Better Programming for the Long-Haul

“A complete training program has to include movement preparation, flexibility work, injury prevention work, core work, cardiovascular work, strength training, and recovery/regeneration. Most programs cover, at best, two of those.

A lot of training programs only cover the strength training portion. Be well rounded; address everything.” -Alwyn Cosgrove

When most people walk into a gym, they either go straight to the bench press or squat rack (if they're more of a strength athlete or bodybuilder), or hop right on the treadmill (if they're an endurance athlete or doing their “cardio” for fat loss, which I don't recommend but that's a topic for another post). I find that the primary reason behind this is either:

• a) they don't understand balanced programming
  
• b) they do understand balanced programming (intellectually) but are not thinking long-term enough to realize that only covering one or two aspects of training will lead to lower quality training sessions in the future, and, ultimately, injury.

How many of you suffer or have suffered from a shoulder injury (or some kind of shoulder pain), low back problems, or pain in your knee/leg? If you haven't yet, then you most likely will as time progresses (whether or not you exercise). Balancing your training program will help increase the quality of your current workouts, as well as set you up for greater long-term success. The longer you can avoid pain and injury, the longer you'll be able to maintain a training program to enhance quality of life.

So, how can we upgrade our training programs to ensure better short-term training, as well as long-term training? Be sure to include these:

1) Soft Tissue Work: This helps to focus on the quality of the muscle tissue. Use a foam roller (for the larger muscles ex. quads, IT band, etc.) or tennis/lacrosse ball (for more focused areas ex. glute medius/maximus, posterior shoulder capsule) to clear up knots and adhesions that develop in connective tissues. You'll begin to feel like a million bucks as you loosen up needed areas.

2) Dynamic Stretching/Movement Prep: Dynamic stretching will help lubricate joints, increase skeletal muscle blood flow, raise your core temperature, and prepare your body for the workout ahead. This also gives you a great chance to “feel” out your body and see where you may be hurting that day, or if you feel you should exert more/less effort depending on your body's feedback.

3) Corrective/Injury Prevention Work: Certain muscles that should be working properly in your body most likely aren't. Because of the inherent nature of most of our lives, we “deactivate” various muscles that are much needed to support both stabilization and motion during training. Long bouts of sitting (at a desk, in the car, etc.) lead to shortened hip flexors and weakened/inactive glutes. Glutes are the powerhouse of the body so we need to get them firing! Most shoulder issues originate at the scapulae (shoulder blade) so we need to utilize exercises engaging the serratus anterior (the muscle that helps stabilize your shoulder blade against your rib cage). This is nowhere close to an all-inclusive list, but the point is that we need to re-activate the muscles that need to be working efficiently during training.

4) Strength Training: Most people get this part. Whether your goal is fat loss, muscle gain, or training for a sport, strength training needs to be integral part of your program.

5) Cardiovascular Work: This does NOT mean a 60-minute session on an elliptical or treadmill (although in a few specific scenarios it is appropriate). Complexes, weight circuits, bodyweight circuits, and many other forms of high-intensity training will shed fat stores and increase your work capacity much better than going for a long jog. It takes much less time to do it too. And remember, “cardio” simply means you using your heart to supply nutrients and oxygen to the working muscles. It doesn't have to imply an aerobic session.

6) Flexibility Work: Certain muscles will be stiff after your training session. Spend some time to stretch these out.

7) Recovery/Regeneration: This includes a variety of both activity and inactivity to speed up your recovery. Soft-tissue work outside of the gym, getting plenty of sleep, and flooding your body with nutrients will do wonders to your progress.

From my personal experience, once I started to add all of the above to my training program (and lifestyle), I noticed dramatic improvements both in performance as well as those “nagging pains” that were bugging me. It's not an end-all-cure-all, but I guarantee you'll move better, grow stronger, and reach any goal that you may have more effectively. And keep in mind, the better you take care of your body now, the less you'll have to do later. Taking 15-20 extra minutes each training session to ensure optimal physical function is much cheaper than a doctor's bill or visit to the physical therapist.

Boost Up Your Metabolism and Conditioning!

Posted above is the end of a training session I recorded toward the end of last Fall. These are called "Bastardo's", which are burpees with a tuck jump at the top. I performed them Tabata style (alternating periods of 20 seconds work, 10 seconds rest), although you could also do them in a circuit with other exercises, or see how many you can do in a designated period of time (ex. 60 seconds). If you are a beginner, I recommend using a work:rest ratio of 10s:20s (10 seconds work/20 seconds rest) to begin with, moving to 15s:15s and finally 20s:10s as shown in the video. I did this for 4 minutes, but you could also begin with 2 minutes and work your way up. I often like to add something like this throughout the week to keep my conditioning levels (as well as fat stores) in check.

Bear in mind, these are absolutely brutal, and much more difficult than they look (you'll notice toward the end I can hardly bring my knees high). The first time I tried this I got 57 total, and in the video above I finished with 83 (this was the fifth time I tried these, so improvement comes quickly). However, you'll notice rapid improvements in your conditioning, and these will elevate your metabolism more than any type of aerobic exercise you'll do in a group class or on the elliptical! Also, they beauty of this is that it only takes 4 minutes to complete, and the post-effects will be much greater than spending 20-30 minutes jogging (the higher the intensity of the exercise, the greater your metabolism will be elevated during the 24-48 hours following the training session). Give it a shot!

Bringing in the New Year

As I was in the grocery store the other day, I noticed most of the magazine covers gracing the shelves contained some type of promise, that usually claimed something like this:

• 30 Weight Loss Secrets Inside!
• Add 5 Pounds of Muscle Today!
  
• Washboard Abs in 2 Weeks!
• Fat Loss made EASY!
• Your dream body in 28 Days!

Now, it is not abnormal for magazines with these types of claims to appear year round. However, it particularly hit me this time as I realized that most people tend to specifically focus on body transformation at the turn of the new year.
"This year I'm going to remain consistent in the weight room."
"This time I'm actually going to eat healthy for a year straight."
Statements such as this are certain to be floating around New Years' cocktail parties, or inside people's heads as they write out their New Years' resolutions. Not to mention, any gym I have worked at, or been a member of, always experiences an influx of people signing up with the certainty that "this year" they will be consistent.

Now, I certainly don't mean to make light of resolutions made by many at the onset of a new year. I have made them myself in years past, and I know that most people truly believe they can change. However, what I do want to make clear is that changing the way we behave, especially with regards to body transformation (be it fat loss, muscle gain, or both), is NOT EASY. Many people spend copious amounts of time and resources searching for the one secret they can apply to achieve the goal of their dreams. Unfortunately, there is NO SECRET.

Now, are the basic principles of fat loss and muscle gain a lot more simple than most of the "internet experts" or magazines (ex. always promising the "latest and greatest" information) make them out to be? Sure. But it's not easy. It takes a lot of hard effort, time, and consistency. What I hope to convey to people I work with and those I converse with is that body transformation is not the easy (or quick) process that the media tries to tell us.

This is not news to most of us, but we live in a fast-paced society which makes it increasingly difficult to have patience with goals that take time. With the internet providing immediate access to information, and microwaves popping out meals for us in a matter of minutes, we begin to subconsciously believe that there must be a quick-fix to everything. The reality is:

Good Sleep + Hard Work + Consistency + Time = Results

(I believe that sleep impacts all of the other variables, which is why I placed it first) Now, I understand that many of us need guidance in these areas. My hope is to provide weekly (at minimum) updates on how to effectively channel our hard work in order to see (and feel!) results. Whether reaching for increased performance on the playing field, or achieving a desired body transformation, all it really comes down to is "Eat clean, and move around more". My job is to communicate this in a way that gives people practical, and effective, ways of doing so.

Create Your Own Suspension Trainer!

I'm finally putting this up. I hope it is easy to follow and if you have any questions feel free to email me. A few pointers:

• You can buy the straps online (Amazon) or at a local department store (Home Depot). They're usually found under "lashing straps" or "utility straps"
  
• Be sure the strength (usually it will say "working load/limit" on the package) of the lashing/utility strap is greater than the weight of yourself or anyone that uses it
• As you make the handles, be sure to position the straps (as you slide them through the buckles) so that as you hang from it, the strap won't slide through the buckle (if you mess it up, you'll notice quickly but it won't be tough to redo it)
  
• In the video, I used just normal rope for the foot-loops, but I find that climbing rope works a bit better (the knot stays put easier)
• Here is a link (I mentioned in the video) on how to tie a bowline knot...it will be a bit easier to see how it's done here. Again, you don't have to use it, but I find it the most practical for this particular scenario: Bowline Knot
  

All-in-all, I think this is one of the best tools you can use for travel or spur-of-the-moment workouts where you may not have access to a gym. All you need to do is find a playground (pullup bars or monkey bars often work well), or a tree with a horizontal branch high enough for you to attach it to. You can also take it into a gym and use it for core training at the end of your routine, or incorporate some suspended exercises into a metabolic conditioning circuit.

I can post some videos on sample routines you can do with it as well so you can grasp a better picture of how to actually utilize it. The TRX website also lists a lot of great exercises you can use it for: Fitness Anywhere

Wednesday Musings

1) The picture above is from a wedding I recently attended with my brother and sister-in-law. My brother (on the right) was the one who helped me launch off into a regular training program when I was a senior in high school. He told me that the days in which the last thing I wanted to do was lift weights, begin a sprint session, or complete whatever my training program had in store for me, those would be the days that would either make or break me. He said that trials would continue to hit me from left and right, and if I allowed these (be it relationship issues, feeling exhausted from work, feeling demotivated, etc.) to stop me from training, then I had no right to complain about failing to achieve my goals. To overcome temporal, subjective emotion and train to enhance my physical being (which ultimately helps strengthen the mind), is an invaluable way to cultivate character. I have never looked back. I can attribute most of my success to him. I cannot remember the last day I have missed a planned training session. Every time I begin to convince myself that exercise isn't necessary on a particular day, I remember his words.

Do you have a mentor in your life? Someone that you trust, someone that you can be yourself around, and not put on a mask? We all need a support group, or person, that can be there when we are reaching for something. Be it fat loss, muscle gain, dietary changes, or career goals, we need someone to help push us forward and keep our heads up when we're down. Who do you have in your life that can do that for you? They may even be right in front of you, and would be more than willing to fill that role, but you haven't allowed them to. Sometimes we miss what is right in front of us.

2) Over the Summer my girlfriend and I found a small hill to push a car on (pictured below). This is one of the best workouts I've ever done. Pushing a car will tax your entire body, provided you use the right size vehicle for your strength, and find a hill just steep enough so that you can't push it very quickly (we had to take 30s breaks every couple yards as we were moving it very slowly). It's also a great way to spend time with someone. My sister, as well as few of my friends, tried it as well, and told me that they equally enjoyed it (so I know I'm not just insane and the only one that enjoys this sort of thing :) ). I encourage you to find someone over Thanksgiving break and get in a little pre-turkey workout!

Equipment needed: car, pavement, and a partner.

3) I cooked an ostrich egg for dinner (the one on the left in the picture, in case I needed to clarify) with my girlfriend over the summer. Looking for something different to cook for your lady? Try one of these (assuming that she's adventurous):

A note worth mentioning: you'll have to take a hammer (or use a very strong knife and slam it) to the egg to break it. Oh, and the egg tasted identical to that of a chicken egg. There was just a lot more yolk.

4) Did you know that the 300 Spartans chosen to fight at Thermopylae were chosen not necessarily based on their own valor, but on that of their wives? Since the battle was basically a suicide mission, the King wanted to ensure that those left behind (namely the women) would have the strength and courage to hold Sparta together after the death of their husbands.

5) Want to see what some of my training sessions look like? You can expect to see some in upcoming posts!

Breakfast #2

No time in the morning to fix yourself a gourmet meal? Too tired to think about actually preparing something before rushing out into the madness of traffic and the workplace? Here's another scrumptious breakfast you can whoop up in 5 minutes, assuming you've planned accordingly:

Vegetable Scromelette

(A scromelette is a combination of scrambled eggs and an omelette in the case of confusion)

My breakfast (I added turkey bacon on the side). Well worth 5 minutes in the morning.

Step 1: The night before, chop your vegetables. This will save you loads of time come sunrise. A convenient time to do this is while you're already in the kitchen making dinner. Chop up onions (I prefer red), bell peppers (I used green and red in the picture), and pre-slice cheese if you need to. Place them in a tupperware container in the fridge.

Step 2: Turn off the TV an hour early so you can get some actual sleep. How does this help you with your breakfast? One reason people complain about not having "time" in the morning to prepare breakfast is because they don't sleep enough (and thus have to use every spare minute they can in the morning to sleep until they have just enough time to make it out the door). Try cutting out some time-wasting activities such as spending that extra (and unnecessary) hour of television watching or internet surfing that typically takes place well after dinner.

Step 3: In the morning, preheat a frying pan on medium heat. While the pan is heating, whisk about 3 eggs in a bowl (I sometimes add liquid egg whites too), and pull your pre-chopped vegetables out of the fridge.

Step 4: If you're a coffee drinker, get some coffee brewing while the pan finishes heating.

Step 5: Spray the pan with some olive oil cooking spray, and toss the vegetables onto the pan. After a minute or two (depending how crispy you like the vegetables), toss the eggs into the pan, stirring as needed. If you like cheese (pepper jack tastes very good with this), then toss it on right before the eggs are finished cooking.

Step 6: Season with salt, pepper, and salsa if desired.

Step 7: After a couple minutes, your breakfast should be hot and ready to go!

Not so hard huh? Give it a shot, I guarantee you won't be disappointed. It will also save you the unwanted weight gain from reaching for muffins that seem oh-so-tempting when we're famished from skipping a nutrient-dense breakfast.

Ever wonder why you can't shed those last stubborn pounds? Your "breakfast" may be your primary suspect.

How Will You Impact Someone?

I read this off of Alwyn Cosgrove's Blog a few months ago. It's a good read and makes you think about how you may permanently impact someone that crosses your path:

A tale of two people

"When I was in high school in Livingston I was in an advanced mathematics class. I have no idea how I got there as I was clearly the dumbest kid in the class.

Sat next to me in the class was a guy (Keith Wilson) who spent his spare time (at 14 years old) working for a company converting the program code for an arcade computer game to a home version. He used to hand in his homework on a floppy disk...

Me? I was drawing sharks on the back of my notebook...

So while studying quadratic equations, (something that has been oh-so-useful in my life...) it was clear that I didn't understand it. I asked the teacher to go over it again. He sighed an exasperated sigh - but he went over it again.

I still didn't get it.

So I asked again. The teacher sighed loudly and said "Okay - the rest of you take a five minute break while I go over this again for Alwyn's benefit ....." and then mumbled "for whatever good that will do"

Obviously I felt pretty small at that point. And of course the whole class heard him and laughed.
And I still didn't get it.
And I never asked a question to this teacher again.
And I failed the exam for the class.

This teacher was a man who had a chance to make a kid feel better and help him, or put him down and make him feel worthless. He chose the latter. Why? Just because he could. That's the kind of person he was.

Another person in my life was my Taekwon-do instructor - Derek Campbell. My Dad was made unemployed and we could no longer afford lessons. I went to my instructor and told him that we just couldn't afford lessons anymore and I'd be back when my Dad got a job.

He told me to show up early for the next class and become his assistant - teaching beginners. He would pay me with free lessons.

I went on to become a fourth degree black belt, and seven time UK national champion as a result.

This teacher was also a man who had a chance to make a kid feel better and help him, or put him down and make him feel worthless. He chose the former. Why? Just because he could. That's the kind of person he was.

One person changed a kids life and made it worse. One person changed a kid's life and made it better. I remember both of them.

We have all had, and remember these people in our lives - the only question to ask is ...

What kind of person are you?"

-Alwyn Cosgrove