Speed Camp is here

The Speed & Agility camp has finally arrived and has kept me very busy this summer. It has been a great experience working with the kids and helping them improve as athletes. In the short time that I have been working with the kids I can tell that the biggest obstacle for kids is strength. Strength limits their ability to get in certain athletic positions, hold certain positions, and reach maximal speed with running. It is funny to me when I see different coaches making 9 year old kids lift weights without preparing their young bodies with relative strength exercises such as pull ups, push-ups, lunges.....

The simplest cues can dramtically change the time that they run in certain speed drills. The reason being that most kids have no idea of how to run. Arm swing drills, knee step over drills, floor drills, and wall drills are most effective because I think they force the kids to learn optimal technique for speed. I would have loved to have had an opportunity to learn how to run at such an early age. I will be updating the results of the camp and am excited about what is to come.

Controlled Variety is Key

If you want to lose weight or gain muscle you have to force your body to adapt to a new stimilus every now and then. If you don't believe just look at the people at your gym that has been doing the same thing for years and you will see they look the same that they did when you first saw them. I attached an article from MSN that explained why you should vary your exercise routine periodically.

Efficiency is a good thing when you're talking about running your business. But it sucks the benefits out of your diet and workout. The more efficient your body is at exercise, the fewer calories it burns. Think of the guy in your health club who does the exact same workout every time you see him, with the exact same weights. He never looks better from one year to the next because his body has become so efficient at doing those moves that it doesn't need to grow bigger muscles or burn more fat in order to finish the workout.
Science has shown us some good strategies for making exercise less efficient:

Strength training
You can make your lifts less efficient in two ways by increasing the amount of weight you're lifting, or by choosing exercises that are more challenging to your balance and coordination.
Let's say your maximum bench press is 200 pounds. Lifting 200 pounds once is very inefficient; your body throws every muscle fiber into it. But lifting 50 pounds four times is very easy, and thus efficient. The metabolic cost of lifting 200 pounds once is thus greater than the cost of lifting 50 pounds four times. Doing maximum-effort sets of three to six repetitions with, say, 165 to 185 pounds would be a better way to overload your metabolism than doing sets of 10 to 12 reps with lighter weights.
The least efficient lifts are those in which the weight is over your head. This would include standing shoulder presses, as well as exercises such as squats or lunges in which you hold a weight overhead. So instead of doing shoulder presses in a machine or sitting on a bench, stand and crank them out.
Endurance exercise
No surprises here: If you perform intervals, in which you go hard, then easy, then hard again, you take the efficiency out of your run, swim, or ride. You can call this the "Old Science of Weight Loss," since studies have shown the fat-burning benefits of intervals since the early '90s.
Your diet, too, can be made less efficient, and thus more calorically costly. I showed in the previous section how a higher-protein diet kicks up your metabolism, a sign that your body is burning calories inefficiently. But if that protein comes in the form of high-calcium dairy milk, yogurt, cheese you take the inefficiency one giant step further.

The Gym

I went to the gym and as always it was an entertaining experience. I have a membership at the local YMCA and there are some things that always seem to happen when I am there. There was a trainer that had a middle aged lady doing med. ball squats on the Bosu Ball. Are you kidding me? I almost puked right there. You have no business on an unstable surface if you are not strong enough to manipulate your body weight. It's no wonder that this lady's body has not been transformed and will never be transformed until she raises her metabolic debt with intervals and resistance training. It is awful to see people flush money away with trainers that create entertaining circus acts that make you tired and get no results. Remember that anyone can get you tired but it takes a professional to help you lose weight, be an athlete, or become brutally strong.

The second story made me laugh so hard I could not contain myself. I am not one to laugh at other's misfortunes, but I can't believe how much misinformation there is out there. There is one guy in the gym that benches and curls with a weight belt on. I understand the belt going on when you are deadlifting or squatting heavy weight. Although, the belt should be used as a reference point to push out your stomach against the belt, so that you spine is braced for absorbing the weight. The downside of the belt when used improperly is that it shuts off the natural stabilizing ability of the stomach muscles. The moral of the story is take of the weight belt and get stronger stomach muscles.

Another thing that puzzles me is that everyone thinks they are an expert at weight training. How else can you explain why so many train themselves? Many people see the need for an expert accountant, expert surgeon, and expert engineer. But when it comes to learning proper exercise technique, progression tactics, and program design most trainees feel they are the expert. I guess that is why most people in the gyms look the same year end and year out. I better go over my workout before I blow a gasket.


Rack Lock outs
3x3-5- Worked up to 405 lbs.

Lo Row
4x10+10- 120 Lbs.

Shoulder Press - 135 lbs.
2x6
Chins-n-Dips- Bodyweight
3x8

Don't leave home without it

Today I made a crucial mistake. I left home this morning without my pre-workout snack. I paid for it during the workout and felt real sluggish. The pre-workout snack should consist of some quality protein, carbs, and something that helps make you mentally alert. Some people might try to make their own mixture of these ingredients, but I just want something that is very easy to grab so early in the morning. I have found the defranco bar to be my energy bar of choice. I know what you might be saying, " Not another protein bar." I have probably tasted a ton of protein bars in my life and I will agree that most of them taste like a pile of chalk with very little benefit. However, I have found the defranco bar to actually give me a steady boost of energy through out my workout and the necessary macronutrients to complete my workout with some gusto to spare.

Bar Stats:
When on the go, use the DeFranco Energy Bar as a convenient meal replacement. The appetite-suppressing effects of high protein, L-Tyrosine & caffeine combination should keep you energized & satisfied until your next meal.Nutrition Facts* Calories – 300* Protein – 28g* Total Carb – 26g* Sugars – 8g* Total Fat – 8g* Saturated Fat – 5g* L-Tyrosine – 1800mg* Caffeine – 115mg . You can purchase it at www.defrancotraining.com

5/16 Workout
Front Squat- Worked up to 4x5 135,185,205,225
Pull-Ups- BW 4x5
Bench- Worked up to 3x6-8 135,185,225,275, 225-8,6,6
DB Split Squat- 8,7,6 each leg
Dips- 3x8 w/ Isp Holds
Plank- 3x 30 sec holds

Active Recovery

I have been working out for 17 years and the older I get the more I realize the importance of Active Recovery. What in the world is Active Recovery you might ask? It is a method of recovering from the muscle damage and lactic acid build up that is caused by intense workouts. It has many benefits and is something that I feel everyone should do. It is not very time consuming and can be done at home. Although, most advanced lifters might need to perform a small workout in order to effectively flood the muscles with nutrient rich blood to heal their damaged muscles.

The beginner and some intemediate trainees can get away with a short workout. This workout will probably contain some prehab exercises with a light dumbells and some body weight warm-up exercises. I know that the last thing that most people want to do after a tough workout is a small workout, but trust me it will do wonders for you workouts. Mentally you will be more alert for your next workout, the quicker recovery will allow you to lift at a higher level, and you will improve mobility and work capacity with the extra workouts. These workouts should not last more than 20 minutes.

The Magazine Lifter

I can't believe what I saw in the gym last week. Yes, I spotted the magazine lifter. You know, the guy that is working out based on what he is reading in the muscle magizines. He carries his magazine from bench to bench confident in the fact that he will look like the super action hero physique he sees in the magazine. Weeks pass by and months... The sad truth is he never seems to shake the pot belly that stares at him every day.

One of the main reasons for this is because what works for the bodybuilder who might be on steriods and is genetically gifted will not work for the average trainee. The bodybuilder can get away with training arms and shoulders on one day, back and tri's on another, legs on one day, and bi's on another day. The average trainee will need to be more economical with their training. They will need to choose exercises that will allow them to work more than one muscle, so that they can be more time efficient. Besides, who has time to spend two hours in the weight room doing 6 exercises for chest on one day.

I know that most average trainees like the beach muscles like the pecs, arms, etc... But if you do not train movement patterns you will most likely suffer from imbalances, lack of muscle gain, and CNS fatigue. I know some trainers say that you have to totally abandon isolation exercises, but you can incorporate some here and there if your main movements are compound movements. I know that these exercises are not mainstream like DB curls and endless variations of bench, but believe me there is no quicker way to add slabs of muscle, loss fat, and enhance recovery within a properly designed program.

Mistakes made by the Magazine Lifter

1. Train with too many isolation movements

2. Does not allow time to recover from the exercise because of training everyday

3. Only trains each muscle group once per week

4. Does not lift maximal weights and therefore does not tap into the high threshold motor units which have the greatest potential for strength and muscle growth

5. Performs way too much volume ( Sets & Reps) which negatively affects the bodies ability to recover

6. Blindly follows someone else's programs without considering his unique weaknesses and strengths

7. Waste time hunching over to read magazine which puts him in spinal flexion and puts his neck in a poor postion.

8. Does not train functionally. For example trains the hamstrings only as knee flexorss on leg curl machine. The hamstrings are hip extensors as well as knee flexors.

Track your progress

Have you broken a record lately? You do not have to be an olympic medalist to break a record. One of the biggest flaws that I see in program design is that once someone starts to follow a program they do not track their progress. There are only a few ways that I have found to progress effectively and they are load, sets, or reps. If you continue to do the same workout over and over again and never lift more wieght, do more sets, or do more reps than your body will adapt to the stimulus and stop making progress.

The best way that I have found to make progress is by tracking your workouts. I use a binder where I write the amount of weight, sets, and reps I have done for a particular workout. When I attempt that same workout next week I attempt to add more weight, do more reps. or more sets. But if you don't know where you are at you will never know if you progressed. One of my football coaches told me that you never stay the same you either get better or get worst. If you are not tracking your progress you might be getting worst.