When in Doubt, Simplify!

Program Design

When it comes to trying to figure out what you should do once you walk through the doors of the gym every day can be a daunting task. We start to feel like we have become stuck in a rut and our training routine has become boring. It may even seem like the results we had been getting from what we were doing have slowed to a snails pace or even come to a halt.

This is the point where many people may give up on their program or start looking elsewhere for results. Giving up on a program is probably the worst option in this scenario. The thought process behind this option is confusing to me for many reasons but mainly since stopping what you are doing is going to give you a 0% chance of moving forward.

Let”s apply this option using a different scenario. Say we were working at a job we had become unexcited about, we have our normal cost of living expenses to keep up with and perhaps some unexpected bills started to pile up. We wouldn't quit our jobs at this point and stop working, that would not solve our problem at all, just complicate it. Most likely we would continue to work and deal with the slow progress or even try to work a little harder to try to earn some extra income. Try applying that same work ethic to your fitness program.

The other option was to look somewhere else. Let’s assume you are not a fitness professional then additional help is something you could certainly benefit from. This could be something along the lines of hiring a personal trainer, attending group instruction if offered at your gym or joining a gym that has daily programs designed and monitored for you will take the most of the guess work out of your hands.

Being a fitness professional I will be approached by members where I work, they will point to specific areas and ask, “What can I do about this?”. My standard answer is “keep showing up”. Sometimes I will elaborate further but the real answer lies in the first response, nothing is going to work itself out while you are sitting on your couch.

Volume

This is one of the easiest ways to bring variation to what you have already been doing. Probably the most popular rep scheme is doing sets of 10. Its a nice round number and we can all count to 10 since the first grade.

Adding volume at this point can be as simple as doing an extra set. If you have been doing 3 sets of 10 and add an additional set, you've just increased your output by 33%. Another option may be to lower your rep range. Lowering the amount of reps performed in set provides the opportunity to increase the load which will affect your output. Keep in mind going if we are going to go this route we have to perform more sets to maintain volume.

Intensity

Intensity can come in many different forms. If we want to really keep things simple and not change the exercises we feel comfortable with, strictly monitoring rest periods can offer a real change to the program. Shorter rest periods will keep the intensity level very high while taking longer rest periods can give us increased performance on the work we are doing before burning out. In either option increased performance equals results!

Just Do It

The fact that we may have gotten bored with a particular routine doesn't always have to be a bad thing. Really it should tell us that we have been working hard and staying consistent which is the main thing to keep in mind if we want to succeed anywhere really. Change just have to occur from time to time as our bodies adapt and overcome and your body will let you know when this happens. Don’t misinterpret that sign as a message to give up, get out there and get it done!

The Big "3" Workout

When adding volume to your strength workout, going light on the weights does not always have to be an option. Selecting weights that are between 85-90% of your projected maximum can be efficiently performed in sets of three with adequate rest in between.

For this workout I wanted to hit some major strength areas as well as working in power, speed and a body weight movement. I had the luxury of having the entire gym to myself so i was able to monopolize all of the plate weights we have in our facility as well as two quality barbells and a prowler sled. I set the clock for 45 minutes and had a go at it.

The Workout:

Bench Press: King of the Gym. Admittedly I do not normally do much bench press but I have been incorporating more in my workouts in order to meet some of my current goals. This took care of my pressing movement for the workout.

Dumbbell Snatch: A great power movement, I performed sets of 3 in each arm. I may have chosen to use a barbell for this one but I’m more comfortable with the dumbbell and I had plenty to choose from.

Dead lift: Your classic strength lift. This lift pretty much calls on every muscle in your body when performed correctly and makes my list of the 4 exercises I would choose if I had to only perform four for the rest of my life.

Pull Ups: Strict and slow. Performing 3 pull ups isn’t a major feat of strength but I wanted a strict pull in the workout and and by the end of the workout I had performed 30 perfectly strict pull ups. Not too shabby.

Prowler Sled Push/Backward Drag: I loaded the remaining weights on a prowler sled and attached a strap to pull it back to it’s starting point. It was a short enough distance that I was able to go as fast as I could on the push and be very aggressive coming back on the drag. My quads burned the entire way back and I was glad I had this tool to work with.

At the end of the workout I had completed ten rounds with only enough rest to shake out the cobwebs after the sled work. I really didn't feel that any one particular movement really interfered with the quality of the others. The first two rounds were done at lower weights on the bench, snatch and dead lift to loosen up the movement and progressively got heavier after that.

Give this a shot and see what you can do. If you don’t have a sled at your disposal try mixing in some 40 yard sprints or weighted lunges. Another option would be to select entirely different movements and give yourself a great second workout option to grow strong on. Keep in my what your goals are when selecting the criteria for the movements.

Rest Intervals: Why They Are Important To Your Strength Training

Rest Intervals are an important but often overlooked factor in strength training programs. A rest interval is the time you spend allowing the body to recover between sets. Depending on your goals rest intervals can range from as little as 30 seconds up to 5 minutes.

If your goal is low repetitions with maximal effort, you will want to spend enough time in between sets to allow the phosphagen (creatine phosphate / ATP) stores in the muscle tissue to fully replenish. This recovery will take approximately 2-3 minutes and allow you to have the proper energy reserves to give a maximal effort in the next set.

If your goals are leaning toward the muscle building and endurance side, your rest intervals should remain in the range of 30 to 60 seconds. The shortened rest period will create higher lactate levels in the muscles (the burn) and cause the muscle to fatigue faster. If you are first starting out with this type of program, the suggestion would be to lean towards the conservative side on your rest intervals. You will still receive the same muscle building and endurance benefit but be able to perform more work. If you have built a good foundation and want to push your endurance, taking shorter rest period (i.e. 30 seconds) in between set should be your goal.

No matter what the goal is in your strength training is understanding and maximizing your results though rest intervals is critical to your results.

The 100 Rep Workout:Adding Muscle With Pyramid Training

If adding muscle is your goal, adding volume to your training is important factor. By adding volume we are talking about performing more repetitions of a particular exercise.

One way to do this is just adding more repetitions to the sets you are already performing. The downside to this is you may limit yourself with the weight you are using do get this done. Lets say we did 5 sets of 15 repetitions (a pretty grueling task for some) we would end up doing 75 repetitions at the conclusion if we didn't break down towards the end.

Performing a Pyramid Workout we can easily get to 100 reps and feel fresher at the end. This would involve performing 1 repetition  to begin with, resting, then increasing each set by one  repetition until we have worked up to 10 repetitions. After the tenth repetition we would work our way back down to 1 repetition. To help visualize this the scheme would look like this: 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 grand total 100 repetitions!

We can pair this scheme with an additional movement if you were feeling ambitious to give us a total of 200 repetitions. A suggestion if you are going to pair movements would be not to select competing muscle groups. For example if you are doing a bench press, a bent over row would compete with that movement by actively recruiting the eccentric muscles in the back and shoulders worked in the bench press. Choosing a squat or dead lift may serve you better if you want to feel stronger towards the end of the workout.

Bonus Points: Work with one weight until you have reached the tenth repetition, then progressively add weight as you go back down to one ending with 85-90% of your max for the last rep!

Bumps And Bruises: Whats Your Excuse?

In 1988 I was a ten year old boy fascinated with the game of baseball and the larger than life figures in the game from past and present. That year the World Series featured the Oakland A’s and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Oakland was by far the most powerful team in the American League with sluggers like McGwire and Canseco and a staff of pitchers, one seemingly tougher than the next. Los Angeles was a team grounded in defense, pitching and their charismatic leader, Tommy Lasorda.

The A’s were heavily favored in the series and the Dodgers entered the series with their only position player to make the all-star team, Kirk Gibson, sidelined with injuries. From here the story becomes more familiar. With Game 1 of the series on the line the Dodgers entered the bottom of the ninth down 4-3. Dennis Eckersley, the most dominant closer in baseball at the time, was on the mound for the A’s and disposed of the first two batters of the inning easily. He was not able to sit down the meager hitting Mike Davis and allowed a walk, putting the tying run on the base paths.

I can  clearly remember the call from the iconic voice of Vince Scully, “and look how’s coming up!”. Gibson stepped out of the dugout took a few cuts in the on deck circle and made his way to the batters box on two bad legs to face the dominant reliever.

Quickly Gibson was in the hole with the count going to 0-2 and it seemed like the game was all but over, Eckersley was too much for the battered Gibson. With his resolve intact Gibson worked the count full and created the story that has been reenacted in every kids sandlot baseball dream. World Series, bottom of the ninth, two outs and the winning run at the plate. Gibson completed the story by promptly turning on a 3-2 slider and sending it sailing over the 360’ mark in right field to win the game! A scene sending goosebumps down every baseball fans side. Gibson pumping his arm after rounding first and the Dodgers storming the field to greet him at the plate, the crowd was in a frenzy.

Can you imagine if when Gibson got the nod to go to the plate he declined saying, “I don’t think so today coach I’m feeling a little banged up.”? This heroic feat would still just be a story tale told by ten year olds nationwide.

When it comes to training for performance bumps and bruises are going to be part of the process. You will be sore, you will ache, you will feel like you should sit one out. Be diligent in taking care of your body during this period but don’t let fatigue make a coward out of you. In the spirit of Muhammad Ali, “Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.”

Running, The Best Body Weight Exercise?

If we were to ask ten people walking into a gym what they thought about running, I’m almost positive we would get 10 different answers. Opinions on running vary from one extreme to another but could it possibly be the best body weight exercise available to you?

Like most body weight exercises, the only equipment required for running is yourself and a pair or running shoes (and even that is optional) http://www.barefootrunning.fas.harvard.edu/1WhyConsiderFootStrike.html

Some of the most common views of running would be putting in endless miles either around a track, a treadmill or through neighborhoods side streets and roads. Even those that I know who enjoy running will admit it’s not something they are always looking forward to but know they will feel great once it is done.

If we made a list of the benefits of running it would be a very long list but its not commonly looked at as a body weight exercise. Running is load bearing, it can challenge your aerobic capacity as well as your anaerobic capacity, it burns calories, it will help raise your metabolic rate, improves your endurance and it can build muscle throughout your body not only your legs. Sounds pretty effective doesn't it!

Okay maybe running doesn't seem as bad now but how can we use it most effectively without committing ourselves to training for a marathon. Here are a few suggestions.

• Sprint Intervals. These can be done almost anywhere and you do not need much room to be effective. Distances from 50 to 400m can be run at a pretty intense pace for most people. Pick a distance, if you can access a track just pick two landmarks outside your house. Run 6-12 intervals trying to increase your intensity each time.
• Hills.  If you are lucky enough to live in an area with them you are at an advantage when it comes to getting the most out of your running workout. Each step up a hill in like doing a mini single leg squat. Approach these the same way you would the sprint intervals and you will feel the burn.
• Intermediate Distances. I’m going to classify this as being anything from 800m (½ mile) to 5k (3.1 miles). These are great distances for training endurance and you don’t have to log a ton of miles to get better at them.

Now if you are a serious runner or training for a specific event you’ll want to examine what's really the best routine for you, but if you are just trying to improve your current fitness level just pick one of these suggestions and RUN with it!

Grunt Work

One of my favorite movies growing up was Platoon, the 1986 Academy Award winner for Best Picture. The movie featured an outstanding director and cast, many of which who have continued to have successful careers. The character portrayed by Charlie Sheen, Taylor,  provides a narrative insight during the film.

Well, here I am, anonymous, all right. With guys nobody really cares about. They come from the end of the line, most of them, small towns you never heard of: Pulaski, Tennessee; Brandon, Mississippi; Pork Bend, Utah; Wampum, Pennsylvania. Two years' high school's about it. Maybe if they're lucky, a job waiting for them back in a factory. But most of 'em got nothing. They're poor. They're the unwanted. Yet they're fighting for our society and our freedom. It's weird, isn't it? They're the bottom of the barrel, and they know it. Maybe that's why they call themselves grunts, 'cause a grunt can take it, can take anything. They're the best I've ever seen, Grandma. The heart and soul.

The Grunts did all the jobs no one else would do, humped supplies in and out of the “bush” and carried the weight of the war on their backs. I would bet they had really strong backs!

If you have ever done hard physical labor you would know that you need to be pretty strong as well as have the endurance to carry out the tasks needed throughout the day. The term grunt work is still used today to describe the work performed by these labor tasks. I’m lucky enough to say I’ve had the opportunity to do this type of work. I think it builds character and it gives meaning to the term “going out and earning” When you have finished a day you know you have definitely earned a day's pay.

Personally I’ve carried tons of heavy stuff in my hands and on my shoulders, crawled through attics and crawl spaces, dug trenches, stacked supplies, dragged equipment through the woods and countless other tasks that required some type of brute force. For me it’s always been a way to maintain fitness even though I wasn’t going to a traditional gym or had a specific training plan.

In the trend of functional fitness these are the type of tasks we are preparing ourselves for. In the process of trying to derive the best exercises that will enable us to do that type of work I see a trend that actually moves us further away from performing those tasks. It becomes more of a race to see who can be more creative or can create the most innovative regime. While all of this can be helpful I wouldn’t want to move to far away from performing those back breaking tasks.

If you wanted to be a better carpenter, pick up a hammer. If you wanted to become a better mason, better start working on mixing some mortar. In fitness this is called specificity.

I haven’t always had the best tools at my disposal in order to train so I’ve had to be creative. I’ve dug up large stones and used them to carry around. I’ve split rounds of wood by hand and the ones that were too hard to split I carried them around too. Last winter I filled up two, five gallon buckets with water, set them outside and let them freeze. It was such a cold winter they stayed frozen quite some time and I used them for farmers carries (outdoors of course). I didn't have medicine balls but I had some old tires to sling around. I was doing the “grunt work” and getting stronger because of it.

I’m not saying you have to start looking around your garage for things to throw over your shoulder but if you are going to a gym there may be tools that can help simulate real world movements. Sandbags and medicine balls are great tools for this as well as dumbbells (they are not just for curls).

A couple of simple rules to follow if you would like to add this type of training into your fitness program:

1. Find someone to guide you through it. If you have never done this before get some solid advice, you wouldn’t start building a house if you didn’t own a hammer.
2. Warm up. It’s never a good idea to do intense work without it no matter how tough you think you’ll look with a boulder on your shoulder.
3. Do it on both sides.  While i can't say I did this while I was performing such tasks for occupational purposes, for training purposes we want be smart and stay balanced.
4. If it doesn't feel right, don't do it. This should go without saying but if you can't see where a certain movement might apply you are probably right.
5. Once you feel you're done, do a little more. There might be a cost versus benefit factor here but in life there is always just a little more work at the end to ensure that we did a quality job. Don’t leave your job undone!

Now that you’ve been given your orders complete your mission and get your grunt on!