Do you remember the last time you wanted to have work done on your house? I rent so the answer is no for me, but play along.
When you first talked to the contractor the conversation probably went something like this:
You: Hi, I was wondering if you use screwdrivers.
Contractor: We sure do!
You: Great! What about sanders? Saws??
Contractor: Yup!
You: Awesome! How much does it cost? When can we get started?!
Sound familiar? I hope not.
I would hope the first thing you do in this situation is explain exactly what you want done…what result you want to come from their services. You trust the professional to choose the tools best suited for the job.
As ridiculous as that sounds I can’t tell you how many times we hear questions like, “do you do kettle bells?” in the fitness industry.
To (quality) coaches, the “kettlebell” questions sounds just as funny as the hypothetical conversation with the contractor.
“It’s not your fault. Listen to me. It’s not your fault” (Just imagine that in my best Robin Williams voice from Good Will Hunting)
The fact is you are bombarded by so much commercial advertising and gyms promoting whatever their new fanciest toy is in the gym that it’s impossible not to fall into the trap. The best trainers and gyms will promote the same way a contractor would – By demonstrating great results. What do you really want with an exercise program? Is it to use a TRX or to lose 10 pounds of fat? Do you want to do cone agility drills, or improve your defense for the upcoming basketball season? These are not necessarily mutually exclusive but they can be when used incorrectly.
The same holds true for individual exercises and drills – these are all just tools in the toolbox. Until we know the specific goal the tools don’t matter. Almost every piece of equipment, and every exercise, can be used to accomplish multiple different outcomes. Until we know what that outcome is we shouldn’t be deciding on what tools we will be using (or how we will be using them).
There are people making a lot of money by only using a single tool for an entire class/program (TRX, kettlebells, spin bikes, etc). Some of them do a good job using these tools to accomplish specific goals but many of them are simply taking advantage of the latest buzzword and running with it.
So the next time you think to yourself, “I need to do more cardio”, try to boil that down to what you REALLY want at the end of an exercise routine or program. Having a clearly defined goal will make it easier to ask the right questions and decide which tool is best for you.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Monday, April 22, 2013
Individualizing a Training Plan
Many prospective clients come in through our doors and wonder, “how will you make the exercises/training specific to me?” It’s a fair question and one we try to explain well before starting a training program.
Why do we need to individualize programs-can’t we find the exercises that work and have everybody do them? And if not, how do we go about choosing exercises and designing a program that is appropriate for each individual?
The simple answer to the first set of questions is an emphatic “No”, we can’t give the same exercises to everyone. This is what leads to hilarious-if-not-cringe worthy YouTube videos of inappropriate exercises given to ill-prepared clients and expecting the client to make the decision that it’s too intense. To me, this is poor coaching.
There are really no good or bad exercises-only good and bad applications of the exercise to each individual. People are often frustrated when they ask me if a certain exercise is good…my response is almost always, “it depends.” It’s not a cop-out. It’s the truth. Let’s take a quick look into what goes into choosing exercises.
Quick how-to on individualizing programs:
There are three main factors to look at before sitting down to write a program:
1. Injury & Health History/Movement quality (based on assessment)
2. Exercise History
3. Individual Goals
For me, every exercise, movement pattern and set & rep scheme is on the table when someone walks through the door. Once information is collected based on these three categories I can start weeding out certain movements (say, overhead pressing for those that tend to impinge easily, or have poor shoulder mobility).
The same is true for sets and reps; until I know your specific goal the sets and reps are hard to choose. If your goal is simply strength it would make no sense to have you performing workouts in the 15-20 rep range on a regular basis. Conversely, if your goal is strictly fat loss we wouldn’t be spending much time working in the 1-4 range very often.
I’ve had young athletes in the past get a little confused when they see athletes in other sports doing similar or the same exercises. I try to explain that most exercise is not sport-specific but rather species-specific. I stole this from Gray Cook, co-creator of the Functional Movement Screen. From a general training perspective, especially for those with less than 2 years of training experience, movements and exercises will be very general with individualization coming from elimination of movements and exercises along with sound programming from a volume and intensity standpoint.
So, two of you may have the same limitations from an injury history/movement quality standpoint but one may have 3 years of training to fall back on while the other is a complete newbie. In this case, exercise choice (movement patterns) will be very similar but sets/reps & intensity will vary.
The same holds true for metabolic work. Exercises will be similar person-to-person but the work and rest times will vary based on work capacity and ability to recover.
Every exercise we choose has a goal and is based on your ability to do them correctly (if we can’t, we regress) and pain free. So next time you’re trying to choose an exercise, ask yourself what the goal is of doing that specific move is. Does this accomplish that goal? If not it probably doesn’t fit in to your individual program, while it may be perfectly fine for another. If you’re not sure, ask!
Why do we need to individualize programs-can’t we find the exercises that work and have everybody do them? And if not, how do we go about choosing exercises and designing a program that is appropriate for each individual?
The simple answer to the first set of questions is an emphatic “No”, we can’t give the same exercises to everyone. This is what leads to hilarious-if-not-cringe worthy YouTube videos of inappropriate exercises given to ill-prepared clients and expecting the client to make the decision that it’s too intense. To me, this is poor coaching.
There are really no good or bad exercises-only good and bad applications of the exercise to each individual. People are often frustrated when they ask me if a certain exercise is good…my response is almost always, “it depends.” It’s not a cop-out. It’s the truth. Let’s take a quick look into what goes into choosing exercises.
Quick how-to on individualizing programs:
There are three main factors to look at before sitting down to write a program:
1. Injury & Health History/Movement quality (based on assessment)
2. Exercise History
3. Individual Goals
For me, every exercise, movement pattern and set & rep scheme is on the table when someone walks through the door. Once information is collected based on these three categories I can start weeding out certain movements (say, overhead pressing for those that tend to impinge easily, or have poor shoulder mobility).
The same is true for sets and reps; until I know your specific goal the sets and reps are hard to choose. If your goal is simply strength it would make no sense to have you performing workouts in the 15-20 rep range on a regular basis. Conversely, if your goal is strictly fat loss we wouldn’t be spending much time working in the 1-4 range very often.
I’ve had young athletes in the past get a little confused when they see athletes in other sports doing similar or the same exercises. I try to explain that most exercise is not sport-specific but rather species-specific. I stole this from Gray Cook, co-creator of the Functional Movement Screen. From a general training perspective, especially for those with less than 2 years of training experience, movements and exercises will be very general with individualization coming from elimination of movements and exercises along with sound programming from a volume and intensity standpoint.
So, two of you may have the same limitations from an injury history/movement quality standpoint but one may have 3 years of training to fall back on while the other is a complete newbie. In this case, exercise choice (movement patterns) will be very similar but sets/reps & intensity will vary.
The same holds true for metabolic work. Exercises will be similar person-to-person but the work and rest times will vary based on work capacity and ability to recover.
Every exercise we choose has a goal and is based on your ability to do them correctly (if we can’t, we regress) and pain free. So next time you’re trying to choose an exercise, ask yourself what the goal is of doing that specific move is. Does this accomplish that goal? If not it probably doesn’t fit in to your individual program, while it may be perfectly fine for another. If you’re not sure, ask!
Monday, April 15, 2013
Choosing Sets & Reps
Why Do I Choose Specific Set & Rep Ranges?
There’s a scenario that has come up often, and I can remember it happening even with high school football teammates of mine like 100 years ago (I decided there’s no reason to actually count anymore, being 30 and all). It goes something like this: “Coach wants me to do 3x5 (3 sets, 5 reps each set), but that’s only because he thinks I’m weak like everyone else…I’m a bad@** though, so I’ll just do 15 in a row.”
I might be paraphrasing.
The logical explanation or defense to the coach is, “I did the same amount of work in less time, and therefore I’ll get better results.”
Unfortunately, that logic is completely flawed. As a coach, we explain that if you could do 15 reps with a given weight, you should have used more weight to do a set of 5, rest or perform a 2nd exercise, then perform another set, and so forth.
This is satisfactory for most, but some still believe they don’t need rest and can “mentally push their way through it”. The fact is, if you are using the same weight for a set of 15 that you would for a set of 5, you are either cheating on the sets of 15 (too heavy, poor form) OR you are leaving something on the table for a set of 5. We can’t trump physiology in this case. If you are pushing yourself for a set of 5, there is no way you could use the same weight/intensity for a set of 15.
So why do we use different set & rep schemes? Isn’t 3 sets of 10 for every exercise good enough?
The fact is, we choose different sets and reps in order to tailor a program to specific goals and ability levels. We get different responses and results from each (neuromuscular, endocrine and cardiovascular responses are all different with different sets and rep schemes).
Below is a short breakdown of different qualities (goals) we can work on and what set & rep schemes we use to achieve each (For pure beginners this changes; anything will work with a newbie). These are very general and try to think of it as part of a continuum more than a hard and fast rule.
Beginners
No matter what the goal is, most of my beginners will start in very similar set and rep ranges. I generally progress from 1-2 sets of 15 reps at the beginning, and slowly work towards 3 sets where the reps actually drop down. Why?
By starting in a higher rep range, we can focus on form and mechanics but still get a training effect without too much risk.
By lowering the reps through progression we make it easier to increase the intensity (weight, exercise difficulty, etc.) while keeping the volume somewhat consistent (3x10 = 30 reps, just like 2x15 = 30 reps). By using heavier weights for the same number of repetitions, we have increased the total work done. Big win for progress!
I generally take 3 months to work through this progression in order to really hone in on exercise technique but still ensuring progress is made towards your goals. Once movements are more proficient I am more comfortable working in lower rep ranges and progressing things as outlined below.
1. Max Strength *
Set & Rep Range: 1-4 reps
Strength is literally a measure of how much force you can produce in a given movement. To get stronger it is necessary to lift progressively more weight (with proper form of course). The easiest way to do this is in the lower rep range. Why? As you start to add reps, other systems and limiting factors come into play (muscular endurance, mental focus, cardiovascular endurance etc.). At these low rep ranges your entire focus can be on producing as much force as possible.
Why do you need to do it?
Increasing muscular strength is great for many reasons if your goals are more general fitness related. For one, as we age bone density becomes an increasing concern. Strength training will be a huge foundation for curbing osteopenia/osteoporosis. Second, increasing strength will go a long way in increasing your work capacity (essentially you are increasing the size of your engine and it will make work bouts at lower ranges feel easier by comparison). In other words, the stronger you are, the more work you’ll be able to do in your metabolic strength sessions which will mean more calories burned in less time!
Be careful of: This set and rep range is best for advanced lifters and when done well can cause a ton of fatigue on the neuromuscular system. You won’t feel tired, or winded, but your ability reproduce these max effort lifts for the next few days will be compromised.
2. General Strength *
Set & Rep Range: 4-6
Now we’ve added a few reps but are still in a low enough range to focus on strength but is a little less taxing on the nervous system than the max strength range.
3. Strength*
Set & Rep Range: 6-12
This is a range where we can still use relatively heavy weights but increase the total volume and workload performed in a given workout. Example:
On Monday Johnny squats for 5 sets of 3 reps with 200 lbs. Total workload = 15 reps x 200 lbs = 3,000 lbs. This was a max strength-type workout.
On Friday Johnny squats 150 lbs for 3 sets of 10. Total workload = 30 reps x 150 lbs = 4,500 lbs. His total workload was higher, and most likely done in a shorter amount of time, although the weight used was lower.
4. Muscular Endurance*
Set & Rep Range: 12-20 or more
This scheme is reserved for metabolic workouts with lower weight but is extremely taxing in a different way. Here the focus is work capacity, or your ability to repeat a motion with good form, under load. How many times can you produce a given force before your muscles begin to fatigue? Here your ability to produce force isn’t as important as your ability to clear metabolic waste quickly enough to produce more energy to keep the set going without losing form. To elicit the desired response, the weight will be lighter (lower intensity) but still enough to the point where you only have 1 or 2 perfect reps left in the tank at the end.
“Wait a minute, none of those fit in with my goals of gaining muscle/toning/losing fat!”
Given these set & rep schemes, it is important to note that what seems to work best for muscle gain is a good combination of all of these. We’re not really sure why it works, but we know it helps to get a lot of volume, combined with max strength work and everything in between.
The same holds true for fat loss. ALL of these will aid. There will be a greater focus on Metabolic Resistance Training (circuits with higher rep ranges, specified rest periods, etc.) but it is all important to your goals!
So next time you look at your program try to think through each day’s sets and reps to have a good understanding of the “why” behind it!
There’s a scenario that has come up often, and I can remember it happening even with high school football teammates of mine like 100 years ago (I decided there’s no reason to actually count anymore, being 30 and all). It goes something like this: “Coach wants me to do 3x5 (3 sets, 5 reps each set), but that’s only because he thinks I’m weak like everyone else…I’m a bad@** though, so I’ll just do 15 in a row.”
I might be paraphrasing.
The logical explanation or defense to the coach is, “I did the same amount of work in less time, and therefore I’ll get better results.”
Unfortunately, that logic is completely flawed. As a coach, we explain that if you could do 15 reps with a given weight, you should have used more weight to do a set of 5, rest or perform a 2nd exercise, then perform another set, and so forth.
This is satisfactory for most, but some still believe they don’t need rest and can “mentally push their way through it”. The fact is, if you are using the same weight for a set of 15 that you would for a set of 5, you are either cheating on the sets of 15 (too heavy, poor form) OR you are leaving something on the table for a set of 5. We can’t trump physiology in this case. If you are pushing yourself for a set of 5, there is no way you could use the same weight/intensity for a set of 15.
So why do we use different set & rep schemes? Isn’t 3 sets of 10 for every exercise good enough?
The fact is, we choose different sets and reps in order to tailor a program to specific goals and ability levels. We get different responses and results from each (neuromuscular, endocrine and cardiovascular responses are all different with different sets and rep schemes).
Below is a short breakdown of different qualities (goals) we can work on and what set & rep schemes we use to achieve each (For pure beginners this changes; anything will work with a newbie). These are very general and try to think of it as part of a continuum more than a hard and fast rule.
Beginners
No matter what the goal is, most of my beginners will start in very similar set and rep ranges. I generally progress from 1-2 sets of 15 reps at the beginning, and slowly work towards 3 sets where the reps actually drop down. Why?
By starting in a higher rep range, we can focus on form and mechanics but still get a training effect without too much risk.
By lowering the reps through progression we make it easier to increase the intensity (weight, exercise difficulty, etc.) while keeping the volume somewhat consistent (3x10 = 30 reps, just like 2x15 = 30 reps). By using heavier weights for the same number of repetitions, we have increased the total work done. Big win for progress!
I generally take 3 months to work through this progression in order to really hone in on exercise technique but still ensuring progress is made towards your goals. Once movements are more proficient I am more comfortable working in lower rep ranges and progressing things as outlined below.
1. Max Strength *
Set & Rep Range: 1-4 reps
Strength is literally a measure of how much force you can produce in a given movement. To get stronger it is necessary to lift progressively more weight (with proper form of course). The easiest way to do this is in the lower rep range. Why? As you start to add reps, other systems and limiting factors come into play (muscular endurance, mental focus, cardiovascular endurance etc.). At these low rep ranges your entire focus can be on producing as much force as possible.
Why do you need to do it?
Increasing muscular strength is great for many reasons if your goals are more general fitness related. For one, as we age bone density becomes an increasing concern. Strength training will be a huge foundation for curbing osteopenia/osteoporosis. Second, increasing strength will go a long way in increasing your work capacity (essentially you are increasing the size of your engine and it will make work bouts at lower ranges feel easier by comparison). In other words, the stronger you are, the more work you’ll be able to do in your metabolic strength sessions which will mean more calories burned in less time!
Be careful of: This set and rep range is best for advanced lifters and when done well can cause a ton of fatigue on the neuromuscular system. You won’t feel tired, or winded, but your ability reproduce these max effort lifts for the next few days will be compromised.
2. General Strength *
Set & Rep Range: 4-6
Now we’ve added a few reps but are still in a low enough range to focus on strength but is a little less taxing on the nervous system than the max strength range.
3. Strength*
Set & Rep Range: 6-12
This is a range where we can still use relatively heavy weights but increase the total volume and workload performed in a given workout. Example:
On Monday Johnny squats for 5 sets of 3 reps with 200 lbs. Total workload = 15 reps x 200 lbs = 3,000 lbs. This was a max strength-type workout.
On Friday Johnny squats 150 lbs for 3 sets of 10. Total workload = 30 reps x 150 lbs = 4,500 lbs. His total workload was higher, and most likely done in a shorter amount of time, although the weight used was lower.
4. Muscular Endurance*
Set & Rep Range: 12-20 or more
This scheme is reserved for metabolic workouts with lower weight but is extremely taxing in a different way. Here the focus is work capacity, or your ability to repeat a motion with good form, under load. How many times can you produce a given force before your muscles begin to fatigue? Here your ability to produce force isn’t as important as your ability to clear metabolic waste quickly enough to produce more energy to keep the set going without losing form. To elicit the desired response, the weight will be lighter (lower intensity) but still enough to the point where you only have 1 or 2 perfect reps left in the tank at the end.
“Wait a minute, none of those fit in with my goals of gaining muscle/toning/losing fat!”
Given these set & rep schemes, it is important to note that what seems to work best for muscle gain is a good combination of all of these. We’re not really sure why it works, but we know it helps to get a lot of volume, combined with max strength work and everything in between.
The same holds true for fat loss. ALL of these will aid. There will be a greater focus on Metabolic Resistance Training (circuits with higher rep ranges, specified rest periods, etc.) but it is all important to your goals!
So next time you look at your program try to think through each day’s sets and reps to have a good understanding of the “why” behind it!
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