Exercise of the Week: Barbell Step Back Lunges with a Front Squat Grip
Lunges are one of those exercises that no matter how many times you've performed them, they still leave you winded and sore.
So let's make them even harder, yah?
Usually lunges are loaded with dumbbells or kettlebells held at the side or up at the chest. In a sadistic twist, someone came up with the idea of performing step back (reverse) lunges with a barbell across the windpipe and shoulders. (I bet it was the same person who dictated that hot dogs and hot dog buns come packaged in different increments...)
The advantages of using a barbell:
More weight can be used- grip strength is no longer the limiting factor
Increased core activation and challenge, thus increasing core strength- the position of the load lights up the core musculature and poses a significant challenge.
Can be used as a main movement instead of squat- some folks shouldn't squat (be it injury, structure, or sport), therefore we can still illicit a training effect for the lower body by loading the lunge up and treating it as the main strength move for the day.
It's a self-limiting exercise- if your mechanics are off, or you can't effectively brace your midsection, you'll fail pretty quickly.
Buns of steel- need I say more?
How to:
It's fairly self explanatory, however, here are some key points:
1. Ensure you're proficient in step back lunges- if you're as stable as a Weeble Wobble, you have no business getting under a barbell.
2. Keep your elbows/upper arms parallel to the floor; if those drop, your bar isn't going to stay where it should. You can hold it one of two ways:
The cross grip is usually easier for most people to get into at first. The clean grip requires a fair amount of flexibility at the wrist and forearms. Either way is fine, use the method most comfortable for you.
3. Brace, brace, and BRACE your midsection. If you get all noodle-y (technical term), then you'll wind up with some cranky joints.
4. Don't slam your back knee into the ground. Control it; pretend you're placing your back knee on an eggshell and you don't want to crack it.
You can rest between legs (depending on how heavy you plan on using) or you can do both sides straight through.
Set/rep recommendations: 3-5 sets of 5-8 reps. Weight used and the volume (number of reps and sets) should be inversely related: the more weight you use, the less reps you perform.
Throw this bad boy into your training matrix and reap the rewards!
Friday Finisher: Start the Weekend With A Bang
Quick post today since my last one was rather heavy.
As I've posited before, who doesn't love a good finisher? If you missed the one about kettlebell complexes, it's ok, you can catch up HERE. Again, a finisher is a tool to increase the caloric burn of a work out, they're short, intense, and generally unpleasant but effective, and make you feel like a rockstar walking out of the gym.
Today's finisher idea is a simple, yet rather brutal end to a workout.
Complete the following as fast as possible (but with GOOD form, adjust your pushups as needed):
10 Pushups
Prowler/sled push 25 yards
9 pushups
Prowler push 25 yds...
Continue down to 5 pushups. (total of 6 prowler passes).
Don't have a prowler or a sled? No problem, you can sub out the prowler push for a 50 yard dash. If you're really feeling masochist, you can go from 10 down to 1 pushup (though I don't recommend that after a tough lifting workout).
I guarantee your lungs and legs will hate you. But you'll be ready for the Hunger Games.
Building "Elite" Athletes: Are Club Sports the Way to Go?
The Washington Post ran an article recently with the title, “Are Parents Ruining Youth Sports?” Like most heavily populated suburban areas, the D.C. Metro region is lousy with “elite” club and travel teams. Therefore, this is an eye-opening article and, really, is a must-read for parents.
The main take-aways for me were:
- The number of kids playing team sports has declined in the past 6 years; bad news bears for the fight against childhood obesity. (Not to mention these kids miss out on all the other benefits of playing team sports like learning teamwork, cohesion, how to win and lose gracefully…)
- The decline is partly due to the recession in the poorer areas, but in the populous suburbs (like NOVA) experts think it’s the shift to elite competition. This set up caters to the “most talented” kids while leaving the rest of us (I include myself in this category) in the recreational leagues. The rec leagues have a) less money b) less talented coaching and c) poor facilities. This seems to contribute to the stat of 70% of kids quitting sports by age 13.
- The machine that is club/travel sports is a 7 billion dollar industry-- good luck changing that. Making money is a powerful incentive.
- Amanda Visek, and exercise physiology professor at George Washington University performed a survey with 150 kids about the things they enjoyed about playing sports and they came up with 81 answers: number 48 was winning; even lower were things like cool uniforms, traveling, and the like. Soooo, it’s not super important to our youths.
Who is to blame?
Clearly, this is a problem and the article points the finger at the parents. I’m sorry to say, but I am inclined to agree. I see a lot of kids throughout the year and honestly, a lot of them are less-than-enthusiastic about their year-round sport. To quote:
“In the past two decades, sports has become an investment to many parents, one that they believe could lead to a college scholarship, even though the odds are bleak. Parents now start their kids in sports as toddlers, jockey to get them on elite travel teams, and spend small fortunes on private coaching, expensive equipment, swag and travel to tournaments.
Youth sports is the new keeping up with the Joneses…’Honestly I think there are many parents who like it,” adding, “in their own mind they are thrilled at their son being an ‘elite’ athlete.’
This is how youth sports looks now: The most talented kids play on travel teams beginning at age 7 (or sometimes younger), even though many athletes bloom much later; the best coaches (often dads who are former college athletes) manage travel teams, leaving rec leagues with helpful but less knowledgeable parents in charge; and coaches of elite teams pressure kids to play only one sport (the one they are coaching), even though studies show this leads to injuries, burnout and athletes who aren’t well rounded.”
I whole-heartedly agree and I’ve stated, clearly, my opinions on year-round early sport specialization before and it is NONSENSE. The definition of “excellence” as provided by our current youth sports culture is detrimental to both a child’s emotional and physical health. As a strength coach, I see some messed up “elite” athletes. I see “elite” kids who can’t even step of a 4 inch box and land without their knees caving in and crumpling like rag doll. I see “elite” kids who can’t squat to save their lives and their spines are as stiff as Gumby’s. (These are all really, really bad things.)
It’s sad for me to hear that hundreds of kids are shoved to the side and pushed into poorly-funded recreational leagues-- I was one of those kids. I wasn’t the best, or even that skilled, but thankfully I grew up away from the increasingly widespread mentality of club sports. I certainly wouldn’t have stuck around in the sports I played in middle school and high school because I would have been ignored in favor of the “better” kids. When I moved to northern Virginia my senior year of highschool, it was a major culture shock. The competition was fierce amongst athletes and parents took it waaaaaay too seriously-- to the point where I didn’t even bother to try out for my high school soccer team (even though I’d played for years up to that point). I played on a volleyball team with girls who only played volleyball and had done so since they were 10. That blew my mind.
There is hope on the horizon! The Aspen Institute is working towards increasing funding for recreational leagues, training coaches, encouraging a multi-sport culture, among other things. I was encouraged to hear that the MLB has partnered with the Positive Coaching Alliance to train youth coaches-- that’s awesome!
Why am I writing about this again?
We need to continue to highlight this issue for the sake of our kids; and not stop at just talking and ranting about it. We need to change the way we approach youth sports. Parents: your kid will probably NOT be a professional athlete or even get a scholarship. Sorry, the odds are against him/her. But that doesn’t mean they can’t have many years of rich, enjoyable, and fun experiences playing sports (which will, hopefully, carry on into adulthood and eventually pass on to their kids). We need to stand up for our kids and put their well-being ahead of our own selfish desires for them.
Three things you can do RIGHT NOW:
Allow your kid to play more than one (heck, more than two!) sports.
Give your kid an off-season, for the love of everything athletic, give your kid a few months off!
Ask your kid what he/she wants to do.
“Hopefully, these ideas can help change things,” Farrey said. “You’re not going to change the culture by telling parents to stop acting like fools.”
A Yes/No/Maybe Guide to 6 Sports Performance Supplements
I hate walking slogging through supplement research. Thank goodness for Michael Hull, our research intern and super-smart nutrition man! His guest post today will help remove the slogging so you can hit the weight room sooner.
If you are able to walk into a GNC store and aren’t immediately confounded, I applauded you. Trying to pick out the best supplements to fuel performance can lead to a serious case of FOMO (fear of missing out). It can also lead to a serious case of low balance in your bank account. These sports performance supplements are usually not the most inexpensive so today’s article is committed to helping you pick supplements that actually work as advertised. Let’s break down 6 supplements that do work, that might work, and that don’t work.
Yes!
YES
Nitrates
You may be familiar with nitrates as that thing that may or may not be on your bacon. But this lesser known supplement may be able to increase both anaerobic capacity and aerobic endurance. When you ingest nitrates, it is eventually broken down into nitric oxide (NO). This NO helps your body to more readily produce ATP to fuel your muscles.
Nitrates can be found in a host of foods such as beetroots, green leafy vegetables, celery, and radishes. And no, your bacon is not a good source of dietary nitrates. If you are looking to supplement with nitrates, make sure you ingest them at least 1 hour before you begin exercising.
Did You Know – Ever wonder why those nitrates are on your bacon? It acts to help preserve the meat so that it won’t spoil so quickly. Nitrates also prevent nasty buggers like botulism from growing on your beautiful bacon.
Creatine
This one you have probably heard of. Creatine is a substance that is used by your body to help create ATP. (Note from Kelsey: What is ATP? It is the molecular currency your body spends to perform work/expend energy.) Specifically, creatine will help to fuel intense and very brief periods of exercise that last 5 to 10 seconds. Creatine is king when trying to boost your power output. As an added bonus this supplement is actually wicked cheap, coming in at about $10 per pound ($0.11 per 5 gram serving).
When browsing the aisles of your supplement store you are going to come across many different forms of creatine: creatine monohydrate, creatine ethyl ester, creatine serum, creatine citrate, and creatine kre-alkalyn. Don’t get overwhelmed by your options here. Go for a creatine monohydrate. This supplement is the most well-researched form of creatine and has been shown to be safe and effective.
MAYBE
Caffeine
This stimulant can definitely help your workout, but it might not be for everyone. While it can increase power output and may modestly increase adrenaline frequent consumption will decrease these effects. To prevent this from happening, cycle caffeine usage or save it for special occasions like heavy workout days or for competitions. If you are a habitual coffee drinker I’m sorry to tell you that the adrenaline/power output boosting features of caffeine supplementation will be lost on you. However, it may still assist in keeping you alert.
PRO TIP – If you are an NCAA or professional athlete, there are limits to how much caffeine you are allowed to take. Check with your organization to make sure you aren’t overdoing it.
Some people do not respond well to caffeine, as it may cause them to feel jittery. If this happens you can try one of two things:
1 – If you’re really intent on trying caffeine, try taking it on a few more occasions to see if the jitters persist. (Note from Kelsey: or just take less caffeine; play around with your dosage so you know how much your body can actually handle.)
2 – Stop taking it. Some people just don’t feel well when taking caffeine. There are other options out there you can try for improving performance.
Beta-Alanine
This amino acid will help to create compounds that can buffer some of the lactate produced by your muscles during exercise. This buffering capacity can help to delay the effects of muscle fatigue and modestly improve muscular endurance.
But (and there’s always a but) these improvements will only be useful for those who are exercising in an intense fashion that produces lots of lactate. Those working at a low to moderate intensities will not be producing significant amounts of lactate and will therefore not benefit from the extra lactate-buffing capacity of beta-alanine.
NO
Sodium Bicarbonate
Yup, people literally take baking soda as a supplement. It actually works too by helping to buffer acids in the body and therefore can potentially enhance anaerobic capacity (albeit, to a small degree). The downside is that taking this supplement all at once can confer some rather unpleasant gastrointestinal symptoms. It is possible to avoid these symptoms by spreading out the dose over your day but if you are looking for a quality acid buffer then beta-alanine is most likely going to be the better option.
HMB
β-Hydroxy β-Methylbutyrate (HMB) is a mouthful of a supplement. HMB is produced from the amino acid leucine and can help to prevent muscle protein breakdown. This muscle preserving property may be particularly beneficial during periods of weight loss and dieting. However, this supplement does not appear to do much for enhancing lean mass or increasing power output. The studies into this to date have been fairly equivocal. HBM is one of those supplements that may need a bit more research before we can definitively decide what its role in athletes it may play.
I hope that cleared up a few misconceptions or questions about supplements you may have had. To learn more about how to pick high-quality supplement brands, head on over to our post about ensuring you get what you pay for.
Set SmartER Goals for Athletic and Fitness Achievements
How often do you set a goal to yourself, only to peter out of steam 2 or 3 weeks into the process of achieving it? Today's guest post comes to you from Calah Schlabach, our pro triathlete super star. Calah has some sage advice about setting goals and how to actually accomplish those goals.
When I was in high school, I set goals in my mind, and they were the same every year: win state. Or win all the state titles. At the end of the season, I was usually disappointed--no matter how much improvement I had actually made throughout the season.
In college, my coaches would gather the team into a room at the beginning of each season and we would write our goals down. Like in high school, my goal was the same nearly every year: become an All-American. Run such-and-such time in each distance. My coaches gathered up the papers and we never saw them again.
Up until a couple of years ago, I absolutely hated setting goals. I did it, but it was a routine that I did because I heard that I should.
Why did I hate setting goals?
Because it never seemed to work. Why take the time to reflect and set goals, only to get my hopes up and eventually be disappointed? I would rather spend that time doing an extra workout--which actually would help me, right?
At some point I learned about the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results-focused, and Time-Bound) method of goal setting, and this was somewhat helpful for me in focusing my goal-setting, but even this method left something to be desired.
It helped me to realize whether or not my goals were possible, but still didn’t guarantee that I would actually achieve them.
After all, a lot of things are possible that I have never done. The question remained: Now I know what I want to do, I have confirmed that it is reasonably possible for me to do it, but I still don’t know how to go about doing it! (Like Shia LaBeouf says, sometimes we need to know how to “just do it.”)
Recently, in my coaching at Marymount University, we set up a new system for setting goals based largely on this article from Precision Nutrition. (Give it a read, it's worth it!)
The premise of this goal system is determining which skills I need to grasp in order to achieve my goal, and which practices I need to implement in order to master the skills.
An example comes to mind from something I have experienced in the weight room:
Say I want to deadlift x pounds. My legs are actually pretty strong (thanks bike and run!), but I can’t deadlift that much (I’ll keep those numbers to myself...). So what is holding me back?
Well, it turns out that my form isn’t great, and there are two main reasons my form isn’t great: my core strength and my ankle flexibility. So, I actually need to work on progressive core exercises that will help me learn to brace effectively, and I need to use voodoo bands and stretch with distraction in order to improve my ankle flexibility. Then I can progress toward my weight goal.
So, next time you set a goal, figure out how you will achieve it, and set a plan for doing so.
How to Use Finishers in Workouts for Fat-loss and General Awesomeness: Kettlebell Complexes
Who doesn't love a searing burn in your muscles and lungs at the end of a workout?
Enter the Finisher.
Finishers are a short, intense exercise or group of exercises that usually leave trainees gasping, sweaty, red-faced, and generally pleased (after the fact) with themselves for accomplishing a tough feat. They're useful to up the caloric burn in a fat-loss plan, to add in (an)aerobic work to a strength plan, they can be used for fun (if you like these sorts of things), or all of the above.
The pitfall, however, is making them too intense or too long in duration. They shouldn't exceed ten minutes and certainly shouldn't detract from the main strength portion of your workout. I typically program a finisher be right around 5-8 minutes of work. I also avoid technically complicated lifts- for example olympic lifts, heavy deadlifts or squats- because fatigue will set in quickly and fatigue + technical skill = poop.
I thought it might be fun to have a mini-series on different finisher styles and ideas to incorporate into your own workouts. Today's subject is the kettlebell complex.
Complexes can be done with kettlebells, dumbbells, or barbells. The main objective is not to put down the weight until the complex is complete- a fairly challenging task by the end. Typically, complexes consist of 3-5 exercises, and 5-10 reps per exercise. The complex is complete once all the reps are done; then you rest. Shoot for 3-5 rounds of the complex.
A good rule of thumb for work:rest ratio is 1:2 or, if you're masochist, 1:1. So if it took you 1:30 to complete the complex you'll rest for 3 minutes before starting the next one.
How do you choose your exercises? Alternate between lower body and upper body movements and use multi-joint exercises (exercises that use more than one joint, i.e. squats require both hip and knee involvement).
Here's a sample complex:
Swing to goblet squat
1-arm bent over row
Alternating stepback lunge
2-arm overhead press
Annnnd, here's a short video demonstrating what it looks like when you put it all together. (For time's sake, I only performed 3 reps each).
There are two different was to perform a complex.
- Perform all the reps of each exercise before moving on to the next one, like I did in the video.
- Perform 1 rep of each exercise in order until the total number of reps are completed. Using our video example: 1 swing to squat, 1 row (R/L), 1 stepback lunge (R/L) and 1 press and continue like that until I completed 8 reps of everything.
Word of advice: use a weight that is suitable for your weakest movement in the complex. For me, that would be the overhead press. I can certainly swing more than I can press, however, if the goal is to use the same bell throughout, I want to tailor to my weakest lift.
*Note* if there is a huge disparity between your weakest and strongest movement, it's ok to use two different weights, just switch as quickly as possible and make the weakest lift last or first so you have the least disruption to your flow.
Complexes are incredibly versatile and can be easily scaled to your skill and strength levels. They will definitely increase both muscular and aerobic endurance and burn fat too.
Throw in a complex or two during your training week and reap the benefits!
