bridges, one leg x 15 each leg

Front kick/teep for height x 20 each leg

Side kick for height x 20 each side

Back kick/mule kick for height x 20 each side

Thai kick/roundhouse kick for height x 20 each side

Foam roll – lower body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Day 3

Dynamic warm up

Bench press 3 x 9 with 7 rep max

Overhead squat x 10 with 20 rep max

Pushup into downward facing dog x 20

Kimura stretch x 20 each side

Americana stretch x 20 each side

Wall slides x 20

Half foam roller or tennis ball crunches x 10 in three different spots on upper spine

Foam roll – upper body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Click on the number below that corresponds to the week of training you’re in.

Week 11

Day 1

Dynamic warm up

Deadlift 4 x 9 with 7 rep max

Back bridges, two leg x 20

Back bridges, one leg x 15 each leg

Front kick/teep for height x 20 each leg

Side kick for height x 20 each side

Back kick/mule kick for height x 20 each side

Thai kick/roundhouse kick for height x 20 each side

Foam roll – lower body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Day 2

Dynamic warm up

Row – 4 x 9 with 7 rep max

Overhead squat x 10 with 20 rep max

Pushup into downward facing dog x 20

Kimura stretch x 20 each side

Americana stretch x 20 each side

Wall slides x 20

Half foam roller or tennis ball crunches x 10 in three different spots on upper spine

Foam roll – upper body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Day 3

Dynamic warm up

Bench Press 4 x 9 with 7 rep max

Back bridges, two leg x 20

Back bridges, one leg x 15 each leg

Front kick/teep for height x 20 each leg

Side kick for height x 20 each side

Back kick/mule kick for height x 20 each side

Thai kick/roundhouse kick for height x 20 each side

Foam Roll – lower body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Click on the number below that corresponds to the week of training you’re in.

Week 12

Day 1

Dynamic warm up

Deadlift 5 x 9 with 7 rep max

Overhead squat x 10 with 20 rep max

Pushup into downward facing dog x 20

Kimura stretch x 20 each side

Americana stretch x 20 each side

Wall slides x 20

Half foam roller or tennis ball crunches x 10 in three different spots on upper spine

Foam roll – upper body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Day 2

Dynamic warm up

Row – 5 x 9 with 7 rep max

Back bridges, two leg x 20

Back bridges, one leg x 15 each leg

Front kick/teep for height x 20 each leg

Side kick for height x 20 each side

Back kick/mule kick for height x 20 each side

Thai kick/roundhouse kick for height x 20 each side

Foam roll – lower body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

Day 3

Dynamic warm up

Bench press 5 x 9 with 7 rep max

Overhead squat x 10 with 20 rep max

Pushup into downward facing dog x 20

Kimura stretch x 20 each side

Americana stretch x 20 each side

Wall slides x 20

Half foam roller or tennis ball crunches x 10 in three different spots on upper spine

Foam roll – upper body x 10 to 20 minutes

Roadwork, treadmill or elliptical 30-45 minutes at 150 bpm

Stretch

The post 12 Weeks of Flexible Strength for MMA appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Breaking Muscle receives no compensation in exchange for reviews. We received this product for free and did not experience typical customer service. The opinions expressed belong solely to the writer.

Paleo Naturals provides healthy and convenient food options. They provide minimally processed, whole foods that are also inexpensive. Their products are free of gluten, soy, grain, refined sugar, and in some cases, dairy.

I tried three of their options, although there are many more:

1. Paleo Naturals Bars, which are made from a mix of nuts, fruits, and protein.
2. Un-Granola Crunch, a granola-like snack without the grains.
3. Roasted Nuts, not much of a surprise here – these are just flavored, roasted nuts.

Paleo Naturals Bars

Paleo Naturals bars are soft, not too chewy, and delicious. They use nut butters as a base, with almond butter being the most common. The bars also contain nuts, fruit (some have raisins, dates, and apple pectin), eggs, and coconut oil. Below are the bars I tried and their macronutrient breakdowns.

• Vanilla:Fat (F): 21.7, Carbs (C):10.7, Protein (P): 16.7
  This bar includes vanilla whey for the flavoring and has a strong vanilla scent. The vanilla taste blends well with the smooth nut butter flavors, and makes for a good, simple combination.
• Mac Fuel: F: 20.7, C: 13.8, P: 14.2
  This was one of the whey protein options, with a nutty and coconutty taste. I didn’t love this one like some of the other bars, but it was good.
• Carrot Cake: F: 22.5, C: 18.3, P: 5.5
  Boasting the most fiber (3.3 g) and sugar (11.8g), and the lowest protein (5.5) of any of the bars, this one is for a treat with a fiber kick. It is pretty sweet and has a good blend of carrot and raisin flavors. I love carrot cake and found this bar to be delicious.
• Chocolate: F: 21.7, C: 10.6, P: 16.1
  This flavor includes chocolate whey, but didn’t have quite the chocolate flavor I was looking for (see below for the Un-Granola chocolate, though). However, I’m a chocoholic so it was still one of my favorite bars.
• Coffee: F: 22, C: 10.7, P: 18
  Perhaps a good in-between competition bar, this one has the most protein of any bar and espresso for a caffeine boost. There is some stevia in this one. It has a nice mild coffee flavor, and I suspect will be a bestseller for the company.
• Coconut Choc Chip: F: 22, C: 16, P: 5.8
  Very sweet. Honey is the main ingredient for this one, making it a treat like the carrot cake flavor. Nutty with some espresso and coconut for flavor.

One downside to the bars is that they don’t have a long shelf life and require refrigeration. One of mine had gone bad by the time I got to it, so I was not able to review it for this piece (the Sweet Potato Pie flavor, which I was pretty pumped about). The bars are tasty, so you probably won’t let them go bad. However, the reason to choose a bar over some other kind of food is for convenience, and the perishability slightly reduces the convenience.

I enjoyed every flavor, but the chocolate and carrot cake were the best for me personally. But if you choose your flavor based on what you think of their description, you probably won’t be disappointed.

Un-Granola Crunch

I’m a granola lover, but I don’t eat it all the time because of the huge carb and sugar load. Paleo Naturals has a great answer to that with their Un-Granola Crunch. Although I didn’t find it particularly crunchy, their nut-based granolas are an awesome alternative to the regular stuff at the store. Here are the flavors I sampled:

• Pistachio Orange: Lightly sweet (as most of their options are) and nutty. This was the first that I tried and I was pleased with the nuts, fruits, and coconut tasted like delicious granola. My only problem with this flavor was the lack of orange flavor, which I was psyched about.
• Chocolate Cashew : Adding chocolate into a snack is a great way to get a good review, and this one paid off. I could have easily eaten this entire bag without a second thought. Strong chocolate flavor, but not too sweet – just as chocolate should be. Cashews were the perfect support nut here, with a fat content that made the chocolate that much more delicious.
• Apple Pie : Lightly sweet apple flavors, plus cinnamon. This bar was good, but surprisingly not nutty in flavor, which is good for people who want to go easy on the nuttiness. The name pretty much says it all.
• Honey Nut : I was the least excited about this offering, but I’m happy to say it’s delicious. This is the classic granola offering, done well. The almond butter and raisins make the concoction stick together into delicious clusters. It does lack the warmness that oats provide to traditional honey nut granola, but it’s still good.
• Pumpkin Spice: This one is a home run. It tastes like pumpkin spice, just as the name implies, but with a surprising kick. A great autumn flavor.

The chocolate Un-Granola Crunch was, naturally, my favorite. Truly delicious. However, all of the flavors were excellent. The Un-Granola Crunch was by far the most impressive part of this company’s line-up.

Roasted Nuts

Some paleo-minded people will prefer to eat nuts raw, but for those who like the taste of roasted varieties, check out the options I tried:

• Sweet and Salty Cashews and Pistachios: A paleo Cracker Jack offering. Reminiscent of the sweet children’s caramel corn, these cashews and pistachios feature a modest coating of honey and sea salt. Like kettle corn, some bites are lightly sweet, some salty, and others a pleasing mix of flavors. My batch was a little over-roasted for my taste, but otherwise delicious.
• Savory Spiced Almonds: Lightly toasted, high-quality almonds. These are flavored with cumin, sea salt, chili powder, and garlic. The flavor was a little lighter than I’d like. It didn’t have as much pow as I’d hoped, but it was good nonetheless.
• Spicy Rosemary Cashews: Out of all of the products I received, this was near the top of my anticipation list. Cashews are my favorite nuts, and I love rosemary and spiciness. In name, this one had it all, but it fell a little short in flavor. That could be because I received a bag past the expiration date for some reason. It wasn’t particularly spicy, and the rosemary was faint, even when I got down into the bottom where the spices were. It was still good, but a little disappointing.

I wasn’t totally enthused about the nuts. They were great, but more bland than I’d like. Rather than eat lightly flavored nuts, I’d prefer to just have completely raw, unsalted, and unflavored one.

My Recommendation

As a whole, Paleo Naturals has a solid selection. Even their least impressive options were still good. Bottom line, they make nothing that’s bad tasting or bad for you. They make a lot of great products, especially the Un-Granola Crunch. If you’re looking for convenient, healthy, paleo options, look no further.

More Healthy Snack Options:

• Healthy Eating On the Go: 8 Snacks You Need to Try
• How to Eat Healthy and Train Hard on the Road
• My Top 5 Protein Bars That Are Good For You and the Planet

The post Protein Bars, Granola, and Nuts: 3 Healthy On-the-Go Snacks appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Today we have the mixed blessing of an abundance of information. Never has it been easier to get answers to our athletic questions. However, it’s also never been easier to get the wrong information.

In the book Faster, Higher, Stronger, named for the motto of the Olympic Games, Mark McClusky details the science that makes our athletes ever better.

“Faster, Higher, Stronger”

Mark McClusky is the editor of Wired and previously an editor and reporter for Sports Illustrated. His experience has certainly given him his writing chops. That experience shines through in this book, which is smooth, easy to read, and highly informative.

“The information covered in ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger ‘deals with science you could have read in the last year, rather than the last few decades like many books you may see.”

Each chapter begins with a story about an athlete, team, or event, which leads into a discussion of some major topic of athletics. McClusky weaves through each story, making the book a smooth and page-turning read.

About the Book

I’m pleased to report that the science in this book is refreshingly updated. The information covered in Faster, Higher, Stronger deals with science you could have read in the last year, rather than the last few decades like many books you may see.

The chapters are divided into how the specific changes to materials, science, coaching, or other methods affect sports. There is no focus on a given sport, and the book discusses many different types of athletics. Rather, it is about the athletes themselves. Here’s a glimpse at the topics covered:

• Chapter 1: How science shapes coaching, and how each individual athlete is shaped for optimal performance.
• Chapter 2: Genetics in athletics, including how they affect men and women differently.
• Chapter 3: Nutrition and supplement science.
• Chapter 4: Talent identification, how your age and maturity affects sports, and how the school of hard knocks can provide a good athletic education.
• Chapter 5: The famous 10,000 hour rule, and how it applies to sports. Also discusses athletes moving from one sport to another.
• Chapter 6: Motor learning and how to best shape practice.
• Chapter 7: How changes to materials in sport, like the size of a ball, profoundly alter the outcomes.
• Chapter 8: The old and new science of the theories of fatigue: why an athlete actually gets tired. It may not be what you think.
• Chapter 9: Sleep, travel, and recovery.
• Chapter 10: Using Information Age data to shape how we engage in sports.
• Chapter 11: Performance enhancing drugs.
• Chapter 12: The limits of human potential. Do they exist, how can we tell, and are we there yet?

As you can see, virtually every aspect of sport science is covered in detail. The chapters are fairlyà la carte, so you can pick up the book and read any chapter that interests you without needing to have built on the earlier parts of the book. This makes it a handy reference guide with easy-to-find information and history on each of the above topics. However, since all of the chapters are important, I think you will find yourself reading the entire thing from cover to cover.

It takes a special author to be able to take science and make it readable and understandable to the non-scientist. I think most people will find this book does so successfully. I personally love reading science, even the dry stuff, but McClusky makes it easy in this book. The narrative flows naturally and stays on any one topic just long enough to get the point home.

Considerations

In any book based on the discussion of science there will be some contradiction. The same is even more true with an in-depth look into coaching strategies, which can vary hugely from team to team. Faster, Higher, Stronger, discusses both topics, so you may spot some of those contradictions.

“It takes a special author to be able to take science and make it readable and understandable to the non-scientist. I think most people will find this book does so successfully.”

As an example, the first chapter deals with developing an athlete based on what needs to change at the smallest levels. In other words, training an athlete like a scientist might. Later in the book is a chapter focusing on how the best training methods involve randomness and specificity to sport conditions. These two discussions might beg the question: am I better off honing in on the details or should I put in more practice time? The book leaves the answer up to you.

My Recommendation

Faster, Higher, Stronger has a huge amount of information for coaches and athletes in any sport. Even the unanswered questions may stimulate the future generation of authors to write the next series of amazing books like this one. Faster, Higher, Stronger should be in the collection of anyone serious about athletics.

“Faster, Higher, Stronger” is available from £9.49 at Amazon

Check out these related articles:

• Superior Fitness Rules Tennis Today
• Analysis Shows Suits to Blame for 2009’s 43 World-Record Swims
• Technology Doping in the Olympics: Cheating or Progress?
• What’s New On Breaking Muscle UK Today

The post What We Can Learn From the Superathletes appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Today we have the mixed blessing of an abundance of information. Never has it been easier to get answers to our athletic questions. However, it’s also never been easier to get the wrong information.

In the book Faster, Higher, Stronger, named for the motto of the Olympic Games, Mark McClusky details the science that makes our athletes ever better.

“Faster, Higher, Stronger”

Mark McClusky is the editor of Wired and previously an editor and reporter for Sports Illustrated. His experience has certainly given him his writing chops. That experience shines through in this book, which is smooth, easy to read, and highly informative.

“The information covered in ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger ‘deals with science you could have read in the last year, rather than the last few decades like many books you may see.”

Each chapter begins with a story about an athlete, team, or event, which leads into a discussion of some major topic of athletics. McClusky weaves through each story, making the book a smooth and page-turning read.

About the Book

I’m pleased to report that the science in this book is refreshingly updated. The information covered in Faster, Higher, Stronger deals with science you could have read in the last year, rather than the last few decades like many books you may see.

The chapters are divided into how the specific changes to materials, science, coaching, or other methods affect sports. There is no focus on a given sport, and the book discusses many different types of athletics. Rather, it is about the athletes themselves. Here’s a glimpse at the topics covered:

• Chapter 1: How science shapes coaching, and how each individual athlete is shaped for optimal performance.
• Chapter 2: Genetics in athletics, including how they affect men and women differently.
• Chapter 3: Nutrition and supplement science.
• Chapter 4: Talent identification, how your age and maturity affects sports, and how the school of hard knocks can provide a good athletic education.
• Chapter 5: The famous 10,000 hour rule, and how it applies to sports. Also discusses athletes moving from one sport to another.
• Chapter 6: Motor learning and how to best shape practice.
• Chapter 7: How changes to materials in sport, like the size of a ball, profoundly alter the outcomes.
• Chapter 8: The old and new science of the theories of fatigue: why an athlete actually gets tired. It may not be what you think.
• Chapter 9: Sleep, travel, and recovery.
• Chapter 10: Using Information Age data to shape how we engage in sports.
• Chapter 11: Performance enhancing drugs.
• Chapter 12: The limits of human potential. Do they exist, how can we tell, and are we there yet?

As you can see, virtually every aspect of sport science is covered in detail. The chapters are fairly à la carte, so you can pick up the book and read any chapter that interests you without needing to have built on the earlier parts of the book. This makes it a handy reference guide with easy-to-find information and history on each of the above topics. However, since all of the chapters are important, I think you will find yourself reading the entire thing from cover to cover.

It takes a special author to be able to take science and make it readable and understandable to the non-scientist. I think most people will find this book does so successfully. I personally love reading science, even the dry stuff, but McClusky makes it easy in this book. The narrative flows naturally and stays on any one topic just long enough to get the point home.

Considerations

In any book based on the discussion of science there will be some contradiction. The same is even more true with an in-depth look into coaching strategies, which can vary hugely from team to team. Faster, Higher, Stronger, discusses both topics, so you may spot some of those contradictions.

“It takes a special author to be able to take science and make it readable and understandable to the non-scientist. I think most people will find this book does so successfully.”

As an example, the first chapter deals with developing an athlete based on what needs to change at the smallest levels. In other words, training an athlete like a scientist might. Later in the book is a chapter focusing on how the best training methods involve randomness and specificity to sport conditions. These two discussions might beg the question: am I better off honing in on the details or should I put in more practice time? The book leaves the answer up to you.

My Recommendation

Faster, Higher, Stronger has a huge amount of information for coaches and athletes in any sport. Even the unanswered questions may stimulate the future generation of authors to write the next series of amazing books like this one. Faster, Higher, Stronger should be in the collection of anyone serious about athletics.

“Faster, Higher, Stronger” is available for $19.59 at Amazon.com.

Check out these related articles:

• Superior Fitness Rules Tennis Today
• Analysis Shows Suits to Blame for 2009’s 43 World-Record Swims
• Technology Doping in the Olympics: Cheating or Progress?
• What’s New On Breaking Muscle Today

The post Science and Superathletes: The New Generation of Sport appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

People are becoming more and more worried about consuming sugar-heavy, chemical-laden drinks. Enter Formula O2 Recovery Drink. Formula O2 is an energy and recovery drink that might be just the answer you’ve been looking for.

I tried two flavors, which I’ll describe below. Both of them had the same nutrition facts and similar ingredients.

Features

There are a few interesting things to note about Formula O2:

• Oxygenation: The water in Formula O2 is oxygenated, rather than carbonated. While there is oxygen in regular tap water, Formula O2 contains up to ten times more. The label claims the extra oxygen helps to process toxins faster. Whether this is true or not may be up for debate, but it gives the drinks a sensation similar to what you get when drinking carbonated water.
• Sweetness: The drinks are sweetened with erythritol and stevia. There’s some dextrose in there as well, along with natural flavors that could contribute a little sweetness. The beverages are not particularly sweet, which is great. Each drink has nineteen total grams of carbs, only two of which are sugar. That low amount of sugar in a sixteen-ounce can is pretty much unheard of in the energy drink market, and is especially impressive when you consider Formula O2 doesn’t contain any aspartame or similar sweeteners.
• Electrolytes: Formula O2 also contains substantially more electrolytes than most athletic recovery beverages, with more potassium than most other drinks contain. Each can has 370mg of sodium, fifteen percent of your daily value, and 360mg of potassium, or ten percent of your daily value. It can be hard to find that much potassium outside of real food.
• Caffeine: Formula O2 also includes something it labels as “natural caffeine.” It is not obvious how this differs from regular caffeine, but for the caffeine junkies among us, Formula O2 doesn’t skimp on it. Each can offers 140mg of caffeine.

Flavors

I tried the following flavors:

• Grapefruit Ginger: This flavor has some of the sourness of grapefruit and a mild grapefruit flavor. I’m not a huge fan of grapefruit, but the taste wasn’t too strong so I didn’t mind it. I was looking forward to the ginger, as I enjoy ginger a lot, but there wasn’t any ginger flavor to speak of. Of the two varieties I tried, I preferred this flavor.
• Orange Mango: This one tasted a little like a children’s chewable vitamin. As with the grapefruit variety, I was most excited for the mango flavor but found nothing resembling it when I tried the drink.

The flavoring in both beverages was definitely subtle, but when it comes to drinking flavored beverages you can’t have it all. If you’re expecting powerful fruit flavors, you’ll need to either go with products that contain more potent chemical sweeteners and flavoring agents or those that have a high sugar content. The alternative to those options is the lighter flavor of Formula O2.

My Recommendation

I have consumed a lot of energy drinks over the years, and I have also been concerned about the deleterious health effects of doing so. Drinking Formula O2 helped alleviate much of that concern. These drinks can be used as an energy drink or a recovery drink. Formula O2 gave me energy and some of the healthy carbs I need to recover, with none of the guilt.

I’d recommend Formula O2 to any athlete who wants to improve performance through the use of beverages. It’s a healthier alternative with more to offer.

Formula O2 Recovery Drink is available in a 12 pack for $41.99 at DrinkO2.com.

You’ll Also Enjoy:

• Science Says: Energy Drinks Really Do Work
• Energy Drinks: An Athlete’s Friend or Foe?
• Your Energy Drink Isn’t Special
• What’s New on Breaking Muscle Today

The post One Drink for Recovery and Energy – Minus the Chemicals appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Recently I read a book called The Running Revolution, by Dr. Nicholas Romanov and Kurt Brungardt. The book is a great resource on running technique and self-assessment. It’s perfect for beginners and will keep them coming back for years to come.

About the Author

Dr. Nicholas Romanov was an athlete who went on to coach two Olympic teams. He is also the creator of the Pose Method of running. Much of the book is centered around the concepts he has been teaching for decades. The co-author, Kurt Brungardt, is a personal trainer and an experienced writer.

Section One: Preparation

The book is divided into four parts. The first section covers preparation for running. This includes the story of Romanov’s journey to the United States and his transition from athlete to coach. Romanov details how to use a journal to track progress and provides some simple proprioceptive awareness techniques.

“‘Running Revolution’ is a great starter book. It covers the basics of physical preparation, injury, and programming well enough to start a novice runner on the right track while teaching him or her every detail of running form.”

The section includes two chapters that provide a series of mobility exercises and a couple strength exercises, as well. These exercises can be used as a routine to keep you limber or as a warm up. You’ll also find information on shoe selection and a discussion of barefoot running. I will describe one of my favorite parts in detail later in this review, which teaches you how to use digital capture to become your own coach.

Section Two: Technique

Section two explains the technique of running. It is split into ten lessons that cover every nuance of running form. The Pose Method is a complete system that helps people with their running form. It places a heavy emphasis on foot-strike, namely, a forefoot strike. In these sections, you’ll find how your foot should land, where it should land, and why it should land that way. You’ll learn details about the rest of your body, as well.

The Pose Method’s three elements of running

Section Three: Transition

The third section explains how to transition from the way you’re running now to the technique described in the book. It expounds on the self-assessment video method described in the first section and shows you how to perform drills to correct the problems you might find when you watch the videos.

“Not only does ‘Running Revolution’ teach you how to perfectly capture yourself on video, but the topic is then revisited to show you what to look for in each video you create to make corrections and view progress over time.”

There are also bonuses in this section, such as how to run on different terrains (treadmill included) and injury care. Common injuries are briefly covered, including how they come about and how to correct them. However, the book’s focus is on avoiding these altogether, so the author does not linger here long.

Section Four: Programs

The final section of the book provides a few training programs for races ranging from 5K up to marathon. There is also a detailed running workout. Romanov’s method is an intuitive one, so a portion of this section is dedicated to teaching you how to choose for yourself how to proceed in your training.

Be Your Own Coach

One of the strongest aspects of the book is its description of how to coach yourself. As I mentioned above, Romanov teaches you how to capture yourself on video. You will learn how to create videos of yourself and what to look for to make corrections and view your progress.

I’ve reviewed a lot of great books on running lately. I’m also a runner and a longtime coach myself, so I was familiar with the details about running form and the Pose Method. As such, I had few expectations regarding this book, but I was surprised by how great it was. On the topic of running form (in particular, forefoot running) there are no equals.

“Experienced runners and coaches will probably already know all the basic information provided, but may still need to learn some of the finer points of running form. This resource will be a great addition to their library.”

The greatest strengths of this book are its details on technical development and self-assessment. However, a lot of this information is centered around the Pose Method and may be unnecessary for people who have already learned this technique from a coach. If you’re already trained in Pose Method running, keep in mind there might not be much new information in The Running Revolution.

My Recommendation

The Running Revolution is a great starter book. It covers the basics of physical preparation, injury, and programming well enough to get a novice runner on the right track while teaching him or her every detail of running form.

Experienced runners and coaches will probably already know the basic information provided, but may still need to learn some of the finer points of running form. This resource would be a great addition to their library.

“Running Revolution” is available for $10.75 at Amazon.com.

You Might Also Enjoy:

• Changing Strides: The Pose Method and Newton Shoes
• Understand the Link Between What you Eat and How You Move
• How to Move Better and Relieve Pain
• What’s New on Breaking Muscle UK Today

The post Revolutionise Your Running: Become Your Own Coach appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Recently I read a book called The Running Revolution, by Dr. Nicholas Romanov and Kurt Brungardt. The book is a great resource on running technique and self-assessment. It’s perfect for beginners and will keep them coming back for years to come.

About the Author

Dr. Nicholas Romanov was an athlete who went on to coach two Olympic teams. He is also the creator of the Pose Method of running. Much of the book is centered around the concepts he has been teaching for decades. The co-author, Kurt Brungardt, is a personal trainer and an experienced writer.

Section One: Preparation

The book is divided into four parts. The first section covers preparation for running. This includes the story of Romanov’s journey to the United States and his transition from athlete to coach. Romanov details how to use a journal to track progress and provides some simple proprioceptive awareness techniques.

“‘Running Revolution’ is a great starter book. It covers the basics of physical preparation, injury, and programming well enough to start a novice runner on the right track while teaching him or her every detail of running form.”

The section includes two chapters that provide a series of mobility exercises and a couple strength exercises, as well. These exercises can be used as a routine to keep you limber or as a warm up. You’ll also find information on shoe selection and a discussion of barefoot running. I will describe one of my favorite parts in detail later in this review, which teaches you how to use digital capture to become your own coach.

Section Two: Technique

Section two explains the technique of running. It is split into ten lessons that cover every nuance of running form. The Pose Method is a complete system that helps people with their running form. It places a heavy emphasis on foot-strike, namely, a forefoot strike. In these sections, you’ll find how your foot should land, where it should land, and why it should land that way. You’ll learn details about the rest of your body, as well.

The Pose Method’s three elements of running

Section Three: Transition

The third section explains how to transition from the way you’re running now to the technique described in the book. It expounds on the self-assessment video method described in the first section and shows you how to perform drills to correct the problems you might find when you watch the videos.

“Not only does ‘Running Revolution’ teach you how to perfectly capture yourself on video, but the topic is then revisited to show you what to look for in each video you create to make corrections and view progress over time.”

There are also bonuses in this section, such as how to run on different terrains (treadmill included) and injury care. Common injuries are briefly covered, including how they come about and how to correct them. However, the book’s focus is on avoiding these altogether, so the author does not linger here long.

Section Four: Programs

The final section of the book provides a few training programs for races ranging from 5K up to marathon. There is also a detailed running workout. Romanov’s method is an intuitive one, so a portion of this section is dedicated to teaching you how to choose for yourself how to proceed in your training.

Be Your Own Coach

One of the strongest aspects of the book is its description of how to coach yourself. As I mentioned above, Romanov teaches you how to capture yourself on video. You will learn how to create videos of yourself and what to look for to make corrections and view your progress.

I’ve reviewed a lot of great books on running lately. I’m also a runner and a longtime coach myself, so I was familiar with the details about running form and the Pose Method. As such, I had few expectations regarding this book, but I was surprised by how great it was. On the topic of running form (in particular, forefoot running) there are no equals.

“Experienced runners and coaches will probably already know all the basic information provided, but may still need to learn some of the finer points of running form. This resource will be a great addition to their library.”

The greatest strengths of this book are its details on technical development and self-assessment. However, a lot of this information is centered around the Pose Method and may be unnecessary for people who have already learned this technique from a coach. If you’re already trained in Pose Method running, keep in mind there might not be much new information in The Running Revolution.

My Recommendation

The Running Revolution is a great starter book. It covers the basics of physical preparation, injury, and programming well enough to get a novice runner on the right track while teaching him or her every detail of running form.

Experienced runners and coaches will probably already know the basic information provided, but may still need to learn some of the finer points of running form. This resource would be a great addition to their library.

“Running Revolution” is available for $10.75 at Amazon.com.

You Might Also Enjoy:

• Changing Strides: The Pose Method and Newton Shoes
• You Move As Well As You Eat: The Link Between Food and Gait
• How to Move Better and Relieve Pain
• What’s New on Breaking Muscle Today

The post Revolutionize Your Running for Performance and Injury Prevention appeared first on Breaking Muscle.