Friday, March 23, 2007

Post Workout Drink

I will go ahead and say that this is one of the most important meals of the day. As I look around many gyms, I notice that although this topic has been exhausted by many fitness professionals it is very much ignored by many gym goers. I hope you notice I said fitness professionals instead of personal trainers. If you heard Alwyn Cosgrove's interview with Dax Moy you understand that there is a difference between the two. Anyways, back to the post workout drink.

I cannot figure out why with all the benefits of the post- workout drink why it continues to be ignored. Could it be possible that people do not want these listed benefits?

• Increased muscle protein synthesis
• Better and faster recovery from endurance, strength, and interval training
• Reduced muscle soreness and perception of fatigue
• Decreased muscle protein breakdown
• Further enhanced glycogen resynthesis vs carbohydrate alone
• Further enhanced immune function vs carbohydrate alone
• Increased use of fat for energy at rest, as well as during training and competition

I have come to realize that people only purchase what they value. Why is Starbucks such a successful company selling coffee beans, water, and milk? They have related to the consumer that this coffee experience is worth the value placed on it. Someone said do not trust what has not been tested by trials. I can personally say that using a post workout drink has tremendously enhanced my recovery, my energy for the following workouts, and helped me preserve muscle mass. I have also noticed a drop off in performance when I have not used a post workout drink and my body usually takes longer to recover from a workout.

Friday, March 16, 2007

Dangers of the high school chamber

I am amazed a what goes on in some high school weight rooms. I will guarantee you that if you go to your local high school weight rooms chances are you will see poor form on exercises, improper warm-ups, poor supervision, and lack of pre-hab training. It is not uncommon for a high school kid to tell you that he benches 300 lbs. The problem is he will not tell you that the weight was moving through a partial range of motion, his spotter lifited half the weight, and his back was off the bench.

These inflated numbers are occuring because some of these coaches do not stress proper technique. It's no wonder that so many kids are injured in high school sports. I am not saying that you can prevent all injuries, but one of the benefits of a properly designed strength program is to help prevent injuries. Why is the PE coach the strength coach? A PE coach might know the basics of physical education, but does that mean he is qualified to teach strength techniques, flexibility training, pre-hab, recovery methods, and speed training. That is like allowing a nurse to perform heart surgery. That's just not going to cut it.

I think most high schools do a great disservice to their student-athletes. Money is easily invested into books, and eductaional facilities which is very important. But how can we allow our kids to participate in these different sports that cause a tremendous amount of trauma to the body and not invest in the things that will help them avoid injury? How much longer will this go on?

I think we as parents have to either demand better strength coaches or hire strength coaches to ensure that we are not putting our kids in danger. Ask the coach what his program entails and why he includes certain things in his program? If a coach cannot tell you why he does certain things run as fast as you can. You also want coaches that are constantly learning because the fitness industry is constanly changing with new studies and techniques.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Breathing is essential

Whoever prescribed how we should breathe during exercise? The more I experience life the more that I learn that what works for one person may not work for another person. In my research of this topic, I have learned that some coaches advocate that it is more natural to breathe out during the eccentric phase and in during the cocentric phase. It may be natural but does it pass the real world test. Most trainees breathe out during the cocentric phase and in during the eccentric phase. Who is right?

I can tell you that I have had more success with breathing out during the cocentric phase and in during the eccentric phase. Will that work best for everyone? Of course not! Training is the art of finding out what your body adapts best to. It could be because my body has adapted to breathing this way in the 16 years I have been lifting weights. I can tell you if that is the case, but I can tell you that I improve my lifts, feel more natural, and lift with more purpose breathing this way.

I feel more comfortable breathing my way when I am lifitng big weights because I have conditioned my body to breathe this way. Trust me you want to have confidence when you have some weight on the bar. You do not want to lose your concentration by wondering when to breathe in or when to breathe out. Stick to what you know if you keep improving from week to week. When the progress stops then you should be looking to make changes.

There are even some instances when holding your breath is beneficial. It helps to your hold your breath in the acceleration phase of a short sprint. If you master it, it will knock off some time off your ten yard sprints. I cannot give you the science behind this but I can give you results. It took my 10 yard dash from 1.68 to 1.47. This method can also help you when doing a 225 rep bench test in the first 10 or so reps. I think it causes the body to panic which triggers the brain to produce more force. I have found the quicker you can execute the first 10 reps in this test the less likely lactic acid will catch up with you and muscle fatigue. Don't knock these techniques before you try them. If it works for you keep doing it.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Intensity

Intensity is probably one of the missing links in most programs. I can think back to high school and even college and notice how we made tremendous progress because our intensity level was high. I would not say that we had the best program design or the most injury proof exercises. The basic factor of intensity caused us to push our limits to lift heavier or longer, which allowed for muscular adaptations. It helped us to get stronger and bigger.

I can't tell you how many times I work out at commercial gyms where I see the same routines being done with little or no effort. But we also want to see tremendous gains. Is that crazy or not? It takes new amounts of muscular contraction to get new amounts of muscular growth. If you are lifting the same weight, for the same amount of reps, at the same speed I am going to guarantee you that your progress will be stalled. Next time you are in the gym do less talking and push yourselves. You will thank yourself for it.

Tuesday, March 6, 2007

Recovery at last

Recovery is something that is very rarely discussed, but I would venture to say that it is one of the big reasons that progress is not made in fitness programs. Recovery is the time between training that allows the muscles and central nervous system time to recuperate from being used in strength or speed training. I can remember being in high school lifting day after day and wondering why I was not getting stronger. High Intensity running and strength training cause stress to the muscles and minor tears, which need time and active recovery methods in order to heal. The healing process creates an adaptation by the muscles, which in turn enlarges muscle to compensate for the stress that was put on the muscle.

There are two types of ways to fatigue the body, which are metabolically and neurologically. Metabolic fatigue is usually much more evident by the DOMS ( Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) , which we usually feel after a heavy bout of training. Central Nervous Fatigue is often the hardest to determine, but can be made visible by the way we feel, and the effort that we are able to put forth into training. The take home message is listen to your body and rest when you feel you don't have much to give.

There are several modes of recovery that I think are beneficial:

1) Vary your external resistance and stress from High to Low CNS stressors

2) Do not lift or run every day

3) Drink a post-recovery shake with adequate amount of BCAA's, protein, and carbs

4) Massage and contrast showers

5) Stretch all tight muscles ( Trapezius, psoas, hip flexors, etc...)

6) Rest ( 8-9 hours sleep)

7) Light additional workouts to increase nutrient rich blood flow to eliminate waste in blood and lactic acid.

If you are not improving, make sure that have some recovery methods or I will be telling you I told you so. And you put yourself at greater risk of injury.

Monday, March 5, 2007

Stunting your child's growth

Many parents are concerned about stunting their child's growth through physical activity, but the truth is that their growth my be hindered through lack of physical preparation. Those same parents that are concerned with their growth will have that same child specialize in one sport. Specializing in one sport is dangerous for youth because you limit the variety of motor pathways they are able to learn. Studies have shown that children that are exposed to more than one sport at early ages are on the average better overall athletes. They are able to pick up different sports faster because they have learned numerous motor pathways. The take home message is let your child play many different sports like Football, baseball, swimmming ......

Another myth that has me scratching my head is when you hear parents say that they are worried about their kids lifting weights because it will stunt their growth. Kids put their bodies through much more trauma participating sports such as little league football. I do agree that the kids should learn the techniques, build a general preparation base, and be supervised before they start a strength training program. As you can see, the thing that is most stunting the children's growth is our lack of information.

I think there are several things that have stunted the growth of the youth and I have listed them below.

1) Lack of physical activity- Spend too much time in front of the TV

2) Unsupportive parents- Spend more time tearing them down instead of encouraging them

3) Play one sport through out their youth- Have not learned a variety of skill sets

4) Poor diets - Look at how many cases of obesity are reported in the U.S.

5) Lack of proper periodization for strength gains - Many coaches never develop a General Preparation Phase in their programs

6) Parents are flat out too serious in Little Leagues - The news reports parents fighting with coaches over playing time all the time.

Friday, March 2, 2007

What is your 40 time?

The NFL combine has come and gone. The all important 40 yard dash will come under constant scrutiny during this time. Why are so many athletes hung up on the 40? It does not indicate what kind of athlete you are in my eyes. How often will you run a straight line sprint on a football field. Probably never!

The truth is since the NFL, as well as national high school combines are making a big deal about it you have to perfect it. It could mean mean milllions of dollars lost in the NFL and a loss of a scholarship for college if you do not do well at this test. I was misinformed for years by poor instruction in high school and college on what the best method was to improve on this test. I tried sprinting more but that just improved my muscular endurance and conditioning. Why do we run 880 meter runs for football anyways? Most Colleges are working on speed endurance and conditioning but rarely work on speed.

I did not make any progress in my 40 yd. time until I used the instructions I received from Joe Defranco's tape on Mastering the combine. I learned that the 40 was all about technique, stride frequency, and stride length. I learned the Valsalva breathing method. Once you learn what effects the 40 yd. dash you can design a program that works on your starting strength, power, and flexibility. All these instructions coupled with hardwork took me from a 4.66 40 yard dash my freshman year in college to running a 4.30 for the New Orleans Saints when I graduated college.

There are a lot of factors that can help improve your 40 yard dash, but until you know what those factors are you are behind in the game. Don't let a misinformed coach make you less than your best. Find someone that has done what you are attempting to do and knows how they got there to teach you. In the end it might help you become the best athlete you can be. If you have any questions feel free to email me at jimmyl@camco.net.

Thursday, March 1, 2007

Steady State Cardio v.s. Interval Training

Steady state cardio or long bouts of cardiovascular activity via the treadmill, bike, or elliptical is not the best idea for losing fat in my opinion. Long bouts of cardio has been entrenched in the minds of many for years, ever since the aerobic craze in the eighties. I am sure many remember the ruffled socks, head bands, and sweat until you drop routines. I read an article that explained that many of these aerobics fans that would go for 6 days a week are now suffering from many joint ailments such as Arthritis.

These findings have not stopped many at the gym from following the same path. If you go to most commerical gyms you will be amazed how many people will trot at the same pace for hours on that elliptical or treadmill. Also, pay attention to who are the most lean or musular at the gym. I guarantee it will be the poeple that are strength training and using some type of interval training for conditioning. On the other end of the spectrum the many on the bikes and ellipticals moving at a slow pace look the same they did last year.

I know that this can be attibuted to other unhealthy habits in conjunction with their poor choice of conditioning. One of the problems with long bouts of cardio is that constant repititive motions lead to overuse injuries. Studies have shown that testosterone decreases after an hour, which would decrease the ability to grow muscle. And muscle helps burn fat. The amount of time it takes to complete these hour or 2 hour sessions cause problems because the number one complaint of many is they don't have enough time. Moreover, they are boring and cease to work after our body adapts to this type of work.

How does interval training work. They are many ways to interval train. Some use shor high intensity efforts with recovery for a minute or two. Others use a slightly less intense effort with short rest periods. Which one do you use? You pick one according to your level of prepardness and change up once the body adapts and you are no longer getting results. Some key points are to make sure that you ease your way into intervals if you are not used to this type of training. Maybe start with 15 secs. of sightly intense work with a minute recovery if you are a beginner and work you up. A study in December in the Journal of Applied Physiology and conducted by a team at Canada's University of Guelph found that just two weeks of alternate-day interval training increased moderately active 22-year old women's fat burning ability by 36%.

Here are some Advantages of choosing Interval Training over Steady State Cardio:

1) Saves time. Most intervals last about 20 minutes in comparison to 1 to 2 hours on the treadmill with old school cardio.

2) Stimulates a greater release of growth hormone. Studies have shown that intense interval training produces growth hormone which build lean muscle mass.

3) Better for your joints. The intervals should be done on alternate days not back to back and I usually recommend for about 3-4 days out of the week. There is also less exposure on the joints because it takes less time to complete.

4) Metabolic disturbance. Interval training increases metabolism and post-exercise oxygen consumption which has been shown to burn fat for 24 hours after the interval bout.

5) Creates variety. Interval training can be done with body weight exercises, on exercise machines, with medicine balls, with weights, and outdoors. Interval training is an effective method that has many tools.