Posts Tagged ‘Sports Conditioning’

Guest blog from Michael Boyle

A few recent events have made me realize that all strength coaches will eventually evolve to the same place. Like many of us, I listen to and read a great deal from the internet. One trend that I have seen is that some of the previously “hard core” guys are gradually embracing the corrective exercise/ functional training side of the coin. This made me realize two things:

1- Why I think the way I do

2- Why others make fun of me

The reason I think the way I do and the reason lots of the “hardcore” guys make fun of me is because I am old. I am further along the evolutionary trail of the strength coach. You see, we all start at about the same place and we probably all end up at the same place. I just started my journey sooner. In fact I am in year 32 of my evolution. For me phase 1 of the Evolution of the Strength and Conditioning Coach, The Bodybuilder, was actually in the 1970’s. I saw Boyer Coe guest pose at a show in Connecticut and wanted to be the next Frank Zane. If you don’t know who those guys are, it’s OK. You are just too young.

The truth is almost all male strength coaches and personal trainers go through the evolutionary process listed below.

Stage 1- The Bodybuilder.

Face it, we all started here. Maybe we wanted to get better at sports but what we really wanted in our teens was to look better for girls. To do this we picked up a muscle magazine, joined the local gym , copied the routines and began bodybuilding. The beauty of this stage is that we knew it all. We bombed and blitzed our way to success as Joe Weider looked on from the pages of Muscle and Fiction.

Stage 2- The Powerlifter

At the onset of stage two the bodybuilder realizes that the really strong guys in the gym don’t give him the time of day. In fact, the truly strong guys laugh at him in his tanktop as he admires his arms in the mirror. The young bodybuilder and future strength coach is determined to get some respect so he really works on his bench press to gain that respect. What he then realizes is that these strong guys don’t respect anyone with no legs and a big bench. The bodybuilder soon evolves to the powerlifter. As in stage one we still know it all but what we know is different. We realize that what we thought we knew in stage 1 was not quite as true as we thought. At this stage we never admit any mistakes though. Stage two last for 2-3 years or until the first major injury. In this time period you really fall in love with the weightroom. You become diligent about diet and not missing training days and you get stronger almost every week. Your training partners cheer you on. Your technique is not perfect but you are moving big weight. Usually in stage 2 you also decide to enter a meet. A meet is great reality therapy. Your 315 bench done in “all you” form with just a bit of an arch and bounce becomes a 275 pause bench. Your “parallel” squats suddenly expose your lack of knowledge of geometry. Usually you bomb in the squat in your first meet and resolve to return a much better lifter. In stage two you are at your most macho. You laugh at anyone doesn’t do back squats and deadlifts and you post frequently to internet forums. All posts mention how strong you are and usually some line that belittles those who don’t lift heavy iron.

Stage 3- The Injured Powerlifter.

This stage begins with a bad back or a sore shoulder and usually lasts through one or two surgeries. Stage three is like denial in the substance abuse world. You realize that your days of lifting huge weights are coming to an end but you refuse to say it out loud. Your searches of the internet now focus on healing your wounds. You vow to make a comeback. Often, you have surgery and attempt to lift in a meet again. Like a guy repeatedly slamming his fingers in the car door, you can’t wait to get back under the bar.

You learn about ART, MAT and a bunch of other therapies that seem to have guys names. You also begin to sneak a few looks at books on injury prevention and heaven forbid, you begin to explore things like warm-up and mobility. At the end of the injured powerlifter stage you begin to apologize to those older and wiser that you made fun of and called names. You realize that much like your parents the guys you taunted on internet forums were just older and wiser.

Stage 4- The Functional Training Guy.

Most of us end in stage four. Usually we have a few scars from our time in stage three putting off the inevitable. In stage four we realize that we can still train however, the days of trying to pick up the heaviest thing you can lift goes by. You become an innocent bystander watching car wrecks as you see the young guys move from stage 1 to stage 2. You try to warn them but they laugh at you and go into their chat rooms and make fun of you. All you can think of is “call me when you are fifty and we can talk”.

The truth is evolution and development are both inevitable. Young men will always want to impress young women. They will also, in a very primal way, want to impress other young men. We can only hope to speed the evolution and save people some pain. As you read this hopefully you will see yourself in one of these stages and intervene. Next time you get ready to “lay it on the line” ask yourself why.

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For more from Mike, check out StrengthCoach.com

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AC

Muscles are just plain dumb. Despite their ability at some level to perform amazing Cirque De Soleil type feats, muscles only ‘know’ two things—tension and stretch. They can’t differentiate between tension or stretches regardless of how the tension got there..

Let’s talk tension. As far as a fitness enthusiast is concerned, muscle tension comes when you place resistance on the muscles. It doesn’t matter what form that resistance takes. 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 body weight. Free weights are superior to machines when it comes to building strength because free weights require you to stabilize the load in three planes, however, the weight on the muscles is not any different.

In fact, the only reason to ever use an external load (i.e. weights) is because your body weight is not enough resistance. Most guys are making exercises harder by adding an external load when they aren’t even capable of handling their body weight 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 ten 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 20 push-ups, you have no business getting under a bar for bench pressing. In my training facility, everyone begins with body weight exercises. You have to earn the right to lift weights.

Now, I’m sure some of you are jumping up and down, convinced that your body weight 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 that most gymnasts use primarily their body weight in their conditioning programs, and they have no problems 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. Former conditioning coach to the Great Britain Olympic gymnastics team, Nick Grantham, noted that the majority of male gymnasts, after years of body weight training, could typically bench press double their body weight the first time they ever benched. If that’s not evidence of the efficacy of body weight training, then I don’t know what is.

The key to effective body weight exercises is 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.

Sample Workout

CIRCUIT ONE:

1A: Rear Foot elevated split squat: 20 each leg with 2s pause at the bottom of each rest. 30s rest
1B: “T’ push-ups  10 reps each side , 30 sec rest
1C: Hip thigh extension (single leg glute bridge):  20 reps ea. 30s rest
1D: Inverted row:  15 reps 30 sec rest
Repeat the circuit one more time.

CIRCUIT TWO:

2A: Step Up (high box):  20 reps each side, 30s rest
2B: Mixed grip chins:  5 reps EACH SIDE, 30s rest
2C: Single Leg Bent Knee Deadlift:  10 reps each side: 30s rest
2D: Dips (or Wide Grip Push ups):   AMRAP (As many reps as possible), 30s rest
Repeat the circuit one more time.

Bodyweight only exercises are a great addition to your own training. If you currently train clients in groups, perform sports conditioning, do bootcamps outdoors, teach martial arts classes  or just want some extra workout ideas for days outside of the gym that can replace cardio training , check out  : 101 Bodyweight Exercises

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AC

If I were to tell you that you were about to get into a fight with the toughest opponent the world has ever faced, how would you prepare?

You’d probably learn some martial arts, do some combat training, get stronger, faster, better conditioned, hire instructors and formulate a strategy to take on the opponent.

But what if I told you that all the kicks, punches and chokeholds won’t work against this opponent? It’s invisible. Your instructors can’t help you.

That’s the reality of facing cancer.

I bested cancer. Twice. Most people don’t survive the first time. I have no idea why I was given these extra days on this planet, but I treat them like a gift.

Prior to my bone marrow and stem cell transplant I had to undergo a battery of fitness tests. The treatment itself is so brutal, you need a certain level of conditioning before the doctors will even consider doing the treatment. They did heart tests, lung capacity tests, and a ton more.

I passed the tests and entered the “fight” and won. I didn’t think much of it until after being in remission when I met a young girl who was facing the same transplant situation. She said, “Oh wow! You got the transplant — that’s amazing!”

I have to admit that I didn’t feel that amazing.

She went on, “I need to get one but I can’t pass the tests. I’m not in good enough shape to survive the procedure right now.”

That’s when I realized the horror of her situation. She, while fighting cancer, needed to improve her fitness, so that she could win.

How does a cancer patient get in shape when he or she is being bombarded with a malignant disease, chemotherapy, drugs, and radiation? It’s an uphill battle for everyone, but cancer patients are starting well behind the starting blocks.

I knew then that I had survived in part because when the disease hit me, I was in condition. I was strong. I had muscle. I had cardio fitness. I had gritted my teeth and grinded out a heavy last rep, or a max effort sprint.

My body could handle whatever the doctors were going to throw at me. Cancer couldn’t.

Because cancer didn’t train the way we train.

I started weight training to improve my martial arts competition skills. Who knew that the lessons learned in the ring, and the qualities developed under the bar would save my life?

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AC
PS – make sure you are keeping up with me on Facebook — > Alwyn Cosgrove Facebook Page

*This was my portion of  a compilation article I recently contributed to at t-nation (full article HERE)

This total football training program was designed by Duane Carlisle, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach of the San Francisco 49ers and, quite frankly, there is no other speed, strength and conditioning program for football that you could even compare it to.

=> Total Football Training

I’ve known Duane for years, (we’re on the Perforn Better tour together) and earlier this year he came down to our gym, Results Fitness to exchange training ideas. Duane is always learning and improving and this program reflects the very latest in his training arsenal.

It truly is a revolutionary program and one that *every* football coach, trainer and/or parent of football players should have (if you’re interested in faster, stronger, more explosive players).

Like any comprehensive athletic development program, it covers football specific speed (linear and  multidirectional), strength, power, flexibility and conditioning in great detail.

That alone makes it King of the Hill in terms of football specific training programs. But that’s not what changes the game…

Coach Carlisle built the entire series around an 8 week off season training program. The DVDs and the manual work off each other so you don’t have to think about what to do. All the workouts, for every single set, rep, drill and exercise are laid out for you.

All you do is open the manual and look at Day 1 Workout 1. Put in the DVD and you’ll see that everything you want to do for Day 1, Workout 1 is demonstrated on the DVD.

This is how the program works for *everything*, soup to nuts. Day 1, Week 1 to Day 4, Week 8. So you don’t have to piece together what to do and when.

And that means you don’t have to become a strength and conditioning expert or sacrifice time you normally spend on offense/defense/special teams trying to figure out what speed workout to do or what lifts, sets and reps you need for the weight room.

Because it’s already done.

But don’t be scared off by the ‘offseason’ structure.

You can run the bulk of the program while you’re inseason because your players need to continue to improve their speed, strength and specific endurance throughout the season, not just during the summer.

It’s as much a guide as it is a specific program.

Of course, there’s a lot more in the program than the workouts and drills on video.

So, look, I’ll end on this note:

If you’re involved in coaching football and/or football players, Duane Carlisle’s Total Football Training program is a no-brainer. I highly recommend you invest in this program.

Check it out => Total Football Training

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Alwyn
PS – Even though I think it should be called hand-egg – this is a great resource!
Check out the seven minute preview of the DVD series HERE