RIP Steve McNair
One of my favorite Quarterbacks of all time
Terminology
Too many people think they know what they are talking about when it come to exercise. They use catch words like “endurance” “power” and “strength” but do not understand the real meaning behind those words. After reading this, you will gain a better understanding of exercise terminology that will hopefully help boost your workouts and achieve your goals faster.
Muscle Imbalance: Alteration of muscle length surrounding a joint
Muscular Endurance: The ability of of the body to produce low levels of force and maintain them for an extended period of time.
Hypertrophy: Increase in size of the muscle.
Atrophy: Decrease in size of the muscle.
Agonist: Muscles that are the primary movers in a joint motion. (Prime Movers)
Synergist: Muscles that assist prime movers
Antagonist: Muscles that act in direct opposition of the prime movers.
Stabilizers: Muscle that support the body while the prime movers and the synergist perform the movements patters.
Neutralizers: Muscles that counteract the unwanted actions of other muscles.
Power: The ability to exert maximal force in the shortest amount of time.
Strength: The ability of the neuromuscular system to provide internal tension and exert force against external resistance. (Recorded as 1 rep max)
Strength Endurance: The ability of the body to repeatedly produce high levels of force for prolonged periods
Neural Adaptations: An adaptation to strength training in which muscles are under the direct command of the nervous system. (For your muscles to contract and keep contracting…they must receive a signal from your nervous system. If a motor unit (a neuron and all the muscle fibers it innervates) stop firing, you will not be able to lift that weight.
Strength Balance
Anytime you set up a strength training program you want to make sure that you balance your strength so your body doesn’t develop muscle imbalances. However, humans are very frontally fixated and spend so much time training muscles that they can see in the mirror such as the chest, biceps, and abs. I think that if our eyes were placed in the back of our heads, I am sure everyone would want nice glutes (ass) and spend little time on their chest and abs.
When I am training I don’t focus on specific muscles, I focus on the planes that I am performing the movements in . For example, exercises of the upper body consist of horizontal pushes, horizontal pulls, vertical pushes, and vertical pulls. In addition, exercises of the lower body are made up of quad domaniate and hip dominate movements. To balance the body, you must combine a horizontal press with a horizontal pull and a vertical press with a vertical pull. For the lower body, you would want to balance the quad dominate exercises with the hip dominate exercises.
Upper Body Horizontal Press
1. Bench Press (incline, decline, DB, etc.)
2. Push ups
3. Dips
4. Cable press
Upper Body Horizontal Pull
1. Bent-over row
2. Inverted pullup
3. Seated/stadning cable row
Upper Body Vertical Press
1. Sholder press
2. Push press
3. Handstand pushups
4. Jerks
5. DB scaption
Upper Body Vertical Pulls
1. Pullups
2. Lat pulldowns
Lower Body Quad Dominant
1. Squats
2. Split squats
3. Lateral squats
4. Lunges
5. Deadlifts
Lower Body Hip Dominant
1. Good mornings
2. RDL
3. Glute bridge
4. Back extensions
5. Reverse hyper extension
Remember to always give equal attention to the anterior and posterior portions of your body. Too many people spend more time working on the anterior than the posterior and this causes serious muslce imbalances and decrements in stregth and power.
This is a perfect example of someone that does not have a strong posterior chain…
Workout of the Day (WOD)
Warm up: 135 lbs Barbbell complex (incorporating multiple exercises one right after the other just using the barbbell)
1. Clean -> thruster (front squat to overhead press) -> Front right lunge -> Front left lunge -> Push up (hands still on BB) 3 sets
2. Power clean -> 3 front squats -> 1 push press -> 3 back squats -> 1 push press from back squat position
The WOD: Try to complete this workout as fast as possible (AFAP) of reps of 21 -15 – 9
21 deadlift @ 225 lbs
21 pull ups
21 plyo pushups
15 deadlift @ 225 lbs
15 pull ups
15 plyo pushups
9 deadlifts @225 lbs
9 pull ups
9 plyo pushups
The BASIC Blue Print of a Typical Workout
Follow these eight steps in order to achieve total workout that involves injury prevention, core, strength, power, speed, agility, and flexibility.
1. General Warm Up: This consist of any low impact/low intensity cardiovascular work to increase heart rate, body temperture, and increase blood flow of the body. Exercises consist of jogging, rowing, versa-climber, jump rope, jumping jacks, bike, etc. A general warm-up take about 3-5 minutes.
2. Dynamic Warm Up/Movement Prep: Multiple joint movements of your own body weight to increase body temperture, stretch muscles, and prepare the body for the movements you will do in your workout or on the field. Exercises include push ups, squats, multiplanar lunges, single leg squat react, etc…This should take 8-10 minutes. For more information about dynamic warm up. (refer to blog “Time to Stretch” June 16, 2009)
3. Prehab: The focus to stregthen the most vulnerable areas on your body that get stressed in everyday movement (Verstegen 2004). These exercises will strengthen your shoulders, hips, and core muscles to allow you to correct any muscle imbalances while also preventing injury. 5-8 minutes
4. Core: This puts a little more emphasis on your core muscles. I believe that you should perform exercise that focus on the transverse abdominis, internal/external obliques, and back extensors. 8-10 min
5. Skills and Drills: Even if you are not an athlete, you should still incorporate plyometrics, speed, and agility training into your workouts. 10-15 min
7. Energy System Development (ESD/”cardio”): Run, swim, bike, jump rope, row, and even elliptical your way to achieve optimal cardiovascular shape. However, in ESD training you must keep your heart rate up through a series of sprint intervals… intensity is the key! When is the last time you have seen a fat sprinter? (Verstegen, 2004)
15-30 minutes
8. Regeneration: Foam roll and stretch to correct any muscle imbalances and help speed up recovery. Takes about 10-15 minutes. (Refer to blog “Time to Stretch” June 16, 2009)
This is just the very basic layout of a typical workout routine that covers all forms of physical fitness. In addition, there is so much more detail that goes into every step of this eight step process. If you have question, please feel free to leave a comment or e-mail me at anytime.
Workout of the Day (WOD) POWER!!!
3 rounds for time…
10 power cleans @ 135 lbs
20 plyo push ups
30 wall ball
40 box jumps 24 inch
50 double unders
Time to Stretch!
Stretching gets over looked a lot by many people and athletes who are trying to achieve an optimal level of fitness. The reason why flexibility training does not get much attention is because people do not fully understand the concepts of stretching. The main reason why flexibility training is so important is because it will fix muscle imbalances, decrease joint dysfunctions, and decrease overuse injuries. According to Micheal Clark (President and CEO of the National Academy of Sports Medicine) states,
Today’s society is plagued by postural imbalances, primarily owning to sedentary lifestyles caused by the advancements in technology. More people today are spending time in office-related jobs, which require individuals to sit for long hours. More than ever before, flexibility training has become a key component in developing neuromuscular efficiency and decreasing these dysfunctions. (140)
In addition, knowing what type of stretches to use before, during, and after your workout is crucial for correcting muscle imbalances and increasing neuromuscular efficiency. Here are some tips that will help you the next time you workout…
1. Ballistic Stretch: This type of stretching involves bouncing and skipping movements. This of movement is more of a general warm-up to increase the body’s temperature before you start your workout or activity. Arm circles, skips, and bouncing during your stretch are considered ballistic.
2. Static Stretch: Is the process of passively taking a muscle to a point of tension and holding the stretch for a minimum of 20 seconds (Clark, Lucett, & Corn 2008). Static stretching is the most widely used stretch that you see in fitness today. However, the best time to static stretch is after your workout or activity. The only time you should use static stretching before your workout or activity, is if you are really tight in a specific area and you want to loosen it up a bit more.
3. Dynamic/Movement Prep Warm-up: Is lengthening the muscles using force production of your own body weight. The reason that I also call it “Movement Prep” is because you are preparing the body for the movements that you will use during exercise or competition. This type of stretching should be executed right after a general warm-up (jog, jumping jacks, jump rope, etc.) and before your workout or competition. Some basic dynamic warm-ups consist of body-weighted squats, lunges, multiplanar lunges, push-ups, dips, figure skaters, etc. 1 set of 6-10 reps is enough for you to get warmed up.
4. Active Isolated Stretch (AIS): The process of using agonist (prime mover) and synergist (assist the prime mover) to move the joint into a range of motion. AIS is somewhat like static stretching but, in AIS you are stretching the muscle for 1-2 seconds and then relaxing. You would want to perform 1-2 sets of 5-10 reps of a stretch. AIS should be done before your workout or even during your workout to help clear up lactic acid.
5. Self-Myofascial Release (SMR): Also known as “Foam Rolling” this stretching technique focuses on the neural system and the fibrous tissue that surrounds and separates muscle tissue. This fibrous tissue sometimes sticks to the muscles and forms adhesions or “knots”. Using a foam roll (or softball, tennis ball, golf ball, etc) to apply gentle pressure (your bodyweight) to a muscle that might feel tight. Roll around that specific muscle and try to find knots or tender spots. Once you have located knot, apply pressure for a minimum of 30 seconds or until the pain goes away. The best time to SMR is after your workout or competition; however you can also SMR before you workout to loosen up muscles that might be extra tight.
So stretch dam it! Correct those muscle imbalances and stay injury and pain free
Quick Tips about Nutrition
1. Eat five to six small meals a day.
2. Stay away from high sugar foods like candy, sodas, or ice cream
3. Eat more fruits, vegetables, and nuts throughout the day
4. Stay away from fast food
5. Eat lean proteins throughout the day
6. If you really want to cut weight, only eat starch-containing foods (bread, rice, cereal, etc) in the morning for breakfast or immediately after your workout.
7. Drink water and limit your consumption of liquid calories (soda, juice, beer, etc.).
8. Have a cheat day in which you can eat whatever you want. However, the best time to pig out is right after you workout (metabolic window)
9. Record everything you eat and the times you eat. This will allow you to keep on track with your diet and stick with it.
10. If you eat out, eat half of what you ordered and take the other half home and consume it at another time.
“Yin Yang” Workout of the Day (WOD)
Complete this workout as fast as possible (AFAP) for time. After you have finished your workout, record and post your times.
Run 400 meters
21 Thrusters (squat to overhead press) 30 lbs dumbbells
21 Pull ups
21 Burpees
21 Sit ups
Run 400 meters
15 Thrusters (30 lbs DB)
15 Pull ups
15 burpees
15 Sit ups
Run 400 meters
9 Thrusters (30 lbs DB)
9 Pull ups
9 burpees
9 Sit ups
This workout should not take more than 25 minutes to complete. If you cannot do pull ups, you can regress the exercise to jumping pull ups.
