Olympic Observations
The Olympics are a perfect time to observe how mentality impacts performance. Many Olympians train 4 years to compete for a matter of seconds. It’s the ultimate pressure cooker and other athlete’s can greatly benefit from watching.
This video does a great job of breaking down what previous Olympians did to prepare for Olympics.
When watching interviews take note of how many of them talk about their mental training and how it helped them perform. You don’t have to be the next Phelps, Douglas, or Bolt, but you certainly can learn from them.
Olympic Swimming Gold Medalist Dana Volmer said, “The top cap came off, I have never had that happen before. I thought about it, and maybe it kept my mind off my legs hurting or something. I don"t know. It"s just so exciting, the whole thing." Volmer also pointed out that dgfev online casino she made other mistakes during her world record-breaking race. Mistakes happen. Even when you think you need to be perfect. Don’t be afraid of them.
US Silver Medalist Archer Jacob Wukie covered himself in mosquitoes when he was younger in order to learn how to handle distractions and direct his attention to needed actions. While it’s certainly extreme, how are you learning how to be in control over your attention? Rather then making excuses for distractions learn how to deal with them.
Oscar Pistorius who has become a major story due to his use of prosthetic legs said, “My mother used to tell us, ‘Carl, put on your shoes, Oscar put on your prosthetic legs.’ So I grew up not thinking I had a disability and thinking I had different shoes.” You determine your own beliefs of yourself. Limits are for others to place on you, don’t put them on yourself.
Experience can come in many different ways. You don’t have to be at the Olympics to learn from them. Be a student of your craft!
Should Beginners Perform High Reps?
The other day, one of our interns, Jarrett, approached me shaking his head and wearing a tetchy expression on his face. I asked him what was up, and he proceeded to tell me about an incident that took place while he was out on the floor of a local gym (in which he works as a trainer).
Apparently, he witnessed a basketball coach instructing two girls on the bench press, and it was evident it was the girls' first time learning the movement. The coach had the girls banging out sets of 15 reps at a time, all the while their elbows flaring out to the sides and their bodies writhing and wiggling as they struggled to press the bar back up.
Jarrett's defensive instincts kicked in, and he quickly approached the coach to try and spare the poor girls' bodies and souls from being crushed to death. The conversation went something like this:
Jarrett: "Um, sorry for interrupting, but I don't personally recommend that you have the girls pressing the bar like that, with their elbows flared and all. It's pretty dangerous for the shoulder joint, and not to mention they'll be able to generate a lot more power by tucking the elbows slightly. I'd also recommend having them practice benching with much fewer than 15 reps at a time, as you can see their form quickly breaks down with the high reps and it's tough to learn a new movement that way."
Coach(looking clearly but briefly bemused before shrugging off what was said): "Uh, ok yeah, well, these girls aren't ready for that stuff yet. It's best to keep their elbows out for now and stick with the high reps since they're just beginners."
Jarrett: "Oh, okay I got it. So what you're saying is that the girls aren't ready for healthy shoulders, ingraining sound motor skills and enhancing their overall movement quality, since they're just beginners?"*
*He didn't actually say that (although a small part of me wishes he did), but fortunately was kind enough not to pick a fight and he just walked away. As the he was walking away, however, he heard the coach lower his voice and say (I kid you not) to the two girls, "You hear everything that guy just said? Yeah, he has no idea what he's talking about. Just ignore him"
Which brings me to the central point of this post:
Stop Programming High Reps For Beginners, FOR THE LOVE!!!!!
One of my biggest pet peeves (outside of stepping in something wet when in socks) has to be witnessing a lifting instructor take someone who's new to the weight room, and making them perform sets of 10-15 reps for everything they're learning.
Now, before I proceed any further, let me give full disclosure: I used to do the same thing when I first started out as a trainer. There, I said it. I, Steve Reed, have given high reps to beginners in an attempt to teach them various lifts.
And yes, if I could go back in time to when I worked with my first client, I'd give myself a hadoken straight to the face.
After all, it's the common (albeit unfortunate) practice taught by the majority of certification courses and exercise texts. Yet, as usual, there often exists a large gap between textbook theory and real-world application, and it's sad that it has taken this long (and still has a ways to go) for more "sound" teaching practices to permeate the educational sphere of trainers, strength coaches, and/or anyone simply walking someone through basic lifting instruction.
When the average person seeks out advice/information on how to "break in" to lifting weights, usually the first article or person they come across will tell them to do anywhere from ten to twenty reps on e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. Squats, machine presses, deadlifts, bench press, banging head into wall. Fifteen reps for all.
It's sad, but true.
When teaching someone how to properly execute a complex lift - primarily the deadlift, squat, bench press, and I'll even throw the pushup into the mix - keep the reps AND the load low.
It's so much easier for someone to focus on correct technique when they only have to worry about 2-5 reps, as opposed to 10-20 reps, ESPECIALLY in something like a deadlift where there are so many "moving parts" for them to think about . Either they'll become too fatigued physically, or they'll simply lose attention mentally. It's unfair for a coach to ask them to do otherwise, to be honest.
For example, if the goal is to hit 30 total reps of a lift, I would recommend shying away from the common 3x10 protocol you'll see in virtually every beginner program. I'd rather have someone execute 10 sets of 3 reps, ensuring that each and every rep is perfect (or at least as perfect as it can be, considering they're learning something new), in order to reach the 30 total reps for that day.
Not to mention, they'll have a much greater frequency of exposure to the process of setting up and finishing the lift, practicing it ten separate times in one session as opposed to three.
On a side note: if you're worried about the fact that the load should still remain low even with lower reps, take heart in that a beginner will get stronger using a load as low as 30-40% of their one-repetition maximum. There's no need to rush things in that department.
And just to be clear, it's a bit of a different story if we're talking about accessory exercises like rows, split squats, or pulldowns. I think it'd be perfectly fine to accumulate more volume with these lifts, as the risk of injury is much lower, and it's typically easier to learn these movements more quickly.
Not to mention, you can easily do high reps with prowler/sled work, which is essentially a unilateral exercise for the legs, or even farmer carries for that matter, which are a "high rep" exercise for the core and shoulder girdle (keeping the midsection braced/stable, and the scapulae in a slightly upwardly rotated, adducted, and posteriorly tilted position).
Once a beginner can demonstrate proficiency with the movement pattern in question, then they have the green light to up the reps slightly, or (perhaps which I'd prefer) continue to keep the reps down on the compound lifts, but progress via a gradual increase in weight used.
How to Fix Anterior Humeral Glide During Horizontal Pressing
One of the first articles I wrote was on Anterior Humeral Glide during horizontal rowing which you can find here. I won’t spend a great deal of time going over what AHG is as that would just be overkill and I’ll leave the area of redundancy up to the creators of American Idol.
In the following video I’ll take you through how to prevent AHG during horizontal pressing, namely during the bench press and pushup. Thanks to our intern Jarrett for volunteering for the video even though I kinda through him under the bus; sorry man! Also for another great cue to boost your bench and to stay out of AHG check out Stevo’s article, Quick Tip to Improve Your Bench Press: The other 50%+ of the Equation
50% OFF: The 50/50 Training Challenge
The 50/50 Training Challenge - 50% OFF for 1 Special Team!
If you're a regular reader of SAPTstrength, you've no doubt noticed our recent introduction of Mental Mondays which is leading the way to SAPT's additional focus towards mental preparation and coaching. Well, Mental Mondays are merely the tip of the iceberg in new service offerings that are directed at one specific portion of our mission statement:
Our mission is to provide quality comprehensive training products and services to help facilitate and educate our clientele towards athletic and intellectual success on every level from amateur to professional. To achieve our mission we will conduct business with the following responsibilities in mind: obey the law, take care of our employees, take care of our clientele, respect our competition, respect our environment, participate in our community...
I crafted that statement over 5 years ago. Happily, we've been adhering to this mission quite well. But, there is one main area that still needs work:
- "...help facilitate and educate our clientele towards... intellectual success on every level..." This one's now in our crosshairs!
Since we've recently teamed up with CAPE Performance Mental Coach Brian Levenson, SAPT is now capable of formally addressing the intellectual (or mental) success of our clients!
Our first official combined service offering is called The 50/50 Challenge.
This challenge is a grueling combination of physical and mental training challenges to help your team improve cohesion and learn to handle & overcome adversity. *Think of this as similar in end goal to ropes courses, but with a direct link to tangible performance indicators and much closer to sport itself.
Throughout this one-day physical and mental intensive session, you and the team's coaching staff will learn how to reinforce your team’s and each individual’s mental approach to all aspects of training.
Your athletes will finish the day with a thorough understanding of how their mental game impacts and affects everything from their rehab programs, weight training, practices, and - ultimately - wins and losses.
Uncover and discover a secondary layer of benefits reaped from your team’s regular practices, strength and conditioning program, and competitions as the 5 Primary Physical and Mental Training Themes converge throughout the day:
- Focus and Concentration
- Team Cohesion
- Preparation/Routine
- Energy Management
- Controlling Controllables
Coaches: Steve Reed and Brian Levenson
Location: The SAPT training facility
Date: We will try to stick to Saturdays (but this can be customized)
Time: 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM for this special offering
Cost: 1000.00 per team 500.00 for one special team!
Why the deep discount? It's simple, we've already booked some local NCAA D1 college programs and need the chance to get in a practice run to work out any kinks that may pop up!
If you want to take advantage of this offer, you must have a team that is available to come to the SAPT training facility for this challenge NO LATER THAN SEPTEMBER 1st!
Email, ME: sarah@studentathletept.com, to get signed up!
After all, you don't have to lose games to learn how to handle adversity!
Directed Attention - Part 2
If you missed Part 1 - check it out here.Part 2: Where to direct attention?
Nidiffer’s “Attentional and Interpersonal Style” shows the differences in directed attention. Athletes should take note of how the attention choices interact with each other and figure out where to direct attention:
The ability to control attention is something that has become a hot topic in society. In fact our society has become obsessed with focus. Many believe the world of smart phones, tablets, and social media have created multi-tasking jack of all trades, but masters of none. The lack of focus has created an ADHD epidemic with 5.2 million or 8.2% of American children aged 3-17 being diagnosed. The ability to direct attention to needed actions seems to be getting harder and harder for our youth.
While the inability to focus continues to garner attention, athletes need to have a strong understanding of what is needed to perform. There may be times to be very broad and internal with attention, but have the ability to change within moments to being narrow and broad—think a point guard who goes from scanning the floor to shooting free throws.
Athletes need to have a good grasp on their internal focus. Often it’s imperative for athlete’s to direct their attention to what they can do rather than what they can’t do. An athlete’s ability to internally direct their attention to needed actions rather than distractions is ultimately what determines concentration.
What are you going to direct your attention to today? How can you make sure you’re in control of your attention? Are you directing your attention to the steps needed for success or simply the end result? These are questions to ask yourself as you continue to learn how to control where your attention is directed. So the next time someone tells you, “FOCUS”, think about your attention and where to direct it.
Joint-Friendly Conditioning, Part 2: A Few Examples
In Part I I briefly discussed how the majority of conditioning programs people undergo - be it for fat loss or athletic performance - often aren't the most "joint-friendly" by nature and have the potential to provide an unfortunately high risk:reward ratio.
As a quick recap, here are two lists (albeit noninclusive lists) one has for improving their aerobic or anaerobic energy systems, that will be much more joint-friendly and reduce the risk of injury during the process :
Beginner ---> Intermediate
1) Loaded Carries 2) Sled Pushing/Pulling/Dragging 3) Jumping Jacks 4) Medicine Ball Work (primarily in the sagittal plane to start) 5) Airdyne Bike 6) Low-Level + Low-Repetition Bodyweight Drills 7) Dynamic Mobility Work
Intermediate ---> Advanced
1) Loaded Carries 2) Sled Pushing/Pulling/Dragging 3) Jumping Jacks 4) Medicine Ball Work (all planes of motion) 5) Airdyne Bike 6) Low-level + low-repetition bodyweight drills 7) Dynamic mobility work 8 ) Crawls 9) KB Swings 10) Burpees. Maybe. 11) Sledge Swings 12) Hill Sprints 13) Jump Rope 14) BB & KB Complexes 15) Low-Load Push/Pull/Hinge/Squat Patterns
Here are just a few examples on how one could utilize these options to create a sound conditioning workout.
Cardiac Output Circuits
These will improve your aerobic system by augmenting how much blood your heart can pump with each beat. The end result will be a lower resting heart rate (strong indicator of your overall "fitness") and greater efficiency of your cardiovascular system in general.
Perform the following in circuit fashion, keeping your heart rate roughly in the 120-150bpm range. Many people like to get way too crazy with these and push their heart rates through the roof (due to all the rage of high intensity training). Resist this urge, and take a moment to rest if your heart rate shoots above the desired range.
Pick one circuit and perform it for anywhere from 25-60 minutes.
Cardiac Output Circuit #1 (Day 1)
A1) SA KB (or DB) Suitcase Carry x :45/side A2) Bear Crawl x 30-40yds A3) BW Pushup x10 A4) Hands-elevated Yoga Plex x4/side A5) BW Split Squat x8/side A6) Walking Spiderman w/OH Reach to Hip Lift A7) Jumping Jacks x25 A8) Medicine Ball Overhead Slam x8-12
Cardiac Output Circuit #2 (Day 2)
A1) KB (or DB) Goblet Carry x :45 A2) KB Swing x10 A3) TRX Inverted Row x8-10 A4) Tiger Crawl x20-40yds A5) Prowler Backward Drag x30-40yds A6) SA KB Bottom-Up Overhead Carry x20yds/side A7) Medicine Ball Facing Side Throw x8/side A8) Sledge Swings into Tire x8/side
As you can see, the sky is the limit with what you can do with these. Extremely effective, versatile, fun, and, most importantly, easy on the joints. Ideally these would be performed on "off days," or roughly 5-8 hours outside of your normal resistance training window.
These will do wonders for helping your body's ability to dissipate delayed-onset muscle soreness, improving insulin sensitivity and capillary density (thus promoting blood flow and nutrient delivery), enhancing general physical preparedness, and aiding your psychological well-being to boot.
For those who simply hate dedicating anything more than ten minutes to conditioning, you could do something as simple as adding a "finisher" to the end of your weight training session. Pick 3-4 exercises, say, SA KB Racked Carry (x :30/side), Medicine Ball Cyclone Slam (x8/side), Sled Push (x30yds) and Jumping Jacks (x25) and do 2-4 rounds of it.
These won't have the same effect as the cardiac output methods listed above, but hey, something is better than nothing right.
And that's it. This is really just the tip of the iceberg regarding conditioning, but hopefully it at least gets you started thinking about ways you can achieve that "cardio" effect without having to bang your joints on a run or some crazy jumping fest.
