How to Get HOOGE!

By far the question that I get asked the most by our male athletes is “how do I get bigger”.  I give them the simplest answer they could ever want yet they still for some reason don’t like what I tell them. My answer is usually along the lines of “eat food… a lot of it, all day…“ The resounding follow up from them goes something like “but I don’t want to get fat”.  At this point, in my mind, I want to just go kick down a door (figuratively speaking of course). [vsw id="q3SFXQfE4kk&feature=youtu.be" source="youtube" width="425" height="344" autoplay="no"]

I blame society.  For the last 20 years we have been told by media organizations that if we eat food we will get fat and then we are made to idolize people that look like sticks, RIDICULOUS!  Sorry, I’m digressing from the point… What was I talking about again? Oh yeah, gaining weight.

Fellas, the only way to gain muscle mass is to eat A LOT of REAL FOOD and have a sound strength and conditioning program.  Please, I beg you to get rid of the notion that you will get fat because honestly, you won’t.  The guys I get the gaining weight question from are usually 5’6”, 130-140lbs or 6’0” 165-175lbs; the last thing you should ever worry about is getting fat.  I can’t really blame you for thinking this because I was the same way when I was younger.  It wasn’t until college that I started to educate myself on the issue and ignored my ridiculous thoughts about getting fat.  I went from 5’8” 150lbs to around 6 months later weighing in at 177lbs (after trying to gain a little more muscle recently, I weigh in around 187lbs currently).  All that said I’m going to give you a list of some of the foods I ate frequently to help me reach my goals (the foods are in no specific order).

I did not measure out my food when trying to gain weight.  I don’t feel this is necessary because it ends up getting in the way and becomes a huge hassle which leads to giving up.

- 6 eggs (whole eggs, not egg whites) with a handful of cheddar cheese and a WHOLE LOT of vegetables.  Try and find whatever you can, mine consists of broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, green and red peppers.  I ate this for breakfast and sometimes dinner.  I scrambled it all up with some olive oil.  This was a great way to get in a lot of good nutrients consisting of fats, carbohydrates, and protein.

- Natural peanut butter and jelly on Arnold’s Double Fiber wheat bread and a glass of whole milk.  This was one of my favorites which is why I ate it twice a day; one of those times being after my training session in which case I would substitute a glass of whole milk with chocolate milk/one scoop vanilla why protein. I slabbed on as much peanut butter as I could. Be sure to get natural peanut butter, don’t eat that processed stuff.  If it claims to be natural but lists palm oil as an ingredient then don’t buy it; palm oil acts as a trans-fat.

- Burrito bowl from Chipotle with rice, fajitas, black beans, chicken, pico de gallo, cheese, and guacamole.  This was usually a once a week thing because of cost.  This was a great way to get in a lot of calories on a day where I was slacking or short on time.

- Stir fry diced chicken breast with as many vegetables as you can cram in.  It should consist of tomatoes, green peppers, red peppers, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and baby spinach with olive oil and teriyaki sauce.  I usually got 3 to 4 pounds of chicken breast filets and made it all on Sunday so I could have it already prepared for the week. Again, gettin' a lot of calories while satisfying vegetable intake.  I know what you are thinking and yes you have to eat spinach, because it’s awesome and if you want to be strong like Popeye you have to eat like Popeye.

- I loved drinking smoothies because it was an awesome way to get in a boat load of good calories. The fact that it was liquid allowed it to not sit very long which allowed me to eat again quicker.  I had my own recipe but Stevo’s is far superior so I’ll give you that one.  Frozen berries, whole milk, Kefir, brazil nuts, and one scoop vanilla whey protein.  If the blender isn't full by the end… Just add more.

- West Virginia Goulash with a side of 4% milk fat cottage cheese mixed with strawberry jelly.  This is a meal that my dad (from Beaver, West Virginia) has cooked for my family forever.  It’s nothing special really, just 90/10 ground beef cooked in a pan with LITERALLY whatever vegetables you can find.  My dad uses potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, corn, green beans, green peppers, and tomatoes.  As for the cottage cheese, I do like it by itself but after a while the taste takes its toll on you so I added the flare of strawberry jelly. Again, just like the chicken stir fry I would make this at the beginning of the week. If you don’t like this meal then we just can’t be friends.

A Few Things to Note…

- Every week I would rotate between the chicken stir fry and the West Virginia Goulash, a big bowl of either would be my lunch or dinner.  The peanut butter and jelly, cottage cheese with strawberry jelly, the scrambled egg dish and the smoothie would be something I ate every day, every week.  With all this I would end up eating around 5-6 times a day and drinking around 3 liters to 1 gallon of water a day.

- At this time the only supplement I took was cod liver oil because I needed extra Vitamin D due to lack on sun exposure and protein powder.  If you are trying to put on mass for the first time I highly discourage you from taking other supplements such as NO2 products and creatine products.  The reason being is not because they are bad for you (because they are NOT bad for you) it’s more so because they end up being a crutch, especially for teens.  People and again especially teens tend to think supplements are a “magic pill” and make them a staple of their diet rather than what they are; a “supplement” to your diet.  Whey protein is fine; just keep it to one scoop after your training session along with the other post workout food I listed and one scoop for your smoothie.

- If you’re reading this and saying things like “oh man, that’s unhealthy to eat that many eggs”, “I’m going to get fat if I do that”, “his cholesterol and blood pressure must be through the roof!” then I'm sorry to say, you are sorely mistaken.  If you truly believe those things then you probably don’t exercise (lift heavy things and condition) enough, you pay too much attention to bad sources of information, and you just aren’t ready to take on the challenge.  All of the products I ate were natural and either not processed or very minimally processed.  There is nothing “unhealthy” about drinking whole milk, it’s a great source of good fats and is much less processed than skim milk.  Egg yolks are fine, actually its the best part of the egg.  And, I can assure you that my cholesterol and my blood pressure are better than average.

Stop letting society dictate your life.

SAPT Exercise of the Week: 3-Way Sledge Leveraging for an Iron Grip

Whether your playing field is in the middle of a football stadium or simply the weight room itself, there are few things NOT to be gained from grip training. As we've noted before (HERE and HERE), we make grip strength a major priority at SAPT. Be it the improved control and feel of the bar during compound lifts (deadlifts, chinups, bench presses, etc.), increased muscle mass, more calories burned during a given training session, or the injury risk reduction benefits added to the elbow and shoulder regions, I'd be foolish not to include them in my athlete's programs. As an added bonus, for the fathers in the crowd, a stronger grip will help definitely show your daughter's boyfriend "who the boss is around here" when he shows up at your door for the first time. Giving him a bone-crushing handshake will allow you to escape failing miserably like Phil from Modern Family:

Getting right to it, here's a simple exercise you can use to work your way to bone-crushing forearms. All you need is a simple sledgehammer, so this is something that anyone can do at home.

3-Way Sledge Leveraging

How to Do It: Grip the handle TIGHT. A lot of people tend to let the handle "slide and rock" back and forth in their hands....don't be that guy. You'll have three directions to move: ulnar deviation, radial deviation, and forearm supination/pronation. Move the hammer slowly, and note that you can increase/lessen the difficulty of the exercise based on how far up/down the sledge you hold.

Do 2-3 sets of 8-15 repetitions per hand, beginning on the low end of the spectrum. Toss these babies in once a week at the end of a training session and let the magic happen.

Research Supports ACL Tear Prevention Programs Beginning at Age 11 for Girls

ACLTear

A recent study: Anterior cruciate ligament laxity and strength of quadriceps, hamstrings, and hip abductors in young pre-pubescent female soccer players over time: a three-year prospective longitudinal pilot study.

…whoo, long title… as I was saying, a recent study was published in Orthopedic Physical Therapy Practice that clearly demonstrates the timeframe and magnitude to which the strength balance of young females’ bodies begins to become unbalanced.

Here’s the abstract:

Purpose: This was a longitudinal study to determine the effects of maturation on anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) laxity and muscle strength in pre-pubescent female soccer players. Methods: ACL laxity and quadriceps, hamstrings, and abductors strength were measured annually from 2006 through 2008 in 22 pre-pubescent female soccer players, ages 7-12yrs. Results: ACL laxity increased 2.2 mm (p < 0.0002) in 2007 and 1.7 mm (p < 0.005) in 2008. Quadriceps strength increased 1.9 kg (p < 0.01) in 2007 and 2.1 kg (p < 0.009) in 2008. No significant change was noted in the hamstrings. Abductor strength decreased 3.0 kg (p < 0.0001) in 2007 and 2.3 kg (p < 0.0001) in 2008. Quadriceps to hamstring (Q/H) ratio decreased 0.4 kg (p < 0.02) in 2008. Conclusion: ACL laxity increased with age in pre-pubescent girls. The high Q/H ratio, and decreased abductor muscle strength, indicates an increased risk of ACL injury. Significant changes at age 11.5 occur both in ACL laxity and muscle strength, just one year prior to average age of menses. Girls may be approaching puberty with preexisting muscle weakness and imbalance that may expose them to ACL injury.

The critical pieces to pull from the abstract refer to the combined effects of a high strength ratio between the quadriceps and hamstrings (ideally, you want them to be well balanced and fairly even), the decreasing strength of the abductors (they keep the knee from "caving"), and ever increasing strength of the quadriceps.

It’s worth noting that this study was conducted on girls who are athletes, female soccer players to be exact. So, the increase in ACL laxity was not due to inactivity.

I think it is fantastic that the exact age – 11.5 years – has been pinpointed as the most significant time when this shift towards imbalance is occurring.

What should you do? Well, if you have a daughter, I’d suggest getting her started in a program that has a strong (and highly successful) ACL tear prevention protocol. Training to prevent ACL tears is serious business and, in the long run, it will cost a lot less to PREVENT a tear that to surgically repair and rehab a tear.

Get Started Today!

The Little Choices We Make

My wife and I recently completed our tax returns, and we're receiving a fair amount back this year (cue small fist bump to myself). Given that we've needed a new couch for quite some time now, we decided to use some of the money to pick up one of those bad boys. Along with this, we still had plenty to put away in our savings account. Sweet. Awesome. However, I told Kelsey I thought it might be cool to pick up a few other things. You know, manly things. Stuff like a new sledgehammer, a tank, flat screen TV, or some Lord of the Rings action figures.

To which she promptly responded, "Yeah, we could. But before we know it we won't have anything to put away away in savings. It's the little decisions we make that add up over the long haul."

This got me thinking: The exact same applies principle to the realm of physical preparation. It's the little things we do that add up to either long-term success or failure.

Back when I was personal training, I worked with a guy who had developed some pretty severe shoulder and elbow pain. You wanna know the root cause? Hours and hours of driving and talking on the phone! His job required constant travel and phone communication. Yes....days spent simply with his head tilted to one side (to hold the phone in place) while driving resulted in some pretty intense inflammation of the tendons surrounding the shoulder and elbow joints. This is the law of repetitive motion at its finest.

Whether we're a competitive athlete or one who simply wants to be able to enjoy physical activity all the way through old age, it's the little things that will allow us to excel.

• Using a time-out app to keep us out of crappy positioning at our computers.
• Giving our soft tissue some TLC each day, be through a PVC roller or manual therapist.
• Spending at least five to ten minutes to warm-up before each workout to unglue our nasty bits and preserve proper ROM throughout our joints.
• Bringing a power-packed smoothie to work so we can avoid the lure of that M&M bowl next to the printer.

• Executing everything in the gym with focus and drive, be it a deadlift or a proper pushup.
• Adding more pulling to our programs.
• Packing and getting everything together a week out from a competition to get our minds in the zone before our competitors.

You get the idea. Think about the little decisions you make on an minute-by-minute basis. They add up to something big - be it good or bad - over the long run.

Friday Musings: SAPT Heavy Planks, Matrix-Reloaded Med Ball Throws, Time-Out Apps, and More

1. As Ryan noted in an excellent post recently, we love weighted planks here at SAPT. Once you know to properly plank (here's a hint: if you're not shaking from creating total body tension, you're probably not doing it right), it's time to make them more challenging. One way to do this is adding external load, holding for :20 or so to improve maximal isometric strength of the trunk region. Here is Carson nailing a 265lb weighted plank in preparation for an upcoming powerlifting meet. I'm not positive, but think I saw his spleen shoot across the room halfway through the set.

2. Kieran has been doing Recoiled MB Overhead Throws as part of his most recent program. However, he took the "deliberately move through the thoracic rotation portion" coaching cue a bit too literally, to the point where he looks like Neo from the Matrix dodging bullets.

I then challenged him to see if he could "rainbow" the ball up straight into the throw. Needless to say, he pulled it off with style:

3. Recently I've been working to improve my jump roping skills. Unfortunately, I never really did too much jump roping growing up, so I decided to hone in on it as of late. I also wanted to see how well my HD camera would pick up fast-moving objects, so I filmed a recent jump rope session of mine.

Check it out below, as it turned out pretty well. I realize I may appear slightly akin to Ross (of RossTraining), but I think that's just the lighting messing with things.

Okay, maybe I was slightly fabricating the story. I actually did jump rope growing up.

Alright, seriously this time....how sick is Ross? I'm continually amazed by his ability to master multiple physical qualities.

4. Another thing we love at SAPT are challenging pullup variations. Recently, Ryan Walls (the handy man of SAPT) put together a set of "Smitty Ball" pullup implements. Needless to say, they are simultaneously awesome and brutal. These will slowly be making their way into the programs for those I want to make hate life help improve both grip strength and, well, pullup strength. I also love the way they feel on the elbows as your wrists are allowed to rotate freely throughout the movement.

5. Working at a computer while sitting in chair is arguably the worst thing you can do for your body. Well, it's a toss-up between that and watching Jersey Shore, but you get my point.

Anyway, I recently downloaded an phenomenal app - via recommendation of Mike Robertson - called Time Out. This this is awesome! You set it to pop up at a specified interval (every 15 minutes, 50 minutes, etc.) to essentially remind yourself to stop killing yourself. Every time it pops up I reset my posture (pull my shoulders back, get out of forward head posture, etc.), get on the ground to do a few spidermans, or anything else that will help me to "open up." Here is a screen shot I just took of my computer:

I'm done. Have a great weekend everyone.

A Tip on Programming

If you truly want to become stronger it’s very important that you take careful consideration when planning your training program.  One of the biggest factors that comes into play when doing this is understanding your strengths and weaknesses.  Unfortunately when this task is undertaken solo the former rather than the latter becomes the focus of the program. Usually what happens when you write your own training program is that unbeknownst to you, you have programmed everything your good at and absolutely nothing you’re bad at.  Congratulations, you’re going to spend the next 12 weeks not getting any stronger!  So the question becomes, how do we avoid wasting 12 weeks of our life?  Simple, DON’T do your own programming. The best thing to do is to sit down with someone who is qualified and experienced when it comes to programming (do not ask your training partner, chances are they probably have the same problems you have and are just as biased).  Talk to them about your goals, strengths, and problem areas. Based on the information you give them and the programming knowledge they have, they will write you a program that you will absolutely hate!  Why will you hate it?  Because, it’s going to be filled with a bunch of stuff you’re not good at and honestly who wants to work 4-5 days a week on things they are terrible at?  Nobody! But, I promise that you WILL come out 12 weeks later a STRONGER person than when you went in.  Trust me I’m just as guilty of this as anyone else;I would much rather feel like Wolverine in the weight room instead of Howard the Duck.

Don’t believe me?  I’ll show you.  Below you will find two training days from two different programs.  The first was written for me by current strength coach, powerlifter, and friend Gabe Naspinski.  The basis of which can be found by reading Gabe’s article for EliteFTS.  The second is a day that I wrote for myself a while ago.

Gabe’s			Mine
A1)	Conventional DL from Deficit	9X2/60%	A1)	DE Sumo DL with Chains	8X3 50%+50lbs of Chains
B1)	SSB Low Box Squat w/ pause	4X6	B1)	Low Box Squat	4X8
B2)	Pullups throughout session	40 total	C1)	Barbell Rollouts	3XAMAP
C1)	Band Pull Throughs	3x15	C2)	Reverse Hyper	4X10
C2)	Static/Dynamic Ab Movement of my choice

I know they don’t seem completely different but let me explain why the day Gabe planned is better for me than the one that I programmed.  First let me give you a little background on myself.  I have been pulling sumo for the last two years because I’m better at it and that’s how I compete.  I am terrible off the floor when deadlifting but pretty good when it comes to locking out at the top.  I am also weak out of the hole of  my squat but again, pretty good at locking them out.  Lastly, I have weak glutes, hamstrings and upper back.  Just with that little bit of information it’s easy to see why Gabe’s training day is superior to the one I programmed.

Let’s look at A1; he has me pulling conventional AND from a deficit (this guy has it out for me).  This allows me to work on almost all of my weaknesses.  Pulling  conventional and from a deficit will allow me to get better out of the bottom due to the increased range of motion and it will work on my hamstring and glute weakness as well as my upper back.  Now is what I programmed bad?  No, but it’s not exposing nor is it helping me work on my weaknesses nearly as much as what Gabe gave me.

We’ll end with talking about the B series.  With this series we have two squat variations, again nothing to different.  The main difference is the type of barbell used and the utilization of the pause.  He has me using a SSB (safety squat bar) which positions the bar higher on my back causing a greater emphasis on back strength as opposed to a straight bar, thus allowing me to work on my upper back weakness.  Again, I’m weak out of the bottom of my squat and my glute strength is sorely lacking so naturally we are going to incorporate a low box, which Gabe and I both did.  There is one glaring difference though between his and mine….the dreaded PAUSE in the bottom.  Now the pause I’m using is only a second long but that one second pause is a dagger (I’m not joking, go try it).  This pause is going to allow me to get stronger out of the bottom while also putting much more emphasis on my glutes.  Lastly in the B series, you’ll notice the 40 pullups throughout session that are in Gabe’s program and not in mine.  Remember that whole weak upper back thing? Interestingly enough Gabe decided to give me upper back work EVERYDAY of my program (I told you this guy has it out for me).  But again, my back weakness has been my downfall and he’s making me face it every day forcing me to get stronger.

As I said at the beginning, it’s important for everyone to know their strengths and weaknesses (especially their weaknesses).  One weakness that we all share when it comes to training is thinking that we are unbiased when it comes to writing our own program.  You might work on SOME of your problem areas if you write your own program but I guarantee it’s not going to be the same as someone else writing it.  Don’t spend weeks on end not getting any better, it’s a waste.

Remember, friends don’t let friends write their own programs.