Archive for January, 2000
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Program Design
A Unified Theory of Fitness Programming
by Alwyn Cosgrove
The Legacy of Lee
“Absorb what is useful; reject what is useless.”
— Bruce Lee
For those of you who’ve been living under a rock for the past thirty years, Bruce Lee was (and is still) the most well know martial artist that has ever lived. Bruce Lee died in 1973. That was over 31 years ago, yet he arguably has made a bigger impact on the martial arts world than any other single individual.
To understand what Lee meant by his “absorb what is useful” statement, we need to go back to the martial arts world of the late 1960′s. In Lee’s day, martial artists practiced only one discipline: karate fighters performed karate, judo athletes did judo, etc. Cross training in different martial arts was unheard of. Yet that was what Lee meant by this statement. In learning the best that the different martial arts had to offer, he formulated the first ever “mixed” martial art — his own system which he called Jeet Kune Do.
Fast forward to the mid-nineties and the advent of the Ultimate Fighting Championships. This event pitted the best of each martial art against each other. Initially, the overwhelming dominant art was Brazilian Jiujutsu, so people assumed grappling was superior. But within a few years the dominant fighters came from kickboxing. Did that mean striking was superior? Not necessarily. In the next wave, wrestlers using a “ground and pound” philosophy dominated.
Today, in order to compete in these types of events (in fact, to even survive), you need to cross-train in several systems. There are fighters nowadays who’ve never learned anything but a mixed system. This approach has been dubbed “Mixed Martial Arts” and has become a mainstream term.
Thirty years since his death, Bruce Lee’s message has finally gotten through to the masses: There’s no single correct answer; there’s no single best system. An integrated approach will always be superior.
The Unified Theory
Unfortunately, the search for the best “system” still continues in the fitness training industry. Years ago, aerobic training was the dominant training modality. We’ve cycled through weight training, Nautilus training, machine training, one-set-to-failure, multiple sets, functional training, yoga, Pilates, back to free weights, kettlebells, strongman lifts, and the list goes on.
The reality? There’s no correct answer or single best system in fitness training either! Instead of trying to find the perfect single tool, the fitness professional or avid gym-goer would be better served by increasing the size of his toolbox.
That said, I’m sure this message will fall on deaf ears. So until you can accept the premise that you need to “liberate yourself from the classical mess” (another Bruce Lee line), I present my Unified Theory of Program Design. We’ve recently seen a plethora of advanced program design concepts here on T-Nation, but this is a “back to basics” program design article.
The interesting thing is that coaches and trainers with different philosophies analyze each other’s programs and focus (or more appropriately, argue) on the differences. Yet if you look at the top coaches and what they’re doing, you can see certain programming similarities across the board, regardless of the “type” of training they prescribe.
It’s been said that small minds talk about people; mediocre minds talk about events; and great minds discuss concepts. In my opinion, small-minded trainers argue about whose program or style of training is the best, and mediocre trainers debate the differences between programs. Great trainers, however, cast aside the differences and see the common underlying similarities.
It’s the same as punching in fighting sports. Regardless of the differences in approach, what it all comes down to is using the knuckles of the fist as a weapon. Once you strip away the differences we get to the heart of what works. That’s the stuff I’m going to present to you.
It’s these similarities — the common underlying successful denominators — that I’ve chosen to focus on. So regardless of your personal training philosophy, the principles I’m about to present remain valid.
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Program Design
1. Bodyweight Before External Resistance
I’ve said this before in a bunch of articles. Other coaches and trainers have said this before in a bunch of their articles. Yet this remains the step that most people will ignore. Regardless of your goals, one thing is for sure: You have no freaking business using a load if you can’t stabilize, control, and move efficiently using only your bodyweight!
Unless your bodyweight is way too much or way too little resistance, then there’s very little room for external loading. This is not to say that external loading isn’t important. Of course it is, but it has definitely been overemphasized.
Unless you can perform twenty pushups in good from, get your ass off the bench press. Too easy? The same rule applies to the single leg squat. If you can’t perform 8-10 good reps, then why are you using two legs to squat with external load?
2. Train with Free Weights (Destabilized)
Once bodyweight has been mastered, the superiority of three dimensional free weight training is unparalleled. Single joint fixed axis machines — like the leg extension and the preacher curl machine — are quite honestly outdated. Other than rotational movements, which can be trained effectively using a cable column, every other movement can be performed better with bodyweight or a free weight rather than with a machine.
The newest trend from the machine companies is to create thousand dollar machines that replicate free weights! Save your money. Despite the advances in technology and in drug use, I think the average trainee’s strength and size is less than in the past.
3. Train Functionally
“Functional” means training for performance, not for the “pump” or standing on a ball or some other activity. Multiple joint lifts and combination lifts such as the squat and press are all real world functional activities. .
Life and sport take place primarily on our feet. It’s how we were designed to work. Our training programs need to reflect that. It seems to me that I’ve said this a thousand times, but it doesn’t make it any less true: a muscle group allocation is pointless. Why would the muscles of the chest need their own “day” for training? If you split up the body into parts, how do you decide what parts to include?
Typically we see splits of chest, shoulders and triceps, back and biceps, and legs. Why don’t we see splits like rhomboids and hip flexors, quadriceps and rotator cuff, sternocleidomastoid and pec minor? Because that wouldn’t make bodybuilding “sense.” But in my opinion, any split routine based on a random allocation of muscle groups to certain days of the week defies all logic.
Consider the following example: Hold a dumbbell in your right hand and raise your arm out to the side until it’s parallel with the floor (a position known as a lateral raise in the fitness world!) Which muscles are working? The classic answer is the medial deltoid and the trapezius.
True. But maintain this position and just touch your obliques on the left side with your free hand. They’re contracting maximally in order to stabilize your torso and spine, thus preventing you from tipping over. So the oblique has to contract so hard in order to stabilize your entire upper body (plus your arm and the dumbbell) that it becomes clear that this exercise forces more work from the oblique muscles, the tensor fascia lata, and the quadratus lumborum than it can from the medial deltoid!
So is it still a shoulder exercise? Or is it a total core and shoulder exercise? What body part day is this movement supposed to be trained on? Hopefully this helps you realize that the body will always work as a unit.
And I don’t mean to “bag” on bodybuilding. One can’t help but be impressed by top athletes in any sport. But the fact that it is a sport is also an important thing to remember. Bodybuilding is a unique sport unto itself. For the general fitness enthusiast (i.e. not a competitive bodybuilder) to develop and implement a fitness program using bodybuilding theory and bodybuilding type exercises makes as much sense as using soccer training or racquetball to design that same program. And while most people recognize that this is idiotic at best, we still continue to talk about splitting up “body parts” and following a bodybuilding-based program.
Now, that’s not to say we don’t use exercises or ideas from all sports and systems (remember, absorb what is useful…) To do so would be closed-minded. But to adopt any one single philosophy is just as closed-minded.
If you rank an athlete’s qualities for their sport from 1-10 on a scale and find that they have a very poor flexibility score but a very good maximal strength score, then a strength based program may not be the best choice. Similarly, if my client is a golfer, a powerlifting specific program isn’t warranted.
Again, we need to train according to the demands of life and sport. Athletes such as Serena Williams, Brandi Chastain, Linford Christie, Pyrros Dimas and Roy Jones have better physiques than most, but they’ve never trained for aesthetics; they’ve trained for function.
4. Train Unilaterally and Multi-Planar
The majority of training programs take place in the sagittal plane (an imaginary “line” which divides the body into left and right halves — all pushing and pulling movements occur in this plane) with bilateral movements such as barbell bench presses and barbell curls that work in that plane. However, life and sport takes place in all three planes simultaneously with primarily unilateral or single-arm loaded movements
It isn’t uncommon to see a fitness trainer spend an inordinate amount of time teaching a beginner to squat with a perfectly parallel stance and perfectly even loading. Yet watch that same client load his gym bag over one shoulder and walk to his car, where he gets in using an offset loaded, single leg rotational squat! Or move boxes in his garage with an offset stance and a rotational reach. We all have the story of the jacked guy who blew out his back helping you move a couch. Just be aware of real life function.
Below is a table of the entire “core musculature” (from Dr. Evan Osar’s Form and Function). As you can see, the majority of the core muscle fibers run at an oblique angle. Sagittal divides the body into left and right halves; frontal divides the body into front and back halves (side to side movements); and transverse divides the body into top and bottom (for rotational movement).
| CORE MUSCULATURE | Vertical | Horizontal | Oblique |
| Rectus Abdominus | X | ||
| External Obliques | X | ||
| Internal Obliques | X | ||
| Transverse Abdominus | X | ||
| Psoas | X | ||
| Iliacus | X | ||
| Rectus Femoris | X | ||
| Sartorius | X | ||
| Tensor Fascia Latae | X | ||
| Iliocostalis | X | ||
| Longissimus | X | ||
| Spinalis | X | ||
| Multifidii /Rotatores | X | ||
| Quadratus Lumborum | X | ||
| Gluteus Maximus | X | ||
| Gluteus Medius | X | ||
| External hip rotators | X | ||
| Hamstrings | X | ||
| Adductors | X |
5. Train with Balance
Train with balance — balance between motor qualities and balance between movement patterns (e.g. horizontal push-pull). A training program in general should be balanced in terms of sets, reps, total time under tension, and volume throughout the entire body, but particularly in opposing movement patterns.
If, for example, you’re doing 2 sets of 10 reps in the bench press, and 2 sets of 10 reps in the seated row, this isn’t necessarily balanced. You could be pressing with 200 pounds — that’s a total volume of 4000 pounds — and rowing with only 150, a total volume of 3000 pounds. This is actually a major imbalance and would need to be addressed. An imbalance in volume like this, left unaddressed, will end up causing a major shoulder girdle problem.
In an ideal situation we’d be using the same sets, reps, and loads in all antagonistic movement patterns, unless of course we were purposefully using volume to create an imbalance in order to correct an existing one. It’s also important, although beyond the scope of this article, to understand that other motor qualities, including flexibility and cardio respiratory endurance, also need to be considered in the total scheme of programming.
6. Use a Method of Periodization
Periodization just means planning. However, most trainees seem to ignore that simple concept and jump mindlessly from program to program without a clear picture of the long-term plan.
I’m not concerned with which method of periodization you use, but you do need to use some form of long term plan. Good coaches write programs for long-term success; poor coaches write workouts for short-term success but inevitable failure. The fact that most people will probably just jump from one program to another without planning their “big picture” makes success even more unlikely. So, for those of you who have primarily aesthetic goals, an alternating periodization model will be the most appropriate.
Let me explain. When using linear models (e.g. 6 weeks at 12-15 reps, 6 weeks at 8-12 reps, 6 weeks at 6-8 reps etc.) we tend to lose the qualities we initially sought to improve. For example, if we were to undertake 6 weeks of endurance (12-15 reps), 6 weeks of hypertrophy (8-12 reps) and 6 weeks of strength emphasis (4-6 reps), then at the end of the sixth week of strength emphasis it will have been 12 weeks since we were exposed to any endurance methods (twice as long as we spent developing it).
So we’ll have lost portions of that quality! This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but if we felt that the quality was important enough to train, then it’s certainly important enough to maintain.
A better system would be to alternate the phases. So we’d perform a 12-15 rep phase, followed by a 4-6 rep phase, then an 8-12 rep phase. Using this method of alternating the accumulation and intensification phases, we never spend more than four weeks going in one rep “direction.” Therefore, we avoid most of the problems of linear periodization.
For a more complete look at periodization, and specifically the limitations of the linear method, checkout Dave Tate’s excellent Periodization Bible series.
7. Use a Time-Outcome Based Approach
You have to know how long a workout takes. The big equalizer in training is time. We all have a limited amount of time to train. Yet most training programs tend to ignore this and begin with an exercise menu approach. (Warning: The following portion contains math!)
Let’s say we have one hour total to train. We begin with 60 minutes. Subtract warm-up time (10 minutes) and rehab concerns/stretches (10 minutes). We now have 40 minutes of lifting time left.
Average length of a set in this phase is 60 seconds, rest period is 120 seconds. That’s three minutes per set total (work set plus rest period). If we want to do two sets of each exercise, we’re looking at six minutes per exercise. That allows us to perform only six exercises in this workout.
I’ve lost track of the number of trainers I’ve heard mindlessly say “you must get your workout done in under an hour” who then go on to design workouts that quite simply can’t be performed in that timeframe! When you’ve finished designing your program, take the time to do the math and see if your workouts are even possible.
Conclusion: The Good Stuff
So that’s basic program design in a nutshell. If you start to look at most successful long term programs, regardless of the differences, you’ll start to see the similarities. More importantly, when you try it you’ll start to see the effectiveness. And that’s the Bruce Lee philosophy — cutting through the junk and filtering to get the good stuff!
About the Author
For the past sixteen years, Alwyn Cosgrove has been committed to achieving excellence in the field of fitness training and athletic preparation. Specializing in performance enhancement, Alwyn has helped countless individuals and athletes reach their goals through sound scientific training. This article is an excerpt from Alwyn’s forthcoming manual, Professional Fitness Coaching: Program Design, available at www.alwyncosgrove.com.
© 1998 — 2005 Testosterone, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Your body is a barbell
No dumbbells, no barbells, no problem
By Alwyn Cosgrove
Muscles are just plain dumb. Despite their ability at some level to perform amazing Cirque De Soleil type feats, muscles only ‘know’ two things – stretch and tension. They can’t differentiate between stretches (whether the stretch is coming from yoga or from Taekwon-do kicking) or types of tension.
Let’s talk tension. As far as a fitness enthusiast is concerned, muscle tension comes when you place resistance on the muscles. And it doesn’t matter what form that resistance takes. You see, as far as the muscles are concerned, resistance is resistance is resistance. The muscles have no idea what form the resistance takes, whether it is a dumbbell, a resistance band, a barbell or your bodyweight. True, free weights are superior to machines when it comes to building strength, but it’s because free weights require you to stabilize the load in three planes, not because the weight on the muscles is any different.
In fact when you think about it, the only reason to ever use external load (i.e. weights) is because your bodyweight is not enough resistance. Yet most guys are making exercises harder by adding external load, when they aren’t capable of handling their bodyweight in the same exercise. I’m constantly amazed by how many people I meet who can bench press whatever pounds of weight, but are unable to perform 10 correct push ups (typically due to a lack of core strength and synergistic muscle stability. As far as I’m concerned – unless you can do an easy twenty push ups, you have no business getting under a bar for bench pressing. In my training facility everyone begins with bodyweight exercises. You have to earn the right to lift weights in my facility.
Now I’m sure some of you are jumping up and down right about now, convinced that your bodyweight is not enough for you to get a ‘good workout’. You think you’re much too strong. And you’re probably right. If you’re an Olympic Gymnast that is. Remember – most gymnasts use primarily their bodyweight in their conditioning programs and have no problem developing great physiques and great strength levels. I’d go as far as to say that most gymnasts have better physiques than most weight trainers. And these guys train exclusively for performance – not for mass or aesthetics. Nick Grantham CSCS, former conditioning coach to the Great Britain Olympic Gymnastics team noted that the majority of male gymnasts, after years of bodyweight training could typically bench press double their bodyweight the first time they ever tried it. If that’s not evidence of the efficacy of bodyweight training then I don’t know what is.
The key to effective bodyweight exercises are the same as with any exercise – time and tension. We need to select exercises that load the muscles effectively through the entire range of motion, and select a speed of movement that eliminates all momentum.
Workouts
Lower Body
A1: Bulgarian Split Squat: 2 sets x AMRAP each leg @ 333 30s rest
A2: Hip thigh extension: 2 sets x AMRAP each leg @ 333 30s rest
B1: Partial co-contraction lunge: 2 sets x AMRAP each leg @ 333 30s rest
B2: Step Up: 2 sets x 15-20 each leg @ 201 30s rest
C1: SL Partial squat: 2 sets x 15-20 each leg @ 333 30s rest
C2: Single Leg RDL: 2 sets x 15-20 each leg @ 333 30s rest
D1: Single Leg Squat: 2 sets x AMRAP each leg @ 303 30s rest
D2: Single Leg Deadlift: 2 sets x AMRAP each leg @ 303 30s rest
Upper Body
A1: T-Push Ups Left arm: 2 sets of 15 reps @ 211 30s rest
A2: Inverted Row: 2 sets of AMRAP @ 211 30s rest
A3: T- Push Ups Right arm: 2 sets of 15 reps @ 211 90s rest
B1: Mixed Grip Chins: 2 sets of 5-6 reps EACH SIDE @ 222 30s rest
B2: Dips: 2 sets of AMRAP @ 211 30s rest
B3: Prone Jackknife: 2 sets of 10-20 reps @ 232 30s rest
C1: Pike Push ups: 2 Sets of AMRAP @ 222 30s rest
C2: Reverse Crunch: 2 sets of 15-20 @ 111 30s rest
Advanced options
So is bodyweight training too easy for you? Yeah right. If that’s truly the case then here are a few variations that you can use for any of the exercises to dial up the masochism factor.
Oscillatory isometrics: This is an exotic name for what is essentially performing 4-5 short range mini-reps at the end range of the exercise. For example, perform the concentric portion (the lifting portion) of a chin up at a normal speed, then lower yourself down an inch or so and ‘bounce’ (controlled) up and down in that end range for 4-5 reps, before lowering yourself back to the start.
Dynamic Isometrics: Not a misnomer – just a combination of two complete opposite methods. This involves maintaining an isometric contraction in the toughest position of the lift for 4-5 seconds, and then performing the concentric and eccentric portions as fast as possible and returning to the isometric position. For example you’d be doing a tempo of X5X. Hold the bottom of a push up position for 5 seconds, then straighten and bend your arms as fast as possible.
Iso-explosives: Just taking the above a step further. A combination of isometric holds in the toughest position, with an explosive exercises. For example: hold the bottom of a Bulgarian split squat or a push up for 4-5 seconds – then as you press back up – explode with maximal force so your body actually leaves the floor.
One and a quarter reps: Perform the entire rep, and an additional quarter rep in the toughest part of the range (typically the bottom). This overloads your weakest angles by performing twice as many reps in that range.
Ladder reps: Break the exercise up into thirds – the bottom third, the bottom two-thirds and the full rep. For example perform five dips in the bottom third of the range (the toughest portion), then five reps in the bottom two-thirds of the range and finally perform five full range repetitions. This means you’ll have performed fifteen reps in the toughest range of the exercise, but only five in the easiest range.
Once you are capable of performing 15-20 reps of each of these exercises at the given tempo with ease – you are now ‘allowed’ to grab a 5lb dumbbell and start over!
Metabolic Power Training for MMA
By Alwyn Cosgrove
For www.EliteFTS.com
SLAM!!! The empty Mountain Dew can hit the table. “What’s that?” yelled Dave Tate. I instinctively reached for my wallet. It was an empty can and Dave was thirsty.
And pissed.
But I was wrong (not entirely as Dave was thirsty, and pissed) but that wasn’t his point. “It’s a f-ing weight room” said Dave.
Uh – ok Dave. Where’s my thinking – OF COURSE an empty soda can is a weight room.
SLAM !!!! An empty glass hit the table. “And what’s that?”
I didn’t answer but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t just an empty glass.
“That’s the f-ing track!”
The actual point of this exchange was Dave’s lesson to my young self. Each drinking vessel was in fact a complete and separate place to train and we shouldn’t mix the training modalities. The idea that one could pour the soda into the glass and therefore mix the two went unnoticed by Dave, and in the interests of personal safety – unmentioned by me. (Of course he went further than what I’ve described though, but that’s a whole other article. Let’s just say that when a three-hundred pound man uses three cuss-words in a four word sentence he’s a tad upset.)
Dave’s point was thus: Strength in the weight room, conditioning on the track and never the twain shall meet. I disagree a bit. And in a bid to keep Dave pissed (as a)he’s a lot more fun, and b) I am now thousands of miles away instead of within throttling distance) I am about to present the fact that we can use the weight room for another purpose besides strength work. What Dave does not understand is that there are some people out there who have goals outside of squatting 1000 pounds and bench pressing 700. This is the world he lives in. He does not live in the world we all live in. Some of us came into strength training for different backgrounds; sports – health – personal training etc. We use the weight room for a myriad of different purposes.
I came from a competitive martial arts background – Tae-kwon-do and kickboxing. In our world we were more interested in how to hit harder, faster and for longer. We used the weight room solely as a means to improve our end goal – never as an end it itself. Those of you involved in fighting sports or training other athletes know what I mean. It’s not always about improving max strength. It’s about max results. So while Dave lives in his world, we need to live in ours. This program is not about building a 700 pound bench press, far from it. This program is about using the weight room for conditioning.
Before we get into the actual exercise prescription, I should point out that I still believe that maximal strength levels should be achieved prior to endurance or energy system development. My theory is this: when we are talking about endurance – we are talking about power endurance or speed endurance or strength endurance. If we haven’t built up appreciable levels of power, speed or strength, then what the hell are we trying to endure? A low level of power? A low level of speed?
Conditioning coach Mike Boyle once pointed out that “It is significantly easier to get an explosive athlete ‘in shape’, than it is to make an ‘in shape’ athlete explosive. The first will take weeks the second may take years”
Based on the results to the recent EFS survey, you guys want to hear more about Mixed Martial Arts. Fighting sports are pretty unique in that they are the only activity where your sole goal is generally to render your opponent unable to continue. No matter how far behind a fighter is, there is always the hope that one perfectly delivered strike will knock out an opponent; thereby winning the battle. Sport Combat is perhaps the ONLY activity whereby one of the participants can be hopelessly outclassed and even further behind, and yet at a stroke – Win. Decisively. In this article I’m going to combine conditioning in the weight room with MMA training. However this advice could easily be utilized in other sports.
Endurance Training
Traditionally endurance training for combat sports of mixed martial arts has looked something like this:
- A) Run
- B) Repeat
- C) See A.
This is an effective approach if we think of competitive fighting as an aerobic dependent event. But it’s not. We are dealing with repetitive, albeit sub maximal power movements – which running does not replicate too well. Traditionally power athletes have over-trained their aerobic system to prepare for their anaerobic power sport. So doing long distance work for anaerobic athletes can often make “joggers” out of “jumpers”. Let’s not build endurance at the expense of the power and strength components we have taken so long to build up.
What about sprinting? While again being effective, some conditioning coaches use sprint training as their sole method of energy system development (ESD). This is at best a short-sighted approach. It is not uncommon to see well conditioned fighters who have used sprint based ESD fatigue rapidly in hard matches. The reason for this is although their cardio system is well conditioned the effect of lactic acid on their localized muscle groups is devastating. If we do not condition the muscle groups themselves to handle high levels of lactate, the cardio system will feel fine, but that area will lock up and shut down. Kickboxers call this “heavy legs”. Motocross athletes experience the same phenomenon but call it “arm pump” – where despite feeling fine – the forearms become so pumped up and unable to move that the rider is toast anyway! And besides—no one wants to run!
Can’t say I blame them. No one I’ve ever met likes running. Except runners. And no matter what they tell you they don’t like it either. The commercials that have the hot chick running along the beach with her dog smiling are lies. All the runners I see on my drive to work are miserable old fat bastards who look like they hate life. The only other runners I see are my running sport athletes who are getting the crap beat out of them doing agility or conditioning with me. And they don’t like it either – trust me.
So what’s a good way of improving metabolic power, or doing interval training without running? By doing it in the weight room (can you hear Dave getting pissed?) using a method of lifting called complexes. Now I’m not the first person to ever use complexes. But after talking to my colleague Robert Dos Remedios (strength coach at College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, CA) we felt the need to define the term:
Complexes are performing two or more exercises in a sequence with the same load. You complete all your reps with one movement first, then complete all your reps with the next movement. Example: When combining a squat with an overhead press, perform 5 reps of squats first, then 5 reps of overhead press without dropping the bar.
Seriously this type of exercise demands a ton of work from the body. Here’s an example: At the end of both of the Dynamic effort days (or twice a week if you are using a different programming option) the fighters perform one of the following complexes:
Complex One
- Deadlift – 6 reps
- Romanian Deadlift – 6 reps
- Bent Over Row – 6 reps
- Power Clean – 6 reps
- Front Squat – 6 reps
- Push Press – 6 reps
- Back Squat – 6 reps
- Good Morning – 6 reps
Complex Two
- Snatch Grip Deadlift – 6 reps
- Snatch Pull – 6 reps
- Upright Row – 6 reps
- Power Snatch – 6 reps
- Reverse Lunge – 6 reps each leg
- Push Jerk – 6 reps
- Jump Squat – 6 reps
That’s 8 exercises at 6 reps each. Each rep is performed with good control and flows directly into the next exercise without rest. At about 2 seconds per rep, this complex should only take about 96 seconds. The key is to just keep the bar moving.
After each complex we rest for 90 seconds and repeat for four complexes
The entire “interval training” program as described will take about twelve minutes.
Don’t underestimate this type of training. Complexes can be grueling. This eight-movement complex x 6 reps has a total volume of 48 reps per set! At only 100 pounds on the bar, that comes out to 4800 pounds of total work per set. So in terms of density, we’re looking at over twenty thousand pounds of total work in, by week four, less than 10 minutes. That will help melt the fat off the body without having to resort to lighter weights in the workouts or be seen pounding the pavement and will reap its rewards when the fighter steps into the ring. Even if the fighters are not using any type of strength program, this routine will really help to condition their bodies to handle the high levels or lactate that will be produced in a fight, and is an excellent fat loss tool for any athlete needing to preserve muscle and strength while dropping fat.
But to keep Dave happy – if you’re in his presence do these complexes outside of the weight room!! I can’t be held responsible otherwise.
Alwyn Cosgrove
Fat Loss Wars Part 1: Ballantyne vs. Cosgrove
Reprinted with permission from Turbulence Training
Alwyn Cosgrove is a superstar in the world of physique transformation for men and women. He’s trained champions in multiple sports and winners of multiple 12-week body transformation contests. Alwyn owns and operates a training facility in Santa Clarita, California and he’s also written his own fat loss book called Afterburn.
Now Alwyn and I have a lot of things in common. We are both no-B.S. coaches, we both have written for Men’s Fitness and Men’s Health, we both wrote a chapter for ShapeShift, and we both have a Scottish last name (oh yeah, and he is a lot smarter than I am).
But that does not mean we agree on everything when it comes to fat loss. So I have asked Alwyn to do a little explaining about his workout ideas.
CB: Alwyn, I think that for men and women with a lot of body fat to lose, that doing some long duration cardio will help them get started on their fat loss goals. But you are totally against aerobic work in this case, right?
AC:
(I just want to clarify that we are talking about otherwise healthy individuals – because steady state aerobic work definitely has its place in certain populations).
I’m not totally against it – but I still prefer interval work. I mentioned in an earlier interview with you that there was a study (Jones et al – can’t remember the date) that showed that the intensity required by a sedentary person who is trying to improve their cardio respiratory fitness level, might create an excessive muscular overload.
Jones et al, noted that in the initial 6 weeks of training there was a 50-90% injury rate. This occurred in training programs specifically designed to minimize risk of injury. The bottom line is that the musculoskeletal system is very easily OVERTRAINED when it is de-conditioned. So anything I can do to keep volume in cardio training low (ie less reps right?) I’ll do it.
So even with beginners I will do some form of interval training. But that just means maybe walking a little faster for a minute, then backing off for two. It doesn’t necessarily mean sprinting or anything like that.
Q: Alwyn, you like to use what are called hybrid exercises. But I prefer not to use hybrid exercises. I think you are better off super-setting the two exercises rather than combining them into one.
My belief is, you try and do two things at once, you end up doing them half-assed. Let‘s say we do a curl and shoulder press. I just don‘t think the intensity of the shoulder press is high enough because the curl limits the weight you can use. Therefore, I think they would be better done in a superset instead.
AC:
A) Well that example is weak and wouldn’t work. A curl shouldn’t be a part of a hybrid because it is such a low level strength exercise. It limits everything. But you could just do two reps of a shoulder press in that example if you wanted to.
A better example would be a front squat push press hybrid. The metabolic cost of that type of exercise is huge.
B) A hybrid is just one tool in my box. I also use supersets. I also superset hybrids!
It’s back to the Bruce Lee philosophy of never ignoring anything that works.
The biggest problem or complaint I get from clients who use commercial facilities is that it’s really hard for them to tie up two pieces of gym equipment at peak hours. You can use hybrids or combinations instead and use only a bar or one pair of dumbbells.
(Let me define the difference between combination lifts and hybrids)
Combination lifts (performing one rep of an exercise and then another with a brief pause), hybrids, (the same as combination lifts but without any rest between reps – no discernible pause) and complexes (performing all the reps for one exercise and then performing the next exercise – e.g. 6 reps front squat, 6 reps push press) allow us to technically perform supersets with ONE piece of equipment.
But the key is to be sensible. You can’t do a hybrid of Deadlifts and curls for example – the difference in loading is too great.
As for ‘two things at once’ meaning you do them ‘half-assed’. Olympic lifters doing a clean and jerk might take offence to that J
But to summarize: Here are the four main reasons to consider combos or hybrids.
- **Time / Space / Equipment**
n Small facility + large group
n Lack of equipment – got DB’s and/or barbells??
n Only have your clients / athletes for limited time periods or sessions per week
- **Increase training volume**
n Add volume to your Olympic variations
n A 5-movement complex x 6 reps has a total volume of 30 repetitions per set!. At only 100 lbs., this comes out to 3000 lbs. of total work per SET!
- **Change-up: Break-up monotony**(this is more for athletes)
n Long in-season cycles
n Off-season loss of focus
n Break-up a long microcycle phase (i.e. hypertrophy, high volume)
n Unloading phase
- **Metabolic / conditioning effect**
n Increase work demand, use more muscle groups
n Increase caloric expenditure in fat loss programs
n Increase work capacity
And again, I doubt that it’s an either/or scenario. You don’t need to choose between the modalities.
CB: Let‘s discuss intervals. I prefer that people do their intervals immediately after the weight training component, so that they have more days off from the gym. Do you like to do them on off-days instead?
AC:
I don’t really have a preference. Often my clients do the intervals immediately after their workouts and they have more ‘off days’ from the gym. With others, they tend to come in more frequently for shorter workouts.
Interestingly, with some clients I see better results if I can get them in the gym more often – it changes their mindset. Keeps them focused. But in reality I doubt over the course of the year that there would be much difference in results if total work done was the same.
I’m not stuck on one method over the other.
CB: In a recent newsletter, you also recommend the Tabata protocol for intervals (20 seconds of work followed by 10 seconds of rest). I think this approach is over-rated. What are your thoughts on using these intervals? Is this the best?
AC:
For fat loss - I’m not sure that it is.
It’s just a very time efficient way to improve your cardio (based on the research).
I haven’t read anything putting it head to head with other forms of interval training though.
I just think for energy system work for athletes it’s effective and extremely time efficient. The biggest problem I think people run into, is a lack of time. Anything that solves that problem in terms of efficiency is worth having in your toolbox.
Not convinced that it’s as effective for fat loss though.
I just don’t want people to think that I PREFER the Tabata protocol over others.
I’m just a big believer in the “Absorb what is useful” Bruce Lee philosophy.
CB: Thanks Alwyn.
Check out Craig’s website HERE
Top Ten Training Tips for Athletic Conditioning Success
By Alwyn Cosgrove
For www.EliteFTS.com
The IRON-ic rule of strength training for sport: The objective is not to get stronger per se but to improve athletic performance to build better athletes. If your sport is powerlifting then that means improving your total. If your sport is mixed martial arts that means you must improve your ability in the ring. It’s important for the coach and the trainee to focus on improving sports performance. I’ve seen several football teams over the years that have the 405 Bench Press Club featured on the wall but are 0-20 for the season!
Here are my top ten tips to ensure athletic success.
1. Bodyweight before external resistance
Since when has the term strength and conditioning coach been confused with weight room coach? I don’t know but I’m still surprised at the eagerness of most coaches to get their athletes under the bar.Many coaches and athletes make the mistake of beginning a strength routine and going straight for the heavy weights. This usually ends up causing an injury. An athlete has no business using load if he/she cannot stabilize, control and move efficiently with only their bodyweight. If you can’t stabilize your shoulder girdle and core doing push-ups then there is no way I’m going to put you under a bench press bar.
Can you sit in a full squat? What about a full range single leg bodyweight squat? Until you have mastered these exercises you can forget doing dynamic effort work with a box squat.
So your strength program in the beginning stages may actually include no weights whatsoever. And it will work better and faster than a typical program m that relies primarily on weights and machines in the beginning stages. In fact in my experience I’d suggest that some athletes cannot even work with their bodyweight so we may need to modify certain exercises. Do not rush to lift heavy loads; muscle recruitment and control are far more important than maximal strength for any athlete. Without control the strength is useless.
2. Train to the 5th Power
I. Train in a standing position – GROUND BASED.
The majority of athletic training should take place ON YOUR FEET (standing) as the majority of sport takes place in that position. Of course there are exceptions to this rule, but in general, we always lose something when we go from a standing position to a seated or lying position.
II. Train with free weights.
I almost feel stupid bring this up. But I still see programs out there that include leg extensions and leg curls. Any machine limits the range of motion and controls the movement. This is fine for beginners, but athletes need to be able to stabilize and control their bodies in all three planes of motion simultaneously.
III. Use Multiple Joints
Single joint strength (e.g. leg extension machine, bicep curls) develops useless strength. A study was undertaken at Ohio State involving a knee extension test. The participants included: 3 World ranked squatters and 1 World Record holder in the squat.
The test results of the above subjects averaged 180lbs of force on the Cybex leg extension machine. However a local power lifter (ranked 15th in the state) broke the machine. He wasn’t even number one in his state but he was stronger on this machine than the World ranked lifters. If there is a better example of the inability of single joint machine training to translate to real world strength then I’d like to see it. A guy who was only ranked 15th in the state can apply more single leg strength than a World Record holder. Nice. Pretty. But pretty useless. If that strength doesn’t transfer to athletic success then what’s the point of having it? Basically, despite the strength that individual exhibited on the machine, he was unable to apply it in a real world situation like squatting. And the elite squatters weren’t that strong on the leg extension showing it’s not even a factor. So leg extension machines are a waste of time. Unless of course you compete in seated ass kicking leg extension contests.
”How can anyone expect to possess co-ordination in active work when his muscles have never worked together in groups?” Earle Liederman, 1924. Nearly 80 years ago and we are still having this argument today. Isolation machines have no place in the preparation of a competitive athlete.
IV. Train with explosiveness.
Explosiveness as I see it can be defined as ?as fast as possible with control?. Some people seem to feel that explosiveness is somewhat dangerous. Sloppy training, uncontrolled movements? Now that’s dangerous. Training explosively more closely mirrors what happens in sport and/or life.
V. Train movements not muscle groups.
Again, isolated muscle group training, outside of rehabilitation has no place in athletic training. An athlete should focus on strengthening specific movements. True muscle isolation is impossible anyway, so let’s focus on using that body to work in an integrated fashion.
3. Train unilaterally and multi-planar
The majority of strength training programs take place in the sagittal plane with bilateral movements. However the majority of sport takes place in all 3 planes simultaneously with primarily unilateral movements. EVERY single sports conditioning program should include split squats, step ups and lunge variations. 85% of the gait cycle (walking, running) is spent on one leg. Over 70% of the muscles of the core run in a rotational plane. Does your training program reflect that?
4. Use all primary methods to develop strength
This should be of no surprise to readers of this website so I won’t spend a whole lot of time on this. Suffice to say you need to focus on all three. Max Strength method – heavy loads Repeated Efforts Method – multiple sets and reps Dynamic Effort Method – using relatively lighter weights and moving them at max speed (this is STILL the least used method in most strength coaching programs). Traditional strength training programs have focused overwhelmingly on max strength or force development. More important for the competitive athlete is a focus on RATE OF force development. In the world of sport speed is still the king.
5. Variation
Everybody seems to understand that training load should be progressively increased. Few understand that the training stimulus must also be progressively and periodically varied. All programs have positive and negative aspects no matter how well designed or specific – too much time on one program and you’ll habituate to the positive aspects and accumulate the negative aspects. Even the most perfectly balanced program has to have one exercise performed first and another performed last. Not being aware of the potential negatives of this (i.e. one exercise is never trained when you are fresh) can create an injury situation.
6. Avoid mimicking skills
This is a big one. Throwing weighted baseballs etc will do little to improve your strength and a lot to screw up your technique. Make sure the roles of strength and conditioning and skill training are separate. I HATE the term sport specific. I much prefer NON-specific training. If I’m working with a freestyle swimmer, sport specificity means that I’ll do a ton of loaded internal rotation work. My approach? To do no internal rotation work. In fact I’d spend most of our conditioning time on EXTERNAL rotation as an injury prevention mechanism. The role of conditioning training is NOT skill training. Loading a technique tends to affect the mechanics of the technique negatively.
7. Train with Balance
Make sure you address pushing and pulling on both horizontal and vertical planes and attempt to balance the loading. If you are bench pressing 400lbs but can only do a chest supported row with 50lbs your shoulder girdle is going to suffer. If you can’t handle the same loads for two opposing movements then increase the volume of the weaker movement (e.g. by doing an extra exercise or an extra set or two) to compensate. Trust me this might not seem that important now but I’m not just interested in athletic performance, I’m interested in the long term health of my athletes.
8. Get out of the Weight Room Try some strongman training: sled dragging, uphill sprints, stadium stairs. I’m sick of hearing coaches telling me that they think outside of the box, yet they never leave the confines of their own little box – the weight room.
9. Train the antagonists
This ties in with the swimming example above. The speed of a throw or a kick or punch is determined largely by the ability of the antagonist to eccentrically decelerate the joint action efficiently and prevent joint injury. If your body cannot safely and effectively brake the motion, then it will not allow you to achieve full acceleration. If you are not training the antagonists eccentrically – you are not training deceleration. And if you are not training deceleration you cannot be training acceleration.
10. Full Front Squats
This exercise may be the single most athletic exercise. You’ll get core strength, wrist, knee, hip, shoulder and ankle flexibility in a single exercise.
Ok- as usual I can’t shut up so I’ll add one more.
10.5 Extension!
I’m not going to get into an article on the pros and cons of Olympic lifting, suffice to say that explosive triple extension (ankle, knee and hip) is a valuable component when training athletes. Remember though – we are training ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE. We are not training weightlifters. It is not necessary to do the complete lifts; the power and hang variations are fine. If you’re not comfortable with the Olympic lifts then add jump training or medicine ball overhead throws or at the very least deadlifts (double extension) as a core lift.
Do not get caught up in the numbers game and do not confuse gym improvements with real world or sports world improvements. The greatest athletes in the world do not necessarily have the greatest bench presses in the world. The greatest athletes in the world have an ability to produce useable force on their field of play. Usable force is force that propels athletes towards the ball, knocks another athlete back or down, helps you move at full speed, or throws the winning touchdown pass. Usable force is force properly directed in an unstable real world, unpredictable environment. The weight room, in genera l, is a stable environment whereas a field of play or the competition ring is a constantly changing place. A good strength and conditioning coach looks to improve athletic performances, not just gym lift numbers.
Alwyn Cosgrove can be reached at alwyn@alwyncosgrove.com
Why ‘Endurance’ Training lacks staying power
By Alwyn Cosgrove
The biggest mistake endurance athletes make in their training program is falling into the trap that their sport is about who can go the longest. It’s not. It’s STILL about who can go the fastest. They give medals for the first athlete to cross the5K/10K/ marathon/ ultra marathon finish line – not the athlete who crosses it and can keep on going. There’s a reason it’s 26 miles and 385 yards. There’s an END point. And whoever gets there the fastest will be the winner.
Traditional endurance training programs reflect that fallacy. They are based around a lot of mileage to increase your ‘endurance’.
As a sports scientist – let me break this down. Endurance in my field – is the ability to maintain a constant sub maximal output – to maintain a lower percentage of your max output. In other words – your ability to run/bike/swim slower than you are able to, for longer periods of time.
So if your ability to run fast (at maximal speed) merits a hypothetical ‘score’ of 100 units – you may be able to run a 10K race at 70% of this or 70 units.
Typical endurance training involves you running at this 70% for long periods of time, hoping that somehow – when it comes to race day – you’ll be able to run at 75%! This will never happen. If you can run a six minute mile – and you train for 12 weeks running 3-4 miles at a time, at 6min mile pace – what do you predict you’ll run on race day? That’s correct – a six minute mile. You’ve trained for 12 weeks and produce the same speed you were capable of before you trained.
(Real world example: I was hired to conduct the strength training portion of a program for some of the LA Sheriff’s department as they prepared for the annual law enforcement Baker to Vegas relay run. I was given a copy of their running regime, written by a TOP name in the endurance training field and was actually very disappointed in what I saw. First off the volume in my opinion was excessive – with the team running 7 days per week. But more surprising was the QUALITY of those sessions. There was one fartlek workout per week for speed, and one hill workout to develop strength, and therefore speed. The other FIVE workouts were all listed as ‘slow pace’, ‘easy pace’ and ‘moderate pace’. I asked one of the runners for his personal best mile pace for the five mile section he was running. He was running a 5:30. After reviewing his training log, we established that with all this volume – he was averaging a 7 min mile pace in training. His goal? To run a 5:15 pace. How on earth are you going to run a 5:15 in competition, when your average pace in training is a 7 min mile? Where is the speed going to come from if you don’t train for it? Needless to say we revamped the training program and he was successful in reaching his goal)
Here’s the modern system – if you can maintain 70% of your max pace (again – assuming 100 as your max) – if I raised that max pace to 120, even without any direct endurance training, that 70% would now be 84 ‘units’. So because you built more “power” in your running engine – we automatically increase your capacity to run long at a sub maximal pace.
(Example: Max speed: 6 min mile. Running a seven minute mile is cruising – you are working way below your limit.
But if your max speed was a 5 min mile – then running a six and a half minute mile would be even easier than the first example.)
So if we accept that endurance is all about maintaining a lower percentage of your max output – then increasing that max output is the key to increasing your endurance.
Modern “endurance” training should begin with high intensity work – not slow low intensity work.
Still not a believer – consider the following:
One recent study, which is soon to be published in the US, concluded that 10-km running performance could be predicted from a combination of 300m time trial performance and plyometric leap distance; both of which have explosive power as a determining aspect.
Hmmm. The ability to predict an “endurance” time based upon a speed and power component. Interesting. Another study done by researchers in Finland several years ago showed that 5-km run time could be significantly improved by supplementing run training with explosive power and speed sessions.
TRAINING ROUTINES
With the above philosophy in mind, there are several high intensity methods that we can use to train for ANY endurance activity.
This month we are focusing on the triathlon. Triathlons used to be primarily aimed at retired swimmers or runners. But now – triathlon has some into its own – it’s an Olympic sport and has its own subculture and training methods.
Here’s our “dummies guide” to triathlon training:
1) You must get technical preparation for the swim event. Running and cycling are probably easier for you in that you know what to do. The swim event will require some more work.
2) At some point – you need to train at least two modes on the same day. The hardest part of a triathlon for many is getting off the bike with your legs DEAD and having to run. You need to train for this unique sensation.
3) There is no need to do the full distance in training PHYSIOLOGICALLY. We prepare the body to handle the full distance, and based on science, we know that it is possible. However for PSYCHOLOGICAL reasons – a lot of athletes like to ‘know’ they have the conditioning to do the entire distance and like to schedule a practice ‘event’ prior. There is no harm in this, but psychologically on race day you’ll be a wreck anyway, so in our opinion it offers little benefit in the real world.
All distances and modes in the below examples can be adjusted. Feel free to substitute swimming for running etc.
Diminishing rest interval method
Here’s the premise: Split the distance you are running / biking up into three – four periods (so if you are running three miles, we’ll use a mile)
Run that first distance (one mile) as hard as possible.
Rest for at least 50% of the time it took you to run the mile (we are looking for almost full recovery).
Repeat for two more sets (until you’ve covered the full distance).
Perform twice a week. Each week – reduce the rest interval by 30 seconds. So be week four, you’ve cut two minutes of your rest time.
Here’s the concept: You can run a six minute mile. But when you do three miles you average 21 mins or a 7 min mile. If we prepared you by running only 3 miles – we only reinforce that slower speed. So running three miles trains you to run at the slower speed.
With this method – we work on the quality, the speed of your run. We maintain a much higher speed, and a much more intense workout, and develop the endurance by cutting back on the rest period – as opposed to slowing down the pace.
Sprint Repeats
Select a 60m area – straight as possible. Starting at one end – sprint maximally to the 60m mark – should take under 10 seconds. Turn and jog back, taking approximately 20 seconds. Perform a total of 4 circuits to complete one set (this is approx 2 minutes). A session should be as follows: three sets with a one minute rest between each (9 minutes); rest for two minutes and repeat for a total of a 20 minute workout. This is not for the faint hearted.
Obviously this workout can be performed over a longer distance – just maintain the ratio between work and rest periods, and understand the concept. We are trying to develop our ability to go long, by increasing our capacity to go hard. Going at 70% of 100mph is still faster than 80% of 70mph.
