Rage Against The Machines

The SAPT staff went on a field trip today.  Our owner, Sarah Walls, was speaking at a networking event help by one of our business partners, Dawn Peters from Nakedhealth.com.  It was a great event, filled with information and fantastic food.  It also turned into a pretty eye-opening experience that urged me to write this blog post.

The theme of the event was "Slim into the Summer," and Sarah took the opportunity to speak about the benefits of exercise, what motivates someone to partake in this activity (because exercise is awesome.. duh), and provided some tips about how to approach incorporating exercise into your daily routine.  What she did next was what really added to the experience...

Sarah had a slide or two focused on bringing forth some "Truths" and "Myths" regarding exercise. One of the "Truths" was that multi-joint compound movements are the way to go when it came to strength training.  She briefly mentioned that the "old-school" methods of sitting on a machine and pumping out leg extensions was incredibly outdated and extremely sub-optimal.  I didn't think twice about this statement, but when it came time for questions multiple individuals seem flabbergasted by her comment.

This got me thinking... Her message seemed incredibly obvious to me, but how many people out there actually don't realize this?  How many people go to the gym multiple times a week and hop from machine to machine before walking out the front door without ever having performed a single free-weight movement?

I really shouldn't be surprised by this revelation.  Every commercial gym I've ever been to is littered with machines, while the free weights are severely lacking.  You're lucky if there are more than 2 or 3 squat racks in a commercial gym, and good luck finding kettlebells or sturdy resistance bands.  It's really sad to see, especially as a strength and conditioning coach.

Let's quickly dispel this myth using everyone's favorite "get to the point" method, bullet points:

- Machines restrict you to a single plane of motion, typically forward and backwards.... this isn't how real life works.  Free weights require multi-planar stability and provide much more carryover.

- Machines don't allow your muscles/joints/connective tissue to function as stabilizers, but only as movers.  The multi-planar nature of free weights require you to stabilize and and help increase both muscular stability and strength.

- Free weights increase bone density to much greater extent than machines.  This is incredibly important for women who are at a much higher risk for osteoporosis.

- You're sitting all day at work/school/watching TV... stop sitting while you're exercising.  That's just laziness.

- To go with the above, resistance training should be used to help broaden and expand your movement patterns.  We all know sitting isn't ideal, but in today's society it happens to be a necessity.  Use resistance training/exercise to move in ways that you don't on a daily basis: squat, lunge, crawl, jump, push, pull, the list goes on and on.

Look at all those movement patterns!

- Free weights allow you to manipulate load placement in order to target various adaptations.  For instance, you can tweak a squat to focus more on anti-flexion or anti-rotation depending on where you place the load.

- Free weights work your core to a much greater extent.  As stated above, you can manipulate load placement to work on various functions of your core: anti-extension, anti-flexion, anti-rotation, anti-lateral flexion.

- Many machines isolate your muscles, but that's not how life works.  You use your body as one unit and move in coordination.  Resistance training should do the same.  Why use a different machine to perform leg extensions, leg curls, leg presses, calf raises, hip abductions, hip adductions, when you can simply squat and deadlift?

These are really just a few of the reasons why you need to transition to a machine-free exercise program.  Compound, free-weight exercises simply give you the biggest bang-for-your-buck and allow you to do the most with the brief amount of time you have to dedicate to the gym. The results you'll see will amaze you.

Do What You Like, and Be CONSISTENT!

As a strength and conditioning coach, I'm asked the question "What do you think about Crossfit/Yoga/HIIT?" quite often.  I actually really enjoy being asked this question.  It gives me the opportunity to do exactly what I want to do with my life; help others.  That mission is the reason I work in an industry that allows me to serve, and it's the reason why I want to pursue a graduate degree in physical therapy.  I truly believe that giving back and adding value to society is the best thing you can possibly do with your time, and I'm really blessed that I have the opportunity to do just that 8-10 hours a day.

Plus, I get to work with athletes who can do this...

Now, there are millions of people who work in the fitness industry. Personal trainers, strength and conditioning coaches, Crossfit coaches... the list goes on and on.  Due to this, there are, dare I say, millions of philosophies concerning the best strength training practices.  Some people swear by the effectiveness of the kettlebell or the long, slow run.  Some pledge their lives to yoga and achieving balance and harmony with their training.  Others yet claim that heavy barbell compound movements are, and always will be, king of the iron jungle.

I'm here to tell you that every single one of the above individuals are dead wrong.  Each of the above examples includes an individual who is biased and jaded by a method that they enjoyed. This enjoyment kept them coming back for more.  They experienced success and used that jubilation as fuel to stoke their metabolic fire.  The methods that they used are all wildly different, but the core concept is the same.  They enjoyed an activity, stayed consistent by practicing over and over, and slowly but surely improved and increased the difficulty progressively.
 

My take-home message to you in this: Find an activity you enjoy and incorporate it into your weekly routine... 3-4x/week for best results.


With that being said... I am not without bias.  I love weight lifting and truly believe that everyone would benefit from finding some time to incorporate the practice into their weekly routine.  The iron game can strengthen your weaknesses, help solve those aches and pains, negate the negative effects that come along with age, and help you on your quest for chiseled abs.

Now here's the kicker: Next week (or Thursday if you're lucky) I'm going to publish a post that will help you come up with a quick, effective strength training workout on your own.  I'll then dive into how to apply a system of steady, consistent progression which will enable you to attack the gym with wild abandon and see actual, tangible results from your effort.

Water, Water Everywhere... How to Stay Hydrated During Summer Training

The heat has finally set in, and here in muggy Virginia, the humidity is pretty high. I thought it would be pertinent today to lay out some hydration strategies and information to prevent dehydration. 

Quick Facts:

• The body is 60-75% water, depending on who you ask.
• Water acts as a solvent and dissolves and/or transports various proteins, nutrients, and chemicals to the cells. It also carts away the waste products.
• Water is also the medium in which various chemical/enzymatic intracellular reactions...aka, it's how stuff gets done.
• Water lubricates the joints and acts as a shock-absorber for the eyes and spine. I'd say that's a pretty important job, don't you?
• It is the temperature regulator of the body- that is, it comprises most of your sweat.

Clearly, water is essential to proper bodily functions, to say nothing of athletic performance! Therefore, it's imperative that you maintain your fluid balance (fluid balance is simply the relationship between water in and water out). 

While we acquire water from our food (it ain't called watermelon for nothing!), most of our fluid intake comes from the beverages we consume. Exercising during summer creates a new best friend for you: your water bottle. Actually, even when you're NOT exercises, the summer means sweating while you're just sitting around so drinking water throughout the day is a wonderful idea.

That said, here is a really, really important factoid to keep in mind: thirst is a poor indicator of hydration status. Typically thirst isn't perceived until 1-2% bodyweight is lost, at this point, performance has already begun to suffer and it will take an effort to gain it back. 

What is dehydration?

Dehydration is when you've lost more water than you've taken in. I'd wager that most people are walking around in some level of dehydration, especially during the summer. There are lots of ways to lose water, but since this is a strength coaching writing this, we're going to focus on the sweat-induced dehydration. 

Sweat is hypotonic (more water than dissolved particles) so athletes lose both water and electrolytes (because I like to share information, the main electrolytes in the body are: sodium, potassium, chloride, calcium, and magnesium) as they sweat; but they will lose more water that electrolytes because of the proportion of water:electrolytes. However, if athletes are sweating at a high rate, they'll be losing both pretty quickly. 

The body has strategies to make up for small electrolyte losses- so if you're only at practice for 1-2 hours inside, you'll probably be ok through the duration of the practice drinking water- just be sure to replace them afterwards.

Just for kicks, here's a chart that shows pee color and the corresponding effects at the various stages of dehydration. 

Aside from performance decline, here are a couple other nasty symptoms of dehydration: headache, fatigue, low blood pressure, dizziness, fainting, nausea, rapid heart rate, and constipation. 

There is something called hyponatremia where the electrolyte concentration is very low relative to the water concentration. This doesn't happen too often, unless you're drinking gallons of water every day, but it can if athletes have looooong days outside and they don't drink anything that can replace electrolytes. For example, day camps when athletes are outside for several hours is a perfect time to to intersperse sports drinks with water.

So how do we avoid all that and still dominate during the heat?

Hydration Strategies

Before and during practice/sporting event/outdoor event

Start drinking water BEFORE. You should shoot for at least 8-16oz prior to event. (That number will depend on things like bodyweight, climate, activity level, etc. but it's a good starting point.)

During practice/games/tournaments, especially if they're outside, athletes need about 4-8oz of water every 15 minutes.

Drinks with carbohydrates (aka, sugars) are very efficient at delivering electrolytes to body. Most sports drinks include some form of sugar along with electrolytes. However, the concentration of sugars + electrolytes to water is important. 6-8% concentration seems to be ideal, as anything over 10% isn't absorbed will and can cause GI upset. What does that look like? 

6% = 30 g sugars/ 8 oz water

8% - 40 g sugars/ 8 oz water

Again, most sports drinks maintain this ratio, but it's always good to check. 

After training

Obviously, there are some liquids that are more efficient than others at replacing water: namely water itself. That should be the FIRST thing your reach for, followed by things like sports drinks (that have some sugars and electrolytes in them). Juices, while not a bad option, tend to have too high of a sugar content and can cause GI upset, as can dairy products (at least if consumed before or during exercise). Under NO circumstances should soda be consumed to rehydrates. That's just silly.

So chug that water! Not really, but do drink plenty of water after training. The max absorption rate is around 24oz/hour, so sipping is a much better idea. For the applicable situations, a sports drink can be consumed along with water. You'll know you're done when your pee reaches a pale color again.

Guest Post: Cardiac Output Training for Strength Athletes

Today's post comes from Erika Hurst, strength coach and owner of Hurst Strength. She's a pretty strong woman and knows her stuff! 

In light of her aerobic training post, SAPT has a Spartan Race team and you can refer to Jarrett's post from this week for more information on how to sign up for training with us!

Steady state aerobic training. It's kind of the red-headed step child of the fitness realm. In the past few years aerobic work, or “cardio”, has been vilified due to misconstrued understanding of research and the rising trend of “HIIT” (high intensity interval training) and other gut-busting activities designed to better condition you.  Who wants to spend 30 minutes sucking wind when you could supposedly accomplish the same thing with a 4 minute circuit?

But what if I told you without a well-developed aerobic system, fuel for your muscles can't be regenerated as quickly, causing your performance to suffer, power output to significantly decrease and no matter how strong you are, you won't have the energy to harness all of your strength.

The terms “cardio” and “conditioning” are oftentimes thrown around interchangeably without much solid understanding of what either really mean.  Because of this, most take a sort of shotgun approach when trying to improve their conditioning – a jog here and there, some sled pushes – I mean as long as you're sweating, panting and your muscles are burning you must be doing it right!

Joel Jamieson describes conditioning as “the result of how well the systems of your body are able to create the energy your muscles need to perform the skills of (your sport) throughout a (competition)” (1). Some sports require a little more power than endurance, others vise-versa, so conditioning needs to be approached and developed accordingly.

There are actually EIGHT different methods for developing a better aerobic base, and not all are slow and longer duration.  The first method is Cardiac Output.

Before we get into the meat and potatoes of how and why to use CO to develop an aerobic foundation, it's important to first understand the three basic energy systems of the body and how they work together to fuel us to sprint, lift, run, crawl, climb, breathe and even walk to the fridge.

            1)   Anaerobic Alactic (ATP-CP) – supplies short-term energy, primary energy source of      first 0-12       seconds of activity.

2)     Anaerobic Lactic (Glycolytic) – supplies intermediate energy, provides for a little        more than a minute.

3)     Aerobic (Oxidative) – supplies long-term energy, capable of providing energy for    hours.

All three energy systems kick on at the onset of activity, but contribute to energy production at different levels based on the duration of the activity being performed, recovery period between each bout, and the number of bouts of activity.

The first two energy systems are anaerobic, meaning they fuel short bursts of high intensity activities like heavy, low rep deadlifts, sprints and hard punches.  They can produce powerful energy fast, but don't have the capacity to do so for extended periods of time.

The aerobic system on the other hand, which fuels slower, longer duration activity, is slow at producing energy, but it can be leaned on for longer periods of time for energy supply. 

What most don't understand about the aerobic system is that it actually refuels the anaerobic systems and prevents you from “gassing” out and losing steam when training, at competitions, on the field or during other activities that require you to exert a high burst of energy in a short period of time.

If you need a little more convincing that you should dedicate some time to your aerobic base, here are a few more benefits:

Increased heart efficiency

When performing aerobic work based on the parameters I'll describe below, blood is being forced into the left ventricle of the heart.  While it's in there it stretches out the heart wall, causing it to get bigger.  A bigger left ventricle means you can pump more blood in and out with each heartbeat, making your heart more efficient – it doesn't have to work as hard or beat as fast.  This results in a lower resting heart rate and more blood and oxygen pumped to your muscles.  Not only is this integral to higher performance, but for general health as well.

Unfortunately, this adaptation can not occur with higher intensity training.

Increased work capacity

With repeated bouts of activity (intervals, sports, etc), you become more and more “aerobic” as duration and fatigue increase.  Without a developed aerobic system you'll gas out sooner when needed to produce repeated high-intensity bouts of activity – slowing down and reducing your power output is your body's only option to keep you going in this situation.

A healthy, strong aerobic system will increase your work capacity, or your ability to perform more high quality work within a training session, on the field or in competition, with less rest and recovery needed to regenerate in between.

If you're a powerlifter or weightlifter this means you'll be able to perform at a higher level during lengthy competitions. If you're an adult looking to lose fat and get in shape, this means you can do more and lift harder without getting tired during training session – making your workouts more metabolic and beneficial.

Improved recovery between sessions and competitions.

It's been heavily rumored that performing slower cardio will make you slower, eat away at your hard-earned muscle and basically shrivel you into a weakling.

Properly planned and executed aerobic development sessions, done in conjunction with lifting heavy and moving fast, will do none of the perceived disadvantages above. Instead, it will actually boost your recovery between strength workouts, reduce soreness and boost your energy, allowing your body to better adapt to the training you’re doing.

Bonus benefits:

Being able to walk up stairs without getting winded, improved mental well-being, improved insulin sensitivity/more efficient use of dietary carbs, shifts autonomic nervous system out of “fight or flight” and into “rest and digest”, reduces arterial plaque formation, reduces body fat stores and boosts longevity.

 How To

Cardiac output entails keeping your heart rate between 120/130-150 beats per minute for 30-90 minutes.  (If you are younger, 130-150bpm, older 120-150bpm).

You can do this with mobility or body weight circuits, light sled pushes/drags, farmers carries, low level skill work, low intensity resistance training, jump rope, biking, easy medicine ball drills, battle rope work, etc. or a circuit combing all of these.

It really doesn't matter what you do for that time block, as long as your heart rate stays in range.  If it goes over, stop and rest until it comes down to range or lower your intensity.

Incorporate CO for 1-3 days per week for 6-8 weeks alongside 2-3 days of strength training.  To track your progress, monitor your resting heart rate.  It should become consistently lower as you expand your aerobic base.

The good news is that once you achieve a wider aerobic base, it is very easy to maintain.

How do you know if you need it?

Honestly, I think most everyone would reap benefits from performing regular cardiac output work. Due to the excessive amounts of stress in our daily lives that results in the chronic over stimulation of our sympathetic (fight or flight) nervous systems, some low-intensity work can definitely help us to counteract that stress response.

Otherwise, the best way to tell if you need to start doing CO besides how fast you fatigue, is via your resting heart rate. If it is in the 60s/70s or higher, you're a candidate.

Whether you are a speed or power athlete, an athlete who plays a more aerobic dominant sport or just a general fitness enthusiast, there's most likely a place in your program for expanding your aerobic base. 

Remember, you're only as strong as your aerobic system.  Take time to build it and you'll have the requisite capacity to perform more high-intensity work to get even stronger, faster and more explosive.

1. Jamieson, Joel. (2009). Ultimate MMA Conditioning. Performance Sports Inc.

BIO:

Erika Hurst is the owner of Hurst Strength, a private strength and conditioning facility in Wallingford, CT.  She has dabbled in powerlifting and is a firm believer in the power of hauling heavy things and good cheeseburgers.

Knowledge is Power: Part 5

Take a peek at the awesome articles below for your weekly dose of knowledge bombs.  A genius coaching cue, a few common technique errors, a weight loss discussion and even a program to those 16in pythons you've always wanted.

Are You Reaching -- Ryan Brown, Darkside Strength

4 Weeks to Bigger Arms - David Allen, EliteFTS

The Scale Doesn’t Matter - Tim Berzins, PTDC

5 Common Technique Mistakes - Eric Cressey, Cressey Sports Performance

Also, if you haven't heard, Team SAPT is running a Spartan Race on August 1st!  Not only that, we've published an Ebook to help condition you for a mudrun of your own.  Follow this link if you want to join our team: Spartan Race Signup.  Contact Coach Jarrett for more details.

How To Encourage a Reluctant Athlete to Train

I had a conversation with a parent over the weekend that was illuminating for me as a coach. The parent asked me what our method was when dealing with an athlete that doesn't necessarily want to strength train. 

An accurate description of certain athletes when faced with strength training.

We, as adults, know that strength training can prevent injuries in young athletes along with improving performance. Strength training is imperative for these youngsters- especially as the culture shifts that athletes must play one sport all-year round (my thoughts on that HERE). If your child is heavily involved in athletics, improving strength will only boost their performance in decrease his/her risk of injury. 

Right, so we get that, but do they? The question got me thinking of how do we encourage our, shall we say, less-than-enthused athletes to train; how do we get them to "buy" into our methods? While the following thoughts apply specifically to SAPT, I would wager that they can apply to any system- from sport practice to systems at the workplace- that you want someone to "buy" into. 

The first thing I told him was,

"I make them smile and laugh as much as possible during their training sessions." 

Yup, that's one of my top priorities for my athletes (secondary only to safety, obviously). I want my kids to have a great, no, make that a stupendous time during the hour that they're with us. Snow White says, "Whistle while you work," to dull the unpleasantness of household chores, so too does laughter make training less tedious. I like to get to know my athletes and engage with them while they train. I try find out what they enjoy and ask them questions about it. If they're able to talk to me about topics they enjoy, they'll have a much better time.

My aim is two fold: to help to help them relax and, hopefully, make some friends as the conversation is open to the rest of the trainees.

I also throw in some poop jokes. That never fails to crack a smile. 

The second thing we try to do is explain the "why" behind the exercise selection. Sure, squats are hard and not terribly pleasant for most people, but if I tell my volleyball players it will help them jump higher or my baseball players that it will help them swing higher, they're more likely to view squats in a positive light (and maybe not dread them as much). Oftentimes, when I explain the "why" behind an exercise and put it context of their sport, it helps them see the bigger picture. It broadens their view of their training to beyond the court or field and that training actually encompasses more than just practice. 

I tried to think of more- is there a magic formula for getting athletes to train- but, really, this is what we do. We focus on each athlete individually from both a programming and personal standpoint. We make it all about them. 

Our athletes return session after session, primarily, because they have fun.

Secondly, we help them understand the method to our madness (though I prefer to think of it as ingenious programming) and after a few short weeks of training, they see their performance improve. And like that: they're sold on our training system.

If you can make someone laugh and explain the "why" behind your methods, it's a safe bet that they'll trust your system.