Amazing Feats Of Strength

We, as trainers and trainees in the fitness industry sometimes have a really biased and skewed perspective of what is considered "strong". With the rise of barbell sports like Crossfit, powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting, it can be easy to forget other forms of strength, beyond the barbell, beyond just numbers.

I get it, lifting a massive amount of weight/external load is impressive and it shows how far our humans neuromuscular system can be pushed. However, one must not forget that strength is specific and involves other variables such as coordination and timing. With that said here are some amazing displays of strength, ranging from powerlifting, all the way to martial arts.
 

Powerlifting: Ray William's 1005lb Squat

Three white lights for the heaviest raw (belt + knee sleeves only) squat of all time. For any licensing requests please contact licensing@break.com

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Olympic Weightlifting: Alexey Lochev's 582lb Clean & Jerk

Strongest Weightlifter in the world: A new world record of 264 kg (582 lb) was set by Alexey Lochev of Russia at the World Weightlifting Championships 2015. This beats the old record of set by Hossein Rezazadeh 11 years ago. "I could never have done it without the support of my parents.

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Strongman: Mariusz Pudzianowski's Plane Pull

Mariusz Pudzianowski in the Plane Pull event of the 2009 World's Strongest Man competition. Click here to SUBSCRIBE: http://bit.ly/1a7GqHc Created in 1977, The World's Strongest Man™ has become the premier event in strength athletics. For over 30 years, the strongest men on the planet have come together in a series of unique and amazing tests of strength to determine The World's Strongest Man.

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Strongman: Haftthor Bjornsson's 640kg Log Lift

WARNING! WARNING! WARNING! We have been trying to get the license to our video back from #Jukin Media since December, but no luck there. Bad service, no money, and loss of income from 1 000 000 views is some of the bad things we have experienced with them. KEEP AWAY FOLKS.

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Wrestling: Aleksandr Karelin

Click for Video

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Gymnastics: Yuri Van Gelder (Rings)

Подписка на наш Youtube канал: http://youtube.com/user/shagyar1 Подписывайтесь на наш паблик: http://vk.com/mimotivation Описание: Нарезки из выступлений одного из самых сильный кольцевиков планеты Ури Ван Гельдера.

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Rock Climbing: Alex Honnold

http://www.alexhonnold.com/

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Mixed Martial Arts: Daniel Cormier

Daniel Cormier flips 6'4'' Alexander Gustafsson.

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How To Maintain Strength And Muscle Mass While Losing Weight

Many competitive strength athletes and recreational lifters are under the impression that strength and muscle loss is inevitable when losing weight or undergoing a fat-shredding phase. This is often NOT the case, as strength can be easily maintained or even improved when proper dieting and training adjustments are made. Here are 2 nutrition and 2 training tips to implement the next time you plan on losing fat:

Conservative Calorie Deficit

Whenever muscle and strength retention is of concern during periods of weight loss, a conservative calorie deficit should be used. The idea is that rapid bouts of weight loss created by large calorie-restrictions hinders our ability to perform hard training sessions and our ability to recovery from them. This may result in a loss in lean body mass and subsequently, decreased performance.

In 2011, a group of researchers studied the effects of 2 different weight-loss rates on male and female athletes' body composition and sporting performance. The slow weight loss group lost ~0.7% of their body weight per week while the fast weight loss group lost ~1.4% of their body weight per week.*  At the end of this weight loss period, it was found that the slow weight loss group retained more muscle mass and performed better on upper body strength tests compared to the fast weight loss group. This could have been from consuming more calories for muscle repair and recovery and lower mental stress from dieting more conservatively, which results in a smaller disruption to their bodies' homeostasis. 

Simply put: a slower weight loss rates helps maintain muscle and strength. 

Using the example study above (0.7% bw loss per week), most people will want to lose no more than 1lb of bodyweight per week to better maintain their fitness and performance.

*it should be noted that both weight loss groups lost the same amount of the weight. The slow weight loss group dieted for longer to achieve the same weight loss as the fast weight loss group.

Protein Timing and Distribution

Granted you're already consuming an adequate amount of protein to support recovery and muscle growth, implementing good protein timing and distribution practices is the cherry on top of the sundae. 

Effective protein timing and distribution practices revolve around the concept of the touted "anabolic window". The anabolic window concept states that there is an optimal time period where our muscles are more sensitive to protein intake, where protein consumption during this time will result in better recovery, and increased muscle growth. While the importance of the anabolic window is sometimes overhyped by the bodybuilding and supplement industry, it DOES exists. Hours following a hard training session, when our muscle's receptors are hypersensitive and there's a surge of hormones and growth factors. This hypersensitivity returns to baseline anywhere from 12-36 hours and is dependent on several variables:

• Volume and intensity of training

• Duration of the training session

• Modality of training (resistance training will induce more micro-tearing of muscle fibers and a greater hormonal response vs. endurance training)

• Training status of the individual

It's because of this anabolic window that many fitness professionals recommend drinking a protein shake immediately post-workout. While this is a good practice, many nutritionists and trainers forget or simply do not put enough emphasis on pre-workout nutrition.

Why worry about pre-workout nutrition if the anabolic window exists post-training? Protein transit and digestion time. 

A serving of protein consumed prior to training will still be in the process of digestion and absorption HOURS following a training session. In order to fully take advantage of the anabolic window, an adequate amount of protein (>25-40g, more if you're heavier or possess more muscle mass) must be consumed pre-workout in conjunction with a post-workout shake. 

Why does this matter and how does it affect muscle retention?

Our body is in a constant state of building, and destroying, anabolism and catabolism. During a calorie-deficit, its crucial to keep net positive muscle protein synthesis (where total protein synthesis > total protein degradation) in order to facilitate proper muscle repair and growth. Evenly distributing your protein intake around the clock helps increase protein synthesis. Think of it as stoking a fire, constantly feeding the fire fuel or wood. Again, none of this will be effective without consistently hitting your daily protein needs (total amount of protein per day).

Increase lifting frequency

Let's get into the the training side of things.

An unwanted side effect from losing weight (for strength athletes anyways) is a change in leverages and biomechanics. When you lose thickness in your thighs and hips, squats, cleans and lower body movements feel different. When you lose thickness in your lats or chest, bench pressing and overhead pressing feels a bit different. Whether its from an altered stretch-reflex or reduced proprioception, losing weight can negatively affect lifting technique, often resulting in a loss of strength.

To combat this problem, I recommend increasing your lifting frequency. Does your squat feel a bit different after losing 20lbs? Start squatting more frequently. Does your overhead press feel a bit iffy since your weight loss? Start overhead pressing more frequently. Much like the stoking the fire analogy used earlier, the more frequently you spend practicing a movement under your new biomechanical circumstances, the more improvements you'll make. Increased frequency and exposure to an exercise will do wonders in terms of motor learning and familiarity. 

stick to your training plan

Aside from increasing training and lift frequency, nothing else should really change.

Lifters often take unneeded preventative measures when dieting by overhauling their whole training plan. If you're losing weight via a conservative calorie-deficit, there is no good reason to significantly decrease volume or intensity of training. You should still be able to perform and progress on your training plan despite eating 200-300 calories less each day. 

For athletes looking to rapidly lose fat however, the best line of action would be to slightly reduce training volume by either reducing the total amount of sets and reps BUT maintain or even increase intensity. Lifting heavy (relative to your own strength levels) is crucial for stimulating your high-threshold muscle fibers responsible for maximal strength production. Many studies have shown that high intensity training can help maintain muscle mass and strength weeks and even months after detraining/periods of reduced volume.

Ultimately, have trust in your training plan and stay consistent. Don't let dieting stress prevent you from training and avoid the nocebo effect or any preconceived notions that you'll be weaker and smaller after your weight loss diet. Use these 4 tips, train hard, and train smart. Good luck!

Studies discussed:

"Effect of two different weight-loss rates on body composition and strength and power-related performance in elite athletes." Garthe et al. (2011).

"Nutrient timing revisited: is there a post-exercise anabolic window?" Aragon & Schoenfeld (2013).

"Less Is More: The Physiological Basis for Tapering in Endurance, Strength, and Power Athletes." Murach, Kevin, and James Bagley. (2015) 

"Physiological and Performance Responses to a 6-Day Taper in Middle-Distance Runners: Influence of Training Frequency." Mujika, I., A. Goya, E. Ruiz, A. Grijalba, J. Santisteban, and S. Padilla. (2002)

"The Effects of Tapering on Power-Force-Velocity Profiling and Jump Performance in Professional Rugby League Players." Lacey, James De, Matt Brughelli, Michael Mcguigan, Keir Hansen, Pierre Samozino, and Jean-Benoit Morin.(2014)

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What Type Of Dieter Are You?

Weight and fat loss can be achieved using different styles of dieting depending on your personality, eating habit, tendencies as well as how much knowledge you possess about nutrition and dieting itself. Are you a trainee motivated by quick results or are you a person that likes to take it slow and ensure sustainable weight loss? 

1. The Shotgunner - Quick Weight Loss

The shotgun method is what I like to call diets that start out with a large calorie deficit, with that deficit decreasing as bodyweight drops. Why did I name this the shotgun method? Because like a shotgun, the initial blast is strong (large calorie deficit - ensures initial weight-loss) and can hurt the person if they're ill-prepared to handle the consequent recoil (junk food temptations, binge eating, etc).

This method works well for people who are motivated by quick results and find it difficult to adhere to a more conservative approach. For example, a person looking to lose a large amount of weight (eg: 30lbs) will start off with a 500+ calorie deficit (daily) and slowly reduce that to a 400, 300, 200 calorie deficit as the weeks progress and as body fat is being lost. As I believe protein intake should stay at an adequate level, most of the reduction from calories should come from partial elimination of carbohydrates and fats.

Pros

• Very effective for short term weight loss
• Initial stages can be very motivating for some individuals and help them adhere to future weight loss diets

Cons

• Large calorie deficits can be very mentally stressful
• Initial low energy and decreased performance in the gym or at a physical job
• The chance of the rebound effect is much higher, some dieters will use the initial weight loss to justify stuffing their face the following weeks... AVOID THIS AT ALL COSTS!

2. The Turtle - Slow And Steady

One of the more popular methods used in the past few years due to increasing research on food intake habits, willpower and weight loss sustainability. In contrast to the "shotgun" method, this style of dieting employs a conservative calorie deficit throughout the entirety of the weight loss period.

The caveat here is that dieters must be aware of their maintenance calories (I've talked about how to find out that number through estimations or tracking right here under section #3: Learn How To Count). So what's a conservative calorie deficit? A daily reduction of 200-300 calories coming from carbohydrates has worked well for me and my clients. Depending on your metabolism, expect to lose about 0.5-1lb per week. Trainees who employ this diet must be persistent and consistent with their calorie intake. If weight loss stagnates, consider increasing the amount of physical activity you do or further increasing the calorie deficit.
 

Pros

• The conservative calorie deficit allows dieters to lose weight without feeling the initial low energy that comes with large calorie deficits
• A small calorie deficit can sometimes be unnoticeable given the composition of your meals are healthy and based around nutritious and satiating, whole-foods.
• Paired with adequate protein intake, this style of dieting ensures maintenance of your hard-gained muscle!

Cons

• May not be suitable for beginners new to counting calories and portion controls
• Tests dieter's patience, weight loss may not occur for the first weeks either due to inaccurate tracking or using the wrong maintenance calories as a baseline

The Bottom Line

Both types of dieters can see success as long as they plan out their diet and adhere to it. Don't be quick to dismiss large calorie deficits and diets like the "shotgun method". While it doesn't always fit the modern dieting narrative that everything should be done conservatively to ensure long-term success, I've seen first hand that people can succeed with more daring weight loss methods. Pick the right dieting style that suits your goals and current level of experience with nutrition. Good luck!

How To Pack On Muscle - Diet Tips For The Hardgainer

Forget those gross weight-gainer shakes that taste like concrete. Fuel your muscle-building workouts by eating lots of whole foods and developing dietary habits that are sustainable for YOU. Here are 5 tips to help you create good eating habits to pack on size. 

1. first, Create A relationship with food, not numbers.

You can count calories and protein all you want. As a matter of fact, I'll teach you how to do so later in this article. But first, you need to create a good relationship with food or your journey to being jacked will not be a sustainable one. What do I mean by "creating a relationship with food?" I simply mean:

• Enjoy the foods you're eating - One of the easiest ways to eat more is to eat delicious foods. Even if you're a "picky eater", there's no excuse. Find the foods you love eating, eat them often.

• Learn how to cook - There's nothing like a home-cooked meal made by mom but when you're trying to become self-sufficient and take control of what nutrients go into your body, learning basic cooking skills and recipes is a must (plus it saves you money!!). Youtube and find easy recipes to make at home. Use ingredients you're familiar with but don't be afraid to try new things.

Create a good relationship with food before worrying about calories. Gradually eat more, your exercise and activity should fuel your hunger. If you already have a good relationship with food and have done all of the above, then its time dive into the details like maintenance calories, and optimal protein intake levels.

2. Rethink The Term "Hardgainer"

“A hardgainer is an arbitrary label that describes a person who practices bodybuilding but finds it challenging to develop musculature regardless of the amount of effort put in.”

— Wikipedia

There are most likely no genetic factors preventing you from putting on size, nor are there anyone stealing your muscles overnight. The term hardgainer really just means your appetite and the amount of calories you consume day to day is not up to par with your metabolism. In other words: YOU'RE EATING LESS THAN YOU BURN. Simple as that.

Aside from height and weight, our metabolism is dependent on the amount of physical activity we perform and our NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis). Any energy we expend outside of exercise is considered NEAT: How much are you walking a day? Do you have an active or sedentary job? Are you doing chores around the house?

All of these factors contribute to the amount of calories you burn in a day. These are factors we can control. 

3. Learn how to count

The amount of calories it takes to maintain your current bodyweight is often referred to as maintenance calories. We can find out what this number using 2 methods:

Estimation: The Calorie Maintenance Level Calculator

Enter your weight, height, and activity level to instantly receive an estimate of your maintenance calories. While this method may be quick, it may be  inaccurate for some. Which leads to the second method:

Tracking: Using MyFitnessPal (or similar app)

Weigh yourself in the morning everyday for one or two weeks. At the same time, eat your regular diet and input all your food into the MFP app. Granted you've maintained the same body-weight, find your average calorie intake by adding up all your days and dividing by 7 or 14 (days). Congrats, you've found your maintenance calorie level. 

I recommend using the tracking method right off the bat, and comparing that number to the calculator's estimation. Unless you have abnormal levels of physical activity or have tracked your food inaccurately/inconsistently, there shouldn't be a huge discrepancy.

Now that you've found your maintenance calories, increase your calorie intake in order to see bodyweight changes and muscle gain. I recommend increasing your intake by ~300-500 calories (start off at 300 and keep it consistent for several weeks and go from there). There are 2 ways to increase calorie intake:

1) Increase Meal Frequency: Add a meal to your current dietary habits. Whether its a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a protein shake, or eating an extra lunch, the point here is to eat more often.

2) Increase Portion Sizes: Maintain your current number of meals, increase the portion size for 1 meal or all your meals/snacks.

Increasing calorie intake does not mean stuffing your face with whatever you see in front of you. Where will those ~300-500 calories come from then? For most of you, a combination of high quality carbohydrates and protein.

4. Increase protein intake to 0.8g+ per pound of bodyweight a day

Proteins are the building blocks of our muscles, and the nutrient responsible for repairing our muscle tissues after exercise. The current protein recommendations set out by health organizations and our government target sedentary populations so if you're looking to build muscle, increasing protein intake is a must! I wrote a detailed article on optimal protein intake for people looking to pack on muscle, read it here.

For the beginner trainee and the hardgainer, increasing daily protein intake to 0.8g/lb of bodyweight while eating ~300-500 calories above your maintenance calories is a fail-safe method of gaining weight and packing on muscle. For a 145lb person, aim to consume ~115g of protein a day.

While carbohydrates ultimately fuel our work outs, there should be no shortage of carbs in your diet. Like I alluded to earlier, the extra calorie surplus should come from high-quality carbohydrates like sweet potatoes, rice, bread, pasta  and high-quality protein like egg, whey (milk), chicken, fish and red meats.

5. Acknowledge personal preferences

While meal distribution, protein intake frequency and other minutia may be important, its not a detail a hardgainer should be worrying about.

Whatever schedule allows you to more easily and more enjoyably consume the food required for you to reach your health or aesthetic goals, is the schedule you should stick to. For me personally, I like to backload my calories: eat most of my big meals in the evening and night. I'm simply just not as hungry in the day, and you know what? That's okay, it's not the end of the world if you skip breakfast. It may become a problem if you struggle with maintaining proper energy levels and it impedes your ability to stay productive in your work, school or social life. Address those issues if you run into them.

For now, stick to the basics:

1. Create a good relationship with food
2. Learn how to cook and become self-sufficient
3. Increase calorie intake and protein intake
4. Prioritize whole foods and high-quality nutrients before you satisfy your sweet tooth or dive into that box of cookies.

Happy gaining!

Medicine Ball Throws For Fitness and Power

There are few sounds as satisfying as a medicine ball slamming into a concrete wall. Whether your goals are to burn fat, increase your fitness or improve your sport performance, the use of medicine balls is a fun way to get you there.

I created this video showing you how many variations you can use. The non-rotational exercises will challenge your core strength while the rotational throws will blast and sculpt your oblique abs.

Add these to your circuit training or strength & conditioning routine and try them out! Enjoy!

The Stubborn Powerlifter

Powerlifters are some of the nicest, hardworking, passionate, yet stubborn athletes you’ll ever meet. Despite the bad rap that powerlifting receives for being non-functional or unsustainable, there are many fixes and ideas a powerlifter can implement to become big and strong without being mentally and physically broken down.

Problem #1: Over-Specificity
 

We all know “that guy”. You know, the one that thinks he has more muscle mass than he actually does, the one that hops on specialized programs like Sheiko or Smolov Jr. three months into lifting. I knew that guy, well... I WAS that guy. Not only am I speaking from experience, but there are several good reasons why over-specific powerlifting programs can be detrimental for new lifters.

One of the biggest mistakes new lifters can make is exclusively performing the powerlifts (squat, bench press, deadlift) and ignoring other compound and isolation exercises. Don’t get me wrong, I know practice makes perfect, an aspiring powerlifter must practice the competition lifts but including a variation of exercises in your program as a lifting nooby is the best thing you can do. I can only count on 1 hand the number of lifters I know personally that can progress by only performing the big 3 day in and day out. Most of them have had an extensive training background in track&field / football as well as experience in the weight room prior to powerlifting.

The Fix: Building The Base

Besides improving technique on the Big 3, the top priority for an new lifter is to… pack on muscle. And I believe including a good variation of exercises is the best way to do this. To developed a well-balanced, stable, and resilient body, a mixture of unilateral, bilateral, compound, and isolation exercises should be included into a training program. This is what I like to call building the base:

• Build an appreciative amount of muscle mass

• Slowly increase bone density and muscle tendon strength to reduce future injury risk

• Practice multiple movement patterns

• Develop that mind-muscle connection (important for when you decide to target lacking muscles, or want to utilize internal powerlifting technique cues)

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Problem #2: putting Too much emotional and financial investment into equipment Too early on
 

“Hey how many lbs does the new SBD sleeves give you?”

“Hey did you hear about the new lever belt?”

Equipment can definitely help and at the national and international level, it may be the difference between a podium finish and not placing at all. However, many powerlifters get too caught up with the equipment too early on in their lifting career. Obsessing over the newest knee sleeves, belts, shoes and wraps is a waste of time and money if you don’t already have a solid foundation.  Avoid making equipment a mental crutch by becoming too dependent on it and avoid overlooking potential negatives that may occur if you're always using equipment.

The Fix: Change the Mindset

Powerlifting is a poor man’s sport, if you have that much money for equipment, maybe you should go play golf or tennis instead. Kidding… KIDDING.

The fix here relates to what I said earlier. Build a solid base/foundation before depending on knee sleeves and belts. Change your mindset. You can be strong without all the equipment. See equipment as a supplement to your training, not a necessity.

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Problem #3: Constantly complaining about things and not doing anything to fix it

How many times have you seen people complain about having a #povertybenchpress? It's one thing to joke about it, it's another thing to post constantly complain on Instagram or Facebook telling your followers that your bench sucks. If you think your bench sucks, do something about it. Shut up and bench more, put some mass on your chest, put some mass on your triceps and shoulders.

The Fix: outline priorities and work on them

Using the bench press example: many people struggle to increase their bench because they have insufficient upper body muscle mass (I was and am one of those lifters). Most big benchers LOOK like they can bench a lot. Either that or they have a ridiculous arch + range of motion and they bench 5x a week. Speaking from experience, putting on muscle mass should be your first option. Leave the very high frequency training (4x a week +) for when you’re a more experienced, advanced-level lifter.

When it comes to putting on muscle mass to improve your bench press strength, periodize your training in a way so you train the bench 2-3 times a week.

2x a week might look something like this

• 1 strength focused session (1-5 rep range, long rests, focusing on bar speed and consistency)

• 1 hypertrophy focused session (5-12+ rep range, shorter rests, include lots of accessories like dumbbell bench press, incline presses, shoulder presses) don’t be afraid to bro out!

3x a week will consist of the workouts above + a low volume technique-based day that can be done in the same workout as squats or deadlifts.

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Problem #4: Too afraid of Time-off

I get it, you want to be competitive. You want to keep up with the rest of the lifters in your division. BUT… continuing to train when you’re mentally and physically exhausted is a recipe for disaster. Mental burnout and increased risk of injury are common outcomes of not spending enough time-off and can hinder your progress in the long-term. Even the veteran lifter should take some time off their normal training routine and dabble in other forms of exercise or at least include a wider variation of exercises.

The Fix: a proper deload

I’m not talking about a one-week planned deload. I’m talking about 3-4 weeks of reduced-intensity lifting. For many powerlifters, this comes in the form of “bodybuilding”, while others will play a different sport or join a recreational sports team. The key here is NOT to completely eliminate all thoughts of powerlifting, but rather shift your focus elsewhere so you’re more refreshed the next time you enter a hard training cycle.

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Interested in Powerlifting Programming and Coaching? Feel free to contact me!

How Functional Is Movement Training For Fitness & Performance?

With the rising emergence of “movement training” in both the fitness industry and high performance athletics, it begs the question… Does movement training actually produce results?

Here’s why you should probably take the hyped up movement training trend with a grain of salt, especially if you are focused on improving fitness and function. There are better ways to get fit, fast, strong and powerful, and they don’t involve becoming a functional training guru.

Defining The Un-Definable “Movement Training”

In order to clearly evaluate the benefits and pitfalls of movement training, we must first define the term. Unfortunately, there is no conclusive answer. The definition of movement training will differ from coach to coach, trainer to trainer, and athlete to athlete. Some may consider movement training the motor patterns and exercises specific to their respective sport, while others consider it the ability to express your body freely by adopting a multitude of complex movement patterns.

One of the most polarizing movement training specialists is of course Ido Portal, coach of UFC superstar Connor McGregor. So, what does he have to say about movement training? Ido describes movement culture as a “contemporary paradigm shift in physicality, moving us away from main culprits in movement and fitness as well as the separation between health, aesthetics, performance and art”.

Athlete and former UFC Interim Champion Carlos Condit has also been working with MovNat post-ACL injury. MovNat, much like the Ido Portal Method, believes in a “mindful approach to the full range of natural human movement abilities”.

Lastly, Naudi Aguilar from Functional Patterns is another name I can think of that falls under this category of “movement training”. I think we all know Naudi’s name by now after his explosion onto the scene after a rather fire filled exchange with the glute guy Dr. Bret Contreras a few short years ago.

Why’s Movement Training So Damn Popular In The First Place?

Movement training is becoming more and more popular in athletic performance and fitness mainly because:

1. Trainees are getting bored with traditional weightlifting exercises such as the squat, bench press and deadlift and seek more variation in their training

2. Trainees and the general population are buying into the touted benefits of movement training

3. Trainees have been convinced that traditional resistance training and rehabilitation exercises are “nonfunctional”

4. Let’s admit it. It looks pretty cool. People are drawn to ideas that are polarizing, different, flashy.

The Truth About “Functional” Training

Although it’s unfair to group the Ido Portal Method, MovNat and Functional Patterns together, they do have one thing in common. They do not believe that the current paradigm and landscape of movement is sufficient for sport performance and health.

The principle of specificity always plays a role when discussing anything performance or health related. Gurus who preach that movement training is all you need and anything in the sagittal plane sucks, is most likely trying to sell you a product by downplaying their competitors.

Many traditional weightlifting and bodyweight exercises (squat, presses, deadlift, cleans, snatches, pushups) all occur in the sagittal plane, but have been shown to be very effective for muscular growth and strength. In addition, these gurus often claim that these exercises are not “functional”.

This naturally leads us into the discussion of functionality, and the question…

What is functional? Do we really need to be rolling around on the ground or balancing on a wobble board?

Too many times have people defined functional training as exercises on a Bosu ball or on a balance beam. While these exercises may serve a function, functional training should be defined as exercises that meet the demands of a specific goal.

Balancing on a bosu ball may be functional to one population, while completely useless to another. For example, balancing exercises on unstable surfaces have shown to be effective for developing stabilizer muscles in injured populations or post-stroke patients. However, may be completely useless to a power athlete looking to improve strength and power as exercises done on unstable surfaces actually reduces force output and does not carry over to the field, court, or platform.

As Mel Siff once said “There is no such entity as a truly functional exercise, except for the actual sporting or daily movement that we are trying to enhance by training”.

So why train at all? The answer is improving skill transfer.

The point is to perform exercises that have a high amount of transfer to the movement or quality we are looking to improve, whether it be biomechanical, neuromuscular or metabolic. With that said, let’s evaluate how well movement training transfers to different populations, which populations can actually benefit from movement training and which populations should stay away from movement training.

Movement Training In Sports Performance

Athletes must practice and be able to perform a variation of movement patterns in order to prevent over-use injuries, and to develop weaknesses to improve sport performance. While I’m a believer that athletes should aim to progress beyond the traditional lifts (squat, bench press, deadlift, power cleans, power snatches), I’m not convinced exclusively performing movement training is the perfect solution.

The amount of movement variation that is required by an athlete depends on factors such as previous and existing movement base, type of athlete and type of sport. As an athlete, how much time should be allotted to movement training (if any at all…) and how much time should be allotted to sport-specific training and traditional strength & conditioning.

Optimizing sport performance is about pushing the human body and mind to the upper limits, as well as experimenting with different training methods. It would be foolish to state that movement training is completely useless or has no place being performed alongside a smart strength & conditioning protocol.

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Contact Sport & Mixed Martial Arts Athletes

Running as a form of recovery or long slow distance (LSD) training is often utilized in various sport performance programs. However, the large eccentric component of running unnecessarily stresses the lower body joints and can hinder recovery. This is especially true for athletes in contact sports like MMA and rugby, or in sports that already have a large running component to them, such as soccer.

For this reason, water-jogging/running, swimming, cycling and other activities with concentric-dominant muscle actions are preferred over running. In this case, I propose that: movement training can replace road-work (running) as a form of integrated aerobic and mobility training.

Here’s How To Implement It With This Population: 

Use a heart rate monitor (chest-strap preferred). Find or develop your own bodyweight movement routine that focuses on low-impact, and mobility-focused exercises (deep lunges with a chest-stretch/opener, Spiderman/alligator crawls, shoulder rolls, transverse plane rotation drills, etc)

Keep heart rate at 50-70% of your Max Heart Rate, for most people this is a heart rate of 100-135BPM (lower end for recovery, higher end for aerobic adaptations).The key is to keep heart rate under lactate/anaerobic threshold.

Perform this for 30-60 minutes, 1-2x a week. After training sessions and/or on rest days.

In this application of movement training, heart rate and work output is low enough not to interfere with recovery, all while challenging proprioception and putting muscles through a full range of motion. Movements utilized do not have to be specific to the sport, as we are only aiming to improve general aerobic adaptations and promote recovery.

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Strength Athletes: Powerlifting, Olympic Weightlifting, Strongman

Powerlifters need enough mobility to hit depth on their squats, be able to bench press and deadlift safely. Olympic weightlifters need a good amount of mobility and flexibility to be able to catch barbell snatchs and clean & jerks in a deep squat position. Strongman competitors need enough hip mobility to pick up heavy stones as well as possess decent shoulder mobility to overhead press safely and effectively. Outside these exercises, strength athletes are not required to practice a plethora of movement patterns. Because of this, movement training can come in the form of maintaining joint and muscular health.

Here’s How To Implement It With This Population: 

Movement specialists Max Shank and Hunter Cook have great routines for post-lifting or on off-days, which is comprised of taking all your body’s joints through its full range of motion.

Since the goals of strength athletes are so specialized – pack on muscle, improve strength and power on the main lifts, performing movement training may be a waste of time.

When it comes to cardiovascular conditioning for strength athletes, low intensity cyclical aerobic training like cycling or the elliptical machine may be the better option. MetCons can also be utilized for Olympic weightlifters and Strongman competitors.

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Endurance Athletes: Triathletes, Runners, Swimmers, Cyclists

Many endurance sports are cyclical in nature, therefore implying low movement variation in competition and in training. Rather than utilizing movement training, endurance athletes should perform resistance training in conjunction with their endurance training program.

It is a common misconception that resistance training is detrimental for endurance performance or it somehow adds unneeded muscle mass to endurance athletes. However, it has been shown that resistance training can improve peak power output for short-event, anaerobic-endurance athletes as well as improve average power output and movement economy in longer-event, aerobic-endurance athletes.

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General Health and Fitness Population

On the other hand, improving physical health and fitness is about reaching or maintaining a healthy lifestyle in a safe and efficient manner. I stress the term efficient because people who fall under this category most likely are not professional athletes, therefore training needs time-efficient. Can movement training improve bone density, blood lipid profile or other health markers? Yes. Can movement training improve these measures as effectively as traditional resistance and cardiovascular training? I’m not sure it can.

For populations looking to improve overall fitness, lose fat mass and put on muscle mass; movement training exclusively, will likely not yield the same results as performing a combination of resistance training and cardiovascular exercise. Stick to multi-joint, compound exercises, while carefully selecting isolation exercises to improve your weaknesses or fix muscular imbalances.

Here’s How To Implement It With This Population: 

The following movement patterns should make up the bulk of a well-designed resistance training program:

• Hip Hinge Pattern (Deadlift, Kettlebell Swings)

• Squat Pattern (Back Squat, Split Squat)

• Lunge Pattern (Forward lunge, Lateral Lunge)

• Horizontal Push (Bench Press, Push Ups)

• Vertical Push (Overhead Press, Landmine Shoulder Presss)

• Horizontal Pull (1 Arm Dumbbell Row, Bent Over Barbell Row)

• Vertical Pull (Pull Up, Chin Up)

• Loaded Carries (Farmers Walk, Sled Pull/Bear Crawls)

• Isometric Core Exercises (Forearm Plank, Side Plank)

• Anti-Rotation Core Exercises (Pallof Press, Bird Dog Variations)

Performing variations of these exercises will help you develop stability, muscle mass, strength as well as build a well-rounded physique. Familiarize yourself with these movement patterns, progressively overload them, and form a solid base before dabbling in more complex movements like muscle-ups or dragon pistol squats.

When it comes to cardiovascular conditioning, 30-90 minutes of steady state aerobic training at 50-70% of your Max Heart Rate (100-135BPM for most individuals) as well as 10-20 minutes of moderate to high-intensity intervals can greatly improve cardiovascular health and aid in fat loss while performed in conjunction with a resistance training routine.

I say in conjunction because I believe everyone should strength train. Strength training puts on muscle mass. Muscle mass plays a role in whole-body protein metabolism, preventing pathologic conditions and chronic diseases such as sarcopenia, and is associated with longevity and lower mortality rates.

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The Bottom Line About Movement Training

In terms of building muscle and strength, and improving overall fitness: progressive overload is king. The lack of clear cut progressions in movement training, the inability to load certain movements safely, and the inconclusive definition of the term itself makes it hard to implement effectively in populations seeking to improve general health and fitness.

Should we as humans aim to improve our flexibility, mobility and movement? Yes of course.

Should we spend time touching butts at the park (movement training reference) at the expense of exercises like squats, presses and deadlifts that have already proven to be effective for fat loss, muscle gain and strength? Probably not.

Movement training should be reserved for populations that already have an athletic base, whom are looking to promote recovery, improve mobility, balance and overall movement variation whether it be out of personal interest, or part of a strategically designed strength & conditioning program. For trainees looking for a safe and effective method of increasing their fitness and improving their health, stick to the basics.

Great Core Exercises You're Not Doing #1

Core training is very popular in the field of fitness and strength & conditioning. Along with popularity, comes a lot of misinformation. Core training is more than just doing 1000 sit-ups or crunches hoping your 6-pack will show up the morning after. When core training is done properly, it can be a great way to alleviate lower back pain, reduce chances of injury during sports or daily living activities, as well as give you a strong and resilient mid-section.

I’m sure you’re familiar with planks and hanging leg raises… so what other core exercises are there? I’ll show you a few!
 

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Front Rack Holds

Front rack holds, aka standing planks (that’s what I call them anyways…). Tired of doing regular planks? Try these out.

Tips to consider when performing this exercise:

• Use a cross-arm or Olympic-lifting grip
• Keep arms and elbows parallel to the floor
• DO NOT flare your rib cage or chest out
• Tighten your core, engage your glutes and grip the floor with your feet
• Hold for time, take deep breathes intermittently

The great thing about this exercise is being able easily control the load to your liking. The down side is that beginners might find this position uncomfortable on the collar bones or upper chest. In that case, a goblet hold may be a better variation.

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Suitcase deadlifts

Yup, this exercise is what it sounds like: picking up a very heavy suitcase. As opposed to a trap bar deadlift where both sides of your body are loaded, suitcase deadlifts challenge unilateral core stability. The goal of this exercise is to prevent your torso from leaning to one side as you lift the weight up. Along with challenging your oblique abdominal muscles, it’s a great way to strengthen your grip.

Tips to consider when performing this exercise:

• Hip hinge and squat down to grab the weight
• Control the weight on the way up and on the way down
• Don’t allow your torso to lean excessively to any one side

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Uneven farmers walk

If the farmers walk and the suitcase deadlift had a baby, this would be it. The goal of this exercise is to walk straight and to avoid excessive leaning as we are trying to improve core stabilization.

Tips to consider when performing this exercise:

• Start off slow to develop stability, increase the walking speed after a few workouts/weeks
• DO NOT flare your ribcage or chest out
• Tighten your core, engage your glutes and grip the floor with your feet with each step
• Pick a larger weight differential (between the 2 kettlebells or dumbbells) to make this exercise more challenging

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Tire clean and hold

While this exercise does not exclusively work the core, the core is still very active in preventing your torso from collapsing during each rep. Unconventional, but fun.

Tips to consider when performing this exercise:

• Pick a lighter tire if you’re a beginner trainee
• Tighten your core, engage your glutes, push into the floor with your feet
• Hold the position for 3-5 seconds
  
   

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Assisted Razor Curls

Is this an ab-rollout variation or is it a hamstring curl variation? Well, actually it’s both! I love this exercise, especially for hamstring injury prevention. As well as challenging your core, you’re putting your hamstrings on blast and working on that eccentric strength. You’ll need a partner to help you out with this one but it’s worth it. (Idea taken from Australian Strength Coach Lachlan Wilmot, thank you!!)

Instagram: @performancecoach_wilmot

This is one of the more difficult core exercises to perform, so here are some pointers to keep in mind:

• Start the movement off with a hip hinge
• Progress this exercise by reaching further out or hold the position for time (isometric)

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Give these exercises a try. Got any questions or feedback? Visit my Facebook and Instagram page down below and leave a comment!

Coaching vs. Programming: Is There a Difference?

initially a note post on my Facebook Page

Wait, if you’re programming for an athlete, aren’t you coaching them? I don’t see it that way.

Programming is writing out a specific training or nutrition program to cater to an athlete’s goal, whether it be improving their powerlifting total or body composition, etc. A knowledgeable exercise physiologist or personal trainer will be able to control training parameters well enough for their athletes to reach their goals effectively but a coach’s role extends beyond that.

Along side programming skills, a coach must be able to:

• Work WITH the person, not on.
   
• Dictate the training process and outline process-oriented goals
   
• Ensure that the athlete is tune with the process. So much can be learned working with a coach compared to jumping on a cookie cutter template program... HOWEVER, it is not uncommon for athletes to perform better on a cookie cutter program (over-individualization is problematic, more on this in another article).
   
• Effectively communicate with the athlete; this means communicating in a way the athlete can best understand what you expect out of them and what you’re teaching them
   
• Create curiosity in athletes, encourage questions and appropriately answer them (not just a “I’m the coach, you’re doing this cause I say so”)
   
• Understand that training and performance is multi-factorial, and that your athlete experience multiple stressors out of your control
   
• Care about their athletes. If you don’t give a shit about your athletes or clients, just write a training template and sell that. Simple as that.

A Lifter's Best Friend [PART 2]

This is PART 2 of last week's blog, READ PART 1 HERE.

3. Quality Training Partners

"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together" - African Proverb

Lifting and strength sports are as much team-based as they are individual. While training partners can't help you on the platform or in competition , they can be a great asset to your training. The perfect training partners will

Offer additional external motivation  

Admit it, no matter how much internal motivation you have, there are some days where getting up to train is difficult. When you're sore and tired, it feels good to have a training partner pick you up and motivate you (granted they are also probably sore and tired)

I've written more in-depth about this topic in my article Surprising Reasons You're Not Reaching Your Fitness Goals. Specifically, how you can use partner training and other environmental cues to get out of your comfort zone and sustain a healthy exercise habit.
 

Be able to check and critique your form

Even if your training partners are less experienced than you, training together will benefit everyone. You can hone your teaching and instructional skills while they can learn via observation)
 

Keep you on track

Taking too long of a rest? Skipping out on your range of motion on certain exercises? A good training partner will probably let you know
 

Have similar goals and aspirations as you

Work together, succeed together.

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4. Training Tracker/software

This may seem obvious, but are you really tracking the right variables? While a good ol' notebook works for many athletes, utilizing a tracker or some sort of software to analyze your poundages and training data will take your training to the next level (well only if you know what to do with the data!)

Training Metrics

Since most programs are prescribed on the microcyclic level (week to week), tracking variables such as: Average Weekly Volume, Average Weekly Intensity, Peak Volume, Peak Intensity, will give you a better overview on your overall training stress and how progress in the upcoming microcycles. How do you know if you're progressively overloading or if you're peaking for your competition correctly if you don't track these variables?

Graphs and Charts

Written numbers give you a general idea of your training volume, intensity and stress, however, graphs and charts are often a better way to beautifully present and analyze your training data. Many of us are visual learners, and unless you're a tech-savy individual or Excel worksheet genius, creating your own graphs and pie charts may be too time-consuming or out of your scope of practice. Luckily, there are websites/softwares such as MyStrengthBook that do all the work for you. If you're even semi-serious about tracking your training, I recommend you check it out.

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5. Mobility Tools

Dedicated training requires dedicated recovery. The bigger and stronger you get, the more you have to pay attention to recovery modules like sleep and mobility.

Not All Strength Sports Require The Same Degree Of Mobility

While I don't believe that strength athletes should aim to be as mobile as a yogi or gymnast, I believe they should be able to maintain or reach a certain level of flexibility (and stability) in order to effectively and safely perform their sport-specific movements. The degree of flexibility and mobility required by a Powerlifter differs to that of a Strongman or Olympic Weightlifter. 

Tools For A Healthy Body

Foam rollers, lacrosse balls, thera canes, resistance bands. All of these devices and toys have been popularized over the year in the fitness industry to fix all your mobility issues, aches and nagging pains. From anecdotal evidence and personal experience, these tools have helped my clients and I manage pain and increase muscle range of motion among other benefits. However, the underlying mechanisms are still being discovered. The science behind foam rolling, the human fascia and manual therapy are still being researched and developed. For example, foam rolling is technically NOT considered myofascial release, but there are still benefits to foam rolling. I urge you not to neglect flexibility and mobility work, but I'm also not a proponent of spending too much time rolling or stretching, which can take away from your sport-specific training.

Use all these tools effectively and soon you'll be getting bigger, faster, stronger all while reducing your chance of injury. Please like and share if you found this article useful, check out my Facebook page and Instagram below!

How Much Protein Do You Really Need?

Protein is an essential macronutrient used to build, maintain and repair tissue in our body. There are different recommendations on protein intake, this article will touch on the factors that should be considered when determining an "optimal" amount.

The current Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.36g/lb of bw (equates to 0.8g/kg of bw). Following these guidelines, a 185lb person is only recommended to consume 67 grams of protein!! Quite far off from the 1g/lb of BW recommendation we often hear from the fitness industry.

The RDA for protein was created for non-exercising individuals to consume enough protein for bodily functions and overall tissue health. However, this amount is not sufficient to meet the needs of athletes undergoing rigorous training . There are several variables involved in calculating protein intake values:

• Body composition (total body weight, especially lean body mass)
• Mode of training (strength vs. endurance vs. mixed)
• Frequency, intensity and volume of training
• Specific body weight goals (losing weight vs. gaining weight)
• Dietary Preferences

For The recreational and Dedicated Strength/power Athlete

Strength athletes want to consume adequate protein for one main reason: to maximize muscle protein synthesis (MPS) in order to to increase muscle mass (hypertrophy). Another benefit of protein consumption is to promote recovery in between training sessions. Supplying enough amino acids to repair our damaged muscle fibers from training is essential to health and making short and long term progress in the gym and on the platform.

Often in the strength training circle, we hear about being in a "anabolic state". What this really means is a positive net protein balance. A positive net protein balance is achieved when dietary protein consumption is greater than protein loss. For strength athletes, many lifters have success with anywhere from 0.8-1.5g of protein per Lb of bodyweight (some even higher, we'll touch on this in a bit). This means a 185lb lifter will consume anywhere from 148g to 278g of protein a day.

So why the large range? It really comes down to dietary preference, training age and current lean body mass. 

Dietary Preference: Lifters that love steak, chicken and fish among other protein sources will have no problem consuming these foods on a regular basis. Their protein intakes will be high, by habit/dietary preference.

Training Age & Current Lean Body Mass: The more experienced of a strength athlete you are, the more likely you'll have greater amounts of muscle mass. The more muscle mass you have, the more protein you'll need to consume to match the demands of you body. A muscular, lean, world-class strength athlete may grativate towards the higher end of protein intake recommendations (1.5g/lb of bw), while a beginner trainee on starting strength or other beginner programs will make great progress consuming 0.8g/lb of bw.

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High Protein Diets

This naturally leads us to the question, are high protein diets safe? Opponents of high protein intakes will argue high protein diets impair kidney function and decrease bone density. However, it is found that high protein intakes are not detrimental to kidney function in individuals with healthy kidneys to begin with and high protein diets are actually positively correlated with increased bone mineral density (elderly).

There is a series of research studies carried out by Jose Antionio et al, on the effects of the very high protein consumption on health and body composition(1.5-2g/lb of bodyweight). They conclude that there is no evidence a high protein diet is harmful, and that they were favorable for body composition goals and body fat control (even at a calorie surplus; very interesting).

Link 1
Link 2
Link 3

"I'm already consuming protein at 1g/lb of bw, in what scenarios should I further increase my intake?"

Periods of Moderate-Large Caloric Deficits

For most lifters in a 300-400+ kcal deficit, I suggest increasing daily protein intake slightly, perhaps to 1.25g/lb of bw. (please note these numbers are far from concrete, these can vary from individual to individual). Doing this will help maintain lean body mass while losing weight/body fat.

Increasing Satiety During Caloric Deficits

Protein is known to be more satiating and has more of a thermogenic effect (takes more energy to digest) compared to carbs and fats. After a high protein meal, individuals usually feel fuller for a longer. For individuals that struggle with hungry during calorie deficits, eating a plentiful amount of protein-rich sources (and a huge salad of course) may be your answer.

Enhanced Recovery

Do you struggle with muscle soreness, and decreased recovery time in between training sessions? Try increasing your protein intake. 

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The protein - carbohydrate trade off

More protein in your diet means less room for carbohydrates. Luckily, recreational lifters and dedicated strength/power athletes do not require a high amount of carbohydrates to fuel performance; with the exception of high-volume training. Before you increase your protein intake, consider the following:

• Is your current carbohydrate intake adequate for performance?
• Do you have to prioritize performance in the gym or do you need to improve your rate of recovery in between sessions?
• Are you in a isocaloric state (maintenance)? Are you in a calorie deficit? Calorie surplus?
• *Can you afford to decrease your carbohydrate or fat intake in order to increase protein intake?*

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the bottom line

Benefits of protein

• Support overall health
• Support muscle growth
• Repair muscle tissue in between training sessions and in times of muscle injury
• Hunger control and satiation
• Controlling body composition and body fat
   

0.8 - 1.5 grams of Protein per pound of bodyweight is sufficient

• The lower end 0.8-1.0g/lb of BW for:
  Beginners and (maybe) Intermediate Strength athletes
  Recreational Lifters
  General health and fitness (if you partake in strength and cardio training)
   
• The higher end 1.0-1.5g/lb of BW for:
  Intermediate and advanced athletes
  Hunger control and satiation
  Athletes in a caloric deficit
  Athletes with a dietary preference for protein sources

Protein Distribution 

• Multiple meals consisting of >20-30g of protein from high quality sources (whey, egg, beef, fish, soy protein)
   
• Aim for protein sources with high amounts of Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs), this is often what determines protein quality (optimal amount is 3-4g of Leucine)

Any questions? Comment down below or reach out to me on the Facebook page

Guilt and Shame: Motivation For Exercise and Gym Attendance?

Photo Credit: Psypost.org & U.S Pacific Fleet

Today, I came across this article: http://www.psypost.org/2016/09/mens-hidden-guilt-shame-body-fat-can-fuel-gym-attendance-study-finds-44867

Body image, expectations and attitudes towards exercise is usually a topic for women in mainstream media. However, this article/study examines how feelings of guilt and shame in men affect their exercise habits and gym attendance. These are my thoughts:

"The researchers found that men worried about body fat were more likely than others to undertake spontaneous, unplanned work-outs – and warned that these ‘sporadic’ exercise patterns tend to be difficult to sustain over time."

Sporadic exercise patterns are better than no exercise at all. Some people/trainers may say: there is no harm in feeling a bit guilty for not hitting the gym, whatever gets you up and moving. I generally agree with this. In my experience, many guys need a little kick in the ass to get them started. Whether these exercise patterns can be sustained should be addressed AFTER someone has already started exercising. It is then a matter of habit formation, support systems (friends, family, workout partners) and most importantly whether they're seeing results or not.

"With the recent growth of ‘selfies’ and the return of muscle-bound Hollywood hero icons like Vin Diesel and Hugh Jackman, there’s a real risk that males may be more influenced to attend the gym more regularly and workout to a point where it becomes dangerous or detracts from their wellbeing."

Looking and feeling like Superman is a "real risk" I believe people shouldn't be afraid of taking. How many people do you know where their well-being is being threatened by regular exercise? Please note that many middle-aged celebrities are on some sort of testosterone-replacement-therapy. A guy in their teens, 20s or even early 30s can build a healthy physique and improve their health and well-being naturally. Exercise is also about balance. How can you fit exercise into your life without detracting too much from other areas such as work and family?

For others that have struggled with their body image and their fitness, I urge you not to take the role of the victim. Find a trainer, watch some Youtube videos, ask a friend to go to the gym with you. For the first few weeks, its okay to let the feelings of guilt and shame motivate you to get in the gym, on your bike, in your running shoes; or whatever gets you moving. Those feelings will go away as you start to change your perspective on exercise. A lot of people seem to forget exercise improves mental health as much as it does physically. What starts out as a sporadic exercise schedule will develop into what I hope to be, a healthy habit. 

Thanks for reading!

Link to the study mentioned in the article:  http://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/pages/articleviewer.aspx?year=2016&issue=09000&article=00024&type=abstract

P.S. One of the best articles I've ever written is on habit formation, and how to take advantage of your environment and support systems to reach your fitness goals. This article has a special place in my life as it combines my experiences with science to demystify the motivations and steps required to form a healthy exercise habit. Its all about stacking the odds in your favor.

Check it at my fitness colleague's website:

 http://www.fitnesspollenator.com/2015/10/surprising-reasons-youre-not-reaching-your-fitness-goals.html

A Lifter's Best Friend [PART 1]

Picture courtesy of Crossfit Fanatico

Whether you're a bodybuilder, powerlifter, Crossfitter, Olympic weightlifter or strongman, there are always tools to help you reach your goals more effectively. Aside from perfecting your technique and consistently training hard and smart, the following is a list of the best sidekicks/pieces of technology that can make a lifter's life easier and their training process more fun and effective.

1. A Coach

It doesn't matter if you're new to strength training, or if you're a seasoned lifter. Hiring a coach can eliminate any biases your own program may have. Even if you're well-versed in programming, having another coach adjust your programming variables or monitor your progress can add some objectivity and accountability to your training.

Benefits of working with a coach:

• Objectivity, accountability in day to day training

• Planned progression --> know when to go hard, know when to back off

• Ability to learn from your coach --> pick his/her brain, don't be afraid to ask questions!

2. Cardio/Endurance Training

I'm very well aware cardio has been a controversial and often joked-about topic within the strength training community. Specifically, many lifters believe that performing any amount of endurance training will significantly hold back their powerlifting total and steal their hard-earned muscle mass gains: to the point where any mention of cardiovascular/endurance training in a strength training program can't be taken seriously among strength training circles. I'm not sure if this stems from laziness, a social stigma in strength sports, or just a case of misinformed lifters (I'd like to think the latter).

Without getting too much into detail about endurance and concurrent training in this post, the truth is: cardio will not steal your gains when done at the correct intensity and at the right time in your microcycle. 

So how will cardio/endurance training help a lifter? Some benefits include: 

• Increased general work capacity --> which means less fatigue over the course of a training session, more sets and reps can be done in each training session over time

• Quicker recovery in between sets

• Great for promoting blood flow and recovery after training --> cooldown

• Most importantly: mental health and cardiovascular (heart/blood vessel) health --> cardio can also be a form of active meditation (it is for me)

2.1. Heart Rate Monitor

As I mentioned above, cardio will not steal your gains when done at the right intensity. Similar to how weight on the bar is used to gauge intensity in strength sports, heart rate (beats per minute - BPM) is used to gauge intensity during cardio/endurance training. For a serious strength athlete looking to optimize muscle mass, strength, and power, LOW-INTENSITY steady-state cardio will be the best for maximizing aerobic adaptations without interfering with strength adaptations. Hard 30 minute runs or multiple sets of high-intensity intervals simply detract too much energy that could be used for strength training. Also, the recovery costs are also too high when performed on top of a dedicated strength training routine.

A heart rate monitor either in a watch-form or chest-strap will be useful for helping you pace/limit your intensity during cardio. The number to aim for is 55-70% of your Maximum Heart Rate for anywhere from 30 to 180 minutes (please note these values may change slightly depending on your level of fitness or any endurance sporting aspirations). The goal here is to work well below your anaerobic/lactate threshold; in layman's terms, work at an intensity where you can hold a conversation with the person beside you, and where you don't feel the burn in your muscles, as this may cut into your strength training recovery. 

2.2. Bike/Rower

Ah, the bike and the indoor rower, the two things I like to call a lifter's best friend next to barbells and freeweights. The bike and rower are a much more favorable modality of cardio/endurance. training as they have less of an eccentric muscle action component to it compared to running. While running, the ankle, knee and hip joint take much more of a beating due to contact with the ground with every step you make. This stress from having to decelerate your whole body is potentially problematic, especially for larger lifters. Biking and rowing has less of a recovery cost compared to running and won't cut into recovery from your lifting session to a significant degree. However, if running is preferred, I recommend starting off at a slow pace for a short distance, slowly increasing distance as your running technique and joint health improves.

-- In Part 2, I will talk about :

personalized intensity charts for each of your lifts,

the value of good training partners,

as well as other tools to help track your progress and to aid in recovery --

Any questions? Comment below. While you're at it, feel free to give me a follow on Facebook and Instagram.

Random Thoughts On Training: Accessory Work

I've been noticing a couple of things watching people lift on Instagram: bodybuilders (or trainees that have spent more time doing a wider variety of exercises) who transition into powerlifting or Olympic lifting tend to 1) Have larger muscle mass 2) Have better form on their "accessory" lifts.

In the world of powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting, accessory lifts are exercises done to supplement the core movements (Squat, bench press, deadlift in PL) (Snatch, Clean & jerk in OL), particularly to bring up weak/lagging muscle groups or to maintain muscle/joint health in order for the core movements to progress further. However, this is only true if the accessory lifts done CORRECTLY to begin with. I see lifters try to put size on their lats/back in order to bench press more but fail to perform a proper chin up or pull up. I see lifters attempt to increase their hamstring strength but put themselves in an unfavorable position during Romanian deadlifts, or fail to target their hamstrings to the full extent during lying hamstring curls.

So this is a reminder: Make it a goal to improve your technique on "accessory exercises", you'll see your weaknesses improve and your core lifts progress more effectively.

Adversity Creates Perspective: Dominick Cruz

The last WEC bantamweight champion and the first ever UFC Bantamweight champion, Dominick Cruz, has been through hell and back (athlete's hell). Name another athlete that has had 3 ACL surgeries and a torn groin, and still come back to their sport and perform at the highest level. If you've been following the lead up to the TJ Dillashaw vs. Dominick Cruz fight, you might have seen several of Cruz's interviews. Hes gone on about how hes changed his mindset after experiencing multiple career-ending injuries: he worked diligently on his rehab, he also decided to improve himself in other areas of the sport, by becoming a fight-analyst for FOX (with perhaps one of the highest fight IQs in the sport, I see Cruz being a great coach). 

When discussing the growth and evolution of the sport, many people attribute it to more conditioned/stronger fighters, more accurate strikers, higher level grapplers, and a general increase in the skill ceiling of fighters. Its easy to forget that the mind set of fighters also evolve (at least it needs to). Arousal levels, self-efficacy, and self-doubt all play a role in sports performance. How fighters deal with adversity, and how they react to devastating losses and injuries can make or break his/her next performance. On top of that, MMA is a rather unforgiving sport, getting tapped out or knocked out in front of millions of people can damage one's ego beyond repair. Most fighters think they're prepared for it... until the moment actual comes.

What has the champ Dominick Cruz learned from his injuries and his time off?

The greatest moment in my life was realizing that I didn't need a belt to be happy
- Dominick Cruz, post-fight

The way Dominick acted and his expressions before the split-decision announcement by Bruce Buffer made me believe hes really telling the truth. When you realize everything that comes with success in sport can be taken away from you by an injury, you start to appreciate life more. I'm sure that Cruz's mindset has been very much process-oriented and driven by small improvements in all aspects of his health and fight game. This, paired with his high skill level and ability to read his opponents, in my opinion, makes him one of the best pound for pound fighters in the sport. He's ahead of his time, like how GSP was ahead of his time (incooporating gymnastics training, olympic weightlifting, well-roundedness), like how Anderson Silva was ahead of his time.

I don't care if you scored it 3-2 for TJ or 3-2 for Cruz. What Dominick Cruz did on Sunday night was one of the greatest performances I've ever seen, especially given the circumstances he was in.

So what can we learn from Dominick Cruz?

1. Adversity creates perspective
You see things differently when you're put into positions you're not comfortable in, circumstances you've never been in before. Don't take losses as the end of the road, keep on improving. The best fighters have been created following losses (GSP vs. Matt Serra, Anderson Silva vs. Ryo Chonan, Conor McGregor vs. Joseph Duffy, etc).

2. Mental Toughness
Mental toughness can come from peace of mind. Realize and appreciate the opportunities you are given to train, fight, compete. The journey and the process is more valuable than any successful outcome that is handed to you on a plate.

3. Stay creative
Cruz has been known to take techniques from boxing, specifically from Muhammad Ali, and incorporate them into his repertoire of skills. His movement, footworks and feints are all unseen in the sport. While straying away from the fundamentals and conventional skills can bite you in the ass later down the line, don't be afraid think outside the box and apply things that aren't normally considered or suggested (in your respective sports).

4. Better strength & conditioning practices/protocols
Its not surprising that Cruz's footwork and movement has contributed to his ACL and groin injuries, but theres no doubt in my mind that the severity or frequency of those injuries could have been prevented with better strength & conditioning practices. MMA is still considered a young sport, and we are just now seeing more qualified and thoughtful strength & conditioning coaches working with top level fighters. I wonder what Cruz could have done differently with his strength training or conditioning training to prevent his ACL injuries. More on this in another blog post.

5. Sport psychology moving forward
I'm not too up to date with research on sport psychology, but I believe there will be more advances and more ways to improve mental, and emotional states of mind during training and competition, in order to improve performance. An iron mind might be the key to "unlock" performance potential and minimize the barriers between athletes and their true potential. This may come from improving pre-existing visualization techniques, or improving focus and relaxation pre-competition. Psychology and mindset should also adapt and change relative to an athlete's periodized plan.

6. Don't play the victim role
Stop feeling sorry for yourself, don't be the victim. Pick your ass back up, believe in yourself, set goals, achieve them. Simple is that. No one can help you, but you.

Thanks for reading!
 

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Notable Quotes from Dominick Cruz:

I had to show something to myself, thats what this was... I've seen different guys that move like him, DJ's faster, Benavidez hits hard, Faber as much as I don't like him, hes a tough guy. All these guys built me into who I am right now, and TJ just added to that. Now, I'm at another level

Remember, ring rust is nothing more than mental weakness.

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