Training Thoughts For Beginners and Veteran Lifters That Never Grow Stale

I thought about writing a blog post geared towards new trainees, but the more I thought about the main points, I realized that most of what I wanted to convey applies to not-new trainees as well. These are the same concepts I need to preach and reiterate to myself constantly.

Like so many things in life, the fundamental lessons we learn when we’re younger are just as applicable 5, 10, 20+ years later. (Isn’t there some sign or motivational poster that says, “Everything I needed to know I learned in kindergarten”? It’s the same concept.) Therefore, this post is for all trainees, not just the newbies.

from here

Get Out of The Comparison Game

We live in a comparison culture (I would argue all of human existence has been that of comparing ourselves to others, but that’s a philosophical rabbit-hole I’ll leave to my husband to travel) and now that we’re even MORE connected through the ever-growing social media sphere, it’s nearly impossible not to compare ourselves with others. There is a very small window in which comparison can be healthy- it can motivate improvements- but let’s be honest, that window is minuscule and most of time spent scrolling through the Insert-Social-Medium-Here feed causes feelings of anxiety and even depression because we’re not as good as So-and-So on Instagram. This can even lead us so far as to want to give up training because we’ll never be “good enough.”

My friend, weight training isn’t between you and So-and-So; it’s between you and the bar. Keep your eyes on your training and progress (and OFF other people). I’ll say it again, it’s between you and the bar.

Sacrifice is Needed to Make Progress, but Sacrificing Form is Rarely a Good Idea

Performing crappy reps with a heavy load is a) going to improve your ability to perform crappy reps, b) probably result in some sort of injury sooner or later and c) hinder progress either through said injury or because crappy form will always catch up with you, and well, physics happens. The most important point is that poor form increases the risk of injury, obviously, but things like shortening the range of motion or losing optimal joint alignment, only curtail the force production potential of muscles so you end up just cheating yourself out of the gains you could make with good form. Like I tell my athletes, I’d rather so 3 almost-perfect reps than 8 poopy ones.

from here

Be Consistent and Patient

I don’t need to rehash consistency. Patience is a virtue for a reason. Without patience it’s tempting to lose interest because you’re not seeing the progress you expect (realistic or not, more on that below). Without patience it’s easy to justify adding more weight than you can reasonably handle with good form because, well, you just want to do more weight. Without patience training becomes about the result not the process.

Spoiler alert: the “result” will be fleeting and even if you achieve what you originally set out to do, you have to continue to train to maintain it…that’s how people “slip back” to where they were: they don’t have practice of the process of training. Embrace the process.

Strength Gains are Not Linear

As I hinted above, the strength gains and performance improvements are rarely linear. Sure, a new trainee can expect rapid growth and new PRs every week (lucky…) but once you hit a certain point, about 6 months in, that progress slows down noticeably. And if you’ve been training for a couple of years, improvements come at a glacial pace. And you know what? You’re not always going to be stronger today than you were last training session. Sometimes you stall or even backtrack for a bit, and that’s ok. Progress is not linear day to day, but the overall trend should be upwards. That’s why we need to be patient.

It’s Ok if You’re Not Sore or Tired

This is another one that I need to remember every training session. Soreness and/or fatigue are terrible indicators of an effective workout. Long-term training success rests on the pillar of sustainability. If your workouts are not sustainable- meaning they leave you too wrecked to recover- you’re not going to be able to maintain your training or progress. Believe me, there is a time and place to push it hard. Fatigue and soreness are ok, but it shouldn’t be the end goal of every training session. Leaving some gas in the tank 99% of the time allows your body to recover and grow stronger.

Those are some of the principles of training that never grow stale, no matter how long you’ve been training.

Paused Deadlifts: How To Bust Up Plateaus

Deadlifting is pretty fan-freaking-tastic when it comes to building up overall strength and particularly posterior chain (the backside). Whether you're a competitive strength athlete or a self-competitive trainee with a deadlift number that won't budge, try cycling in some paused deadlifts. 

Paused work is a common technique for overcoming plateaus in the bench and squat, but it's often not used in deadlifting. The main reasons are a) it can be riskier than the other two lifts because of the position in which you are pausing (at the bottom), b) due to the risk, one must have consistently solid technique, and lastly c) it's really, really difficult. 

So why perform pause work with deadlifts? 

Everyone has a sticking point (and you probably know where yours is...) that acts as a force-field against increasing weight on the bar. Depending on your individual leverage, that sticking point will range, generally, between 1-4 inches off the floor.

Strength is specific. Translation: training a particular quality, body part, or, as in this case, a particular position within a movement will result in growth in that area. Pausing at that sticking point increases the time-under-tension at that point and thus increased strength to, hopefully, overcome that sticking point at higher loads. 

Another benefit is reinforcing a tight upper back, specifically the lats, as those bad boys have to fire like crazy to maintain bar position close to the body AND allow for sufficient force transfer from the hips to the bar once the pause is over and it's time to accelerate that bar upwards. 

If you don't know how to use your glutes in a deadlift, you'll quickly find out. You should feel them firing like crazy to both hold the position and then explode out of the bottom. 

For those of us (myself) that have not-so-great speed, this is also a great way to work on exploding out of the bottom. 

How To: 

*Note: this is not a "beginner" exercise. A very solid strength (close to 2x bodyweight deadlift) and technique foundation needs to be present in order to reap the benefits and perform it safely. 

• Start by working at your sticking point, wherever that may be. In the video I demonstrated a few different heights. 
• Work with 50-70% 1RM; no need to be a hero on your first try. Start with 50% of 1RM and go from there. 
• Hold the pause anywhere from 2-5 seconds. I recommend using an actual timer (instead of counting in your head) as it will keep you honest. Again, don't be a hero, I started with just 2 second pauses and that was p-l-e-n-t-y of time. For example: 
  • 3x4 w/ :02 hold at 50%
  • 4x4 w/ :02 hold at 50%
  • 5x3 w/ :02 hold at 60%
  • 4x4 w/ :02 hold at 60%
• Sets of 3-5 reps is sufficient and anywhere from 3-4 sets. I don't recommend performing these after a heavy set of deadlifts. These would be much better suited to train on a day where either squat or bench is the main focus on the lift. 
• There isn't a hard rule for this kind of work, as long as you're progressing (either in weight or time) that's the key. 

I incorporated paused deadlifts for about 8 weeks and noticed a difference in my speed off the floor over time. If you've tried other avenues to increase your deadlift numbers, this could be a game-changer for you. 

Only remember, these suckers are difficult, just wanted to repeat that warning. :)

SAPT Exercise of the Week: PUPP with Three-Way Slider to Light Up Your Core

As I've said in the past, who doesn't love a new core exercise? Enter the PUPP with Three-Ways Slider!

I'm almost positive I'm not the first one to come with this type of variation, but I haven't seen it anywhere else, so I'll take the credit for now. This is a variation on the PUPP with alternating hand slide outs (which you can see HERE).

Instead of merely sliding out forward, you add in a lateral and backwards (towards your toes) slide too. 

This is a superb exercise to train the anterior (front) core in resisting extension, rotation, and teaching overall stabilization of the lumbo-pelvic region (lower back and hips). It also throws in a side order of training the shoulder stabilizers (think rotator cuff) and encouraging the shoulder blade to move around on the rib cage. 

Things to Remember:

1. Keep your abs and butt tight. Not simply I'm-kinda-squeezing but seriously crush your muscles together. This will stabilize your hips and spine to prevent errant lateral movement as well as saggy hips. Saggy hips = angry spines. 

2. Maintain some pressure on the moving arm's slider, but not so much that you can't slide it. You can either do all the reps on one arm and then switch or alternate as you go between reps. I prefer to do all one side then the other since you'll have a decent amount of time under tension- thus building up some endurance in the core and shoulder muscles- but I think in the grand scheme, it matters not. 

3. Ensure that your supporting hand is directly under your shoulder. If it's too far in front of your shoulder, you'll likely lose your balance as your hand will slide out from under you. If it's too far behind (in the direction of your toes) you'll end up with a rather cranky shoulder by the end. 

4. If you have trouble stabilizing your hips, spread your legs outside shoulder-width to create a larger base. As you become more proficient, you can scoot your legs closer together. 

Aim for 6-10 reps per side and 2-4 sets. 

How to Find A Gym

January, if you own a box gym, is by far one of your best months. New Year’s resolutioners are the typical population generally thought of to flood the gyms of the area, though I think many people make the New Year a new start whether it’s a resolution or not. But I digress.

from shareology.com

So how do you find a new gym? Let’s say you’re looking to start training and working out or you just moved to a new area and you need a new training home.

Below are a couple of key points to aide in your quest. Note that these are entirely my opinions, though said opinions are based on 14 years of training and the many, many gyms I’ve stepped into over the years.

Actual Free Weights

Here is where I am strongly biased: if a gym doesn’t have Olympic barbells, weight plates, dumbbells (up to at least 100lbs), squat racks, and the allowance of deadlifting, they’re not in the business of encouraging strength but only perpetuating the mediocrity of human fitness. I’m not saying that gyms shouldn’t stock machines (cardio or weight), buuuuut strength happens though discomfort. Most weight machines are designed to be “comfortable” and confine the body to movements that it doesn’t actually perform in real life. I can sense a rabbit hole of a rant coming on, so I’ll stop there and conclude with this: pick up heavy junk. That’s how you get stronger and actually make a difference with your body.

Training Atmosphere

The gym is not a club. It’s not there to help you pick up a date, flirt, converse for 30 minutes, or leer at other trainees. A gym that has more people yakking than training is not a conducive environment for staying on task. True story: I was a member at a gym that virtually turned into a club after 5pm (shimmery workout clothes, techno club music, and dudes trying to pick up ladies while doing bicep curls…) and it was horrible. I never made the mistake of going there again after dusk.

Not #clubtime

Cleanliness

I’m all for rust and some dirt. I don’t expect a gym to be immaculate, in fact, that’s kinda weird to me. If a gym is being used regularly, it will have seemingly perpetual dirt in the corners and hard-to-reach areas. Dust and dirt on the floor, assuming it’s not excessive, is acceptable from a place where dozens of people walk daily. That said, the bathrooms should be clean (always), there should be the tools necessary to wipe off benches (and it should be encouraged and done so by the staff… no one wants MRSA), the equipment should be kept in working order and stored in a logical and safe manner, and members should be told (or better yet, just know) that they need to put their equipment back.

Above all though…

It should be somewhere that you will go to train consistently. All these other points are moot unless it’s a place where you actually show up to train. The gym that you DON’T go to will serve only to drain your bank account with its monthly membership.

Find a gym. Train 2-3x/week. Repeat. 

Critical Thinking Skills + Reading Nutrition "News" = Success

I don't have a terribly long post for you today, dear readers, since it is Friday (and the first Friday back from the holidays so I imagine the week was a rough.)

We're all aware of the sensational, attention-grabbing headlines that are flashed before our eyes on a weekly basis either demonizing a food (Eggs! The silent killer...) or elevating a food to divine-miracle status (Eat this food to cure everything, including Mad Cow!). 

This drives me absolutely bonkers. (<-- post that expresses my ire.)

Opinions aside, Examine.com had a link on their website to a review article that uncovered nutrition "research" from the 1960s and 70s that started the "low-fat" craze. The main thrust behind the low-fat era was that fat caused coronary heart disease and it was bad, bad, bad, and everyone who wanted to stay healthy should eat a diet low in fat. 

Well, low-fat foods are generally not-very-tasty foods (at least not the manufactured kind) so food makers had to inject things like sugar and other fun things to make food actually palatable to normal human beings. 

Guess who funded the initial research? 

The Sugar Research Foundation. 

Yup... that happened. 

NPR also had a story about it, which you can read here. 

The point of this post isn't to point out the danger of sugar- it's not when you eat it in moderation in the context of an overall vegetable-rich diet- but to encourage and remind you to read news stories and even research with a critical, skeptical mind-set. If possible, dig a little bit more and see if you can find who funds the various studies that are trumpeted and touted by media outlets. You might be less surprised at the conclusions put forth by such studies... 

from makeameme.org

New Year's Fitness Resolution- You STILL Need Strength and Movement in the Adult World

There was an article in the Washington Post on Dec. 22nd of 2016 centered on millennials, their workouts, and hip pain. The main thrust of the article was that there is a noticeable increase in incidents of hip pain- and related injuries I would assume too- in clinics in New York City (and I think we can assume other areas with high populations of millennials). While there are no definitive studies out, however, there is a correlation with injury rates and the increased interest in high-intensity activities such as CrossFit, Tough Mudders, and the like among this generation.

“A lot of millennials are doing all of these high-intensity exercises that are great for the mental and physical components of health, but if you’re not as conditioned as you think, you’re going to put excessive stress on the soft tissue and the joint,”

-Karena Wu, owner of ActiveCare Physical Therapy in NYC

To quote another doctor, Dr. Shane Nho, an orthopedist at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago:

“The types of workouts these guys [and gals] are doing.. They’re doing it at all costs, despite poor form, mechanics, fatigue or their actual baseline level of conditioning.”

Shocker. I personally think this is the function of a highly-competitive mindset coupled with a complete lack of self-assessment (or assessment performed by the facilities people train at, but I still think personal responsibility is lacking) and accepting the reality of one’s actual physical abilities.

from TheFrisky.com

I could delve into the vast amount of disinformation (and misinformation) about physical fitness and how it’s portrayed or the way that activities like the Spartan Race, CrossFit, and Tough Mudders are advertised- but again, people need to realize that they’re not as fit as they think they are. It seems that many people either a) are completely ignorant of proper human movement and/or most of their information comes from less-than-reputable sources or b) they don’t need any sort of assessment because they’re “fine.” This goes back to what my last post was about- foundations! When anyone, adult or child, jumps-literally- into demanding physical training without addressing movement and strength levels, injuries happen. As I said before, to be blunt, you’re weak and you move like garbage. This can only lead to poor outcomes.

The remedy? Seek out professionals who know what correct human movement looks like and how to build up strength safely and effectively. Shameless plug, but SAPT totally rocks this. If you’re not in our area, that’s cool, we can do distance training too. Even if you don’t call us, find someone who knows what they’re doing.

You’re not as strong as you think, you’re not as conditioned as you think, and you don’t move well. It’s ok, you’re not alone.

That’s why we, the coaches, do what we do. To help people MOVE better, GROW stronger, and CRUSH life.

Seriously, stop being a fool and find a professional.