“Contrary to popular belief, there is no way to reduce only abdominal fat with abdominal training exercises. If you could, everyone who chewed bubble gum would have skinny faces.” – Kyle Brown, NSCA Performance Training Journal
My wife received a postcard in the mail the other day from a new product which shall remain nameless. This product and apparently the latest research and efforts in the battle against ACL prevention is: not innovative training or teaching, not a special type of brace, but rather a pair of compression shorts that are supposed to improve the proprioception of the athlete so that they can control their leg. Are you serious? I don’t think this is some gimmicky product, and I’m sure there is some validity to the shorts, but let’s be honest here…why can’t or better yet, why shouldn’t the athlete simply work on proper function and strengthening? Maybe at the ripe old age of 28 I’m beginning to turn a bit old school, but there is nothing like good old fashioned sweat to help prevent a good host of injuries.
Don’t get me wrong. I completely agree that we need to do a better job with ACL tears, especially in females, but I haven’t come to the conclusion yet that we need to wear proprioceptive shorts to help teach them how to move versus actually doing it ourselves. Perhaps the best solution is some combination of the two. My biggest fear is that some mom feels that since little Lisa is wearing these special shorts she doesn’t need to do any training or strengthening. Then Lisa’s shorts get bunched up or something (no pun intended) and plants poorly and “pop” there goes her ACL. I don’t want to see that happen anymore than any parent wants that to happen to their child.
No matter if you plan on buying the shorts or not, I can’t help but put my two cents in and tell you to make sure that your daughter should be doing some preventative training to help reduce the risk of injury while helping to enhance the performance.
One of the most frequent questions I answer, or movements that I get asked about are plyo’s: what plyometrics actually are and how they are actually intended to be used. I’m not going to knock P90x, because well, I’ve never done it, and despite some of my colleagues saying it’s a waste of time, I’m going to wait until I see it before I make my judgement. However, there is one thing that I have been told by multiple people about P90x: “The plyo day is brutally hard! You should try it, I could barely finish it!”
Yes, that’s great. From what I understand the plyometrics days is actually an interval based program (as is the entire program) based on work and rest (ie you do 30 seconds of a drill/exercise and rest 30 seconds before repeating). I think that is great! Interval training is great for conditioning, and can help nearly every person get lean and cut. I actually had some hockey players doing conditioning yesterday with plyometric movements (squat jumps and hurdle bounces). My problem is that most people think because you’re jumping around that you’re doing a plyometric program. WRONG! If you’re jumping to the point of exhaustion that’s great, just don’t call it plyometrics: it is simply an interval based conditioning routine.
So what is the difference between a P90x plyometrics day, and actual plyometrics? A lot. If you read a definition of plyometrics from Dr. Donald Chu (Author of Jumping Into Plyometrics and world renowned expert) you would see that plyometrics is actually latin based and means “measurable increases.” From an exercise standpoint plyometrics are based on creating as much strength in as short of a period as possible; this equates to power. I tell athletes to look at it this way: if I told you I wanted you to jump 2″ higher than your capable of, but I wanted you to do it after doing a bunch of sprints, you’d look at me like I was crazy. That’s because there is no way that you’re going to jump higher after hard, intense exercise (think conditioning). Plyometrics, however, are actually geared towards helping an athlete jump higher (think 2″) for a maximum effort, versus be able to jump longer at a submaximal level (conditioning).
Here is an exerpt from Dr. Chu’s Jumping Into Plyometrics: 2nd Edition:
” Aerobic capacity is a valuable component of most fitness programs. However, plyometric training, by the nature of the energy systems being utilized, is not intended to develop aerobic capacity. Plyometric training is strictly anaerobic (without oxygen) in nature and utilizes the creatine phosphate energy system, allowing maximum energy to be stored in the muscle before a single explosive act, using maximum power, is performed. It is a program that exploits a quality of movement compatible with single repetition, maximal efforts. Recovery should be complete between each repetition of the exercise and between each set of repetitions. If sufficient recovery is not allowed, then the activity may move toward being aerobic, but quality of movement and explosiveness are sure to suffer.” -Page 7.
There are a few things which I think should be noted because they are often confused; 1) the phosphocreatine system is out of energy within 5-10 seconds so. 2) If you’re an athlete trying to improve your jumping, 30 seconds isn’t going to maximize your ability to jump. 3) Maximal effort is key: if you want to jump more than 100% of what you’re capable of, no one in their right mind is going to tell you that you should be more likely to do that 30 seconds into an exercise versus 5 seconds in…
Things to leave with:
1) Plyo’s are meant to be done in short (10seconds or less) bursts with absolute maximum intensity
2) Allow enough recovery to adhere to number 1 above (most likely a 1:5 – 1:9 work to rest ratio)
3) Know your goal. If you want to get in shape and condition, use longer work intervals with shorter rest intervals, but understand that isn’t going to increase your maximum force output (ie jumps, sprinting, etc.)
I just got done doing some interval bike training on one of my off days from lifting. During that time I was able to reflect on a few things with regards to training and training athletes:
1) When an athlete needs to get bigger, in particular an athlete between the age of 15-18 there needs to be a balance between heavy lifting to prime the nervous system (1-5 reps) and volume (total volume in sets and reps per movement or body part. While this sounds obvious I’m not sure how often it’s actually being done. Like anything, there needs to be balance and progression with exercises and set/rep scheme so that you can continue to progress. Three things to keep in mind 1) Move heavy weight (1-5 reps); 2)Move a lot of weight (in total reps/sets around 100 reps total for the week); and 3) Move it as fast concentrically as you can.
2) In order to get stronger you have to lift heavy weight. There is no way around the fact that in order to move more weight you must first be able to move some weight. Make sure on your heavy sets (as described above) you take ample rest between sets (3ish minutes or so, as reps go down, rest should go up), and continually work on making small improvements.
3) If you want to get faster you have to improve your elasticity. What is elasticity? Elasticity is described as the ability for your tissues (muscles included) to resist forces and return to original shape. Think of a bouncy ball (very elastic). It hits the surface and “springs” back. The harder you throw it, the higher it goes, but that’s only because it can resist the forces put against it. Want a sample elasticity drill? Do the “pogo” jumps in this video.
Focus on improving the contact of the ground by not letting the heel hit and trying to be springy and explosive when you take off.
Enjoy the weekend. I’m off to meet my wife for lunch!
I have worked with multiple lacrosse players during the last few years. A few of them have been very good high school players and currently a couple are doing very well at the collegiate level. One of the often mystifying pieces of sports performance training comes down to developing a variety of skills and abilities when combined make up a complete athlete or in this case a complete lacrosse player.
Of the many qualities which these athletes possess it is always interesting to start working on balance related skills. Before you blow me off and think that I’m about to give you some bosu ball juggling drills or have you doing some ridiculous balance test and trying to make you think you’ll be an all-American because you do it. I’m instead going to tell you that there is some research out there that supports balance and vision greatly affects the level of shot accuracy. This study (Marsh et al, Journal of Strength and Conditioning, June 2010 pp. 1507-1514) done in my home state of Maine looks at the relationship between balance, vision, and accuracy. According to the study “The results reveal that greater levels of shot accuracy may be related to greater levels of visual search and balance ability in women college lacrosse athletes.” While this research is only suggesting that it affects the shot, anecdotal evidence can’t help but support this information.
A couple take away points and thoughts: 1) obviously working on balance helps the shot, but the drills working on balance must be somewhat similiar to what takes place in the game of laccrosse. Don’t think that jumping onto a stability ball like this:
.
I mean, yeah that was hard, but so is running through an intersection with your eyes closed and headphones on. 2) Make sure you follow progressions with regards to balance. Don’t simply think you can implement any old drill and expect progress. Use common sense and build up to support the ultimate long-term goal: a better more accurate shot.
So a few weeks ago I posted a comment about one of my athletes doing 365 x 25. Well a week later I saw more greatness as he pulled off 405 for I think 15, and then a week after that pulled off 455 x 10. Hypothetically speaking, he should have only been able to pull 455 3 times based on his 1 rep max, but this just goes to show what mental focus and hard work can do. I should also mention that a year ago this athlete did 300 for a double on front squat ( to a 14″ depth, he is now able to go 12″) after I told him that I didn’t think he could pull it off. I ate my words.
This video is not about the weight, but more about the effort. If everyone worked this hard in the weight room, we’d see athletes abilties skyrocket.
During an exciting weekend of staining the deck and grocery shopping I was able to find some time to do a little light reading. As depressed as I was from realizing that my life is slowly becoming more and more like Will Farrell in “Old School,” I was able to sneak in some “self” time and do a little reading. Back when I was in college I might have picked up a magazine on training or probably just surfed the web for some stories or articles on sports, but these days it’s much more exciting - I grabbed the latest copy of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research (June 2010 issue)! Hard to believe that my weekend was going to get more exciting than staining the deck, but since we didn’t have time to go to Bed, Bath, & Beyond, a little reading on throwing velocity would have to do instead.
If you’re a baseball player, handball player, quarterback, or any athlete that throws an implement, this research probably pertains to you. While the study was done on elite handball players, the information channels over to any variation of a throwing athlete. The study, Relationships between power and strength of the upper and lower limb muscles and throwing velocity in male handball players, showed that both lower and upper body strength and power contribute to throwing velocity. If you’re a baseball coach or parent, and you don’t currently implement strength training and power training into your practices you may want to start today.
A typical program for baseball players (pitchers in particular) may include some basic shoulder stretching and rotator cuff work, but more often than not they don’t include much power work or lower body training. Understanding that there are different elements and movements which contribute to throwing a ball (or another implement, even lacrosse shots can be viewed this way) mean that all of those elements must not only be trained, but developed so that they support one another. This means that not only should you treat the upper body and shoulders, but in particular make sure that you’re working the core to learn to stabilize and the lower body to learn to create force which will then create the arm velocity. It is this sequence of movements which allows the arm to increase velocity. The article finished by stating: “Because the lower limbs contribute to throwing velocity, coaches should focus strength and power training programs on both the upper and the lower limbs.”
Check back in a couple days to see part 2 of training as it relates to throwing. In that post I will talk about a few exercises that I like to help develope various elements for the baseball player.
Chelly, Mohamed Souhaeil. Relationships between power and strength of the upper and lower limb muscles and throwing velocity in male handball players. Vol. 24, 6. 2010 June; 1480-1487. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.
As a coach or parent of an athlete you’re often faced with limited time, limited space, and limited resources. You may have 15-20+ athletes, a space of about 400SF, and no equipment. Being faced with that type of situation, you need to understand there are still a number of really effective qualities you can develop in an athlete. I particularly think the usage of drills like this are great for the young athlete (9-14) as speed qualities are developed at a high rate during these years. However, if you’re a high school coach there is no reason not to use these. I use them with every athlete from 9-professional to help develop speed and explosiveness. Here are 4 high quality drills that will have you sprinting past your opponents in no time!
If you haven’t read/listened to part 1 about efficiency yet, please do so before listening to part 2. In this clip I talk about the usage of 3 different drills, and depending on your goals, how they’re used. Remember that efficient is with regards to the task at hand.
That was the title of a recent research article that I read.
According to the International Journal of Sports Medicine, there was a recent study (looking at recreational runners) conducted by Taipale et al, which looked at 3 different factors: 1) muscular strength 2) explosive strength and 3) strength endurance with endurance training. Each group did a preparatory 6-week phase to get ready for the strength training (this consisted of 2-3 sets of 10-15 reps). After the initial preparatory phase each group did 8 weeks of training.
Group 1 – Muscular Strength – they performed 3 sets of 4-6 reps with a heavy weight (80-85% 1 rep max)
Group 2 – Explosive Strength – they performed 3 sets of 6 reps with a light weight (30-40% 1 rep max) and a variety of lower body plyometrics.
Group 3 – Endurance Strength – they performed a circuit of squats, push-ups, lunges, step-ups, calve raises, etc. each lasting 40-50 seconds.
*It should be noted that running progressions were the same for all groups across the board.
The result: The maximal strength and explosive strength group showed the greatest improvement in the velocity of movement at VO2 max. The maximum strength group also showed improvements in running economy while the explosive group only showed minimal improvements.
It was noted at the end that programs for endurance athletes should focus on maximal strength and power development versus the traditional “circuit” style of training that many endurance coaches favor.
I believe there are a lot of reasons why this article supports many of my current thoughts on training endurance athletes, and athletes in general. 1) Most endurance athletes don’t have a good solid strength base from which to build upon. Strength is the foundation for a good athlete no matter what sport, but even more important for an athlete that only does endurance training. Strength is a quality that is often overlooked and under-stimulated which often makes it the “weak link” in an athlete. 2) If you haven’t read my article about cross training for the endurance athlete please do here: http://shelbytrained.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/Should-the-Endurance-Athlete-Not-Run.pdf . The bottom line is that strength and power are part of a strong foundation for endurance training even though they may not be the most significant factor to success. Because strength and power are qualities that are not utilized regularly that leaves even more room for improvement which should also help support the athletes typical “long runs” and steady state exercise.
Two more articles which you might be interested in if you’re an endurance athlete or coach:
1) http://shelbytrained.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/You-want-to-get-faster.pdf
