In part 1 of this series, I discussed an overall approach to the categorization of core stability exercises. Here, in the second installment of this series, I'll be talking about how to incorporate various core stability exercises into your strength and conditioning programs.
To recap, the categories we'll be dealing with are anterior core, posterior core, lateral core, and rotary core. In reality, though, in my eyes, we only really need to specifically program for three of these categories. You see, the posterior core seems to take care of itself, as we are already training the ability to resist flexion with various strength exercises like deadlifts, squats, pull-throughs, kettlebell swings, and a host of other strength. Some folks may benefit from some birddogs in the warm-up period to help learn the anti-flexion patterning a bit better, but most folks are ready to rock and roll with a comprehensive strength and conditioning program that emphasizes the other three.
With that "exception" out of the way, I think it's important to appreciate three different factors when programming core stability exercises:
1. An individual's training experience - A true beginner can typically work on low-level core exercises like dead bugs and prone and side bridges on a daily basis to establish motor control. Conversely, these exercises may be too basic for a more advanced lifter, so he/she would need to focus on more advanced exercises, but do them less frequently (1-3x/week).
2. An individual's weaknesses - A young athlete with a raging anterior pelvic tilt would need to prioritize anti-extension core stability exercises over the other categories, as you want to master the sagittal plane before getting "too sexy" in other planes. Sure, you can train the other ones, but you're better off working on the most pressing issue first.
3. An individual's training frequency - Obviously, if someone is training 4-6x/week, you can do more in terms of core stability exercises with his strength and conditioning programs than you could if he was only training 2x/week. When they train less frequently, you often have to make some sacrifices in terms of core stability exercise volume in order to make sure the big-bang strength exercises (which can serve as indirect core training exercises) still get the attention they deserve.
With these three factors in mind, let's look at a few examples. Keep in mind that in each of these examples, I've removed the compound exercises, mobility drills, foam rolling, and metabolic conditioning just so that you can see how the core training exercises exist in isolation.
Example 1: 4x/week Strength and Conditioning Program
Here, you have all the flexibility in the work to prioritize the areas that are lagging the most. This example emphasized anterior core, but it could have easily been lateral or rotary core stability with some quick and easy substitutions.
Example 2: 3x/weekStrength and Conditioning Program
Day 1: Challenging Anterior Core (e.g., Rollouts), Low-Level Lateral Core (e.g., Side Bridges)
Day 2: Challenging Rotary Core (e.g., Landmines), Low-Level Anterior Core (e.g., Reverse Crunches)
Day 3: Challenging Lateral Core (e.g., 1-arm Carries), Low-Level Rotary Core (e.g., Pallof Presses)
You can still get in two versions of each of the "big three" core stability exercise categories over the course of the week - and that doesn't even include the "accidental" benefits you get from your compound strength exercises.
Example 3: 2x/week Strength and Conditioning Program
Day 1: Lateral Core (e.g., 1-arm Carries), Anterior Core from loaded push-up variation
Day 2: Rotary Core (e.g., Split-Stance Cable Lift), Anterior Core from overhead pressing.
You can see that this is far from "optimal" in terms of covering everything you want to cover in a comprehensive core stability exercise program, but when you can only get in two sessions a week (as might be the case for an in-season athlete), you make sacrifices and do what you can. This athlete might be able to complement this program with some low-level prone bridges, reverse crunches, and get-up variations on off-days.
Hopefully, this gives you a little glimpse into what a few sample weeks of core stability exercises look like in Cressey Sports Performance strength training programs. For more information and another perspective, I'd encourage you to check out our Functional Stability Training of the Core resource, which is on sale for 25% off this week (discount automatically applied at checkout). Click here to learn more.
Several of our other products are also on sale; you can learn more HERE.
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A while back, Mike Reinold and I presented our Functional Stability Training of the Core seminar to an audience of about 60 rehabilitation and strength and conditioning specialists at Cressey Sports Performance. In today's post, I wanted to touch on a topic we covered collaboratively: how to categorize various core stability exercises and incorporate them into your strength and conditioning programs.
Both Mike and I are in agreement that your four general categories are anterior core stability, posterior core stability, lateral core stability, and rotary core stability.
Anterior core stability exercises teach the body to resist excessive lumbar spine extension, and encompass a variety of drills, starting with dead bug, curl-up, and prone bridging activities. In prepared individuals, they progress all the way up through more advanced exercises like stability ball rollouts, and TRX flutters and fallouts.
Posterior core stability exercises are designed to train the body to resist excessive lumbar spine flexion. Your drills may include everything from the birddog all the way up through more conventional strength training exercises like deadlift variations.
Lateral core stability exercises teach you how to resist lateral flexion; in other words, your goal is to avoid tipping over. These drills may start with basic side bridging drills and progress all the way up through more advanced TRX drills and 1-arm carrying variations.
Rotary core stability exercises educate folks on how to resist excessive rotation through the lumbar spine. Examples include drills like landmines, lifts, and chops.
To be candid, this classification of core stability exercises isn't anything new to those of you who have been paying attention over the past few years. However, introducing these categories really wasn't my intention in this blog; rather, I had three key points I wanted to highlight:
1. It's not just what you do; it's how you do it.
You may be able to hold a prone bridge for 25 minutes, but if you're doing so in terrible positioning and just relying on your hip flexors and lumbar erectors to do the work, you're doing more harm than good. You'd be amazed at how many high level athletes can't do a simple prone or side bridge correctly.
2. A core stability exercise rarely fits into one category, especially when you add progressions to it beyond the initial stages.
Take a kettlebell crosswalk, for instance.
In this exercise, you have different loads in each hand, which makes it a lateral core stability exercise. With each step, the athlete goes into single-leg stance, which makes it a rotary core stability exercise. With the load in the bottom hand, there is a tendency to be pulled into flexion, so you have a posterior core stability exercise. Finally, with the arm overhead, one must prevent the rib cage from flying up and allowing the arm to fall backward, so you have an anterior core stability exercise as well. This example demonstrates the role of synergy among all the muscles (and fascia) around the core in achieving multidirectional core stability simultaneously.
Taking it a step further, how you control one plane of movement impacts the benefit you derive from a core stability exercise in the intended plane. In this half-kneeling cable lift, for instance, the primary goal is to work on rotary and lateral core stability, as the pull of the cable back toward the column is the primary destabilizing torque. You will, however, often see athletes perform the entire exercise in lumbar extension, as evidenced by a rib flair in the front, a backward lean, and loss of the packed neck. I execute the first two reps with the incorrect positioning, and the subsequent reps in neutral spine with adequate anterior core control.
3. When you consider the overlap among the various core stability exercise categories, it can be challenging to determine how to appropriately sequence them in a strength and conditioning program.
This will be the focus of part 2; stay tuned!
If you're looking for a great core stability resource right now, I'd encourage you to check out Functional Stability Training of the Core (as well as the rest of the Functional Stability Training series). And, to sweeten the deal, you can get 25% off through Monday (discount is automaticaly applied at checkout).
Several of our other products are also on sale; you can learn more HERE.
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Here is this week's list of recommended strength and conditioning reading:
A House Divided - This was a great guest blog by Kellie Hart Davis for Tony Gentilcore's site. It homes home for those of us who have certain family members who don't embrace the healthy lifestyle like we do.
Using Soft Tissue Therapy to Enhance Stress Resistance - This great piece from Patrick Ward discusses the role of manual therapy in stress tolerance.
Optimizing the Overhead Squat - I thought this was an excellent article from Eric Auciello at T-Nation and teaching and moving through appropriate progressions of the overhead squat in strength and conditioning programs.
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Today's guest blog on Metabolic Resistance Training comes from Joe Dowdell, co-creator of the Peak Diet and Training Summit DVD set.Metabolic Resistance Training has received a lot of attention over the last few years, especially for fat loss. However, the reality is that many strength coaches have been using this technique with their clients and athletes for a very long time.
Before we go any further, and so we are all on the same page, my view or definition of metabolic resistance training is any strength training session that employs a series of 4-8 exercises (which are predominantly multi-joint in nature), while utilizing little (i.e., under 30 seconds) to no rest between sets. In other words, these metabolic resistance training sessions incorporate things like the Olympic lifts, squats, chin-ups, push-ups, kettlebell Swings, medicine ball throws, etc. in order to call upon as many muscle groups as possible in a single training session. In addition to the shorter rest periods, one may see “timed sets” as another variable, where the client performs as many reps as possible in a given time frame.
The overall training effect of metabolic resistance training is a greater metabolic disturbance in the body’s physiology, which in turn can elevate your caloric expenditure for a greater period of time following your workout. Compared to a traditional strength training session, this style of training can be very effective for body composition changes as well as an increase in one’s work capacity.
All of this sounds pretty great, especially if a client’s goal is fat loss, right? Well, yes and no. You see, the problem is that some people just aren’t ready for metabolic resistance training, especially when they first come to see you (or at least not to this degree). Many people, especially sedentary individuals, have underlying muscle imbalances that can lead to faulty movement patterns.
And, I’ve also found that some people are too weak to even get a proper metabolic training effect. So, in both of these cases, wouldn’t these people be better served by doing some structural balance work and maybe just some overall strength training? And, if we wanted to get some conditioning in with client, perhaps it might be better to use a Airdyne, VersaClimber, or Prowler after the strength training program wraps up for the day. This way, we can still get them a bit of a sweat, but the learning curve is pretty low. Just a thought.
So, you may be asking yourself, what should you do instead? Well, you can actually still set up a strength and conditioning program that will improve someone’s body composition without using metabolic resistance training. In fact, I often use more of a German Body Comp style of training for client’s in the early stages of training, especially for beginners or sedentary individuals. In other words, I may pair up a lower body exercise (like a split squat) with an upper body exercise (like a flat, neutral grip DB bench press) and allow the client 60 seconds of rest between each set of the two exercises. Or, I may use agonist-antagonist sequence, like a TRX high row followed by a push-up while employing the same protocol for the rest period. This type of training program will allow me to get quite a bit of work done while also giving me the flexibility to target a client’s weaknesses, develop better overall strength and stability while also giving me the opportunity to teach them how to move more effectively.
On the other hand, if I just fast tracked them into a more metabolic style of training like I see many trainers doing with their clients, I’m not allowing that client the opportunity to develop the kind of solid fundamental movement patterns that I want them to have. And, I may be just building strength on top of a dysfunctional foundation, which could lead to a setback further down the road. So, next time, you sit down to design a new client’s fat loss program, ask yourself the following question:
Is this client ready for Metabolic Resistance Training or do I need to first progress them to that point?
Joe covers more on this, as well as proper periodization models, energy systems training, how to structure and sequence a training session, and a lot more in our new Peak Diet & Training Design Home Study Course. Grab a copy before Friday at midnight and you'll save $100, get a handful of other goodies and bonuses, and earn 2.0 NSCA CEU credits.
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Today marks the second half of an article on coffee consumption from Brian St. Pierre. In case you missed the first half, check out Coffee Consumption and Health: The Final Word - Part 1.Alzheimer’s and Coffee?
If you have ever worked in a hospital or assisted-living setting, you know that living with Alzheimer’s disease is not a fun thing. Well, I have some good news for you.
On top of all of the other wonderful benefits coffee has to offer, several studies have also found that people who drink about three cups per day had a marked reduction in cognitive impairment compared to those non-drinkers. Once you got up to four or more cups per day, though, the associated protection disappeared. This protection was not seen with tea or decaf coffee, so the benefit seems to be from the combination of the caffeine and some of coffee’s bioactive compounds.
Now, this is where it gets really interesting.
As noted above some as-yet-unknown bioactive compound in coffee interacts with its caffeine content, and is responsible for its association with a decreased risk of Alzheimer’s. In fact, new research from the University of South Florida found that this combination boosts blood levels of a critical growth factor called GCSF (granulocyte colony stimulating factor) that seems to prevent the formation of Alzheimer’s disease.
GCSF is a substance that people with Alzheimer’s disease have less of than the rest of the population. It has been shown in mice with the disease that increasing GCSF improves memory.
“Caffeinated coffee provides a natural increase in blood GCSF levels,” said USF neuroscientist Dr. Chuanhai Cao, lead author of the study. “The exact way that this occurs is not understood. There is a synergistic interaction between caffeine and some mystery component of coffee that provides this beneficial increase in blood GCSF levels.”
In this study, the researchers compared the effects of regular and decaf coffee to those of caffeine alone. In both Alzheimer’s mice and normal mice, treatment with regular coffee dramatically increased blood levels of GCSF; neither caffeine alone nor decaf coffee provided this effect.
The researchers identified three ways that GCSF seems to improve memory performance in the Alzheimer’s mice.
First, GCSF recruits stem cells from bone marrow to enter the brain and remove the harmful beta-amyloid protein that initiates the disease. GCSF also creates new connections between brain cells and increases the birth of new neurons in the brain.
It is also important to point out that while this study was performed in mice, the researchers have indicated they also have evidence of this coffee consumption effect in humans and will publish their results soon.
“No synthetic drugs have yet been developed to treat the underlying Alzheimer’s disease process” said Dr. Gary Arendash, the study’s other lead author. “We see no reason why an inherently natural product such as coffee cannot be more beneficial and safer than medications, especially to protect against a disease that takes decades to become apparent after it starts in the brain.”
“Coffee is inexpensive, readily available, easily gets into the brain, appears to directly attack the disease process, and has few side-effects for most of us,” said Dr. Cao.
According to the researchers, no other Alzheimer’s therapy being developed comes close to meeting all these criteria. I don’t know about you, but I don’t mind enjoying a few cups of inexpensive coffee to significantly decrease my risk of such a debilitating disease.
Conclusion
Just like with all foods (and nutrients for that matter) there is a U-shaped curve on the benefits of coffee for those who can tolerate it. While some studies have found large intakes (5-6 cups) to have significant benefits, other research seems to show that coffee consumption that high tends to trend back down the curve. Some is good, but more might not be better, especially if you are a slow metabolizer.
Looking at the totality of data, it seems that 24oz of coffee per day will maximize the benefits while minimizing the risk. So, feel free to enjoy a few cups of joe and keep your brain, liver, gallbladder, prostate, breasts, upper GI tract, and heart healthy. Top off the day with a few cups of tea and plenty of fresh water, and your fluid intake will do wonders for your health and performance.
Note from EC: Alzheimer's discussions hit very close to home for my family, as my grandfather passed away just over one year ago following a long battle with the disease. To that end, in order to help raise awareness, I'll be donating $0.10 to the Alzheimer's Association for every Tweet and Facebook share of this article by Friday at midnight. You can do so at the top of this page; thanks for your support.
About the Author
Brian St. Pierre is a Certified Sports Nutritionist (CISSN) and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS). He received his degree in Food Science and Human Nutrition with a focus in Human Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Maine, and he is currently pursuing his Master's degree in Human Nutrition and Dietetics from the same institution. He was the Nutritionist and a Strength and Conditioning Coach at Cressey Performance in Hudson, MA for three years. He is also the author of the Show and Go Nutrition Guide, the accompanying nutrition manual to Eric Cressey’s Show and Go Training System.
With his passion for seeing his clients succeed, Brian is able to use his knowledge, experience, and energy to create highly effective training and nutrition programs for clients of any age and background. For more information, check out his website.
Related PostsIs Dairy Healthy? The Whole Story - Part 1Precision Nutrition's Travel Strategies for Eating on the RoadSign-up Today for our FREE Newsletter and receive a four-part video series on how to deadlift!References
Eskelinen MH, et al. Midlife Coffee and Tea Drinking and the Risk of Late-Life Dementia: A Population-Based CAIDE Study. J Alzheimers Dis. January 2009. 16(1);85-91
Cao C, et al. Caffeine suppresses amyloid-beta levels in plasma and brain of Alzheimer's disease transgenic mice. J Alzheimers Dis. 2009;17(3):681-97.
I just wanted to give you a quick heads-up that Joe Dowdell and Dr. Mike Roussell just released their Peak Diet and Training Summit Package, a super comprehensive resource geared toward fitness professionals.
I’ve known and respected Joe for quite some time, and it’s awesome to see him finally put a product out there, as he has tremendous skills and has worked with loads of celebrities and athletes. I’ve always been a fan of Roussell’s, too, as he does an outstanding job of making complex nutrition practices easy to understand and implement. These two are a great team – and I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen thus far as I’ve worked my way through the product. It's an awesome resource, whether you're someone who wants to learn how to write strength and conditioning programs, or grasp how nutrition fits into the equation.
This sucker is an 11-DVD set and 500+ pages of tag-along manuals; it’s huge! The product also provides 2.0 CEUs, which is pretty clutch for many personal trainers this time of year with recertification deadlines approaching.
The resource is on sale for $100 off this week only, and they’ve sweetened the deal with some cool bonuses for those who purchase sooner than later. For more information, check out the Peak Diet and Training Summit Package. I support this thing 100%!
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I'm excited to present to you an awesome guest post on coffee consumption from Brian St. Pierre. I learned a lot reading this two-part series over, and I'm sure you will, too!
Coffee is the second most popular drink in the world, trailing only water (and debatably, tea). As you all know, caffeine is a key component of coffee and is a compound of great debate. It is the world’s most consumed psychoactive drug, with 90% of North American adults consuming caffeine daily. However, is this such a bad thing?
Many health advocates would try to convince you to give up coffee and possibly even caffeine altogether. However new research has certainly raised the question, should we actually give up our beloved Cup o’ Joe?
Does Metabolism Matter?
There is a lot of conflicting research on coffee consumption, and it seems to be because people have different clearance rates for caffeine. On one hand, you have the “slow” metabolizers of caffeine: people who are adversely affected by caffeine, get the jitters, and are wired for up to nine hours. Then, there are those who simply have an increase in energy and alertness that wears off within a few hours; they are considered “fast” metabolizers of caffeine.
This seems to be a defining difference in whether or not coffee will help you or hurt you, as those who are slow metabolizers may be at an increased risk for a non-fatal heart attack, while the fast metabolizers may not.
If you are a slow metabolizer of caffeine and coffee, steer clear. It’s not for everybody, and it is not for you. In your case, it can do more harm than good, and this may explain why coffee consumption has been associated with:
Increased risk of miscarriage
Interference of normal sleeping patterns
Increased PMS symptoms
Increased blood pressure, even in people without hypertension
Non-fatal myocardial infarction
Fortunately, this seems to be a minority of the population. For those lucky enough to be fast metabolizers, there is good news – and lots of it.
Why Coffee Rules
Coffee has more antioxidants than dark chocolate or tea, and may make up as much as 50-70% of the total antioxidant intake for the average American!
A recent study found that men who drank the most coffee (6 or more cups per day) were nearly 60% less likely to develop advanced prostate cancer than non-coffee drinkers.
In fact, at least six studies have found that regular coffee drinkers have up to an 80% decreased risk for developing Parkinson’s.
In addition, other research has shown that when compared to non-coffee drinkers, people who regularly consume two or more cups per day may have a 25% decreased risk of colon cancer, up to an 80% decreased risk for cirrhosis, a 35% decreased risk of type 2 diabetes, and up to a 50% decreased risk for gallstones!
In terms of the gallbladder protection, it was only seen in people who drank caffeinated coffee. So, if you drink decaf, it’s not doing much for the gallbladder.
The final verdict on coffee and cancer is that coffee consumption is associated with a lower overall risk of cancer. Period. Specifically, coffee consumption has shown to be associated with a lower risk or oral, esophageal, pharyngeal, breast (in post-menopausal women), liver, colon, and aggressive prostate cancer. Sounds good to me!
Beyond the health benefits, there are many noted mental and physical performance benefits as well. Caffeine has been shown to reduce the rate of perceived exertion, so it doesn’t feel like you are working as hard as you really are. In addition, people who regularly drink coffee have been found to have better performance on tests of reaction time, verbal memory, and visuo-spatial reasoning.
Taking it a step further, another study found that elderly women over the age of 80 performed significantly better on tests of cognitive function if they had regularly consumed coffee over the course of their lifetimes.
In addition, many people think of coffee as increasing their risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), but the reality is that coffee consumption has been found to moderately reduce the risk of dying from CVD. Another study, done in Japan, followed 77,000 individuals between the ages of 40 and 79. Researchers found that caffeine and coffee consumption were also associated with a reduced risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.
One other coffee/caffeine myth is the idea of dehydration. It is widely believed that caffeine-containing beverages like coffee and tea cause the body to expel more fluid than they provide, but does the research actually back this up?
Nope.
A recent review of 10 studies found that consuming up to 550mg of caffeine per day does not cause fluid-electrolyte imbalances in athletes and fitness enthusiasts. Another review the following year found that consuming caffeine-containing beverages as part of a normal lifestyle does not lead to fluid loss in excess of the volume of fluid ingested, nor is it associated with poor hydration status. Myth busted.
That seems like an awful lot of awesome with respect to coffee consumption, but does it continue? Check back soon for part 2 to find out!
Brian St. Pierre is a Certified Sports Nutritionist (CISSN) and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS). He received his degree in Food Science and Human Nutrition with a focus in Human Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Maine, and he is currently pursuing his Master's degree in Human Nutrition and Dietetics from the same institution. He was the Nutritionist and a Strength and Conditioning Coach at Cressey Performance in Hudson, MA for three years. He is also the author of the Show and Go Nutrition Guide, the accompanying nutrition manual to Eric Cressey’s Show and Go Training System.
With his passion for seeing his clients succeed, Brian is able to use his knowledge, experience, and energy to create highly effective training and nutrition programs for clients of any age and background. For more information, check out his website.
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References
Cornelis MC, et al. Coffee, CYP1A2 Genotype, and Risk of Myocardial Infarction. JAMA. 2006;295(10):1135-1141
Wisborg K, et al. Maternal consumption of coffee during pregnancy and stillbirth and infant death in first year of life: prospective study. BMJ. 2003 326 (7386): 420.
Richelle M, et al. Comparison of the Antioxidant Activity of Commonly Consumed Polyphenolic Beverages (Coffee, Cocoa, and Tea) Prepared per Cup Serving. J. Agric. Food Chem., 2001, 49 (7), pp 3438–3442
Leitzmann WF, et al. A prospective study of coffee consumption and the risk of symptomatic gallstone disease in men. JAMA. 1999 281:2106-12
Leitzmann MF, et al. Coffee intake is associated with lower risk of symptomatic gallstone disease in women. Gastroenterology. 2002 Dec;123(6):1823-30
Webster Ross G, et al. Association of Coffee and Caffeine Intake With the Risk of Parkinson Disease. JAMA. May 24, 2000, 283:20
Hancock DB, et al. Smoking, Caffeine, and Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs in Families With Parkinson Disease. Arch Neurol. 2007;64(4):576-580.
Klatsky AL, et al. Coffee, Cirrhosis, and Transaminase Enzymes. Arch Intern Med. 2006;166:1190-1195.
van Dam RM, Hu FB.Coffee consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes: a systematic review. JAMA.2005 Jul 6;294(1):97-104.
Tavani, A, et al. Coffee and tea intake and risk of oral, pharyngeal and esophageal cancer. Oral Oncol. 2003 39 (7): 695-700.
Ganmaa D, Willett WC, Li TY, et al. Coffee, tea, caffeine and risk of breast cancer: a 22-year follow-up. IntJ Cancer 2008 122 (9): 2071-6.
Inoue M, Yoshimi I, Sobue T, Tsugane S. Influence of Coffee Drinking on Subsequent Risk of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Prospective Study in Japan. JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute97 (4): 293-300
Nkondjock A. Coffee consumption and the risk of cancer: an overview. Cancer Lett. 2009 May 18;277(2):121-5.
Arab L. Epidemiologic evidence on coffee and cancer. Nutr Cancer. 2010;62(3):271-83.
Somoza V, et al. Activity-Guided Identification of a Chemopreventive Compound in Coffee Beverage Using in Vitro and in Vivo Techniques. J Agric Food Chem. 2003 51 (23), pp 6861–6869
American Association for Cancer Research Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Conference, Houston, Dec. 6-8, 2009.
Jarvis MJ. Does caffeine intake enhance absolute levels of cognitive performance? Psychopharmacology. 2 December 2005, 110:1-2, 45-52.
Johnson-Kozlow M, et al. Coffee Consumption and Cognitive Function among Older Adults. Am JEpidemiol 2002; 156:842-850
Lopez-Garcia E, et al. The Relationship of Coffee Consumption with Mortality. Annals of Internal Medicine 2008 Jun 17;148(12):904-14.
Koizumi A, Mineharu Y, Wada Y, Iso H et al. Coffee, green tea, black tea and oolong tea consumption and risk of mortality from cardiovascular disease in Japanese men and women. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 2011 65: 230-240.
Armstrong LE. Caffeine, body fluid-electrolyte balance, and exercise performance.Int J Sport Nutr Exer Metab. 2002 Jun;12(2):189-206.
Maughan RJ, Griffin J. Caffeine ingestion and fluid balance: a review. J Hum Nutr Diet. 2003 16(6):411–420.
First off, on Veterans Day, a big thank you goes out to all our readers who either have served or are serving in the military. We appreciate all that you do and have done!
With that said, here are a few recommended reads for the week:
7 Fat Loss Essentials - This is a free webinar from Dr. Mike Roussell that I thought was extremely well done. I've always enjoyed Mike's nutrition stuff, and it's awesome to see him kicking out great content on a regular basis now that he's done with his PhD.
Inverted Row Ignorance - I saw an ugly inverted row video online this week, and it reminded me of this post I wrote back in 2009. Everything I said still holds true, though!
Don't Forget the S-C Joint - Patrick Ward posted this great blog on the impact of the sternoclavicular joint on upper extremity function. It's a bit more "geeky" and largely aimed toward manual therapists, but there are still some valuable lessons to learn for all of us. I can tell you that nine out of ten times, right-handed pitchers are going to be very fibrotic in the subclavius area - just lateral to the S-C joint. Attending to this one region can yield big payoffs in terms of upper extremity movement.
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In Part 1 of this series, I discussed how an undergraduate degree in exercise science really isn't much of a competitive advantage at all in today's fitness industry because of the low barriers to entry in the field, high cost of college education, and shortcomings of most exercise science curricula themselves. I concluded by referring to the three options you have available to you for distinguishing yourself in this field - and that's where we'll pick up today.
Option 1: Go to graduate school.
I know what you're thinking: "He just got done bashing an undergraduate exercise science program, yet he's going to encourage me to sign up for two more years and another $50-$100K in student loans?"
Yes, I'll encourage some of you to go that route. First, though, you need to appreciate that graduate school is markedly different than the undergraduate experience. There are more opportunities for hands-on learning, more direct communication between students and faculty, smaller faculty-to-student ratios, and much more self-selected study. In other words, you have a much better opportunity to dictate your own educational path.
I went to graduate school not really sure what I wanted to do. I could have been a researcher, trainer, clinical exercise physiologist, or strength and conditioning coach. It was only after my experiences during that graduate experience that I realized that I loved coaching and wanted to make a career out of it.
Taking it a step further in this regard, you simply won't be hired to work in college strength and conditioning if you don't at least have an undergraduate degree, and the truth is that most employers "strongly prefer" master's degrees. It isn't just the "minimum academic requirement" that they're after; rather, it's that a master's degree means that you have spent at least two years in the trenches (usually at a D1 program) working with athletes as a graduate assistant or volunteer, so there will be fewer "kinks" to work out in a new strength and conditioning position.
Additionally, graduate programs are far more challenging academically. I had to work twice as hard to get a GPA 0.3 points lower in graduate school than in my undergraduate degree. It was challenging because the admission requirements were so high; in fact, all of my classmates are now college professors, D1 strength and conditioning coaches, and exercise physiologists for NASA and the US Army.
I can look back extremely fondly on my graduate experience at the University of Connecticut because it made me much more versatile. A given day might have me working with a seven-foot tall NBA-bound center and an untrained five-foot tall female study subject - with everything from exercise endocrinology, to phlebotomy, to research methods, to understanding environment stress thrown in my classroom experience the same day. Nothing was typical, and opportunities were endless; it was like "life."
As an added bonus, many times, graduate students have opportunities to work as graduate assistants or teaching assistants to receive a tuition waiver and/or stipend. So, you can come out "even" financially when your graduate experience is over - and earn a degree and build your network in the process.
Graduate school isn't for everyone, but I wouldn't trade my experience for the world.
Option 2: Choose a different undergraduate course of study.
I think one of the reasons an exercise science degree has been devalued is that it doesn't allow you to do anything someone in any other profession can't do. A truck driver who decides to apply to his local gym to be a trainer immediately has the same legal scope of practice of a certified trainer with an exercise science degree.
If that trainer, however, had done an undergraduate degree in athletic training and become an ATC, he could also do traditional "rehabilitation" approaches like manual therapy, Kinesio Taping, nerve flossing, and a host of other approaches. Athletic trainers essentially serve as physical therapists in the college sector, and in many professional sports setting. Had that trainer done a degree in physical therapy and become licensed, he could still do all of that, but also bill insurance for it. And, they can still serve as strength coaches or personal trainers on top of their normal responsibilities. In other words, having an ATC or PT after your name increases your scope of practice dramatically.
Using myself as an example, I manage over 70 baseball arms every single day of the week - which is more than some athletic trainers and physical therapists see in an entire career. I've seen everything under the sun when it comes to shoulder and elbow issues, yet the initials after my name (which are a function of my degree) dictate what I can and can't do to help someone, even if I'm 100% sure I know the right approach for that individual. I refer out quite a bit for this reason (and because there is no way I could work on absolutely everybody even if I wanted to), but it would be nice to know that I could manage things in-house more conveniently for everyone.
To that end, if there is one thing I would have done differently, it would have been to do a physical therapy degree (or at least an athletic training one) in my undergraduate education, even if it meant going an extra year or two. Many of the classes are the same as you'd get with exercise science, which could be a perfectly acceptable minor.
Worthy of noting here is that one can also pursue a massage therapy license to open up some windows in the context of manual therapy, so it's never too late. Chris Howard has made himself a more versatile strength and conditioning coach at Cressey Performance by adding this to his arsenal, for instance.
Option 3: Reinvest your financial resources appropriately.
I can't imagine dropping $250,000+ on a college education...in any discipline. Let's forget about that for now, though, and say that you've got that $250,000 saved up and you want to know the opportunity cost of devoting those financial resources to college.
Do you realize how far $250,000 can go? Let's say that you spend $100/day on "survival" stuff like food, shelter, clothing, and the like. Over the course of four years, that is $146,000 in living expenses. That gives you $104,000 to spend on books, DVDs, seminars, mentorships, independent study courses, and the travels that they'd mandate. As a frame of reference, for under $1,000, you could buy all of the following from my resources page (and still have a few bucks to spare):
Then, skip one meal of eating out a month and devote a few bucks to joining Elite Training Mentorship for continuing education, and you're in a great position to not just get to the front of the industry, but stay there, too.
Finally, take another $1,000 and devote it to business resources, and I'd guarantee that this $2,000 would put you light years ahead of any college course you could take - yet the college course would likely cost more. Books, DVDs, seminars, webinars, and internships will always be a far more affordable and effective way to learn; you just need to be willing to put in the time and energy to benefit from them. The same could be said of college, but the price point is considerably higher and the distractions more prominent. And, student loan interest isn't always tax deductible, but these purchases could be considered tax deductible if the individual in question is earning income in the fitness industry simultaneously, as they'd be continuing education expenses.
When you pay for college with student loans, there is undoubtedly less "incentive" to put your money to good work by paying close attention and working hard; that money is never in your hands to feel and appreciate. You only appreciate it later when you're paying off the principal and interest for years to come. However, when you pay for a plane ticket, hotel, and seminar seat, you're making that purchase with your credit card and immediately appreciating that you're being separated from your money - and that you better make it worthwhile.
Of course, not many 18-year-olds have the discipline to plan out their educational destiny like this, and many don't even know what career path they'd like to pursue, anyway. So, this is probably a moot point for the overwhelming majority of kids out there who may wind up in the fitness industry someday. If you're in your 40s and considering a career change to the fitness industry, though, I think you'd be crazy to start an undergraduate degree in exercise science from scratch. Different strokes for different folks.
Wrap-up
Part 1 of this series drew some fantastic comments, and I expect that this second installment will do the same. So, I'll initiate the discussion with a few questions:
1. What other ways do you feel fitness professionals can distinguish themselves in a competitive industry with a low barrier to entry? Obviously, results matter, but rookie trainers don't have that luxury upon which to fall back.
2. Have other educational paths served you well? In what ways?
3. In a few decades, when college is even more insanely expensive than it is now, what will universities have to do to "justify" their role in the educational process at such a high price point?
I look forward to your responses in the comments section.
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