An interesting study review article in Nature, The Degree of Frailty as a Translational Measure of Health in Aging, looks at the impact of the different levels of frailty and their effect on aging, particularly whene it comes to late-life diseases.

Sounds boring, but it is not because physical exercise, the stuff that gets a Breaking Muscle types excited, is a lifestyle factor that can change the game.

Frailty has a clinical definition, and it is a term that covers a range of symptoms that make older people vulnerable to injury and death. It is not a disability and it is not comorbidity.

People may have frailty with other conditions, or morbidities, but they may also be frail without any morbidity, not need medical intervention, but likely to require care even with minor illnesses.

Examining frailty, in animals and humans, can lead to better measures of its degree of impact and provide a better understanding of the diseases of old age.

But, you don’t want to get to an older age and realize the measures of frailty for yourself. Lifestyle and social factors play a role in determining frailty as you age.

High-fat diets, socio-economic issues, poor maternal health, radiation therapy, low social position, and lack of personal wealth all play a part in maing frailty worse.

On the other hand, a balanced diet, caloric restriction, eduction, social engagement, personal wealth, and physical exercise can keep you fit. Which begs the question, who are personal trainers ($55-$200 an hour) and box gyms (+$100 a month) really targeting?

It seems like the real need is among those that don’t have the means or the neighborhoods where you’ll find a lot of Lululemon leaisurewear.

Summary

Title: The degree of frailty as a translational measure of health in aging

Date: August, 2021

DOI: 10.1038/s43587-021-00099-3

Abstract: Frailty is a multiply determined, age-related state of increased risk for adverse health outcomes. We review how the degree of frailty conditions the development of late-life diseases and modifies their expression. The risks for frailty range from subcellular damage to social determinants. These risks are often synergistic—circumstances that favor damage also make repair less likely. We explore how age-related damage and decline in repair result in cellular and molecular deficits that scale up to tissue, organ and system levels, where they are jointly expressed as frailty. The degree of frailty can help to explain the distinction between carrying damage and expressing its usual clinical manifestations. Studying people—and animals—who live with frailty, including them in clinical trials and measuring the impact of the degree of frailty are ways to better understand the diseases of old age and to establish best practices for the care of older adults.

Main Purpose: A review of the nature of frailty, and how degrees of frailty can be used as a measure of health. An exhortation to researchers to do more clinical research of both animals and humans with the notion that this may lead to better predictive assessments of longevity and morbidity.

Research Type: Journal Article

Findings Indicate: Physical exercise moves the dial on frailty and moving the dial on frailty can change the predictions about longer term health and mortality.

Limitation: None

The post Frailty Is the Disease, Physical Exercise Is the Cure appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

• Improved Scapular Retraction: Due to the amount of time we spend hunched over various screens, the ability to pull the shoulder blades back and down is becoming a lost art. By fixing this one postural mistake alone, you will bulletproof your lower back and shoulders.
• Improved Performance: The muscles of the back have a role in nearly everything you do in the gym or on the field. Keeping the chest up during a squat, maintaining a neutral spine in the deadlift, sprinting speed, and even pressing performance all rely on strong back musculature. In addition, you need the ability to control and activate those muscles through nervous system recruitment.

Another big plus – developing the musculature in your back gives you a more confident appearance, and confidence is sexy. And there’s nothing wrong with training to look a little better with your clothes off.

So how can you get on the Rowed to Bowed? Here are my five favorite row exercises:

1. Single-Arm Cable Row

Single-limb exercises allow you to better focus on the desired muscle groups, which can lead to improved recruitment of muscle fibers, strength gains, and increased hypertrophy.

These exercises also require a ton of core stabilization in the form of anti-rotation of the torso. The single-arm cable row will be an immediate test of your anti-rotation strength by how difficult it is to keep your shoulders squared to the cable tower.

How to:

1. Position a single handle attachment on a cable tower just below your waist. You want constant tension from the cable, so position yourself accordingly. Both your shoulders and feet should remain squared to the cable tower for the entire set.
2. Using a neutral grip, contract your lats to row your elbow to the bottom of your rib cage. Imagine that creepy uncle behind you attempting to tickle your ribs and you’re squeezing your arm as hard as possible into your ribs.
3. Control the eccentric portion to keep constant tension, and keep your shoulders squared.

Perfect for:

• Shoulder Health
• Hypertrophy
• Core Stability

2. Chest-Supported Row (T-Bar Row)

Rows should be used primarily as accessory exercises. A row should never put you at risk for injury. One common mistake I see with rows is the tendency to go too heavy at the sacrifice of form.

If you’re guilty of this, or if you want to move more weight in a safe environment, a chest supported row is for you.

How to:

1. Position your chest on the support pad so your arms have a full range of motion and you don’t experience any discomfort in your neck or thoracic spine.
2. Most T-bar row machines will have options for both pronated and supinated grips, as well as an option for neutral grip. Using a pronated (overhand) grip will better activate muscles in your upper and mid-back. A supinated (underhand) grip allows you to shift the emphasis to the lats, developing strength that will carry over to your other major exercises.
3. Overall, keeping your elbows close to the body during a row is key for maximum lat activation. Both the supinated and neutral grip allow you to tuck the elbows in close, but the neutral grip is more effective for targeting the rhomboids and muscles of the mid back as well as the lats.
4. Focus on good form and control. If you have to cheat the weight up, it is too heavy.

Perfect for:

• Training with Heavier Loads
• Injury Prevention
• Strength and Muscle Gain

3. Inverted Row

This is possibly the most difficult exercise on the list. You wouldn’t think it at first glance, but there are a lot of parts in play here.

Aside from the row itself, this exercise will test both your grip and core strength.

Add that in with scaling the difficulty by elevating your feet or adding weight via a vest or weight plate, and you have an extremely effective exercise at developing strength and power.

How to:

1. Position a barbell just above arm’s length from a supine position on the floor or right around waist height if standing.
2. Take a grip just outside shoulder width with your choice of either a supinated or pronated grip (I suggest a healthy mix of both).
3. Your body should be in a straight line with your heels on the ground and your arms fully extended.
4. Row your body into the bar just below your chest while focusing on a strong contraction of the targeted muscles. Return to the starting position with fully extended arms slow and controlled.

You can increase difficulty on this movement by walking your feet in closer or elevating your feet on a box. You can also add load in the form of a weighted vest or weight plate resting on your torso.

Perfect for:

• Minimal Equipment
• Athletes Needing Scalability
• Strength and Muscle Gain
• Grip Training

4. Trap Bar Pendlay Row

In my opinion, this is the most effective row variation for developing raw power, as well as improving strength off the floor during deadlifts, cleans, and other explosive lifts.

The Pendlay row is traditionally performed with a barbell, but there are two reasons I love subbing in a trap bar for this movement:

1. Higher handles – My biggest issue with the Pendlay row is the mobility required to get in the proper starting position. Maintaining a neutral spine while lifting heavier loads is extremely important for avoiding injuries to the low back. The higher handles on the trap bar take some of the requisite mobility out of the picture so you can still train this movement while working on your mobility issues.
2. Neutral grip – The trap bar allows a lifter to use a neutral grip, which tends to be more effective for recruiting the more powerful muscles in your back, namely the lats and rhomboids.

How to:

1. While maintaining a horizontal torso (avoid rising up) with a neutral spine, row the weight off the floor explosively.
2. Under control, drop the weight to the floor without emphasis on the eccentric portion.
3. Each rep starts from a dead stop on the floor.

Perfect for:

• Explosive Pulling and Power Development
• Powerlifters
• Weightlifters
• Athletes With Limited Mobility

5. Plate Pendlay Row

So I’ve sold you on the Pendlay row, but let’s say you’re also a little adventurous and enjoy a challenge.

This beast of an exercise could be what you need. Not only will you be developing power from a dead stop, you will train your grip strength, as well. Two birds with one stone. And if that’s not enough, you’ll look like a total badass.

How to:

1. You will need bumper plates, and if you’re a shorter athlete, you will need a third bumper plate or elevated platform to stand on. This is to allow the full range of motion.
2. The setup and execution is identical to the trap bar row above, except with this variation you will row the plates standing on their sides.

Perfect for:

• Grip Strength
• Explosive Pulling Power
• Strength Athletes

A Little Goes a Long Way

There you have it. If you’ve been having issues in your training or performance, increasing your pulling strength might just be the answer.

A little bit of rowing goes a long way. Adding in a row variation at the end of each training session for three sets in the 8-12 rep range is all you need to see a huge boost in performance and functionality.

More Like This:

• 5 Best Dumbbell Exercises to Get Strong (And Gather a Crowd)
• Understanding and Growing the “Wings” of Your Upper Body
• Here’s How to Master the Pull-Up
• New on Breaking Muscle Today

Photo courtesy of CrossFit Impulse.

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There’s a common misconception about what conditioning is. Most people seem to think that it’s as simple as conditioning = cardio.

Depending on who you ask—this can be a controversial topic. But in reality, it’s straightforward. Before we get into exactly what you should, and shouldn’t be doing, let’s take a step back and consider the bigger picture.

There’s a common misconception about what conditioning is. Most people seem to think that it’s as simple as conditioning = cardio.

For example, a strength and conditioning coach gets people strong and fit.

This isn’t wrong, just incomplete.

Conditioning and Fitness Are Not the Same

Cardiovascular fitness is a health-related component of physical fitness and is characterized by our ability to deliver oxygen to working muscle; essentially, it’s how well our heart can pump oxygenated blood to meet exercise demands.

Improving cardiovascular fitness is advantageous for many sports, but is it directly beneficial for strength sports?

Conditioning is not just being fit. Conditioning is being prepared to meet the demands of a sport or activity. An athlete can be extremely fit but poorly conditioned to the task at hand. If we consider what conditioning might mean for a marathon runner, it will look quite different for a powerlifter or strongman, or even bodybuilder.

Conditioning incorporates the physical qualities required, familiarity with the environment, and overall readiness to perform.

Conditioning Is Specific

Simply put, fitness is general; conditioning is specific.

There’s going to be an overlap between the two, but fitness and conditioning are not the same.

So, for strength athletes, how does being conditioned look? Quite simply, it requires you to exert large amounts of force for relatively short periods and execute a particular skill while doing so.

So, how do we tackle the conditioning demands of strength sports, and is there a place for cardiovascular fitness?

The short answer is to train specific to the sport (obvious, I know), but this is where exposure to high loads close to competition serves a clear purpose—yes, it’s a skill.

Still, it’s conditioning for the impending competition environment.

• In the case of strongman, it might be performing specific competition events in prep.
• In bodybuilding, the art of posing certainly falls under conditioning.

Where, then, does cardiovascular fitness fit?

Cardio Impacts Your Overall Ability to Train

To put it simply, it keeps you healthy. The evidence here is pretty undeniable, regular aerobic exercise lowers your resting blood pressure, your resting heart rate and reduces your risk of a multitude of health conditions. In short, it’s good for you, but does it have a place outside of doing it for health? Yes.

Improving your cardiovascular fitness can have a tremendous impact on your overall ability to train. You can improve recovery between sets and between workouts.

Being able to regenerate ATP and supply blood to muscles faster is rarely a bad thing.

There may be a point of diminishing return, but I can tell you that I’ve yet to meet a strength athlete who was too strong for their sport.

Q. What type of cardio should strength athletes perform?

A. They should perform low-intensity aerobic work every single time.

What’s that? HIIT circuits aren’t better? No, they’re not.

Consider what we’re trying to achieve? Your high-intensity training occurs every time you lift.

1. There is no need to try and develop anaerobic pathways any more than that for strength athletes.
2. Doing authentic HIIT-style training at something like 15:60 serves no additional benefit, so why would you do it?
3. The best form of aerobic training a strength athlete can do is moderate intensity, moderate duration, and low impact.
4. Circuits of box jumps and swings look great on Instagram but are also more taxing on the body as a whole, and we want to save our recovery capabilities for our specific training.
5. I start by recommending off-legs cardio—spin bike, rower, or ski erg.

As a general rule, I don’t recommend you run; the trade-off is rarely worth it.

• Protocol 1 – Work for 30 minutes, keep your heart rate at 130-150 bpm continually. If you don’t have a heart rate monitor, this is the intensity at which you can maintain a conversation.
• Protocol 2 – Aerobic intervals; Work for 30 seconds and then rest for 15 seconds. Pick any exercise or multiple exercises and rotate; Once again, accumulate 30 minutes of work.
• Protocol 3 – Tempo Intervals, work slightly higher intensity for 15 seconds, rest for 45 seconds. If you’re going to run, this is how I suggest you run rather than long distance.

If you are a strength athlete interested in staying healthy and maintaining a level of aerobic fitness, do what you’re not currently doing.

Please don’t do more of what you’re already doing and call it cardio. You know it isn’t—Surely?

The post Conditioning for Strength Athletes appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The theory of periodization is rooted in Hans Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS), which includes three primary stages: alarm reaction, resistance, and exhaustion.¹⁵

A considerable amount of research has been conducted on the concept of periodization and its function in organizing training programs, particularly for eliciting athletic performance gains.

The theory of periodization is rooted in Hans Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS), which includes three primary stages: alarm reaction, resistance, and exhaustion.¹⁵

In line with the GAS theory, exercise stress induces an alarm reaction, promotes adaptation, results in a performance plateau, and necessitates rest prior to the introduction of further training.¹⁰

Continued training stress without adequate recovery periods, however, results in exhaustion and overtraining.¹³

Understanding these principles support that periodized programs are often superior in producing strength, power, endurance, and hypertrophy gains when compared to non-periodized programs.⁷

Cyclical variations in volume, intensity, frequency, and specificity allow trainees to reach peak levels of performance for athletic competitions.⁹

Periodization employs phases of general and specific dedicated training blocks subdivided into macrocycle (annual or quadrennial plan for Olympic athletes), mesocycles (a month or multiple months), and microcycles (a week or multiple weeks).

The manner in which these phases are systematically structured depend on the desired training outcomes, method of periodization chosen, and important competition dates.¹⁸

A number of strategies are often used in designing training programs including block strategies, concurrent strategies, concentrated strategies, and conjugate strategies, to name a few.²⁰

Unique terminology and overlapping philosophies within each strategy lead sports scientists, coaches, and athletes to debate the most effective method for training. It is essential that individuals understand the majority of these strategies are similar to one another and categorized as either traditional (linear), block, or undulating (non-linear) by nature.

Factors that influence the most effective periodization method to be chosen are the athlete’s capabilities, time availability, competition season, training resources, and sport profile.

The Role of Periodization

Periodization was cited in Eastern Europe for decades prior to integrating into Western culture as a foreign idea with limited prior research to support its application.^8,18

Seminal researchers and practitioners such as Boris Kotov and G. Birsin have subdivided training into general, preparatory, and specific training periods with the understanding that fluctuating volume and intensity is necessary to drive adaption.⁹

It was agreed early on that as major competition neared, training modalities should shift from general to specific and increased intensity coincides with decreased volume. Periodization is necessary to reduce overtraining potential, peak at an appropriate time for major competitions, and provide maintenance within sporting seasons.²¹

The effects that result from calculated resistance training methods are dose-dependent and must be carefully structured so that trainees functionally overreach, recover, and display new-found fitness levels.⁵

Progressive resistance training models that involve no periods of reduced volume, frequency, and intensity demonstrate serious risk for injury and burnout.¹²

A Medline search of literature from 1979 to 2009 discussing periodized and non-periodized methods of strength training, further demonstrates that periodized strength training plans are superior in performance outcomes when compared to non-periodized programs.¹⁶

The literature and conclusions based within them support that organizing resistance training through fluctuating volume and intensity is necessary to elicit the greatest performance gains.

The method of periodization employed in combination with the training experience of the subjects appears to greatly affect the results. The greatest strength gains seen from most periodized training programs do not take place until 8 weeks or more, thus the impact each model has cannot be fully understood until longer interventions take place.⁷

Furthermore, patterns and variants of training are greatly impacted by the level of athletes (e.g. novice or advanced) in combination with the time of year (e.g. wave-like patterns and in-season periods).³

Some research studies equate volume as well as provide control groups to make comparisons across methods while others do not, thus the recommendations one can get in the literature can be confusing.

Strategies used to manipulate the volume and intensity of training by Rosenblatt (Table 1) can be particularly useful. ²⁰

The Traditional Method

The traditional method of periodization develops one physical quality after another in a sequential process, progressing from general to specific and high volume low intensity to low volume high-intensity phases.²⁰

Typically, this is seen by moving through extended linear periods of training, targeting physiological qualities such as hypertrophy, strength, and power in succession for extended periods of time.

Ultimately coaches attempt to peak their athletes for a major competition which is accepted as the most important part of preparation. Leading into the major competition, coaches will taper their athletes by dramatically reducing volume and intensity in order to recover.²⁰

An advantage to this methodology of training is that it is predictable and an obvious training progression of physical development is present.²⁰

It is one of the earliest forms of organized training and has been used by coaches for decades. Numerous coaches contend, however, that this model is not optimal for athletes who require multiple peaks within a competition season and negative interactions may occur from non-compatible workloads inducing conflicting training responses.¹³

Additionally, training that is 3-4 weeks of continual exhaustive and intensive linear weeks can induce significant stress responses that are difficult to recover from when athletes are at or near their upper threshold of biological adaption.¹³

Thus, this method may not prove to be efficacious for elite level or highly trained athletes.

Several studies support that no differences between strength, hypertrophy, endurance, and power are seen when implementing traditional periodization interventions in comparison to either block or undulating methods.

However a research study in 2011 comparing traditional and weekly undulating periodized strength training methods in 42 recreationally active young looked at strength gains in the 10RM back squat and bench press over 8 weeks, 12 weeks, and at baseline finding that although both groups made strength increases, the traditional group was significantly stronger than the undulating group at week 8 and 12 of the intervention.²

The rationale behind this difference may be that undulating models promote extended periods of muscle soreness and accumulate fatigue at a greater rate than the traditional method, particularly with extended training periods.²

Although Vladimir Issurin contends that traditional periodization can lead to overtraining in advanced athletes, this did not appear to be the case within this study as subjects were recreational and the undulating model appeared to induce greater overall fatigue.¹³

Sweeping generalizations can be made neither for nor against the use of traditional periodization, due to the fact that mixed results occur within the literature and further research is necessary to fully understand the breadth of this method most appropriate use.

Undulating Periodization

Undulating periodization is represented by several different training modalities, most notably are the daily, weekly, and conjugate methods.

Daily undulating periodization (DUP) involves variety in training focus or stimulus day to day whereas weekly undulating periodization (WUP) targets a specific training goal per microcycle or week of training.²⁰

Conjugate training slightly differs in that it attempts to train several complimentary physical qualities (e.g. strength and power) at once or within a given microcycle.²⁰

This method was originally developed by Professor Yuri Verkoshansky and has continued to be altered over time by coaches such as Louie Simmons of Westside Barbell who employs the use of “maximum effort” upper and lower body days early in the week, followed by “dynamic effort” upper and lower body days later in the week in order to address both the force and velocity necessary to induce adaption for strength gain.²⁰

Globally speaking, undulating periodization methods tend to fall under the same scope of practice despite variance in each exact prescription.

What is interesting is that volume load is often higher in undulating models compared to block models, proposing that block methods are more efficient at producing strength gains.¹⁷

The majority of the research studies favoring undulating periodization are shorter in duration (6-9 weeks) compared to those that do not display a difference or find inferior results to other methods.

Early phases of training do not appear to be greatly affected by the chosen method of periodization, however, it is proposed that when training interventions extend beyond 8 or more weeks, accumulation of fatigue through the undulating model inhibits strength and power gains compared to other methods, ^{2, 6, 7, 11, 13, 19}

The underlying mechanisms behind this is related to excessive muscle soreness, hormonal fluctuations, and glycogen depletion.

While the research demonstrates mixed reviews on the efficacy of undulating periodization, it has been proposed as being beneficial for reducing training monotony and introducing training variety to a program.¹

Additionally, when time constraints do not allow extended periods of consecutive sequential training blocks, undulating periodization may offer athletes and coaches an opportunity to train multiple qualities at once.⁷

Employing undulating periodization for brief bouts, and at different times throughout the training year may be a viable option when appropriately applied. Its results appear promising in the short term, but careful consideration must be given prior to employing this method long term.

Block Periodization

Block periodization is a commonly used method of training that links sequential blocks of highly concentrated mesocycles.²⁰

It was originally developed to service athletes who require peaking multiple times throughout a competitive season, which can be extremely difficult.²⁰

Typically, it is broken into three distinct mesocycle which are accumulation, transmutation, and realization. Accumulation can be thought of as the phase which develops general physical qualities (e.g. hypertrophy and endurance) carrying long term residual training effects.²⁰

Transmutation follows the accumulation cycle, and uses concentrated doses of training to target sports specific qualities.²⁰

The final phase that follows transmutation is the realization phase, which sees significant reductions in volume and training stress in order to allow fitness to be displayed.²⁰

This method of periodization is founded on the residual training effect model, which allows athletes to develop a physical quality while maintaining the benefits of previously gained physical qualities in the prior training block, ultimately readdressing them before they become detrained.

As previously mentioned, the benefits of block periodization address the need for athletes to peak multiple times within a competition season as well as maintain physical qualities gained in the offseason.

Athletes in sports involving major competitions on a regularly scheduled basis benefit from block periodization due to the fact that programming can maximize expression of desired physical qualities at their highest levels when needed most with little interference from the training program and the fatigue that comes with it.¹⁴

An important note on training residuals is that concentration, load, age of the athlete, and duration of training directly correlate with the density and duration that the physical qualities will be held.¹⁴

This is key, as block periodization can be scaled to fit training time constraints and suit athletes at multiple different levels of training experience, particularly advanced athletes, who may suffer from conflicting metabolic and hormonal responses when altering training stimulus dramatically on a daily basis.¹³

Implementation

With literature to both support and dismiss the training effects associated with each respective periodization strategy, coaches should make informed and intelligent decisions when selecting a method to implement.

Various periodization models can be strategically sequenced across an entire macrocycle, thus subscribing to a singular model is unnecessary. Dr. Dan Baker has developed an informative article detailing the practicality of different periodization methods along with recommendations for proper implementation.³

It is extremely useful because each method is specifically broken down by rep schemes, intensity, and loading duration. He states that the linear model should include an approximate 5% increase in loading each week and is best suited for novice athletes or those who have less training experience. Less variation in intensity and stress allows for these athletes to focus on developing technique without the hindrance of substantial fatigue.

These blocks are typically long in duration lasting eight to twelve weeks at a time with gradual increases in intensity. The block model should contain three phases as previously mentioned that target strength endurance, then strength and power, and finally peak strength/power for example.³

This model is typically best suited for advanced or more experienced athletes due to the concentrated loading periods that provide the required stimulus these athletes need to elicit physiological change. Novice athletes will likely be unable to recover from the strenuous loads this model presents and it can even be deleterious to performance.

Furthermore, careful attention must be given to high volume concentrated blocks within the competitive season as the cumulative fatigue can disrupt athletic performance. Baker mentions that undulatory models are suitable for athletes who have grown accustomed to linear methods but may not be ready for the concentrated loads that block periodization provides.³

Shifting the training focus regularly provides variety and helps eliminate the boredom often associated with continuous traditional programming.

Two-week phases alternating in focus are the suggested model, that vary slightly from the daily undulating periodized model which alters training focus and intensity every single day.

This method may also be beneficial for athletes who must maintain multiple physical qualities for an extended period of time or cannot afford to have a decrease in any one quality. The risk for overtraining or excessive muscle soreness, however, is high in this model which can also be harmful to athletic performance if not carefully monitored.¹⁹

An uncommonly researched method that’s similar to the previously mentioned progressive resistance model is what’s called the accumulation/intensification pattern.

This is suitable for introductory programs and allows one to focus on increasing reps before increasing load. An example is an athlete who would choose a load they can do for three sets of ten reps, and not increase the weight until they are able to successfully perform three sets of twelve reps with weight.³

Interestingly, Baker also suggests that exercises can be integrated by applying different models of periodization to specific exercises within the same training program.

Specifically, he mentions that powerlifting exercises such as the squat, bench, and deadlift could be loaded using a block method while assistance exercises follow an undulatory protocol.

This caters to the specificity of an exercise, as accessory movements tend to be neglected when focusing on maximum strength and power development.

Despite the model chosen, each will employ a method of tapering to recover and ultimately express fitness gained over the training period. This can occur over a microcycle for athletes who compete on a weekly basis, or mesocycle for those who have fewer major competitions.²⁰

The difficulty in determining the precise taper duration is similar to that of the individual responses seen in training stimulus variability. Individuals will require different periods of unloading, seen by various levels of volume, intensity, and frequency reductions.

The general recommendation is somewhere between ten and fourteen days, with the understanding that periods lasting too much longer will begin to result in detrained athletic qualities.

Not every periodization method will offer the opportunity to peak multiple times, thus the method of organization must align with the given sport and training season.

Practical Applications of Periodization

Coaches should periodize resistance training for their athletes so that they recover properly, avoid overtraining, and adapt to programming in an optimal fashion.¹³

Understanding the key principles of Selye’s GAS theory support that periodized programs are often superior in producing strength, power, endurance, and hypertrophy gains when compared to non-periodized programs.¹⁰

Cyclical variations in volume, intensity, frequency, and specificity allow trainees to reach peak levels of performance for athletic competitions.⁹

Coaches should move from phases of general to specifically dedicated training blocks, subdivided into a macrocycle (annual or quadrennial plan for Olympic athletes), mesocycles (a month or multiple months), and microcycles (a week or multiple weeks) congruent with the anticipated competitions.

It is imperative to systematically structure the periodization plan according to the individual athlete’s capabilities, desired training outcome, time constraints, and important competition dates.¹⁸

Unique terminology and overlapping philosophies within each strategy lead sports scientists, coaches, and athletes to debate the most effective method for training, thus it is essential that coaches understand the majority of these strategies are similar with one another and categorized as either traditional (linear), block, or undulating (non-linear) by nature.

Furthermore, coaches may choose to sequence training so that particular periodization methods are used at different times of the year, or different athletes and exercises within the same cycle.³

Consideration of the individual athlete’s needs and training status should always take precedence when structuring a program.

Methods will vary substantially between the novice and advanced athletes thus training must be adjusted across the span of an athlete’s entire career as they move into a trained state.

Without proper periodization, coaches and athletes risk injury and the potential for overtraining or undertraining to a much higher degree than periodized programs.

References:

1. Alvar, B., Wenner, R., & Dodd, D.J. The Effect Of Daily Undulated Periodization As Compared To Linear Periodization In Strength Gains Of Collegiate Athletes. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 24: 1. 2010.

2. Apel, J.M., Lacey, R.M., & Kell, R.T. A comparison of traditional and weekly undulating periodized strength training programs with total volume and intensity equated. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 25: 694-703. 2011.

3. Baker, D. Cycle-Length Variants in Periodized Strength/Power Training. Strength and Conditioning Journal. 29: 10-17. 2007.

4. Bartolomei, S., Hoffman, J.R., Merni, F., & Stout, J.R. A Comparison of Traditional and Block Periodized Strength Training Programs in Trained Athletes. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 28: 990-997. 2014.

5. Bompa, T.O. Variations of periodization of strength. Strength & Conditioning Journal. 18: 58-61. 1996.

6. Fleck, S. Non-linear periodization for general fitness & athletes. Journal of human kinetics. 29: 41-45. 2011.

7. Fleck, S.J. Periodized strength training: a critical review. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 13: 82-89. 1999.

8. Gamble, P. Periodization of training for team sports athletes. Strength and conditioning journal. 28: 56. 2006.

9. Graham, J. Periodization research and an example application. Strength & Conditioning Journal. 24: 62-70. 2002.

10. Haff, G.G. Roundtable discussion: Periodization of training—Part 1. Strength & Conditioning Journal. 26: 50-69. 2004.

11. Harries, S.K., Lubans, D.R., & Callister, R. Systematic review and meta-analysis of linear and undulating periodized resistance training programs on muscular strength. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 29: 1113-1125. 2015.

12. Herrick, A.B. & Stone, W.J. The Effects of Periodization Versus Progressive Resistance Exercise on Upper and Lower Body Strength in Women. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 10: 72-76. 1996.

13. Issurin, V. Block periodization versus traditional training theory: a review. Journal of sports medicine and physical fitness. 48: 65. 2008.

14. Issurin, V.B. New horizons for the methodology and physiology of training periodization. Sports medicine. 40: 189-206. 2010.

15. Kiely, J. Periodization theory: confronting an inconvenient truth. Sports Medicine. 48: 753-764. 2018.

16. Lorenz, D., Reiman, M., & Walker, J. Periodization: Current Review and Suggested Implementation for Athletic Rehabilitation. Sports Health. 2: 509-518. 2010.

17. Painter, K.B., Haff, G.G., Ramsey, M.W., Mcbride, J., Triplett, T., Sands, W.A., Lamont, H.S., Stone, M.E., & Stone, M.H. Strength gains: Block versus daily undulating periodization weight training among track and field athletes. International journal of sports physiology and performance. 7: 161-169. 2012.

18. Plisk, S.S. & Stone, M.H. Periodization strategies. Strength & Conditioning Journal. 25: 19-37. 2003.

19. Rhea, M.R., Ball, S.D., Phillips, W.T., & Burkett, L.N. A comparison of linear and daily undulating periodized programs with equated volume and intensity for strength. The Journal of strength & conditioning research. 16: 250-255. 2002.

20. Rosenblatt, B. Planning a performance programme. High-Performance Training for Sports. 247. 2014.

21. Stone, M., O’bryant, H., Schilling, B., Johnson, R., Pierce, K., Haff, G.G., & Koch, A. Periodization: effects of manipulating volume and intensity. Part 1. Strength & Conditioning Journal. 21: 56. 1999.

The post Practical Applications for Periodization Theory appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

And some people went as far as to call them the upper body squat.

Fix Your Dumbbell Pullover

While there is no doubt that the dumbbell pullover is an exercise that trains multiple muscles at once, it does have a major problem in common with many other dumbbell exercises.

This problem is that its resistance profile isn’t ideal. At the bottom of the lift the long lever arm means that massive amounts of tension go through the lats and upper pecs. As you lift, however, the lever arm shortens.

The tension on the muscles drops significantly, making the top half of the lift very easy. As you can probably guess, this makes this portion of the lift largely redundant from a muscle-building point of view.

Fixing this issue is simple, cheap, easy to do, and effective. The addition of a band anchored behind you allows you to keep tension on the muscle throughout the entire range.

When done like this the band keeps adding tension throughout the range while the resistance provided by the dumbbell reduces (due to the lever arm shortening). Rather than only having to work hard for half of the lift you now get a muscle-building challenge across the whole range. That adds up to a bigger chest and lats!

The post Band Pullovers – The Torso Builder appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Specificity is a core principle in sport science. It’s the degree of association between training and performance outcomes.¹ If you’re a powerlifter this means that the training you do should be focused at getting you better at squatting, benching, and deadlifting. But this is where the disconnect occurs with coaches; between the principle and its application.

Specificity exists on a spectrum—100% specificity as a powerlifter means your training would consist exclusively of competing in actual meets. However, no one does this and for obvious reasons.

So, a less specific but more appropriate application of the principle is to do the competition lifts or a close variation more frequently at submaximal loads with a progressive structure that guides the program.

This is the distinction between specificity and transference. Specific training generally has the highest transference. Individual circumstances may influence the application of specificity resulting in a less specific approach yielding better performance metrics.

Specificity Doesn’t Exist In a Vacuum

The main point here is that specificity does not exist in a vacuum, and the interaction between specificity and other variables like fatigue management, injury, variation, and overload need to be considered when designing a program. Let’s go one step further and look at scenarios where less specific training protocols would actually yield a higher transference to sports performance.

One such example is injury. I had tendonitis in both knees which caused a lot of pain while squatting. Unsurprisingly, this impeded my performance and my results suffered. The protocol I chose to fix this was high volume eccentric leg extensions to strengthen the tendons.² This worked exceptionally well and removed the pain as well as any apprehension signals so I could squat unimpeded. My performance improved immediately as did my result at the end of my cycle.

Leg extension did not increase my force output, they simply removed an obstruction that allowed me to accumulate more overloading sessions of higher quality which made me stronger. Less specific, but it allowed for a higher transference to sports performance.

Assuming an athlete needs to gain 20lb to fill out his ideal weight class his training would necessarily be less specific.

It may include longer hypertrophy blocks and even reflect a slight preference to hypertrophy during the strength phases. If you took a snapshot of this athlete’s program, it would appear to be less specific. In fact, had he done less hypertrophy it’s possible he may have had a slightly better strength outcome at the end of a single training cycle.

However, when you extend this timeline out several years, the athlete develops much more strength as a direct result of increased muscle cross-sectional area. His new muscle has also extended his strength potential beyond what he could have reached at his previous weight.³

Exercise variation can decrease staleness of a program and boost the athlete’s desire to train. Variation is also a critical aspect of fatigue management and prevention of overuse injuries.⁴ One form of variation is exercise alteration—changing grip width, squat stance, doing floor press instead of competition bench press, etc.

Yield Your Best Long Term Results

Now, I want to be clear, I’m not diminishing the principle of specificity. Nor am I saying that because there are instances where less specific training yields better results then the principle of specificity is wrong.

In the examples above (which are real case studies) higher specificity would have produced a lesser transference to performance outcomes. This is an application issue, not an issue with the principle itself. Your ability as an athlete to move up and down the spectrum of specificity based on what will yield the best long term results is a critical skill that must be developed over time.

Avoid excessive rigidity in your understanding of these fundamental principles. This will help you apply them more effectively in your own training and ultimately produce better results.

Lift big.

References:

1. William B. McCafferty & Steven M. Horvath (1977) “Specificity of Exercise and Specificity of Training: A Subcellular Review.” Research Quarterly. American Alliance for Health, Physical Education and Recreation, 48:2, 358-371, DOI: 10.1080/10671315.1977.10615433.

2. Öhberg L, Lorentzon R, Alfredson H, “Eccentric training in patients with chronic Achilles tendinosis: normalised tendon structure and decreased thickness at follow up.” British Journal of Sports Medicine 2004;38:8-11.

3. Higbie, Elizabeth J., Kirk J. Cureton, Gordon L. Warren, and Barry M. Prior. “Effects of Concentric and Eccentric Training on Muscle Strength, Cross-sectional Area, and Neural Activation.” Journal of Applied Physiology 81, no. 5 (1996): 2173-181. doi:10.1152/jappl.1996.81.5.2173.

4. Renström, Per, and Robert J. Johnson. “Overuse Injuries in Sports A Review.” Sports Medicine 2, no. 5 (1985): 316-33. doi:10.2165/00007256-198502050-00002.?

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“What does @3131 mean?”

Before I explain that, you need to understand the difference between the concentric and eccentric portion of a movement.

Before I get into what tempo is good for, let’s talk about reading tempo.

“What does @3131 mean?”

Before I explain that, you need to understand the difference between the concentric and eccentric portion of a movement.

The eccentric portion of the movement is the “negative” part of any movement. During this portion of the movement, the muscles lengthen while producing force. During a squat, it’s when you lower into the squat, and during a push-up it’s where you lower your body to the ground.

The concentric portion of the movement, on the other hand, is when the muscle contracts and shortens. It’s essentially what we typically think of as the “working part” of the movement. During a squat, it’s where you’re working your butt off to get out of the hole and stand back up, and during a push-up it’s when you’re pushing yourself off the ground. During a pull-up, it’s, of course, when you’re pulling yourself up.

The two other pieces of the puzzle to understand tempo are the top and the bottom positions. Real simple, the bottom of a squat is when you’re, well, at the bottom of the squat, and the top position is when you’re fully standing up. The bottom of a pull-up is where you’re at a deadhang position with straight arms, and the top is when you have your chin over the bar.

OK, now that we have that sorted out…

Translating the Tempo

The first number of the tempo prescription is always the eccentric portion of the movement. The second number is the bottom position, the third number is the concentric portion of the movement, and the fourth is the top position.

Therefore @3131 means:

• Eccentric: 3 (seconds)
• Bottom: 1 (second)
• Concentric: 3 (seconds)
• Top: 1 (second)

Consider a tempo of @3131 for a back squat—this means we want you to take 3 seconds to descend into a squat (eccentric). Then we want you to rest for 1 second at the bottom, followed by 3 seconds to stand up (concentric), and finally 1 second to pause at the top.

In a pull-up this tempo means that you take 3 seconds to slowly lower (eccentric), 1 second to hang out at the bottom in the deadhang hold position, 3 seconds to pull your chin to the bar (concentric), and then 1 second to hold with your chin over the bar.

Makes sense, right?

Ok, what if the tempo is @33×1?

The x basically means explode as fast as you can. So in a squat, it means 3 seconds to lower, 3 seconds to hold at the bottom, then explode back up as fast you’re able to with whatever load you’re using, and then take 1 second to pause at the top.

You may wonder why is it useful to train with tempo. I’m glad you asked—below are five reasons why.

5 Reasons to Train with Tempo

1. Improve Movement Patterns – Because tempo work usually forces you to slow things down, it allows you to focus on and reiterate perfect mechanics—be it a squat, a deadlift, or a push-up.Slowing a movement down allows you to really feel each part of the movement, ultimately helping you move better and more consistently. On a similar note, tempo work is a great way to address and fix any positional weaknesses in any given movement.
2. Improve Strength – Tempo work means you’ll be spending more time under tension, which is a key component in building strength.It also allows you to log a lot of volume as you’ll be working off much lower percentages of your max than you would be without a prescribed tempo, which goes a long way in building strength.
3. Experience Variety – Tempo work adds variety to your training by giving your body a new stimulus—another key to helping you continuously make improvements.
4. Protect and Preserve Your Nervous System – Tempo work allows you to get more bang for your buck. When you lift weight at percentages that are close to you maximum strength, you put a big strain on your nervous system. So tempo work allows you to work at lower percentages, but the more time under tension means you’ll still get the benefits of a heavier load but without frying your nervous system.
5. Promote Recovery – In short, because tempo training puts less strain on your nervous system, your recovery will be faster so you’ll be able to train more.

Try the below four exercises with tempo.

Tempo Training Exercise 1: Squat

@3311

• 5 sets of 5 reps at 50 percent of your 1RM

Tempo Training Exercise 2: Deadlift

@3131

• 5 sets of 5 reps at 50 percent of your 1 RM

Tempo Training Exercise 3: Push-Up or Inclined Push-Up

@2222

• 5 sets of 8-10 reps (push-ups or inclined push-ups)

Tempo Training Exercise 4: Pull-Up or Ring Row

@3113

The post Add Tempo to Your Training to Optimize Performance appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Now say that three times fast! Welcome back everyone to another episode of Breaking Down Your Workout Library. Thanks to the team at Breaking Muscle, I’ve been guided to produce another breakdown of one of my favorite exercises.

The hack squat was originated in Germany and derives from the word hacke (heel). So, as one can imagine, the starting position for the hack squat is the heel. The barbell variation is little known to many however while its machine counterpart is well known. Today for Breaking Muscle I’m going to be breaking down the hack squat. Get ready, it’s going to burn!

The Barbell Hack Squat

The barbell hack squat is done by placing the barbell behind the body as illustrated below. The goal is to keep the spine neutral, engage the glutes, and refrain from rounded shoulders. It is best to utilize an overhand grip for a traditional hack squat.

Keep in mind that one may need to squeeze the scapulae on lockout. In contrast, the supinated grip places the shoulder in external rotation which proves safer positioning for those with limited shoulder mobility. A plate placed under the heels may be used for those with limited ankle mobility.

The Machine Hack Squat

For the machine hack squat, take two seconds to descend and from a half to a full second to ascend. This movement is done with a normal stance slightly wider than shoulder-width to accommodate this particular machine.

Now we move onto the close stance hack squat as we are placing the legs slightly narrower than shoulder-width apart. Note that persons with hip issues will not find this variation as fulfilling and should opt for a close stance leg press if back issues are nonexistent.

Supersetting with weighted lunges is a suitable alternative, and Bulgarian split squats are even more worthwhile because they double as a stretch for the quadriceps muscle and hip flexors.

Remember to live with love my friends! Thank you to Absolute Power Fitness NYC for allowing me to use their space for this session.

The post Hacking the Hack Squat appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Instead, by slightly internally rotating your shoulder and finishing with full extension, you can transfer your strict press form to overhead lifts such as the push press or power jerk more efficiently and effectively.

Why Perform the Military Press?

The military press is an overhead press and is inherently derived from being able to press from an “at attention” position. The strict press is a strict overhead press, meaning no utilizing of leg drive. Military presses are often done seated as opposed to strict presses and in essence serve the purpose of isolating the deltoid, trapezius, and core musculature. If your end goal is to be a weightlifter or CrossFitter I would opt for the strict press—it has far better carryover in that regard. If your end goal is bodybuilding, isolation is the better alternative. If your end goal is overall strength, program both into your regimen and you will stand a cut above the rest.

As always, lift with love my friends.

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A simple squat is one of the most effective exercises for building muscle, and also incredibly functional in how it translates to our daily living. Despite its relevance, it definitely takes detailed work on form, and sometimes instruction, to perfect it.

Correct squatting keeps us from getting injured and is the first step in a number of complex weight lifting exercises like thrusters. Let’s take a look at the common squat problems followed by easy fixes you can use to start correcting these problems.

Squat Problem 1: Your Knees Cave to the Inside

First things first—letting your knees cave in towards each other during a squat is a no-no.

This is probably the most common problem for beginners but persists in those that ignore it and continue to progress their load and frequency of squatting.

If you find one or both of your knees caves in right away, or midway through your squat, you need to fix this movement. If you continue your knee caving ways you’re risking MCL and meniscus damage to your knees as well as hip issues.

The Fix: Use a loop band around your knees and focus on keeping your knees out during your squat. Work on squatting with no weight until you build enough strength in your outside hip muscles to keep your knees from caving in.

Squat Problem 2: Your Arches Cave In

This may be something you notice during other exercises, or even when you’re just standing or walking. The hollow arch space on the insides of your feet may be shallow or nonexistent. This leaves your feet flush with the ground and shifts your weight towards the inside of your ankles.

If you notice this during other exercises, squatting is likely to accentuate this problem. In fact, you’re probably going to have problem 1 if you have problem 2. Your feet are your base and if you’re caving inside with your feet, your knees will typically follow suit and cave as well.

The Fix: Do some banded foot inversion exercises to keep the inside of your foot from dropping. Strengthening the muscles that invert the ankle will help build some ankle muscle endurance to keep your feet in the right spot.

Squat Problem 3: Your Weight Is On Your Toes

Squats are primarily for building your glutes and hamstrings, not your quadriceps. If you’re shifting your weight toward the front of your foot you’re going to feel squats more in your quads. What else? Your heels are going to come off the ground, uh oh.

You’ll never increase your capacity if you’re lifting your heels off the ground, and this needs to be fixed as soon as possible. When squatting you want to have the majority of weight in your heels, this keeps your knees behind your feet and saves your knees as well.

The Fix: Unload, again, and work on sitting back into your heels, like you’re putting your butt into a chair. In fact, use a chair and do some chair taps. When you’re squatting down, tap your butt on a chair then rise up. The chair will keep you from falling down onto your butt. Get comfortable putting weight in your heels and sitting back in your squat.

Squat Problem 4: Leaning Before Hip Hinging

The moment you lean forward, you’re immediately burdening your low back. That’s not its job. For goodness sake save your back, or your squatting days will be over before they started. If you’re leaning forward first, you’re missing step one, the hip hinge.

The first move of a squat is pushing your butt back and hinging at the hips. This does a couple of important things for your squats. It keeps your weight centered and balanced and it builds your glutes and not your low back.

The Fix: Use a resistance band around your waist and tied behind you to a rig or something sturdy. With tension on the band, practice sticking your butt back like you’re starting a Romanian deadlift, the resistance band should basically pull your butt back for you.

Then, use your hips and thrust your pelvis forward against the resistance of the band. This activates your glute muscles and gets you familiar with initiating a hip hinge first.

Squat Problem 5: Shallow Squat Depth

How low can you go? Nobody wants to be shallow, in any way. If you’re squatting and you’re not hitting 90 degrees so your thighs are parallel, you’re cheating yourself. Depth in a squat is what builds functional strength.

Do know that squat depth comes with mobility, repetition, and time. If you’re a beginner you may not have great depth initially, but you will eventually. Don’t even think about increasing load until you’re getting good depth. If you can’t perform a deep and full squat, that should be your first goal.

The Fix: Spend some time in a low squat without weight, some call it squat therapy. You can also use easy, or no weight, and do pause squats—pausing at the bottom for 1-2 seconds before you start your ascent. It’s “oh, so painful, but oh, so good.”

Fix Your Issues Now

One of these problems may resonate with you, or you may even find a few of these problems in your squat now that you’re aware of them. If you do recognize these problems, take the time and start fixing them now.

You’ll be surprised how incorporating these little fixes to correct your squat will allow you to increase your weight and squatting frequency.

The post 5 Common Squat Problems and How to Fix Them appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Your Abs Are An Endurance Muscle

There are around 35 different core muscles that attach to the spine and pelvis. We’re just going to talk about one. The rectus abdominis (aka your six-pack muscle) is more about the “show” than the “go.” But if you want to strip the fat and unveil an athletic-looking mid-section there are a few things you should know about it.

The rectus abdominis is composed of roughly equal amounts of both slow and fast twitch fibers, built for both strength and power. Contrary to what some believe it’s not a muscle built for endurance, and therefore shouldn’t be trained like one.

To give you some context the soleus muscle in the lower calf is about 80% slow twitch. Genetics and training influence muscle fiber makeup, but even accounting for those outliers, 50% versus 80% slow twitch is a large difference.

This is just one of the reasons why the soleus responds well to higher repetition sets for hypertrophy, so spend more time in the 20-25 rep range. And, although you might feel your abs burning doing sets of 20-25 reps, they’ll more likely respond to a lower repetition range better. More like 10-15 reps per set, with the odd foray into the 6-8 rep range even.

Some research has also suggested that eccentric training can tap into the HTMU’s, causing preferential hypertrophy of the type II muscle fibers.

If you’ve spent a lot of time treating your six-pack like an endurance muscle and hitting those type I fibers, you’ll achieve greater abdominal development if you start increasing the weight and employing some eccentrics.

The Role of Spinal Flexion

The rectus abdomnis is designed to flex your spine and posteriorly tilt your pelvis. If you perform a crunch and simply think about closing the space between your ribcage and your pelvis, then you’ll be working your abs through their full range.

If you believe the spine only has a finite amount of flexions before you get a disk herniation that’s not a problem. All we’ll say on that subject is that the spine is designed to flex, bend, rotate, adapt, and be resilient. To hit the rectus abdominis optimally, you need to flex.

This could be a topic for discussion in the comments though, but until then let’s move on.

Eccentrics Build Muscle

When muscle fibers eccentrically lengthen, they produce force because of both active and passive elements inside them. The passive elements are elastic-type structures that produce force by resisting deformation, rather than by using energy to move.

Because of structures that come in to play during eccentric contraction (extracellular matrix, the internal structure of the muscle fiber, and the giant molecule titin), we are usually 25-30% stronger when lowering a resistance than lifting it. Sometimes it’s not uncommon to be up to 40% stronger!

Eccentric training involves higher muscle forces, which can produce a large amount of mechanical tension and muscle damage. That’s two of the three proposed mechanisms that have been suggested as potent stimulators of muscle hypertrophy.

Providing that a larger load is used, or a longer time is spent focusing on the eccentric phase of an exercise, you may see greater muscle growth than typical concentric-eccentric lifting. There’s research to back this up, too.

There are three ways we could focus on loading the eccentric:

1. Add extra load on the eccentric.
2. Use the same weight, allowing you to do more reps when performed eccentrically.
3. More eccentric time-under tension (TUT).

Of note, there’s little scientific evidence for or against focusing on eccentric TUT. But it makes sense from a mechanistic (and real-world) perspective that it would drive hypertrophy. If you don’t believe in spending four-seconds or more on the negative, then it should at least still be encouraged that you fight the resistance on the way down (two seconds or so).

Eccentric Abdominal Exercise Selection

Since you’ll be 25-30% stronger during the eccentric portion of a movement, you’ll be able to use more load or spend a longer amount of time there. That load can be in the form of external resistance, or by changing leverage factors so your body provides more load on the eccentric than concentric.

For example, arguably the most important thing to achieve in any knee or leg raise is the posteriorly tilted pelvis; that tuck of the pelvis as your knees get closer to your chest. It’s the portion of the movement where the fibers of the lower rectus abdominis massively come in to play and start to take over from the hip flexors.

Many achieve this position easier with a knee tuck rather than a straight-leg raise. Or at least due to the “easier” nature of the movement we can spend more time here. By raising with a bent-knee and lowering with a straight-knee, you’ll have added eccentric load starting from a posteriorly tilted pelvis at the top.

Performing the Garhammer Raise eccentrically is a good example. The Garhammer Raise was made popular by sports scientist John Garhammer, PhD, and can effectively hit the lower rectus fibers.

If it’s a movement you can already do, by adapting it to an eccentric version of the same exercise you’ll complete more reps than normal, as well as more likely to have got closer to eccentric failure, rather than concentric fatigue.

If it’s a movement you can’t do yet, performing an eccentric version of it could be the bridging exercise you’re looking for to one day perform the full version with impeccable technique. Abdominal flags are a great example of this.

Trying to master ab wheel roll-outs from your toes? Try just the lowering portion off your toes, resist falling flat on your face, drop your knees, then perform the concentric as if you were doing the standard version off your knees. Reset to toes then go again.

Even performed eccentrically this is a great show of overall core strength, but worth it if done right.

You also have the option to just add eccentric load via an external weight. If you normally crunch with a 25lb plate overhead, give a 35lb plate a try. This time as you raise bring it in closer to your chest to lighten the load. The Sicilian crunch is an excellent example of this technique in action and really taps into those neglected fast-twitch fibers.

With many cable crunch variations, you can also execute a similar technique. Arms overhead increase the load due to a longer lever arm, while bringing your arms closer your chest shorten it.

A cable crunch will be harder when the cable attachment stays overhead during the lowering portion of the movement, and easier when brought closer into the shoulders or head in the lifting phase.

The standard kneeling cable crunch demonstrates such a technique. Do this with your butt back on your heels, or alternatively hips staying forward. Whichever technique you prefer, there’s an argument for either.

Finally, my a personal favorite. Using the same technique by changing leverage factors during the exercise, the incline eccentric cable crunch works a treat. It loads the eccentric very efficiently, while the incline bench and cable angle allow a constant tension throughout the movement.

Programming for Your Abdominals

If you want abs then you need to prioritize them. Throwing in a few sets of high-rep ab work at the end of your workouts isn’t going to cut it—our crappy diet isn’t either. If you haven’t already, drop your reps and start loading them. Eccentrics can be a great way to stimulate some hypertrophy whilst tapping into those HTMU’s, too.

Try staggered ab training. Throw them in as a superset in between other exercises. If you’re going for a personal best deadlift then fatiguing your abs might not be a good idea, but supersetting with your lesser priority exercises can be a great way to increase your training density and even burn an extra few calories otherwise covering your abs.

You can also use staggered ab training alongside metabolic conditioning workouts. As a superset it works great to load your abs in between sets of prowler pulls, pushes, tire flips, farmer carries, battling ropes, kettlebell swings, and any other form of torture you prefer.

The point is, don’t leave them as an afterthought. Make them a key part of your workout and load them to grow them.

Granted, abs are made in the kitchen, but they’re forged in the gym!

The post Eccentric Abdominal Training appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The trap bar deadlift is an incredibly effective exercise. It is a kind of squat/deadlift hybrid lift. Obviously, you deadlift the bar off the floor with it in your hands but the movement pattern is closer to a squat. This allows you to create a deeper knee angle than conventional deadlifts.

As a result, the trap bar requires the quadriceps to work harder than they would with a straight bar. This means that you can train the quads, hamstrings, glutes, abs, lower back, forearms, and traps with the trap bar deadlift. This makes it arguably the most efficient exercise out there.

I love the trap bar deadlift and often program it in my client’s training programs as well as my own. Most often the trap bar deadlift is used as the main lift one day per week, and we use this exercise as a indicator lift. If your numbers are going up week to week then it’s a pretty good sign the program is working.

Benefits of the Trap Bar Deadlift

If you haven’t tried the trap bar deadlift before then, I urge you to include it in your training regime.

Here is a quick overview of the benefits of the trap bar deadlift:

• Trains almost the entire body
• Causes more quad activation than regular deadlifts
• Reduces strain on lower back because of more upright torso angle
• Involves greater forces than conventional deadlifts
• Produces higher peak power outputs than deadlifts
• Allows you to achieve higher bar speeds than straight bar deadlifts

The trap bar deadlift is awesome, but it can be even better with one small adjustment.

Matching up the resistance profile of an exercise with the strength curves of the working muscles increases the effectiveness of an exercise. It allows you to challenge the muscles throughout the entire range of movement. This causes a greater stimulus across a greater range—and that adds up to more gains.

The trap bar deadlift is an extension movement pattern. This movement pattern has an ascending strength curve—you get stronger throughout the range.

You are weakest at the bottom and strongest at the top, so the hardest point in a squat is at rock bottom. Likewise, the hardest part of a deadlift is moving it off the floor. Once it’s past your knees, locking it out is generally easy the easy part.

Consequently, the total weight on the bar is limited by what you can move off the floor (your weakest position). This means your muscles have to work maximally to initiate the lift, but for every inch thereafter they are more mechanically advantaged. This means the muscles don’t have to work as hard. So, you are only working them maximally in the early part of the lift.

There is a simple fix to this issue that allows you to make the entire range of the lift equally demanding. Try adding a band to the bar and as you lift, the tension on the band increases.

By modifying the lift to match your capablitites helps you challenge your muscles across the entire range and makes it a more effective muscle builder. On a rep by rep basis you get a much higher stimulus. It makes every rep harder, but it also means you get a far higher muscle building stimulus.

The video demonstrates how to set up the bands and perform the lift:

Being tall is great in most walks of life. Reaching stuff down from cupboards, playing basketball, seeing your favorite band at a gig…yep, your height plays to your advantage.

Building muscle is a different story altogether! Filling out Orangutan length arms and legs better suited to a Giraffe isn’t easy. That’s why you need to optimize your time in the gym by training in a manner which suits your structure. To rinse every ounce of potential out of your frame you have to do what is effective for you. Not what works for the typical gym-bro.

That’s why I put together my Long-Limbed lifter program. I give you the exact exercises, sets, and reps to get you the best results possible. If you are interested in learning more click this link.

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