Laws Of Training (cont.)

4. SAID Principle

Your muscles and their respective subcellular components will adapt in highly specific ways to the demands (adaptive stress) you impose upon them in your training. This applies as well to various bodily systems and tissues other than your muscles. This is the SAID Principle, the acronym for “Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands.” If your training objectives include becoming more explosive, then you have to train explosively. If you desire greater limit strength (primarily from an increase in the cross section of myofibrils), you must use heavier weights than if you were training, for example, local muscular endurance (capillarization and mitochondrial adaptations). If your objectives include deriving cardiovascular benefits, then you must tax the heart muscle as well as the oxygen-using abilities of the working muscles.

In fact, the SAID principle is so uncompromising in its highly researched tenet of training “specifically” that problems frequently arise if one possesses more than one training objective at a time. The specific training required for one will frequently detract from the expected gains in the other. For example, training for aerobic strength endurance (aerobic power) will severely limit the level of limit strength one can attain. Similarly, stressing one’s ATP/CP energy system calls for different training methods than does training one’s glycolytic (lactic acid) or aerobic (oxidative) energy systems.

Your specific adaptive responses to exercise can change dramatically over time. This is particularly true as you age. But it is also true if you have successfully improved your body’s recovery abilities. Clearly, this can be accomplished through the use of (illegal and often dangerous) drugs or through the use of certain nutritional supplements. Simply, with improved recovery ability, your body has become a different body, so the adaptation mechanisms have changed.

 

Laws Of Training (cont.)

2. Overcompensation Principle

Calluses build up on your hands as an adaptive response to friction. Muscle fibers grow in size and strength in response to training. Lacerated tissue develops scar tissue. All involve Mother Nature’s law of overcompensation for a stress response. In other words, it is nothing more than a survival mechanism built into the genetic code of the species.

3. Overload Principle

Related to the Overcompensation principle is the principle that states that in order to gain in strength, muscle size or endurance from any training, you must exercise against a resistance greater than that “normally” encountered. If you use the same amount of resistance for the same number of repetitions every workout, there will be no continued improvement beyond the point to which your body has already adapted.

There is a built-in problem with this principle. Your body is wonderfully adaptable to stresses imposed during training. As you get stronger and stronger, the stress levels required to force added adaptation rise to such a height that your recuperative powers simply cannot keep up. The solution? It is very simple. At this point you must go to a split system of training. Then, perhaps later, a double or even triple split. The only other solution will be for your training progress to plateau (or worse, you will enter a state of overtraining), as you are not affording your body ample time for recovery — and further adaptation — to occur. This solution begs the question of how to “periodize” your training.

International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA) 

 

Laws of Training (The Seven “Grandaddy” Laws)

There are numerous training philosophies in the fitness industry. From books and magazines to videos and the Internet, the information can be overwhelming. Some work best for strength, others for size. Some for cuts, some for speed. Some for sports, some for fitness. Some for hard gainers, some for beginners. Even if you have time to peruse all of them and adequate knowledge of training science to make informed choices, uncertainty as to which is best can still paralyze you. Science, then, must guide you. After all there is really only one science. But all too frequently, science is misinterpreted, which leads to confusion.

There are well-documented training principles that are important in judging the merits of any training system. There are at least seven overlapping principles upon which all systems must rely if optimum effectiveness in training outcomes is to be expected. Most (but not all) of the training systems popular in current muscle magazines adhere only in part to The Seven “Granddaddy” Laws. What determines whether a training system is more or less effective than another lies in how these laws are implemented, how they are used to the best advantage of the trainee and whether or not they are even considered.

1. Principle of Individual Differences

This principle is an acknowledgment that we all have different genetic blueprints. David Q. Thomas, Ph.D. stated, “We all will have similar responses and adaptations to the stimulus of exercise, but the rate and magnitude of these changes will be limited by our differing genetics. Some are fast responders and others are slow responders. Some have the capacity to reach elite status and some do not. If we have everyone perform the same exercise program, they will all not receive the same benefits at the same rate or to the same extent. This is an important principle to teach to people wishing to start an exercise program or to youngsters just coming into sports. There are two reasons: 1) so they can set realistic goals, and 2) so they do not get frustrated when they do not see miraculous changes in their bodies or performance.”

International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA) 8th Edition Text

 

Age Is No Excuse For Infirmity

Dr. DeVries of USC has shown that men and women in their 70s and 80s can achieve levels of vigor associated with people 30 years younger. This means that assuming there are no underlying disorders, exercise can make an 85-year-old as strong as a 55-year-old person. Regular participation in physical activity can raise the fitness level of an active 64-year-old to that of an average, sedentary 30-year-old.

In 1984, Dr. Bortz, co-chairman of the American Medical Association’s Task Force on Aging and past president of the American Geriatrics Society, took all the information he had gathered over many years and compiled them in a review paper titled “Disuse and Aging” for the Journal of the American Medical Association. Bortz concluded that if you recorded a list of all the changes in the human body that are attributed to aging and then compiled a similar list of changes due to physical inactivity, you would notice a striking similarity between the two lists. For example, changes associated with both aging and inactivity include changes in muscles, bones, brain, cholesterol, blood pressure, sleep habits, sexual performance, psychological inventory and so forth. The near duplication of the lists demonstrates that many of the bodily changes we have always ascribed to the normal aging process may really be caused by disuse. It is imperative that older adults understand the significance of this information and are educated as to how to prevent many of these changes with activity.

The founder of the American Running and Fitness Association, Richard Bohannon, MD, says that more than half of all older adults believe they get enough exercise through minimal walking and routine activities. In truth, more strenuous activities provide greater fitness gains and more preventative benefits; with proper supervision, older adults are perfectly capable of training at higher intensities. Gerontologists tell us that once we reach the age of 50 the need for fitness is even more crucial due to the many physiological changes that occur with age.

Another myth of aging is that as you get older, you naturally become more fragile. However, when we look at the bones of older runners, like the runners mentioned previously, we see minimal loss of bone due to the continual force applied to the bones over many years of running. Wolf’s Law, named for the German pathologist who first proclaimed it, states: “The robustness of a bone is in direct proportion to the physical forces applied to that bone.” In short, if we remain active our bones will remain strong. Participation in vigorous exercise and recreational activities regularly over a lifetime can yield rewards garnered well into the later years of life. Adults who lead a sedentary existence lose bone density and increase their risk of fracturing bones in accidents in their homes or of becoming unable to perform daily living activities. People who continue to lead healthy, active lives into their later years are at less risk for such serious and debilitating injuries. Researchers at UCLA performed a study on 4,300 people. Of that population, only 12% who exhibited few or no unhealthy habits became disabled over the next decade. Nineteen percent of those who had many bad habits paid the price by way of illness, disability and death.

Healthy habits not only reduce the risk of fatal heart attacks and cancer, but also reduce other chronic ailments that can be physically, psychologically and financially debilitating. The bottom line is this: The more exercise has been a constant in your life the better your chances are of living long and well.

Older adults who want to maintain physical and emotional independence must engage in regular exercise.

International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA) 8th Edition Text

 

WHY THIS SITE IS SO AWESOME

I have no idea where I’ve been over the past couple of days.  I just realized that I haven’t posted anything since the 1st of the month which is the longest amount of time I’ve gone since starting this blog.  With the people I train, my kids, family, and the fact that I just started a new site about 2 weeks ago, I guess that’s where I am spending most of my time.  I’m coming with all the wrong excuses.  (I have a buddy that says that to people on a regular basis as if there is a such thing as an acceptable excuse.)  🙂 

The title ‘Why This Site Is So Awesome” is for a reason.  That reason is because I received an email informing me of how I was voted as one of the top blogs for the month of May.

Here I am busy (wrong excuse :)) over the past couple of days and this shows up.  I appreciate this because I have reached a few readers who really enjoy my blog and which reminds me of the reason why I started this blog in the first place. 

I started this blog so I could make an attempt at growing a large community of readers so I can share on a regular basis the information that has helped me and many others.  I am passionate about training and helping others achieve their goals, therefore, I must remember, that is why I chose to blog.  I’m still old school in many ways and I believe that no matter what the circumstances are, if I make a commitment, then there is no backing out.   Three days is too long and it makes me feel somewhat disconnected from the world. 

With all that said,I want to take time to thank you all and thank the ladies over at The Diet Pulpit for reminding me of why I chose to blog. 

 

The Female Knee (cont.)

The other problem is one of ignorance and tradition. Women are simply trained like “girls.” This is unacceptable. Even when female athletes are trained, coaches often use a hodge-podge of techniques driven by “that’s what I did when I was on the team.” Many are taught to be weak. Way too often, sports coaches just throw excessive endurance training at their athletes in the form of long distance running because they simply do not understand the energy system requirements of their sport. They don’t actually know what to do so they just dismiss it as “running far builds endurance.” Unfortunately, it is rarely the type of endurance required unless you happen to be a track or cross country athlete involved in the sport of distance running. Most often you only get bored, fatigued, overheated athletes with overuse injuries and muscles that are too worn out to perform the explosive elements required in most sports.

Things don’t get any better in the weight room. Everyday I fight the notion that “I can’t do that; I’ll get bulky.” Many women have absolutely no idea of the wonderful things they are capable of obtaining in the gym. Those who are involved in sports are often mistreated and under coached. My dream is for everyone who trains to use the same science and the same care and attention regardless of gender and regardless of how many advertising dollars their pro career will be worth. I want to see athletes trained like athletes, plain and simple.

One of the first things I do with all of my athletes, male or female, is to teach them to squat correctly. Just the simple neurological programming of learning to squat with the posterior chain while pushing the hips back gives females a better choice of technique to use in landing. Women tend to decelerate a landing with their quads, which is the opposite of the male tendency to use the hamstrings/glutes to decelerate. I always ask people if they have ever seen a toddler deep-squatting to play with some toys on the floor. Watch them. Head up, chest up, hips back, and the knees are over the ankles. We spend our lives unlearning what is a very natural squatting position. I want all of my athletes/clients to relearn it.

Once people learn to use the posterior chain properly and strengthen it to previously unconceivable levels then landing and decelerating with it become natural. With the exception of the squat/deadlift and its variations, the all time best weapon against knee injuries is the hamstring bulletproofing movement know as the Glute-Ham-Gastroc raise. Many people, even the strong ones, cannot do a single rep at the beginning with the footplate set on its easiest position. This shows you right away how grossly under trained the hamstrings are.

In my years of coaching athletes, I’ve encountered many people with tremendous quad strength, weak hams, and, of course, knee pain. Once they bring up their posterior strength, the knee pain usually disappears. The posterior chain is engaged in this exercise from the bottom of the toes all the way to the back of the head. The large calf muscles cross the knee joint along with the hamstrings from the other direction, and a stronger muscle-tendon junction here would help with increased knee stability.

Training should come at knee stability from other angles as well. Knee valgus, or being knock-kneed, is fairly common and dangerous to the medial collateral ligament. One of the best ways to shore up the knee and prevent, or even potentially alleviate this condition, is to strengthen the muscles on the upper/outer side of the hip. Specifically this would be the gluteus medius/minimus, tensor fasciae latae, and the I.T. band (iliotibial). There are several great athletic movements to help these muscles. No angle should be ignored. The structure of the knee demands that it be strong in all directions. This means making all of the muscles of the lower body strong and ready for action.

One of the biggest things differentiating my training from others is that I don’t consider women to be second-class athletes. They are different, to be sure, but are capable of unbelievable heroics, athletic grace, and beauty. I’m lucky in that I get to see women doing amazing things in the gym and on the field all of the time. I’m not interested in hearing about estrogen and menstrual excuses for knee problems. Furthermore, there have been differences noted in landing technique between male and female athletes. These can be addresses by proper training and are therefore not a huge issue.

I’ve often said that female athletes use brains and heart to accomplish things that testosterone makes much easier. Smarter training will prevail. The real issue lies in the lack of proper coaching. People need to be educated. Our little girls deserve it. Our moms deserve it.

Bob Jodoin is an ISSA master trainer, a New York strength master trainer, a NBFE fellow, and a former director of strength and conditioning at Total Performance Sports. He is now a strength and conditioning coach as well as a personal trainer in sunny Orlando, Florida. Bob serves as a strength and conditioning advisor for youth sports to the Winter Springs Pop Warner Midgets, the Wild AAU 13U baseball, and M-PACT Sports. He can be reached at bobjnys@aol.com.

Elite Fitness Systems strives to be a recognized leader in the strength training industry by providing the highest quality strength training products and services while providing the highest level of customer service in the industry. For the best training equipment, information, and accessories visit us at http://www.EliteFTS.com.

 

The Female Knee

Being a father of 3 one boy athlete and two young female athletes, this article is probably my most favorite of all time.  I will break this into two sections so follow along.

“Girls are stronger. Boys are stinky” This is what my 6-year-old little girl says when asked who is stronger. I want her to understand from a young age that women are not second-class athletes. My baby girl is never going to be sent over to the pink dumbbell rack and the treadmill and told to lift light while the boys are overtraining the squat. She’ll be under the bar with the boys, and if they give her a hard time, she will only have to say, “Don’t make me call my Dad!”

Sports opportunities are on the rise, and female athletes keep gaining more recognition. It isn’t near enough, but it’s slowly getting better. There are many incredible role models out there. Female athletes are my heroes because they do things with their brains and heart that the males need testosterone to do. They are fierce! This is all a good thing.

The bad thing is that female athletes are tearing up their anterior cruciate ligaments at an alarming and epidemic rate. This is sad, wrong, and most likely preventable, at least to a much greater degree than what is currently happening. Any sport where female athletes need to decelerate and change direction on their feet shows an ACL injury rate some eight times more than in male athletes.

The whole issue really came home to me when a good friend of mine, Dr. Jack Barnathan, DC (ISSA director of fitness sciences), gave his talk on female ACL injuries. I found the problem to be absolutely outrageous, especially when I learned what the medical community was doing about it.

I’m going to do something about it. I’m doing something about it right now. My strength does not lie in the lab or in the halls of academia. I do my work in the gym. I teach women how to squat.

First, I want to identify one of the problems. Bodybuilding is a sport. I give my iron brothers and sisters respect because they work hard and are more dedicated to diets than probably any other group of athletes. There are techniques used in bodybuilding that serve a special purpose for correcting issues of symmetry and proportion. Their primary goal is isolation. However, these techniques typically have no place in athletics. The human body is not meant to work in isolation but is rather a remarkable machine that does its best work when working in concert with different aspects of itself.

One of the biggest demons rears its ugly head in the name of isolating the quadriceps muscle group. This is the sinister and malevolent creature known as the leg extension machine. Since the predominant media force comes from the bodybuilding magazines, the public has learned all of its technique and terminology from them. Unfortunately, this includes our athletic and fitness community.

The bodybuilder, when posing in the mirror, is very concerned about the biceps, quads, rectus abdominus, and the pectorals. These muscles are not, however, the most important for athletic human movement. The more important muscles are those of the posterior chain, the ones that you cannot see in the mirror. The posterior chain starts at the heel and continues up the back of the leg right into the muscles of the lower back. As a group, they are under trained. This is one problem.

Bob Jodoin is an ISSA master trainer, a New York strength master trainer, a NBFE fellow, and a former director of strength and conditioning at Total Performance Sports. He is now a strength and conditioning coach as well as a personal trainer in sunny Orlando, Florida. Bob serves as a strength and conditioning advisor for youth sports to the Winter Springs Pop Warner Midgets, the Wild AAU 13U baseball, and M-PACT Sports.

Elite Fitness Systems strives to be a recognized leader in the strength training industry by providing the highest quality strength training products and services while providing the highest level of customer service in the industry. For the best training equipment, information, and accessories visit us at http://www.EliteFTS.com.

 

Being Sedentary Can Be Hazardous To Your Health

The following list includes information and facts regarding the adverse effects associated with physical inactivity.

• Inactivity and poor diet cause at least 300,000 deaths a year in the United States.
• Adults who are less active are at greater risk of dying of heart disease and developing diabetes, colon cancer and high blood pressure.
• More than 60% of U.S. adults do not engage in the recommended amount of physical activity.
• Approximately 40% of U.S. adults are not active at all.
• Physical inactivity is more common among women than men, African American and Hispanic adults than whites, older than younger adults, and the less affluent than more affluent individuals.
• Social support from family and friends is consistently and positively related to regular physical activity.
• Inactivity increases with age. By age 75, about one in three men and one in two women engage in no physical activity.
• People with disabilities are less likely to engage in regular moderate physical activity than people with no physical disabilities, yet they have similar needs to promote health and prevent lifestyle-related diseases.

International Sports Sciences Assoc. (ISSA)  8th Edition Text

LIFT HARD!  TRAIN HARD!

 

WEEKS OFF

Wow!  Taking any amount of time off will make a person feel like they are completely out of touch with what’s going on anywhere. 

That’s exactly what I have done over the past few days.  I’ve posted but I’ve had these last couple posts in my Manage file for several weeks. 

Due to the effects of my surgery I haven’t trained in 2 weeks and I’ve lost 5 pounds as a result, which doesn’t make me happy. 

I have not had any contact with any of the people I train.  Which really seems like it puts me out of touch.  I may not be, but I feel that way. 

I haven’t read anyone else’s entries, which, now I’m behind.

 I guess the reason I am writing this is because life changes on a daily basis and unless I am up on current events in my life and others’ I can miss some very important information. 

Oh well, I hope you all are still on the correct path to your goals and didn’t allow the distraction of yet, another holiday, foil your plans.

LIFT HARD!  TRAIN HARD!

 

MYTHS

Myth #2: Strength training will stunt the growth of children.

It still amazes me that parents won’t hesitate to get their young children (6-7 years old) involved in sports such as football, gymnastics, basketball and soccer, yet they feel that participating in a strength-training program is damaging to their children’s bone health and will stunt their growth. Nothing can be further from the truth.

The fact of the matter is that running, jumping and tackling can create loading on a child’s body which is up to ten times greater than most strength training exercises. In other words, the physical demands on a child’s body are far greater on the athletic field compared to the weightroom. Parents who don’t let their children participate in resistance training are actually increasing their children’s risk for injury on the athletic field.

There have even been position stands by such organizations as the American Orthopedic Society for Sports Medicine and the American Academy of Pediatrics suggesting that children can benefit from participation in a properly designed and supervised resistance training program. Position stands recommend that prepubescent children shouldn’t lift maximal weights; they should lift weights that can be lifted for at least six repetitions with proper form.

Strength training in this manner can be the most potent exercise stimulus for bone growth and development. In fact, research has shown that young weightlifters have greater bone densities than individuals who don’t lift. Thus, the positive benefits of resistance training for bone health, injury prevention and improved athletic performance are far greater than the risks.

J. Defranco           #3 of Top Ten Traininig Myths

LIFT HARD!  TRAIN HARD! 

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Should Aerobic Precede Resistance Training

This question is one that many people ask when trying to implement a strategic approach to their new found fitness lifestyle.  Some may not ask this question and just assume they know what to do, while others have been misinformed by a peer or a heap of misinformation in some strength and fitness magazine.  Consider this the next time you plan to put your program together. 

If your goal is bodyfat reduction, then we recommend that you do your aerobic work directly after your resistance training at less than 60% of your VO2 max. If you are doing cardiovascular work on your off days, then we recommend that you train at 75% to 85% of your VO2 max for the first 30 minutes and drop the intensity the remaining 20 to 30 minutes to less than 65% of your VO2 max.  Warming up for five minutes prior to resistance training while beneficial is not considered cardiovascular work. Warming up for five minutes is necessary because, during exercise, blood flow patterns change. Through the action of the sympathetic nervous system, blood is redirected away from areas where it is not essential to those areas that are active during exercise. Only 15 to 20% of resting cardiac output go to muscle, but during exhaustive exercise, the muscles receive 80 to 85% of the cardiac output. This shift is accomplished by reducing blood flow to the kidneys, liver, stomach and intestines. The warm-up allows for this transition to occur.

Keep in mind that the major factor that determines the role of fat as a substrate during exercise is its availability to the muscle cell. In order to be metabolized, bodyfat (triglycerides) must be degraded into three molecules of free fatty acids and one molecule of glycerol. This splitting allows the free fatty acids to be converted to acetyl-CoA and enter the Krebs cycle. Hence, if fat is not available to the muscle cell then it can not be metabolized.

Fat can only be metabolized via Krebs cycle oxidation. It is essential to recognize that a reduction in Krebs cycle intermediates: whether it is the result of (1) low carbohydrate diets, (2) no carbohydrate diets, or (3) excessive prolonged aerobic sessions, resulting in a diminished rate of ATP production from fat metabolism. When carbohydrate stores are depleted in the body, the rate at which fat is metabolized is reduced. Therefore, carbohydrates are essential in the ability to metabolize fat.  It is only the free fatty acids that are metabolized via the Krebs cycle that are used in ATP production that go toward reducing bodyfat levels.

Therefore, when designing an exercise program to reduce bodyfat stores, it is vital to consider both (1) the total rate of energy expenditure and (2) the percentage of energy that is derived from fat metabolism. You must optimize the availability of fat to the muscle cells through selection of appropriate intensity and duration of exercise sessions. Since it takes approximately 20 minutes for lipolysis (fat burning) to occur, the session should exceed 20 minutes in duration for fat to be made available to muscle cells. At approximately 70% of VO2 max the availability of fat to the muscle cells diminish due to an increase in lactate production, which inhibits fat metabolism. Although engaging in activity at 20% of VO2 max will burn 60% of calories from fat as compared to working at 50% of VO2 max which would derive 40% of energy from fat, the total rate of energy expenditure is 2.5 times greater at 50% VO2 max. The absolute amount of fat metabolized is 33% higher during exercise at 50% of VO2 max. The ideal rate of work would be at 50% of VO2 max for duration of 60 minutes. Unfortunately, this physiological actuality has led many individuals to mistakenly believe that because the body utilizes a greater percentage of fat as fuel during aerobic exercise at a relatively low level of intensity, such exercise is more effective for fat loss than high intensity exercise. These individuals ignore two very important facts. First, the absolute amount of fat calories burned during high intensity exercise tends to be equal to or greater than the number burned during low intensity exercise, even though the percentage of calories burned from fat is higher during low intensity exercise. Second, when you eat, you replenish both carbohydrates and fats. As soon as an excess of calories (from either fats or carbohydrates) exists, your body will begin to store them as fat. Once you eat after exercising (including those activities which burn more fat than carbohydrates), you will rapidly replenish any of your carbohydrate stores you may have used up. Once they are replenished, your body will begin to store the rest of your caloric intake as fat. The net result is that your body’s fat stores will be virtually unchanged—if at all. The critical point is that low-intensity aerobic exercise does not (by itself) cause you to alter your body’s overall energy balance. Keep in mind that you lose weight and body fat when you expend more calories than you consume, not because you burn fat (or anything else) when you exercise. By the same token, all other factors considered, the most positive feature of low-intensity aerobic exercise is that it is relatively well-tolerated (orthopedically) by most individuals.

Larger mitochondria in greater numbers, increased levels of aerobic enzymes, coupled with increased blood flow all boosts the fat burning capabilities of the muscle fibers. Aerobics can lead to more routes for blood to reach working muscles and more oxygen, which is needed for oxidation of nutrients within the mitochondria. The more massive a bodybuilder becomes the more routes in the form of blood vessels are needed to supply these working muscles. From fat burning to improved cardiovascular health to improved recovery abilities, aerobic work should be an integral part of all training programs.

Once you deplete glycogen in your body you will no longer maintain an adequate level needed for resistance training.  You simply do not have enough energy to tackle the intense demands of strength training.  In short, aerobic should succeed resistance training.

LIFT HARD!  TRAIN HARD!

www.fitnessgenerator.com/mcgheetraining

 

MYTH #3

I genuinely enjoy posting and exposing these controversial myths.  Part of my reason for becoming a personal trainer was, I was tired of getting conflicting answers on how to train and how to diet.  In other words, I had to put down body-building magazines, stop watching workout shows on ESPN, stop listening to steroid junkies in the gym, and stop watching infomercials.  Needless to say, I have become extremely careful with what I read and who I listen to.  Anybody can argue anything and the best salesman is always going to gather the larger audience, however, beware of false “teachers”. 

Myth #3: The best indicators of a good workout are how tired you are after the workout and how sore you are the next day.

This is a myth my most dedicated athletes still have a tough time dismissing. Most hard-working individuals equate a good workout with being exhausted and sore. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had athletes say, “You didn’t even make me puke” after a workout. My response is usually, “I didn’t make you puke because I didn’t want to make you puke. Making you puke would be easy. Getting you stronger, faster and more flexible actually takes some work.”

Puking is one of the most catabolic things you can do to your body. If your goals are increased muscular strength and/or muscular hypertrophy, you should do everything possible not to puke during your training!

Fatigue is another popular indicator people use to rate the productivity of their workouts. Remember that the goal of your training session should dictate how you feel after your workout. For example, if you’re going to perform a plyometric workout with the goal of improving your vertical jump, you shouldn’t be exhausted after the workout.

Actually, a properly designed plyometric workout should stimulate your neuromuscular system and you should feel better than when you started the workout. On the other hand, it’s good to be exhausted after a tough practice that was designed to get you in “game shape” for your given sport.

Finally, I’ve never read any research that links post-exercise soreness to strength gains, hypertrophy gains or improved athletic performance. Who the hell wants to be sore anyway? Think of DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) as an unfortunate side effect of training, not a goal of training.

Remember that it’s easy for a coach to make an athlete tired, but it takes a true professional to get an athlete stronger, faster, more flexible and better conditioned.

J. Defranco           #3 of Top Ten Traininig Myths

LIFT HARD!  TRAIN HARD! 

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Learning to Change IV

cont… In the third stage of owning a new skill, we may also feel discouraged or disheartened as we fall back into old habits or old ways of doing things. It’s perfectly natural to feel and do just that but, with patience, perseverance, and practice, we’ll get to the fourth stage of change, which is unconscious competence. This is when things start to really become fun! They start to come naturally and become a habit. We no longer have to struggle with a new habit. We own it. In this stage, techniques stop being simply techniques and actually become a part of us. We no longer even have to consciously do something. It simply becomes a natural thing for us to do. But, beware! Even at this stage, without consistent practice and study, we can still fall back into that awkward conscious competence stage. The ability and habit of regularly practicing old and new skills in a non threatening, safe, and even fun learning environment are something all successful individuals have in common. As we deal well with each new challenge, we unleash within ourselves a fresh capacity to soar to new heights.

So, take a close look at yourself and ask yourself whether you are a “student” of life or an “expert” about life; whether you are a “student” of fitness or a “fitness expert.” 

 Patrick Gamboa -International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA)

LIFT HARD!  TRAIN HARD!

www.fitnessgenerator.com/mcgheetraining

 

Learning to Change III

cont… The second stage of change is called conscious incompetence or waking up. This is when we suddenly realize how much more there is for us to know. This is the single most important step to change – the broadening of our awareness. Fortunately, once we get to this stage, we seldom ever go back to the first one. It can sometimes be difficult for us to admit that perhaps there is a better way to do what we think we’ve been doing well all along. “New ways” require change and change is difficult because it takes effort. That’s why we sometimes simply dismiss them without ever trying them out for ourselves first. The “new way” poses such a threat that we’ll even attack the person sharing it with us. Einstein once said, “The more I learn, the more I realize I don’t know.” Socrates said something similar: “The only thing I know, is that I know nothing.” And as far as discounting a “new way” simply because we heard it first from someone who is less experienced or less effective than us, we’ll do well to remember the adage: “Wise men learn more from fools than fools ever learn from wise men!”

If we don’t fall victim to simply dismissing a “new way” when we first hear about it, then we are likely to move into the third stage of change: conscious competence or choosing change. This is where we struggle to master a new skill. This is usually the most awkward of the four stages because we feel the stiffness and strangeness of trying something new or different. This is also the stage where most children excel and where most adults fail. By “adult”, I mean anyone who has a fairly well formed definition of themselves and their perceived role in life. Also, adults have an intense need to defend those definitions. In general, a child does not think that falling down or making mistakes equals failure… they just keep trying and trying and trying until they get it. But for an adult, it’s not cool to fall down. It’s too embarrassing to look foolish, it’s too painful to fail. That’s why, for us adults, change is so hard and why we resist it so much. We’ll try something new once or twice and if we don’t meet with instant success, we start making excuses such as, “Yeah, that may work for him but it doesn’t work for me” or “I have special needs that no one else has” or “I gave it a fair try but I knew it wouldn’t work” or “Well, it just wasn’t me.” Instead, we need to follow the example of children. After each fall, we need to ask ourselves what we learned, what could we do differently to get a better result, and how quickly can we get back up and try it again. Take it from someone who personally knows: if you fail enough, it stops hurting! to be continued…

Patrick Gamboa -International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA)

LIFT HARD!  TRAIN HARD!

www.fitnessgenerator.com/mcgheetraining

 

Leaning to Change (part deux)

cont…  There are four stages of learning that each of us goes through as we learn something new. The first stage is called unconscious incompetence or pre-change. That’s when we don’t know how much we don’t know! And, contrary to the popular saying, ignorance is not bliss – it’s just ignorance. This stage becomes a real stumbling block to people who consider themselves an “expert.” The problem with considering oneself an “expert” is that too many of us start to believe that we know all there is to know about a particular topic. And when we think we know it all, we tend to be less open to new ideas and to stop learning altogether. Now, you’re probably saying to yourself right now, “Well, I don’t think I know it all!”, so let me expand on what I mean here and you might find that you’re not quite as guiltless as you’d first like to believe. The “student” is passionate about learning and derives pleasure from growing and evolving; the “expert” uses the excuse that they don’t need to devote any of their “free time” to learning. The “student” is an ardent consumer of knowledge and information; the “expert” rarely reads books or other publications anymore. The “student” knows that learning events are fertile ground for inner growth; the “expert” seldom attends any seminars or workshops. The “student” knows that nothing works all the time; the “expert” constantly looks for reasons why new ideas or strategies won’t possibly work and often uses phrases like; “the right way” or “the best way ” which is generally the only way they know.  to be continued…

Patrick Gamboa -International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA)

LIFT HARD!  TRAIN HARD!

www.fitnessgenerator.com/mcgheetraining