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.

The post Move Well First: A New Path for Coaching Fitness appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

If you’ve hung out with elite athletes in any sport for long enough, then you’ll have seen these odd phenomena:

• Rowers who trip over themselves walking in a straight line.
• Swimmers who can’t support their own weight well on land.
• Runners and cyclists who can’t do anything other than move in a straight line.
• BJJ competitors who walk like ducks.

The more specialized and high level the competitor, the worse this often becomes.

Specializing to become an elite athlete often involves sacrificing the quality of your overall athleticism.

The Building Blocks of Athleticism

The basic building blocks of athleticism are much like the primary colors – they can be blended together to create other athletic components. Instead of red, blue, and yellow, we have force production (strength), speed, and endurance. For example, strength and speed combine to create powerful sporting actions.

The combination of speed and strength can in turn be broken down into three further categories of starting strength, explosive strength, and reactive strength.

• Starting strength is defined as the ability to turn on as many motor units as possible. It is typically associated with low load and highly explosive movements such as throwing or the start of a 100m race.
• Explosive strength refers to the ability not just to generate maximum force, but also how long you can keep it sustained. Strength expert Fred Hatfield likened starting strength to the flash of a camera and explosive strength to how long you can keep the flash illuminated (or in rare cases, such as his own, being able to make it brighter as time continues).
• Reactive strength works on the body’s ability to store and release potential energy quickly. This type of strength can be developed from rebound or depth jumping activities.

Once combined, these three basic qualities of strength, speed, and endurance become the elements found within all athletic events – endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, and accuracy.

“The world has gone crazy for specialization in sport. I see adults pushing kids to play a single sport year round in an effort to get ahead.”

Different sports require differing amounts of all these attributes. A marathon runner requires a high degree of endurance, a relatively smaller amount of speed, and even less strength. A weightlifter, on the other hand, requires large degrees of strength, some speed, and almost zero endurance. Sports that predominantly need only a single characteristic are quite rare. When it comes to sports that require high degrees of all qualities, then wrestling and ice hockey are often used as examples (and I would add rugby union).

The Downside to Specialization

Football Scoop recently published an article that showed that 85% of NFL draft picks were not single sport athletes. In simple terms, the most athletic guys, the ones who actually ended up in the NFL, didn’t specialize until they had to.

The world has gone crazy for specialization in sport. I see adults pushing kids to play a single sport year round in an effort to get ahead. But the chances of a child actually making it to the professional ranks are slim, while the risk of injury skyrockets from working on singular motor qualities and patterns. And the trap of single sport focus isn’t just being set for kids. Adults are being led astray, too.

The problem with single-sport focus for anyone, child or adult, is that the human body desires a multitude of movements. We’re not designed to do just a few things at very high levels. In fact, humans evolved because of our ability to do a great variety of things well. While getting your bench press up another 5kg might be satisfying, how much does it help you achieve better athleticism when measured against the criteria above?

Physical development should always come before specializing in a particular sport.

The Complete Athlete

In his latest book, Natural Born Heroes, Christopher MacDougall talks about three things quite a bit – parkour, wrestling (pancration), and running. Looking at the skills involved in all three, you’d have to agree he hits the nail pretty firmly on the head in terms of the kind of human athlete you’d get if you spent most of your time cross-training these skills.

But that’s not what we are getting these days. Now not only are we getting ten-year-olds who have never played anything other than a single sport, but we have adults being encouraged to do the same. The single worst thing an adult can do, after sitting still for decades through school and work life, is to focus on a single skill or sport. What people need to be doing is looking for a way to gain as many athletic qualities as possible and engage in as many activities as possible.

“You can’t have fantastic endurance and speed like a professional Ironman and have a massive clean and jerk like Klokov.”

The focus of training should be to develop mastery in skill sets and increase complexity. Using barbell training as an example, a basic lift might be the behind-the-neck shoulder press. A more complex lift might be the overhead squat, which in turn might become the power snatch, which will lead to the full snatch.

Developing complexity in gymnastics and weightlifting, as CrossFit discovered a decade ago, will lead to improvements overall. But it still leaves many skills lacking due to essentially the same problem that children face when forced to specialize early. If you haven’t done anything athletic since childhood, the worst thing you can do is focus on one thing, even if that thing is something like CrossFit.

Physical Mastery

Using gymnastics as an example, children often begin gymnastics between the ages of five to six. Yet specialization doesn’t start until around the age of ten (for females) and twelve (for males). In other words, there are five years of basic quality building going on before specialization takes place. Mastery, in the form of peak competition takes place from the ages of sixteen to 24 (the early number being for females and the higher number for males, as there is a greater strength component for men that takes longer to develop).

You see the same trend in weightlifting with athletes beginning around age eleven and specializing at age fifteen, with their competition peak occurring in their mid to late twenties.

But if you’re an adult who joins a CrossFit gym to get in shape, you’re quickly pushed to focus on a few competitive lifts and skills. Are you going to spend five years learning about body position, performing general conditioning, and developing flexibility? That’s unlikely. But in doing so, you’re harming your long-term athletic potential.

I would argue that any athlete would benefit from an initial focus on overall movement quality.

The Meaning of General Fitness

So what’s the answer for the adult who wants to become as athletic and all-around fit as possible? Fitness, as endurance expert Dr. Phil Maffetone has written, is task specific. If you want to be an all-around athlete, then you need to first be willing to give up on the idea of being high level at many things. It’s just not possible.

“If you want to skip the gym for the day and go rock climbing instead, then do it. If you feel like skipping BJJ to go for a run, then do it.”

You can’t have fantastic endurance and speed like a professional Ironman and have a massive clean and jerk like Klokov. But you can certainly be fit enough to do a decent triathlon time in a shorter event, like an Olympic distance, and still lift enough weight that you won’t embarrass yourself in a gym. Likewise, you should be able to go to a yoga or gymnastics class and not need special attention because you’re so stiff and uncoordinated.

The simple answer is – do it all. Spend time in the gym on maximal strength. Spend time outside doing endurance activities. Climb a tree. Throw some punches. Play.

What Is the True Meaning of Fitness?

Somewhere along the way, around the 1970s when Pumping Iron came out, we lost our way. Our perception of fitness became about how we look and what we can lift, rather than what we can actually do.

Erwan Le Corre and his MovNat method were inspired by Georges Hébert’s motto, “Being strong to be useful.” A body built only in the gym or only on the track will not serve for this purpose. If you want to skip the gym for the day and go rock climbing instead, then do it. If you feel like skipping BJJ to go for a run, then do it.

While high-level skill in an individual sport will bring accolades, it will do so at the expense of your overall athleticism and often your health, as well. Being a good human – and, I would argue, enjoying the rest of your life in an active and pain-free manner – will happen because of the exact opposite.

A human is able to climb, run, swim, crawl, lift, and do any number of athletic things. Expand your horizons and you’ll likely find newfound passion for fitness and health because of it. Remember, specialization is for insects.

Check out these related articles:

• Train the Lateral Plane for Maximum Athleticism
• Max Shank’s Ultimate Athlete Training Template
• Functional Mass Gain – How to Build Real Horsepower
• What’s New On Breaking Muscle Today

Photos courtesy of Breaking Muscle.

The post Is Your Sport Killing Your Athletic Potential? appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Acknowledging the controversy over rewarding children for registering for and/or participating in a sport and the “everyone who pays, plays” school of thought, this article is about developing and nurturing self-esteem, so the individual athlete is aware of, and has an innate sense of, his or her self-esteem.

How to Nurture Self Esteem

There are so many variations defining the word “self-esteem” that it is easy to make the word fit any purpose. Dependent upon the resource referenced, the definition of self-esteem can be, among many others, “self confidence,” “acknowledging all of one’s abilities and competencies,” and “our ability to assess ourselves accurately and still be accepting of who we are.” While these varied definitions are merely a brushstroke of what self-esteem truly encompasses, let’s start with the essence of the definition.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

• self–es·teem noun -?-?st?m: a feeling of having respect for yourself and your abilities;
• a confidence and satisfaction in oneself: self-respect

This is an easily understood definition. Now, let’s apply this term, as it stands, to the youth athlete. The athlete has self-respect for him- or herself, not only as an athlete, but as a person, and the athlete has respect for his or her athletic skills and abilities. Note that this is an internal reading measured by the athlete. It is not an external judgment made by a parent, coach, trainer, or teammate.

Do the parents, coaches, trainers, and teammates factor in and contribute, in an external way, to an athlete’s self-esteem? Absolutely, but again, the athlete’s self-esteem is an internal measure of self worth, as an athlete and as a person. Whether or not the athlete accepts external comments, opinions, and judgments and whether or not the athlete uses these observations for internal measurements is dependent upon the individual athlete.

Parents, coaches, and trainers are, in many ways, responsible for nurturing an athlete’s self-esteem. In this respect, I am not talking about participation ribbons and trophies. While these can and do have their place in youth athletics, especially for beginning athletes, these tokens are merely external signs that recognize performed skills and abilities, and sometimes, not even that. While extrinsic rewards are certainly powerful motivational tools, they do not build an athlete’s self-esteem. The athlete’s internal self-respect and recognition of his or her abilities is what builds his or her self-esteem.

How can parents, coaches, and trainers positively nurture self-esteem in a youth athlete? After researching many articles and resources, it is evident that there is no clear answer, and just as evident that there are no same two answers. In my opinion, and based on my years of coaching and training young athletes, I believe that Dr. Patrick Cohn’s article, 7 Ways to Help Your Athlete Play with More Confidence, grasps the essence of building self-esteem in a youth athlete. Here is my explanation of his seven points:

Let Go of Fear

Most athletes fear making a mistake in the game, of letting their team down, or of not making “the” play that causes the team to lose an important game. By understanding that athletes will make mistakes, by allowing athletes to make mistakes, and by allowing athletes to learn from those mistakes, coaches can help athletes lose their fear, and subsequently, the athletes can play a harder, more focused game.

Play Freely Instead of Holding Back

The ability of an athlete to believe in his or her training and to know that he or she is ready for the game or event can help an athlete perform optimally. Knowing and believing that the athlete has done everything possible to prepare for the event not only gives the athlete a mental edge over the competition, but also increases the athlete’s belief in his or her skills and abilities. The athlete’s knowledge and belief in his or her skills allows for freely applying these abilities needed during the competition.

Make No Comparisons

This statement is applicable to athletes, parents, coaches, and trainers. Each athlete must be looked at individually, as a valuable asset to the team, and each athlete should understand the value that he or she brings to the team. Again, the athlete should respect, recognize, and believe in his or her athletic abilities and skills.

Play for Yourself, Not Others

Sporting events are social events, especially for youth athletes. Peer pressure and social approval may easily become the reason for playing a sport. With the guidance of parents, coaches, and trainers, it is important to help the youth athlete realize that his or her athletic performance does not define who he or she is – it is just another dimension of who he or she is. While this is easier said than done, in the end, an athlete’s performance is just that – his or her performance.

Don’t Try to be Perfect

This just never works and most times ends badly. Coaches and trainers must allow for mistakes. Athletes must believe in their training, abilities, and skills, and they must understand that mistakes are learning opportunities. Parents must support their athlete whether or not the athlete performs optimally.

Be Confident

The athlete must have confidence in the hours spent mentally and physically preparing for the event – the repetitions, the workouts, and the coaching. The athlete must believe in his or her training, believe in his or her abilities and skills, and believe in his or her past experiences to prepare for and perform well in the event.

Focus on the Process, Not Results

Process refers to the athletic performance, right here, right now. The athlete is focused and in the moment, blocking distractions. A perfect example of this is a baseball pitcher. Even with a count of three balls and no strikes, a pitcher who is in the moment is focused on the process of each individual pitch. Relying on his or her training, skills, and abilities, the pitcher can strike the batter out.

Develop the Whole Person

The athlete who has self-respect for him- or herself, not only as an athlete, but also as a person, and the athlete who has respect for his or her athletic skills and abilities is an athlete with good self-esteem. Just as developing athletes continue to work on and hone their athletic skills and abilities, coaches, trainers, and parents should continue to develop and nurture the athlete’s self-esteem. This is our role – to develop and nurture the athlete’s self-esteem not only as an athlete, but as a whole person.

References:

1. Cohn, P. “7 Strategies to Help Your Athlete Be More Confident.” Colorado Avalanche Cares. Accessed 09/08/14.

2. CHMC. “Self-Esteem” The University of Texas. Accessed 09/07/14.

3. Chertok, G. “Fostering Healthy Self Esteem in Youth Athletes.” Professional Sport Psychology Symposium. Accessed 09/07/14.

4. Competitive Advantage. “Self-Confidence.” Competitive Edge. Accessed 09/07/14.

5. Merriam-Webster. “Self-Esteem.” Accessed 09/07/14.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post 7 Ways to Build Real Self-Esteem in Youth Athletes appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

These are the things I recommend and that I keep in my bag. Whether you are training in CrossFit or a traditional workout style, these items will prove to be useful.

8 Must Haves for Your Gym Bag

1. Sports Watch – Even though you are in the gym a good watch is still an essential tool. I use my watch in particular if it is a workout involving running or if it is a workout involving multiple rounds and I want to see the time for each round separately. A good sports watch will allow you to mark start and end times as well as lap times.

2. Athletic Tape – If there’s one thing my students ask for more than anything else, it’s athletic tape. It’s like the duct-tape of the workout world. You can use it to tape up injuries or tape over cuts and scrapes. You can also use it to tape up your hands to prevent tears or tape up your wrists and other joints to support them and prevent injury. Athletic tape is one of the best and cheapest tools you can keep in your bag.

3. Water Bottle – This seems like it should be a given, but I personally have a hard time remembering to keep mine in my bag. Water before and after a workout, and depending on personal preference, possibly during a workout is important and necessary.

4. Jump Rope – Your gym may have jump ropes, but are they the kind you prefer? Is it the exact length you perform best with? Jump ropes are a strangely personal item and I find my workouts go smoother, and therefore more successfully, when I have my own personal jump rope on hand.

5. Workout Journal – Do you remember the weights you did on all the exercises you’ve ever done? Do you know where you are in your weightlifting progression off the top of your head? Do you know if today’s score on your workout was a personal best? With a workout journal, kept up to date, you will always know the answers to all these questions.

6. Lacrosse Ball – You don’t play lacrosse, so what do you need a lacrosse ball for? Lacrosse balls, or another similarly dense small ball, are excellent for self-massage following a workout. Like a foam roller, you can use them to press into the muscle, release tension and break up fascia. Unlike the foam roller, a lacrosse ball is very targeted and unforgiving. If you have a tender muscle or fear soreness coming on, pull your lacrosse ball out of your bag after a workout and get to work!

7. Electrolytes – I keep a few packets of Emergen-C electrolytes in my gym bag for post-workout. Sometimes I drink coconut water, but other times I just want to guzzle a liter of regular water and the Emergen-C packets give me the electrolytes in a quick and tasty way. Especially for those of you at gyms who do not stock coconut water, these packets are an excellent way to recover from a tough workout.

8. Extra Socks and a Pair of Shorts – Now this one might sound silly to you, but I can tell you as the general manager of a gym that I regularly loan out these two items to students. Keep an extra pair of each in your bag. They won’t take up much room and you’ll be glad when the day comes that you discover you’ve driven all the way to the gym, forgotten your clothes, and you need them!

All of these items are inexpensive and easy to find. Keep them all in your bag and don’t pull them out. Think of your gym bag like a toolbox – anything you take out needs to be put back in place so you have it for next time.

The post 8 Must Haves for Your Gym Bag appeared first on Breaking Muscle.