Going through the motions with mobility

Today I just want to take a second and clean up some technique with a common exercise that I see being done on a daily basis: Leg swings against a wall.

Here's a clip of the exercise done fairly well (check around the 35 second mark):

This is a great example of why I usually answer "depends" when I get asked the question, "What's a good exercise for 'x'"? Remember, there are no good or bad exercises, only good and bad application of exercises.

So what's the issue with this simple drill? 90% of gym-goers I see will swing their leg side to side very high, while allowing the foot on the down leg to turn outwards. It may seem harmless, but this is why it's important to understand exactly what the goals are for the exercise. With this example, we are working on hip mobility, but not only on the leg in motion. We are also working on internal rotation of the leg that is holding still, as our moving leg swings across our body. When the toe turns out, we let the hip externally rotate and now we've lost a big part of the exercise. Now any extra range of motion we get is a compensation of added hip flexion on the moving leg.

So, when doing these, be sure to keep your toe pointed directly at the wall, and stay tall as you go through the motion, and work with a purpose!

Have a great Wednesday,
Jon

Rosa Parks, Ghandi...and Male Hookers

Coming in to work this morning, I heard this quote on the radio...

"I'm basically doing what Rosa Parks did when she decided to sit at the front of the bus instead of the back, or what Gandhi did when he had a sit-down protest against the British Embassy...I'm basically trying to reset social norms."

The quote was funny in itself, but completely took on another meaning when you find out it was spewed by the "first legal mail prostitute" in the US.

I was planning to transition that into a training topic, but I think I'll just let that sit for a while and come back later with something real to talk about...

Have a great Tuesday,

Jon

Be a Coach

I think one of the most valuable lessons I've learned as a coach is how to connect with my athletes/clients on a daily basis. So often we see coaches or trainers draw up a program or practice plan and become so in love with the plan that they do whatever they have to do to fit the player/athlete to the plan, when in reality it needs to be vice versa.

I've talked before about the value of foam rolling, not only in improving tissue quality and overall muscle function of the users, but also in giving myself time to walk around and get an idea for how each person is feeling prior to a workout. If people are feeling crappy, were up all night doing school work, skipped the last meal, etc., then there isn't a lot to be gained from a super intense workout. With the "old-school" mentality this might be considered soft. And to be honest sometimes it is. But, as a coach, it's important to learn your athletes. Not all answers are created equal when asking these questions. For example, if you know a kid comes in complaining about something every day (we've all had them), and you ask him how he feels and he says "eh, so-so," you better believe he's getting pushed.

Now, if your team leader, who never says "boo" even when in severe pain, comes to you with that same "so-so" sentiment, what would you do? Would you make him push through a rigorous strength workout? Or would you back off, maybe do some mobility/recovery work and possibly even teach some new skills at a lower intensity? Which do you think would be more productive in the long run?

The problem with this type of training has been the complete subjectivity involved in the programming. You absolutely need a long-term plan in order to do this; having goals makes it easier to deviate from the plan when necessary, only to find your way back to it as soon as possible. However, it's hard to find solid research to back up this type of approach because of the lack of objectivity no matter how much sense it makes in practice.

I did stumble across a recent article that gave a fancy name to this style of coach called "Flexible Non-Linear Periodization". While I didn't totally agree with some of their testing methods for strength, the improvements in long-term (16 weeks) strength were significantly higher in athletes who were allowed to adjust their workouts based on how they felt that day. The overall volume and total repetitions were controlled for between groups, but the FNLP group sustained much greater gains over time.

This is a strategy that allows coaches to make for highly individualized programming within small groups, maximizing efficiency and use of time without sacrificing the individual attention that most want. The tactic has served me well working with young athletes ranging from age 10 all the way through adults and weekend-warriors. If you're not taking into account the activities your clients are doing outside of your watch, I believe you are doing them a huge disservice.

If you're interested in the study here is the citation:

McNamara, JM and Stearne, DJ. Flexible nonlinear periodization in a beginner college weight training class. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 24(1): 17-22, 2010.

Give it a Rest

Today I just want to take a minute and clear up a few misconceptions and maybe shed some light on an often overlooked aspect of a training program: Rest periods.

The two most common mistakes I see are at two ex

tremes. There's one crowd (usually guys) who want to lift really heavy weight, only they take less than a minute between sets of bench press/squat/deadlift/you name it. The second crowd (usually girls) who want to "lean and tone" will take longer rest periods between sets of strength exercises (those that do them anyway).

The first step in understanding proper rest intervals comes with having a clear training goal in mind. For the first group, we established the goal of being able to lift heavy crap, essentially. To do this, in each individual workout, wouldn't it make sense to lift the maximum weight your strength will allow for each rep? In other words, if I am going to do 5 sets of 5 repetitions with the bench press, which would allow me to gain more s

trength in the long run: A) Finishing each set with 185 lbs or B) Finishing each set with 225 lbs?

The answer is pretty clear with this example; using more weight will allow greater strength gains (simple example, 1 day; this doesn't go to say that light speed work isn't beneficial in an overall training program).

Wouldn't it make sense then to take rest periods that allow us to use the heaviest weight possible, when that is the goal? Here's where there is good news. We know, from study after study, what rest periods are optimal (on average) in order to accomplish different goals from out workouts. Based on the energy systems we use to perform maximal effort lifts (Stored ATP and Phosphocreatine in the muscles), and the length of time it takes to replenish these stores after a maximal effort lift (or close to it), which is a minimum of

2 minutes, why would anybody try to hop back on the bench after 45 seconds of rest?

The usual answer I get is, "well I don't need that much". Everybody thinks they're different, or special. It's all about "ME!".

If you think that, that's fine, but don't expect to make the gains you really want in the weight room. That's not to say you can't add some corrective work, or non-competing exercises in between (super-set) your heavy sets in order to avoid just sitting around and twiddling your thumbs for 3 minutes, but it shouldn't be too taxing on your central nervous system either.

On the flip side, for people who are looking to lean up, lose weight and burn fat, the mistake is taking too much rest instead of not enough. Rest periods (active or passive) need to be incorporated in order to maintain a high level of intensity (another mistake-exercising at too low of an intensity, but that's for another day). So to achieve these highly specific goals, intensity must be sufficient and from there the goal is to decrease, or at least keep down, the rest periods. Metabolic circuits are great for this. Heart rate is elevated, and the metabolic effect from efficient programming can last for a couple of days afterwards (in other words, you will burn more calories simply sitting around for up to 48 hours, than you would have if you never worked out in the first place). But, if the rest is too long in between sets or exercises, you will lose that "afterburn" effect (term coined by Alwyn Cosgrove).

In retrospect, having a specific goal is the first step towards determining your ideal rest periods for that days' exercises. The next factor is intensity-doing sets of 3, with 3 minutes of rest between sets, is meaningless if the intensity is too low. Last, individual differences do exist and should be accounted for. Some people may do better with 5 minutes between heavy sets while others are good with 2-3. This is something you can tinker with to see what works best for you.

Also, as a disclaimer, don't just start lifting extremely heavy weights, or jump into super high-intensity metabolic workouts without knowing you are healthy enough to handle it first.

Hope my ramblings made some sense. Have a great weekend!

Jon

Gym Ettiquette

Hey again,

I wanted to use this entry to go on a sort-of rant, fueled by some things I have seen since taking over the Mueller Center weight room at RPI...In the interest of full disclosure, I stole a few of these from guys like Mike Boyle and Eric Cressey. Some are intended to be serious, for safety reasons, and some are more in jest. Hopefully you can tell the difference.

Here's a list of 12 things that should not be done in a weight room (Why 12 you ask?...Why not?):

1) Bicep Curls in a squat rack. If you need this one explained to you, you probably shouldn't be in the weight room at all.

2) Wearing headphones that cover your ears completely. This one is for safety. What if the bench presser next to you suddenly needs help lifting a bar off of their chest? Plus you look like a fool.

3) Doing Olympic/Power lifts from the floor with iron plates. When there are bumper plates available, use them.

4) Doing Olympic lifts in the middle of the weightroom floor when there are platforms available. The platforms are there for a reason. If you don't like the mirrors, turn around.

5) Throwing/Dropping dumbbells intentionally. Unless they slip, or you lose control, if you are strong enough to lift them up, you're strong enough to put them down under control. You don't think so? Well guess what, hoss? You're using too much weight.

6) Wearing cut-off shirts that are ripped down the side. Stole this one from Mike Boyle. Ask yourself this: If there were no mirrors, would you still wear them? Get over yourself.

7) Placing dumbbells (especially heavy ones) on benches in between sets. Same reason as #5. Save the equipment the wear and tear. Respect the weight room and the equipment. And just because you pay $50,000 per year for school, doesn't mean that it all goes into the budget for replacing the equipment you treat like sh!$.

8) Not re-racking the weights in the proper spot. Stop being lazy. You are working out, not killing time in class or on a job somewhere.

9) Not re-racking the weights period (same for other equipment). Ditto.

10) Not-wiping down equipment when you are done with it. This is obviously for sanitary reasons. The weight room is an easy place to spread illnesses. Do your part to keep it minimal.

11) Not using clips when squatting with large groups of people around. This is just lazy and stupid. No exceptions.

12) Asking trainers/employees to change the song that's playing. Again, out of the $50,000 paid for tuition, how many dollars do you think goes to hiring a DJ in the weight room? That's not my job. Get over it, or bring an Ipod.

13) Lifting without a partner/spotter. This is one that I've been guilty of myself, but I realize how idiotic it is and I hope none of you are too proud to ask for a little help when needed.

Before you make judgments and say how bitter I am, understand that I love what I do and enjoy it every day. This list is meant to be mostly sarcastic while getting a few points across.

Jon

"Ask the Trainer"

Hi everyone,

I've been on a little hiatus since my last post. I hope everyone had an awesome holiday season and are off to a great start in 2010 (holy hell, 2010?!).

I was recently (sorta) hired as a strength coach at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, NY. Things happened relatively quick and I've spent the last couple of months getting my feet wet and trying to put systems in place. I plan on writing a little more regularly now that I have an idea of what my schedule will be like.

That being said, sometimes it can help to get input from readers on material they want to read, so I'm opening up to a Q&A style blog that hopefully people will take advantage of. I've had several people stop in my office and ask me questions that are very common, and I thought it'd be good to share some of the info with the general public!

So, if you have any questions related to training, exercise selection, technique, programming, nutrition, general injury-related quandaries, either post them at the bottom of this blog, or e-mail them to hudakj2@rpi.edu. I will try to get to all of them through blog posts (if it fits) or with a direct email response.

Hope to hear from you soon!

Jon