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| Mike Robertson (robertsontrainingsystems.com): Eric, believe it or not you’ve never done an interview for the site before! If you don’t mind, please explain to people that we AREN’T the same person. (Yes, people actually thought this for a while!)
Eric Cressey: I’m actually just the president of the Mike Robertson Fan Club; he’s the real thing.
MR: You’ve recently opened your own facility, Cressey Performance. What kind of people are you training on a day-to-day basis? How is the gym going?
EC: It’s going very well and we’ve having a blast. In fact, as I type this, we’re in the process of arranging a move into a new facility; it should take place within two weeks and double our space.
We get a little bit of everything in terms of client variety, but the overwhelming majority of my athletes are baseball players. This past off-season, we saw 96 baseball guys from 32 high schools, 16 colleges, and 8 major league organizations. Throw in some football, hockey, triathlete, track and field, soccer, bobsled, skeleton, rowing, and regular ol’ weekend warriors, and it keeps life interesting.
MR: I’m willing to admit, you know a ton about shoulder. Couple this with the fact that you work with a ton of baseball players daily, and that pretty much makes you a shoulder guru in my book.
Where are most people missing the boat with regards to training overhead throwing athletes?
EC: Wow, there is a loaded question. Here are a few thoughts – speaking specifically to a baseball population to keep it more focused.
People spend too much time looking at the rotator cuff. It’s like focusing on the oars when there is a hole in your rowboat. The truth is that when someone’s shoulder goes, the rotator cuff (and labrum) are just the place where someone becomes symptomatic; it’s poor soft tissue quality and faulty movement patterns elsewhere (and in many cases rotator cuff weakness) that cause the problem. So what are these problems?
First off, the very nature of baseball is an issue. It’s a long competitive season (>200 games as a pro, potentially, and more than half that in high school/college): Short off-season + Long in-season w/daily games = tough to build/maintain strength, power, flexibility, and optimal soft tissue quality.
You’ve got unilateral dominance and handedness patterns, too; when was the last time you saw someone throw the first inning right-handed and then toss the second inning as a southpaw? We know that asymmetry is a big predictor of injury.
Let’s take it a step further. The best pitchers – with a few exceptions – are the tallest ones. In chatting with one MLB scout this off-season, he noted that only 14% of major league pitchers are under 6-feet tall. The longer the spine, the tougher it is to stabilize. I’ve worked with eleven guys 6-9 or taller since 2003, so I can definitely speak to this from experience. They were all basketball guys; I can’t imagine how jacked up they’d be if they were throwing baseballs, too!
And, to be more blunt, there is absolutely nothing even remotely healthy about throwing a baseball. Do a MRI of a pitcher’s shoulder and you’re going to find labral fraying: big deal! That’s just what happens when you go through 7,500°/second of internal rotation during acceleration – or the equivalent of 20 full revolutions per second! Some guys are symptomatic and some aren’t; it’s the other “stuff” that’s going on that dictates whether they’re hurting or playing pain-free.
MR: So what’s this “other stuff” of which you’re speaking?
If you want to keep a pitcher healthy, your job is to make him more athletic. I have seen professional pitchers who couldn’t broad jump 80 inches or front squat 135, yet they could throw 94 mph. I’m proud to say that we had two pitchers vertical jump over 35” and broad jump over 115” at their spring training testing this year.
Baseball is a population who – believe it or not – still doesn’t understand a) what good strength and conditioning is and b) what that solid training can do for them. I am a firm believer that much of the abuse of performance enhancing drugs in professional baseball is a direct result of players wanting a shortcut to make up for the fact that they really have no clue how to train for peak performance or sustain it for the long haul of a professional career. And, more sadly, there aren’t many good performance enhancement coaches out there who know how to show them the way. I’m strongly believe that our success in working with these guys is directly related to the fact that we show them direct, tangible results of their training, educate them on the “why” of what they’re doing, and make it fun in the process.
That said, in terms of athleticism, my goal is symmetry – or at least bringing guys closer to it in the off-season. To that end, we address the following to keep shoulders healthy:
•Scapular stability – In Particular, we need to focus on lower trap and serratus anterior. I know it’s hackneyed by now, but you can’t shoot a cannon from a canoe! It’s important to get pec minor, levator scapulae, and rhomboids loosened up to make this happen. The problem is that the research has shown that pitchers have less scapular upward rotation than position players, specifically at humeral elevations of 60 and 90 degrees – the “zone” in which the humerus sits during throwing.
•Thoracic extension and rotation range of motion – If you don’t have thoracic extension and rotation, you won’t be able to get sufficient “lay back” during the cocking phase, so there is a greater stress on both the humerus and elbow to achieve this range of motion.
•Rotator cuff strength/endurance – You need a strong posterior cuff for decelerating all that internal rotation, but you also need a very strong subscapularis to both depress the humeral head during overhead work and prevent anterior translation of that head. The subscapularis takes on an even bigger role when you realize how many overhead athletes have chronic anterior-inferior laxity and posterior-inferior capsular contracture: adaptations that favor anterior translation of the humeral head (which the subscapularis must resist).
•Soft tissue quality – Pay close attention to lats, pec minor, levator scapulae, posterior cuff/capsule, forearms (flexor carpi ulnaris, FC ulnaris, pronator teres), rhomboids, and subscapularis.
•Opposite hip and ankle – 49% of arthroscopically repaired SLAP lesion patients also have a contralateral hip abduction ROM or strength deficit. Lead leg hip internal rotation range of motion is extremely important for pitchers and hitters alike.
•Core stability/force transfer – If you can’t transfer force from the lower extremity through the core effectively to the upper body, you shouldn’t be throwing a baseball. Period.
•Glenohumeral (shoulder) ROM – Over time, the dramatic external rotation during the cocking phase can lead to a loss of internal rotation ROM; this is known as glenohumeral internal rotation deficit (GIRD). The posterior capsule and cuff stiffness leads to a superior and posterior migration of the humeral head during the late cocking phase. You also get some osseous changes to the humeral head itself. This commonly presents as medial elbow issues – including UCL injuries and ulnar nerve irritation.
To fix this, we use posterior cuff/capsule soft tissue work, sleeper stretches/cross body mobilizations/doorway capsular mobilizations, and then subscapularis isolation work (prone internal rotation, cable internal rotation at 90 degrees of abduction). Little league elbows get chewed up more by the varus torque (think transition from cocking to acceleration) and present more laterally with pain. Adolescent elbows are a bit more skeletally mature and break down medially from the valgus-extension overload that takes place during acceleration. Little leaguers just need to get stronger. Adolescents need to get stronger and work on posterior cuff flexibility (more internal rotation). College and pro guys need to start incorporating capsular mobilizations because of the actual structural changes that take place to the capsule. Back and Goldberg provide an excellent series of photos for each situation HERE.
Now, there is some debate over whether the loss of internal rotation in experienced throwers is due to posterior capsule tightness. Burkhart and Morgan insisted that there was posterior capsule tightness involved via what they called the “peel-back” mechanism, which causes the humeral head to translate posteriorly and superiorly during the late cocking phase. They picked up on these posterior capsule contracture issues during surgeries of a large number of pitchers with type II SLAP lesions.
Wilk, Meiser, and Andrews (2002) countered that it was simply related to the posterior muscular tightness and the aforementioned humeral head adaptations. They therefore recommend primarily cross-body and sleeper stretch drills with the scapula fixed – but don’t pay much attention to the role of the capsule.
I’m not too handy with an arthroscope (I prefer samurai swords for all my impromptu operations), so I keep my mouth shut and do both capsular and soft tissue mobilizations, as they’re all means to the same end. They’re all brilliant guys, but are really debating on which one will get you from point A to point B faster – and how to perform surgeries once you are FUBAR. I’m more concerned with preventing the surgeries in the first place!
Interestingly, there appears to be a “threshold” of internal rotation deficit at which a pitcher becomes symptomatic. In the aforementioned Burkhart and Morgan study, all the surgery cases had an internal rotation deficit of greater than 25°. Myers et al. pinned that “don’t cross this line” number at about a 19° deficit. The research on non-symptomatic throwing shoulders was in the 12-17° range – so every little bit matters. Horizontal adduction (cross-body range of motion) is understandably impaired as well, and the common compensation pattern is for pitchers to substitute extra protraction for this lost ROM during the follow-through. This is where pec minor grows barnacles and the lower traps simply can’t handle the load alone.
•Breathing Patterns – Guys who breath into their bellies have much better shoulder function than those who breath into their chests.
•Cervical Spine ROM – Levator scapulae and sternocleidomastoid have significant implications in terms of shoulder health, but very few people pay attention to them. Levator scapulae helps to downwardly rotate the scapula, so if it’s tight, overhead motion will be compromised. SCM attaches to the mastoid process of the skull as well as the sternum and clavicle; it might be the latissimus dorsi of the head and neck. Suboccipitals can be hugely important as well. Get ‘em all worked on by a good manual therapist. Forward head posture is associated with too much scapular anterior tilt and too little upward rotation.
•Reactive Ability – We test all our guys on a single-leg triple jump to determine their reactive ability and look for unilateral discrepancies. Typically, pitchers will have a better score on their lead leg, not their push-off leg. It sounds backwards, but if you think about it, that front leg is more trained for deceleration and reactive ability (they have to land, and immediately swivel into fielding position). The back foot is much more geared toward propulsion, so it doesn’t decelerate so well.
Interestingly, you can look at callus patterns and pick up on this. Check out the base of the 1st and 5th metatarsals on a pitcher’s push-off leg and you’ll typically find calluses that indicate more of a supinator. Check the lead leg, though, and you’ll find more thickening at the base of the 2nd and 3rd toes, indicating more pronation. These won’t be as noteworthy in people who throw right and bat left (or vice versa); switch-hitting is actually really valuable for symmetry.
•STRENGTH – Yes, I put this in all caps because it is important. If you think doing some rubber tubing external rotations is going to help decelerate a 100mph fastball that involves a total-body effort, you might as well schedule your shoulder or elbow surgery now. Strength is an important foundation, so strengthen your posterior chain, quads, thoracic erectors, scapular retractors, etc, etc, etc.
MR: Damn that’s a pretty thorough answer! How does overhead pressing fit into all of this? Some people say you need to do it because they encounter it in their sport. What do you say?
EC: I stay away from it. Contraindicated exercises in our program include:
•Overhead lifting (not chin-ups, though)
•Straight-bar benching
•One-Arm Medicine Ball Work
•Upright rows
•Front/Side raises (especially empty can – why anyone would do a provocative test as a training measure is beyond me)
•Olympic lifts aside from high pulls
•Back squats
While I'm working on a detailed article on this topic, in a nutshell, it has a lot to do with the fact that overhead throwing athletes (and pitchers in particular) demonstrate significantly less scapular upward rotation – and that makes overhead work a problem. This is particularly serious with approximation exercises, which leads me to…
Comparing most overhead weight training movements (lower velocity, higher load0 to throwing a baseball is like comparing apples and oranges. Throwing a baseball is a significant traction (humerus pulled away from the glenoid fossa), whereas overhead pressing is approximation (humerus pushed into the glenoid fossa). The former is markedly less stressful on the shoulder - and why chin-ups are easier on the joint than shoulder pressing.
Likewise, comparing an overhead-throwing athlete to a non-overhead-throwing athlete is apples and oranges again. Throwing shoulders have more humeral and glenoid retroversion, an adaptation that many believe occurs when pre-pubescent athletes throw when the proximal humeral epiphysis (growth plate) isn’t closed yet. This retroversion gives rise to a greater arc of total rotation range-of-motion. Wilk et al termed this the “total motion concept” (internal rotation + external rotation ROM) and noted that the total arc is equal on the throwing and non-throwing shoulders – yet the composition (IR vs. ER) is different in overhead athletes, who have more less internal rotation in their throwing shoulders.
As I mentioned earlier, a lot of people believe that the internal rotation deficit overhead athletes experience has more do to with the osseous changes than soft tissue and capsular issues alone. We can work with the latter, but can’t do anything with the former. So, when someone says that all their YTWLs and theraband exercises make it okay for an overhead throwing athlete to overhead press, I have to wonder how those foo-foo exercises magically changed bone structure. Additionally, this acquired retroversion allows for more external rotation to generate more throwing velocity. In my opinion, this is why you never see someone just “take up” pitching in their 20s and magically become a stud athlete; the bones literally have to morph to throw heat! Believe it or not, some research suggest that this retroversion actually protects the shoulder from injury by “sparing” the anterior-inferior capsule in from excessive stress during external rotation.
Additionally, as I noted above, just about every overhead throwing athlete you see (and certainly all pitchers) have labral fraying. The labrum deepens the glenoid fossa (shoulder socket) by up to 50% and creates stability. Would you want to build a house on a foundation with chipped concrete?
There may even be somewhat of a congenital component to this. Bigliani et al. found that 67% of pitchers and 47% of position players at the professional level have a positive sulcus sign in their throwing shoulder. One might think that this is simply an adaptation to imposed demand – and that very well might be the case. However, those researchers also found that 89% of the pitchers and 100% of the position players with that positive sulcus sign ALSO came up positive in their non-throwing shoulder. It may very well be that the guys with the most congenital laxity are the ones who are naturally able to throw harder – and therefore reach the higher levels. If you’re dealing with a population that’s “picked the right parents” for laxity, you better think twice about having them press anything overhead.
With respect to the Olympic lifts, I'm not comfortable with the amount of forces the snatch puts on the ulnar collateral ligament, which takes a ton of stress during the valgus-extension overload cycle that dramatically changes the physical shape of most pitchers' elbow joints. Cleans don’t thrill me simply because I don’t like risking any injury to wrists; surgeons do enough wrist and forearm operations on baseball guys already! We teach all our guys to front squat with a cross-face grip.
Lastly, here is a frame of reference to deter you from the "Since they encounter is in sports, we need to train it in the weight-room" mindset. Boxers get hit in the head all the time in matches; why don't we intentionally train that? Getting hit in the head is not good for you, nor will it make you a better boxer. It is a part of the sport, but they don't intentionally add it into the training because they can appreciate that it would impair longevity.
Some might ask if I feel that it limits development of the athlete on the whole. If you’re dealing with a little leaguer, feel free to do some overhead stuff with him; I love one-arm DB push presses with our younger kids. However, with our 16+ athletes, my glass-is-half-full mentality is that we're avoiding any unnecessary risk because the reward is trivial at best compared to what you can do with effective non-overhead programming. Like I said, every baseball pitcher you see will have fraying in their labrum - and that means less mechanical stability.
MR: So what do you like to do instead?
EC: Here’s a small list:
•Push-up variations: chain, band-resisted, blast strap
•Multi-purpose bar benching (neutral grip benching bar)
•DB bench pressing variations
•Every row and chin-up you can imagine (excluding upright rows)
•Loads of thick handle/grip training
•Med ball throws
•Specialty squat bars: giant cambered bar, safety squat bar
•Front Squats
MR: Okay, that covers pitchers pretty damn well. Do you follow the same guidelines with position players as well?
EC: At the youth levels, pretty much every kid thinks that he is a pitcher or a shortstop. Next to catchers, these two positions throw more than anyone on the field. At the pro ranks, most guys have developed a lot more of the adaptive changes I outlined earlier, so the name of the game is conservative in terms of exercise selection. So, as far as avoiding the contraindicated exercises I noted above, we’re standard across the board.
I look at my baseball guys as pitchers, catchers, and position players. The big areas in which they’re different are a) initial off-season focus and b) in-season training.
In terms of “a,” I’ve found that we need to spend more time ironing out asymmetries early on in the off-season with pitchers, as they simply don’t move as much as position players. Additionally, with the amount of moronic distance running (can you tell I’m not a fan?) that many pitchers do, we spend a lot of time trying to get back a solid base of strength, power, and reactive ability upon which to build some pitching-specific endurance.
In-season, it’s not too hard to program for starting pitchers; you know they’re going to throw on a 5-day (pros) or 7-day (college/high school) rotation. Some guys might close games on Mondays and start on Wednesdays, though. Basically, you plan around the starts – and make sure that you get in a solid lower-body-emphasis lift in within 24 hours after a start. Relievers are a bit more challenging – and in many ways have to be treated as a hybrid between position players and starters. You base a lot of what you do on how many pitches they throw and the likelihood of them pitching on a given day.
As a general rule of thumb, I don’t do chin-ups or heavy pressing the day after someone pitches. It’s generally more rowing and push-up variations.
I don’t squat my catchers deep in-season. We’ll do some hip-dominant squatting (paused or tap and go) to a box set at right about parallel, but for the most part, it’s deadlift variations. We get our range-of-motion in the lower-body with these guys with single-leg work.
Position players just need to lift – before or after games. The name of the game is frequency, and as long as you aren’t introducing a lot of unfamiliar exercises or long eccentrics in-season, they won’t be sore.
MR: This question may be for myself as much as the readers, but what resources can you recommend for someone that wants to learn more about the anatomy and biomechanics of the shoulder and elbow?
EC: I haven’t seen a really good resource that effectively addresses the need for specialized training in overhead throwing athletes; I’ve actually had a lot of people telling me I should pull something together. I guess that’ll be a project for the new facility.
That said, there are definitely some great resources available. First and foremost, I really like all the drills you and Bill outline in Inside-Out – and I’m not just saying that to butter you up (hell, I already got the interview, and I can be a jerk to you whenever I want).
Second, I think Gray Cook’s Secrets of the Shoulder DVD is excellent.
Third is Donatelli’s Physical Therapy of the Shoulder is a classic. It’s very clinical, and you won’t read it in one sitting, but it’s definitely worth a read.
Fourth is Shirley Sahrmann’s Diagnosis and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes. Sahrmann really turned me on to looking at things in terms of inefficiency/syndrome rather than pathology. The way she approaches scapular downward rotation syndrome is great.
Fifth, get over to Pubmed.com and read everything you can from James Andrews – and then search the related articles. Be sure to check out Throwing Injuries to the Elbow by Joyce, Jelsma, and Andrews as well; it’s important to understand how shoulder dysfunction impacts elbow function. |
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By Eric Cressey
At the dawn of the New Year, billions of people will engage in conversations about how 2005 will be the year that they'll turn over new leaves with profound New Year's resolutions. I'm all for motivation, but quite frankly, I'd rather be a stowaway on one of Richard Simmons' "It's Okay for Tubby Bitches to Dance" cruises than be present for another one of these life-changing affirmations.
A New Year's Note
Before I get to the meat and potatoes, I need to define the scope of this article. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that if you're reading this magazine, you're reasonably devoted to your health, appearance, and performance (or at least the first one). With that in mind, if your resolutions consist of "general health" things like "eat nutritious foods" or "get more sleep," I'd encourage you to take the power cord to your computer and beat yourself senseless with it. Your number one responsibility on this planet should be the one to yourself. If you can't handle the responsibility of taking care of yourself, how can you possibly expect to be good at taking care of others? We accept all kinds of responsibilities – jobs, children, mortgages, pets, you name it – but often ignore our responsibility to ourselves all the while. Being healthy is something that you should reaffirm with every action you take in every minute of your life; you don't need to resolve to "try harder" in 2005. You need to quit talking and start acting.
That said, the resolutions to which I'm referring relate specifically to pushing the bar (pun somewhat intended) with your specific training and nutrition goals. Examples include improving lifts, speed, and agility; getting to a certain percentage body fat; and achieving a desired body weight through skeletal muscle hypertrophy.
What's this guy's problem?
Good question; I knew you'd ask (although I kind of hoped that you wouldn't, as it would have saved me a lot of typing). Remember the first time you ever lifted? I sure do; my big brother brought me – a porky little seventh-grader with curly hair and rosy cheeks – to the high school weight room for the first time. Of course, egos predominated, so nobody was squatting or deadlifting; there was no chance that I'd be able to salvage my pride by using the reasonably conditioned legs I had from years of soccer. Instead, they plopped me right on the bench. I proceeded to get pinned under the just the bar (after a good fifteen second fight in which I almost got it past the sticking point, mind you). Now, let's assume that I had actually known enough to keep lifting then. Chances are that I could have benched the big wheels within a year or so of training; it would seemingly have been a logical New Year's resolution for me to set. However, when you consider that I probably wasn't even strong enough to lift the 45-pound plates to load the bar for an attempt at the big wheels, then I'd be setting myself up for a world of failure – not exactly what a kid who already shopped in the "husky" section of Filenes with his mom really needed. On the other hand, if I had broken the "road to junior high bench press glory" down into a bunch of achievable mini-goals, then I would have been much better off.
Now, I know what you're thinking. Newbies are different; experienced lifters can come up with appropriate goals. Oh, really? In light of the following year-end assessments of 2004 resolutions from a thread on our forum, you might want to have humble pie instead of pecan pie this holiday season.
Lifter 1
2004 Resolutions: Squat 700, bench 500, and deadlift 600.
Year-End Self-Assessment: "No, no, and no. I had to straighten out issues with my squat. The good news is that I think I'm getting there. 600 [squat] was a joke at the last meet, and 625 felt very light as well.
I'm not being a bitch here, but if I had a legitimate shirt, I would have hit 500 on the bench. I paused 495 in training a couple of months before my last meet and wound up barely hitting 480 at the meet. So I was 20lbs shy.
I may or may not have had the deadlift in me, but I wound up with 570. I had more at that meet, but I'll have to save that for next time. Bombing out of the September meet kind of screwed things in general."
My Take: Aren't the holidays supposed to be a happy time? Resolutions are even more troublesome for powerlifters, as nobody really competes on December 31. I true year-end lift total isn't a reality, so it's a lot more appropriate to go meet by meet and plan in weekly/monthly time frames.
Lifter 2
2004 Resolutions: Snatch grip deadlift 405, front squat 275, and power clean 315. "I think these are achievable. The clean may be pushing it. The others are an increase of maybe 50 pounds, but I have not focused my training on bringing them up before. I plan to focus on back for the rest of 03, which will assist each of those lifts."
Year-End Self-Assessment: "No for everything. I *might* be able to put up 275 on the front squat right now, but I haven't tried yet. The deadlift is not close; I'd be doing good to pull 345 snatch grip right now. The power clean was stupid, anyway. Boy, I suck."
My Take: I don't want to kick him while he's down, but talk about setting yourself up for failure. Hell, he didn't even test most of the lifts. It's never a good sign when one of your goals is "stupid" by the end of the year. Ouch.
Lifter 3
2004 Resolutions: 300 bench, 350 Squat (ass to grass), 400+ parallel squat, and 500 deadlift. "All in all, I want to get stronger while staying lean. I'm currently just trying to get over 200 (at 195 right now). Ideally, I would love to be 210-220 by beginning of summer, lean out back to single digits BF, and then just focus on putting on the mass again."
Year-End Self-Assessment: "Bench was close; I got 295 up last March. Squat: I think I was repping with 265 for 5x3 at one point. Deadlift -YEP! Body weight: got up to 210.
I would have easily achieved all my goals if I hadn't gotten injured."
My Take: Injuries threw a wrench in his resolutions; just imagine how much easier goal-setting would have been if he'd done it month-by-month. More importantly, he wouldn't be frustrated now at year's end. I'd much rather be frustrated about a less than optimal month than I would be for an entire year of shortcomings.
Lifter 4
2004 Resolutions: "Get my weight to 250; currently 225 at 6-4. 350 bench; currently 310 raw. 500 deadlift; currently 415 w/ straps (6mos ago). 400 squat; currently 335 on box squat slightly below parallel."
Year-End Self-Assessment: "Body weight - Currently 255 but was as high as 272. Bench - Did 340 raw in early spring and haven't tested since. But all my bench numbers have improved. Deadlift – 530. Squat - Box Squatted 475x1. All in all, a good year. Learned a lot about myself and what I can do if I get my mind right. I'm looking forward to '05.
My Take: As you can see, this guy blew his goals away – probably by the end of August. It almost makes you wonder how this rapid achievement will impact his future goal-setting experience. It goes without saying that shorter-term goals are easier to approximate, so you won't over- or undershoot your true capabilities. Plus, gains don't come linearly; you might see a 30-lb. jump on a particular lift over the course of a session or two just by correcting your form, or a lift might be stalled while you focus on other areas. Monthly goal-setting allows you to accommodate these hills and valleys without getting too "up" or too "down" as you view your long-term goals.
I should also note that there were five posts by people on this thread who have since dropped off the face of the Earth; I can't imagine that doing so was conducive to fulfilling their resolutions. All this is just the tip of the iceberg; there were dozens more regulars who didn't report how things turned out for them.
Got a better idea, you schmuck?
Sure I do; I'd never offer constructive criticism without including solution recommendations. Figure out your long-term goal (or estimate it). Where do you want your life to go personally, academically, and professionally? Don't resolve to do anything with this long-term goal; just hide it in the back of the refrigerator next to that moldy tub of cottage cheese that you keep forgetting to throw out. You'll consider it every day, but it won't be a tie that binds you; it can stay in the fridge, get tossed in the garbage, or revised as needed. One year doesn't mean a damn thing in the grand scheme of things; you need to be thinking longer-term (your big goal) or shorter-term (what you can do right now to get closer to that goal). Let's say that you're hunched over your computer screen reading this and you decide that you want to get rid of your nagging shoulder injury. Are you going to wait until January 1 to get started, or are you going to fix your posture now so that your shoulders aren't rounded and your upper back doesn't look like that of a 90 year-old osteoporotic woman? If you're a beanpole and need to pack on some size, are you going to wait until January 1 to start pushing the calories, or are you going to grab your fork and get to work on a steak while you're reading the rest of this article? If that's not enough of a foot in the ass, hopefully this appetizing reminder will help:
Now, let's talk training. Do you really think that you can plan specifically for the entire year in one sitting? If you try to do so, you'll be ignoring the value of cybernetic periodization, which involved modifying volume and intensity based on how you feel at different points in time. You'll also be underestimating the value of the knowledge you'll gain over the course of the year; this knowledge may impact your programming. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, you'll be failing to take into account potential roadblocks such as injuries, personal obligations, and cases of volatile and unpredictable diarrhea (sorry for mentioning that last one, folks; I just needed an intense kicker to top off the paragraph).
What I'd like you to do for the next year is have twelve resolutions – one for each month of training. Your strengths and weaknesses are sure to change over this time period, so it makes more sense to hone in on what you can do in four-week cycles to get closer to your long-term goal. With one week left in each month, I want you to sit down and write out all your glaring weaknesses. They'll be your priority as you plan for the next month - none of this two-months-in-advance planning. Don't just say what you want; make several resolutions that relate how you'll achieve your goals.
I'll use myself as an example. My long-term training goal is to be an Elite powerlifter; I'll have to make a Master's class total first (hopefully at my next full meet - April 2005). I know where I need to be as well as where I stand now, having done a push-pull on December 18th. This competition helped me to better realize where my weaknesses exist, and in combination with what I already knew, I can now plan for the month of January. As I planned in late November, the remaining days in December will be used as a bridge between active recovery and introducing the already-calculated higher volume of my January program. For January, I resolve to:
1. Squat against a crapload of band tension in weeks 1, 2, and 4.
2. Utilize the safety squat bar for all good mornings to keep my shoulders healthy in spite of using this band tension. Continue to hammer on my lockout on the bench.
3. Do more horizontal pulling .
4. Get into my new bench shirt twice (second and fourth full ROM bench sessions).
5. Continue with my shoulder and scapular stability prehabilitation (related to #3).
6. Devote more work to top-end deadlifting.
7. Do neck harness work once per week.
Chances are that the tasks at hand will be somewhat similar for February, but I won't put anything in stone until the last week in January. The important thing is that I'm not just saying what I want to achieve; I'm delineating how I plan to going about getting the job done.
Closing thoughts
Summarily, I'm just encouraging you to break your long-term goals into smaller tasks and omit the classic one-year resolution altogether. If you can't even accomplish short-term tasks specific to your goal, then how can you resolve to get things done over the course of an entire year? If you're saving up for a vacation, do you expect to "earn" the money in lump sums off of 4-5 winning scratch tickets, or do you bust your butt day-in and day-out at work, accumulating a few bucks with every paycheck to get your closer to your goal? Why go for the whole shebang when you can't even get part of it right? Have your long-term goals, and then recognize what you can do right now to get to them; stay away from the half-ass in between stuff, leaving New Year's resolutions to those who won't even be going to the gym anymore by the end of February. |
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Compiled by Eric Cressey
So you've finally made the decision to give up the "all show and no go" bodybuilder's mentality in favor of powerlifting, huh? Glad to have you aboard; please leave your posing trunks, tanning oil, and pink dumbbell triceps kickbacks at the door. It goes without saying that one's first powerlifting meet is an exciting, yet confusing -- and potentially disastrous -- event. Admittedly, I'm a powerlifter without much true competition experience under his belt, so it wouldn't be fair for me alone to put something together on this topic. With that in mind, I met up with four experienced lifters -- Jay Floyd, Ross Bowshers, Dr. Tom Deebel, and Steve Coppola -- to discuss first meet madness, and collaborate on a piece on how to avoid bombing out and looking like an ass in your first meet.
EC: Welcome, fellas. Before we get started, let's clue the Rugged audience in on your lifting backgrounds so that they know we're talking to some pretty strong and smart lifters.
JF: I'm 25, and am about to complete my M.Ed. in Health and Physical Education. I have a job awaiting me teaching health and PE and coaching football and strength and conditioning at a high school in Georgia. I got into powerlifting after an athletic career that included football, baseball, basketball, track, and even competitive collegiate cheerleading. Lifting was also a big priority throughout; and graduated high school with a raw 500 squat and 335 power clean. My last year of cheerleading was terrible and I really wanted to be competitive in something, so powerlifting seemed like a great fit. When I first started training for powerlifting with the Westside principles, my box squat was 365, deadlift was 495, and my bench was less than 300. After seven months (approximately six weeks of which was compromised due to two-a-day cheerleading practices and a shoulder injury), at my first meet, I squatted 575, benched 335, and deadlifted 535 at a body weight of 238. At my last meet, which was 356 days after my first meet, I squatted 771, benched 402, and deadlifted 633 at 265. This was all drug free. I'm tempted to make a run at Strongman training in the near future.
RB: I am 22 and played college baseball for three years: two at the Vincensses Junior College, and one at Division 1 University of Tennessee-Martin. I had to have stomach surgery during my junior season, at which point I decided to go back home to Indianapolis. I needed some thing to keep my competitive demeanor satisfied, so I checked out an Elite Fitness seminar and got totally hooked. I did some small local meets and then had to have stomach surgery again, which set me back 6 months with no training. I have been training very serious for the last year and a half but haven't been able to get to a meet recently because of my job and a recent injury. At a body weight of approximately 280-285 pounds, my best gym lifts are a 735x2 box squat, 505 bench press and 595 deadlift. Currently I am employed by the Franklin Boys and Girls Club and coach the Indianapolis Grizzlies College baseball team and go to school at IUPUI.
TD: I started powerlifting at the 1982 Pennsylvania Teenage State Championships, and competed approximately 12 times over six years ending in 1988. I started at 132, but after two years I moved up to 148 where I competed for 5 more years. My best ranking in the ADFPA/USAPL was Class 1. After chiropractic college, I continued lifting, but various injuries kept me from competing. In 1998, I began to learn ART, which helped to fix my injuries, and started training with Westside methods, which brought the excitement for lifting back. Last year, I did a deadlift meet and a push/pull. As of right now, I hope to be healthy enough to make a Class 1 or Master's classification later this year. My son, Tommy, Jr., is getting into the action, too, as you can see!
SC: I’m 22 years old, and compete in the 242 weight class as an “amateur” lifter. My best meet numbers are a 725 squat, 450 bench, 620 deadlift, and a 1795 total done in IPA meets. I’ve been a competitive athlete in various sports since age 8, but have only been competing in powerlifting meets since 2003 when my college baseball days came to an end. I’m lucky enough to train with a great group of lifters in Buffalo, NY; this group includes Paul Childress and Joe Dougherty, two of the top lifters in the world in their respective weight classes. We train using a conjugate system that is similar to Westside Barbell.
EC: What are the biggest mistakes you see novice lifters making before their first meets?
JF: The biggest mistake I think beginners make is not knowing the rules and the ways of a meet. By this I mean how the warm-ups go, the technical rules, what equipment is legal, etc. I cant tell you how many times I have gone to a meet and some person during the rules briefing asks the dumbest question ever. Watch videos of lifters in the same federation that you will be competing in; doing so will allow you to see the calls and signals that are made in real competition. The best thing you can do is listen, especially during the rules briefing. Read the rules before you go. Know all the technical things so you can concentrate on your lifting. You can find articles at Elite Fitness on what to do at a meet; these helped me out tremendously. I would also recommend getting easy-to-use equipment at the beginning. Any single ply suit and bench shirt should do in the beginning. Get it early and get used to it.
RB: The most common problems have to do with equipment. For example, one of my training partners was getting ready for APF teen and junior nationals, and after a great training cycle that took his bench almost up 100 pounds and his squat close to 150 in about 20 weeks, UPS lost his squat suit, and it took him six extra weeks to get it. He got it three weeks out from the meet and the legs were too long (needed to be tailored) and it was super tight; he couldn't even reach a parallel box with 635 pounds and had problem getting it up two weeks out! A $500 trip to Omaha was not too wise for him to go out there and bomb on the squat, so his dropped out. Get your equipment early and train in it! Other than that, powerlifting is just like any other sporting event; keep your nerves in check and don't sweat the small stuff and everything will be fine...
TD: The biggest mistake novice lifters make is being unprepared for meet day. It's a great idea to see exactly how things run. You have to be familiar with the time it takes to warm-up, get on equipment, get ready for your attempt, and know how to perform the lift according to the rules. A beginner should really go see a meet first.
The second mistake is not bringing enough stuff. You need meet-day food that you can tolerate, drinks, aspirin/Advil, your equipment, and any other comfort items. There can be long delays, so a book, Walkman, or Gameboy might take your mind off delays.
EC: I put you last, Steve, because I know you've got a ton of these. Hit what the others haven't covered; the floor is yours!
SC: In no particular order…
1. Not going into the meet fresh, and rested enough. Too many people overestimate their recuperative abilities, and don’t realize what it truly takes for supercompensation to take place, so they essentially wind up being overtrained leading into a meet. In my experience, this tends to occur moreso on the squat and deadlift than the bench. In my gym, we recommend lifters take their last heavy squat/bench/dead at least 2-3 weeks prior to meet day, minimum. Sometimes we will push this minimum to 3-4 weeks out from meet day for the deadlift depending on the lifter.
2. Not being familiar enough with one's equipment. It seems so obvious, yet so many people have no idea how to use their equipment come meet time. This could apply to getting it on and off in a timely manner, as well as how to perform in it. The bottom line is that you need to be confident in how to use your equipment with plenty of time to spare (weeks!) before the meet.
3. Not bringing an experienced handler - or any handler at all - to the meet with them. Although an experienced handler is preferable for obvious reasons, any handler will work to help get equipment on and off, give attempts to the scorers table, go grab food or water, tell the lifter how far out they are from being up, etc. Lack of any type of handler usually spells disaster (unless your name is Jay Floyd and you’re too cool for handlers and can wrap your own knees!) for the poor-planning lifter, and will also cause fellow lifters to get pissed off when the poor-planning lifter constantly asks them what’s going on.
4. Not bringing back-up equipment, shoelaces, etc. Anything you will use in any way on meet day, bring a back-up. Sometimes things go wrong, so you have to be ready. Speaking of readiness, be sure to pack plenty of food and drinks, as Tom mentioned.
5. Not being realistic with attempts. The novice lifter should aim to make as many lifts as possible in his or her first meet. This allows more PRs to be set, builds more confidence, and allows for steadier progression in subsequent meets. The novice lifter, in my opinion, should be hitting numbers on first and second attempts that have been done confidently in the gym (as judged by someone who has some meet experience, if possible), and should be aiming to set a PR on the third attempt. Technically, every attempt made will be a “meet PR” anyway. Failure to go into a meet with this mindset has resulted in many a novice bombing out or missing too many attempts; this not only hurts confidence, but also leaves too much doubt about what kind of numbers the lifter is really capable of hitting.
6. Not taking bands and chains off of the bar leading into meet week. Most novices probably aren’t doing advanced band/chain cycles anyway, but in the event that they are, they would be well-served to use straight bar weight on most of their exercises for a week or two before the meet. There a few reasons for this practice…most of them have to do with recovery, and the fact that the body needs to re-adjust to straight bar weight from a nervous system standpoint. Bands, especially, have a grounding effect; once taken off the bar, the lack of this grounding effect can lead to some instability in the lifter if sufficient time (a couple squatting/benching sessions) is not allowed for a regaining of balance.
7. Not knowing the rules of the federation. Jay already touched on this, but it warrants reiteration. The lifter should know the rules of his or her federation of choice prior to meet day. Different feds have different rules about each lift, and how they are performed. This might seem obvious, but I missed two benches in my first ever meet because I kept forgetting the fed I was competing in that day (USPF) had a “start” command on the bench at the time.
8. Not knowing the monolift rack height in a meet with a monolift before taking first attempts. Get under the damn bar before the meet starts and figure out your rack height, and tell the judges and scorer's table. This can be costly if not done, as it can be a bitch to basically squat a max attempt twice if your rack height is way too low or slightly too high.
9. Not timing warm-ups properly in the warm-up room. Don’t rush warm-ups and don’t take too much time. This comes with experience, but a good idea is to try and take a warm-up every 5-10 minutes depending on how many people are competing in the meet (if there are a lot of people, as in twenty or more in your flight, ten minutes between warm-up attempts is probably not too long). Have an idea of where you fall on the opening attempts list so that you can time things a bit better.
EC: Awesome stuff, Steve. Knock back a post-training drink to replenish what that dissertation took out of you while I talk with the other guys. Before I move on, though, I'd like to add a little bit to Steve's third recommendation. Make sure that your handler knows where the meet is, how to get there, what time it begins, and how long he/she should plan for travel to the event. I learned this hard way in my first meet; fortunately, somebody else was able to help me out. Anyway, moving on…how important do you think it is to go and watch a powerlifting meet before you compete for yourself? Did you do so before your first meet?
JF: Going to a meet before you compete is a good idea. At the first meet I went to, the meet organizer offered to let me sit next to a judge during the competition so I could see how things worked and he could explain things to me. I declined because I had been to a competition a few years before and had watched a million videos online.
RB: Not that important...When I decided to get into powerlifting, I basically started calling people in my area who were the best. I had been training for about three weeks and went to train with Ron Palmer and Rocky Tilson's crew; they talked my training partner and I into a SLP meet that next weekend we went and did the meet never having seen one in person. In fact, my training partner, Justin Fricke, set the SLP Indiana teenage state bench press record at that meet! The people in powerlifting are great; Justin actually borrowed a shirt from Mike Coe, a WPO competitor, because his ripped. Here was a champion helping a young kid in a pinch even though he'd only known him for a week; you just don't see that kind of mutual respect and kindness in other sports. We have found all people in powerlifting to be great and helpful, especially Jim Wendler, who has by far been the most helpful for me personally.
TD: It's a great idea to watch a meet and a better idea to help a friend first to see the flow of meet days. I highly recommend it.
SC: I think this is very important. If possible, the novice lifter should be accompanied by an experienced lifter (whose brain can be picked by the novice as they watch the goings-on of the meet) if at all possible. I actually did not do this before my first meet, and it showed. I basically screwed up just about everything I could have on meet day. Things would have been a lot less stressful had I taken this logical step in meet preparation.
EC: What would be your recommendations for picking attempts in a first meet?
JF: It depends on how you train. If you train with a Westside-influenced program, you will probably have no idea what your 3RM is, so the idea of "picking something you can do for reps" isn't very applicable. At my first meet, I opened at 525 even though I had never even had that much on my back before. Every meet since then I have opened with my best from my last meet. I don't recommend that, though! I would say take something that you know you could do on a bad day. This is where working up for some heavy singles on dynamic day can help. I knew I could box squat at least 450 before my first meet, so I figured 525 wouldn't be a problem. Since then, I have just opened high enough to be able to take medium jumps so I could get my goal. I opened at 705 at my last meet because I wanted a shot at 804 if given the opportunity. I did 705 at my last meet for a PR, but knew I had a lot left in me.
RB: Just make sure that it's a weight you have lifted a ton of times in training; be very confident with the lift. The best way to do this is to pick a max effort weight that is usually your 90% lift - the lift you know you're going to get easy before you head to your max attempts. A good example for me is around 440 on the bench. When I am training, I know no matter how terrible I feel I can always hit 440, and after that, it's really time to focus. If i can hit it in the gym feeling average, I can certainly nail it in a meet with the adrenaline and ephedrine flowing and focus at an all-time high. Plus, it's not far off my best, and screw up my total too bad...
TD: Your opener should be 100% I can make it with the flu and explosive diarrhea. Your second should be very close to a max, but you're very confident with it. The third is for placing, PRs, or goals (e.g. 500 deadlift). Remember to be honest with your self. Don't attempt hopes. You've trained and should therefore know what's possible.
SC: I talked about this in my laundry list of novice mistakes. The first attempt should be extremely easy: something the lifter has tripled in the gym. The second lift should be something the lifter can confidently single in the gym. The third attempt should be something slightly greater than what the lifter has done in the gym. Equipment problems, strict judging, nerves, etc. can make an easy triple turn into a grueling single.
EC: Good stuff, gentlemen. A lot of federations will give newbie lifters fourth attempts if they make their first three. This is also the case with going for records, but most newbies aren't shooting for records in their first meets. Nonetheless, if you you’re your first three and feel like you have more left in the tank, ask for a fourth. It won't count toward your total, but it'll be nice to go home knowing that you didn't leave a ton of weight on the platform. Now, let's talk planning; how far in advance should squat and bench cycles be planned?
JF: For beginners, I don't think it matters much. Once you get a little more advanced, it should be a little more structured. For my last two meets I have done three weeks of chains, three weeks of blue bands, deload, four weeks of circa max, and then a deload week before the meet. This has worked very well for me. For my dynamic bench, I just alternate bands and chains every three weeks ending with either chains or straight weight. For my other days, I just rotate my max effort exercises. For beginners, I would just use an undulating wave every three weeks ending with a deload week before the meet. After you get more advanced, you will have to decide when you want to add in circa max phases and things of that nature.
RB: Twelve weeks is great. One thing that I need to take into account is the bar; even though I have a Texas squat bar, it still beats up my shoulders really bad, so I want to spend as little time under it as I can. If you have 16-24 weeks before a meet, use the safety squat bar or a cambered squat bar for 12 weeks or so. What I like to do is alternate the bars each week for dynamic squats for 8-12 weeks after a training cycle; both these bars really bring up weakness, so after these cycles you will be a lot stronger with a regular bar. The first time I did this last fall, I got about a 60-pound increase from one six-week cycle with each bar. You will, however, need about 12-14 weeks with a regular bar to get your groove back. During this time, get under some band tension and work on your specific weakness such as strength-speed and speed-strength. The best specific meet dynamic squat cycle I have used is Jim Wendler's Squat Training: A Different Perspective.
TD: Eight weeks would be sufficient. If you're farther out, just do two cycles.
SC: At my gym, most guys shoot for a solid 12-15 week training cycle leading into a meet. This number comes from years of experience combined with how most of our squat cycles are structured (5 week mini-cycles). It allows for a week or two of adjustment if things get screwed up, too. Basically, it’s enough time to get done what we’d like to get done, and if that can’t happen, there’s enough time to get done what HAS to be done.
EC: How do you structure your training in the week after a meet? I found that I was able to get back to work sooner with my bench work, but the posterior chain took considerably longer to recover. I hit my first bench session three days after the meet for a repetition day, and got back to a light dynamic squatting session five days after the competition. The days in between were reserved for some GPP, extra work for my upper back, swimming, hot tub, and even some EMS.
JF: If you did things right, you just put in at least 12 weeks of very intensive training with a meet at the end. Take some time off! You more than likely won't have a meet for at least another 12 weeks, so who cares what you do? I see guys saying that they are going to do this or that when in reality not going to the gym at all may be the best thing for them to do. I usually take at least until Wednesday off. After my last meet, I went to the gym and did some sets of five on reverse band presses…that was all I did! On Friday, I would do my dynamic squat with straight weight going really light. I might only use 345 or so…something easy. Then, on Sunday (dynamic bench day) I would get things back to normal.
RB: Eat and sleep. I have found swimming to be great for recovery; treading water is great GPP and helps me recover
TD: The week after a meet I either go light or don't train at all. I recommend doing other active things to get away from lifting. It also gives you a little reflection time for your accomplishments or mistakes.
SC: In my case, post-meet training, at least for a week, usually consists of light recovery work. I normally begin speed work in the second week after a meet, and won’t do a true max effort single until the end of that second week, or the beginning of the third week after the meet.
EC: Can newbies compete too often? Is there a time to just can competing for a bit and focus on training? I couldn't wait to get back under the bar after my first meet in spite of the fact that I knew my body needed to recover; I felt like I had learned too much about what I needed to do to be more successful to be sitting around!
JF: I think beginners should compete at least every 12 weeks or so. Obviously it is going to be limited by what is around you. You might have to travel. For my last two meets, I have traveled a total of 22 hours. I think the training that you do the weeks before a meet are much better than "normal" weeks of just training. Motivation is higher and you are more likely to put in that extra effort. A beginner's level is so low, that they are not likely to get burned out by competing more often. I competed five times last year and my total went up over 300lbs. I don't think it hurt me any. I don't feel that you should consider limiting your competitions until you hit Elite status.
RB: Money and time are the limiting factors. I live in Indiana and only do APF and IPA meets, but there aren't any meets in this state for those federations. So, for me to go to a APF or IPA meet, we're talking about a $300-500 or so weekend. I got to school full-time and work part-time, so money isn't falling off trees for me. I had an injury this year that prevented me from doing my most recent planned meet, but it's proven valuable in that it's an opportunity to continue to train and get stronger over the next few months before I compete again. The PR goals will still be reached regardless of whether I do four meets this year or one. So, for me it's really financial; if I am going to spend the money, I want to be 100%.
TD: For a new guy, I'd think up to four times a year. Many lifters of all abilities do up to that many competitions. A newbie does have to get out there to learn the ropes, so they may need to do a meet or two more each year than a more advanced guy.
SC: Yes, and yes. If there are technical problems and/or injuries occurring in a lifter, time should be taken to remedy these issues before serious meet training takes place. If the lifter is anything like me, the entire preparation, and completion of a meet can be very taxing from a mental standpoint from about 10 weeks out from the meet until it’s over. If this is the case, mental recovery is also something a lifter - newbie or not - needs to consider. Although newbies normally can, and probably should, compete a bit more often than a seasoned pro, they should take the time necessary between meets to recover, evaluate, and properly prepare for another meet. A decent number to shoot for is probably around 3-5 meets a year for most lifters new to the sport.
EC: That's some excellent information, guys; thanks for helping out with this. I'm sure that a lot of newbies out there will benefit from it. Just as importantly, they won't annoy the more experienced lifters with silly questions at their first meets! Then again, when it comes to the pre-meet time period, the only stupid question is the one that isn't asked. |
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By: Eric Cressey
This off-season at Cressey Performance, we worked with 95 baseball players from 32 high schools, 16 colleges, and 8 major league organizations. Needless to say, it was an exciting off-season and things are finally starting to calm down.
However, as the high school baseball season approaches, I’ve gotten quite a few questions from my high school guys about how to approach pre-season and in-season training. Here’s a snapshot of what I told them in an email to all our athletes and parents.
What to Expect in the Preseason
Most of you will show up to tryouts and realize very quickly that they are tremendously physically demanding, in most cases, as a coach want to find out quickly who has worked hard in the off-season (hopefully, you!) and who deserves a spot on his roster (hopefully, also you!). You’ve already taken care of the performance aspect of this challenge with your hard work this past fall/winter – and now it’s time to continue that work while integrating more sprint work over these final few weeks to prepare you for what’s ahead.
However, what you need to be aware of is that research has shown that preseason practice injury rates are more than three times higher than those of the in-season and post-season period. If this research had been done on spring sports in New England, though, I suspect that those rates would be even higher. After all, it is still 20°F and snowing in Massachusetts less than a month before the season is set to start!
To that end, you need to make sure that you always warm up sufficiently – or else you’re at a bigger risk of hamstrings, groins, or hip flexor strains. Our athletes include a wide variety of dynamic flexibility drills prior to moving on to some light jogs, high-knees, butt-kicks, side shuffles, cariocas, and skips prior to “opening it up” with sprinting. These warm-ups should be continued all season.
I highly recommend that you dress in layers and not remove your sweats until you have already broken a sweat. It’s also a great idea to wear some compression shorts underneath your regular shorts/sweats.
Sprint Mechanics
On your sprint mechanics, remember to focus on landing with your foot under your body. Don’t “paw” the ground and try to “pull” yourself along; this is where many hamstrings issues arise. Trust in the strength that you’ve built and focus on putting force into the ground to propel you along on the balls of the feet, avoiding heel-striking.
Guys who overstride tend to pull hamstrings more often. Ground reaction forces (GRF) can range from four to six times an athlete’s body weight, and simply moving the point of ground contact forward a few inches can markedly impair an athlete’s ability to decelerate those GRF. Intentionally overstriding will make you slower and more likely to get injured; warming-up sufficiently and trusting in your athletic ability will keep you moving quickly and safely.
On your acceleration work, remember “head down to the mound.” Keep the chin tucked as you accelerate; you shouldn’t be looking up. That big forward lean gets shin angles in the right place, and helps generate momentum to get you moving faster.
Remember that the faster your arms move, the faster your legs will move. Hip pocket to eye socket with that arm action!
Over the Next Few Weeks
Our athletes will be doing a lot of sprint work on the turf at Cressey Performance over the next few weeks; it will be a combination of starts (10-15 yd) and upright sprinting at 70-90% of maximum speed (along with some sprint mechanics drills in warm-ups). Ideally, you should be sprinting 2-3 times per week – but don’t get in the habit of thinking that you need to do a ton of aerobic work or treat these sessions as interval training. Your goal should be complete recovery between sets, as you want to optimize sprint mechanics.
Again, this is not the time to go crazy and run all out!!! Save that for when you’re stealing bases with healthy hamstrings and hip flexors in April!
Nutrition
Pre-season nutrition can be summed up in three words – or, one word three times:
Calories! Calories! Calories!
Most guys really undereat during the preseason period and wind up dropping a lot of weight – both muscle and fat. We can lose the fat with all this added sprinting without losing the muscle by keeping quality food intake up. If you find that your weight is dropping quickly, make sure you get the food intake up.
Treat your baseball training sessions just like you do your training sessions in the off-season. Recognize that you need quality protein and carbohydrates during/after each session, with plenty of water. Biotest Surge is a good option for its convenience, especially with higher-workload tryouts/practices. Chocolate milk works well, and you can never go wrong with fruit/yogurt or fruit/cottage cheese combinations.
In-Season Training
In the professional ranks, position players often lift four times per week. In college, it’s 2-3 sessions/week. There’s a reason for this trend; in-season training is important!
Maximal strength is the foundation upon which power improvements occur. Keeping strength up is important for maintaining the peak power you need for throwing, sprinting, hitting, diving, you name it. Resistance training enhances strength, obviously – and it also has endocrine, immunity, injury prevention, and bone density benefits as well.
If you are a middle school, freshman, or junior varsity player, your #1 goal should be long-term development. To that end, physically, you should treat the in-season as if it’s the off-season. In other words, keep training as much as your schedule will allow! Obviously, things get busy between practices, games, and schoolwork (and school always comes first), but just realize that this isn’t a time when you should be concerned with modifying workouts because you don’t want to sore for games or practices. I know it sounds hard to appreciate now, but you’ll thank me years from now!
Varsity guys can get away with slightly fewer sessions if they’re more experienced athletes – but you still need to shoot for about two sessions a week.
Position players can jump in whenever schedule allows. Pitchers should aim to lift the day after starts, whenever possible, as well as another session (generally around the same time that they throw bullpens). I am NOT a fan of distance running between starts – or even running foul poles – but that is a rant for another day. Suffice it to say that I think these efforts would be much better devoted to other training avenues.
In-season, frequency, not duration, is the name of the game. You don’t have to be in the gym for hours and hour; just stick to the “meat and potatoes” exercises and you’ll easily maintain – and possibly even build on – the gains you made this off-season. And, you’ll stay healthy. You would be amazed at what 20 minutes 2-3 times per week after practice or a game will do.
Going in to the off-season, I’m sure a lot of you had goals of throwing 90mph, hitting 15 homeruns, or stealing 25 bases. However, while you’ll certainly achieve a lot of success on these statistical measures, the statistic with which you should be most concerned is the games-missed statistic. At Cressey Performance, our goal is to have every Cressey Performance athlete healthy enough to play every game this season. Many of you have put all the hard work in this off-season to make this a reality initially, but it is going to take a continued dedicated effort in-season with your warm-ups, flexibility drills, strength training, and nutrition to sustain what you’ve built for the long haul.
Good luck this season!
www.CresseyPerformance.com
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By: John Cowell
I doubt there are many readers out there who have gotten exactly what they want from their training. How many have ever really asked, “Why?” There are a lot of potential roadblocks to success in the gym - or anywhere, for that matter. One of the first questions I strive to answer when an athlete first comes to me is "Where is this athlete right now?"
If I put a blindfold on you, drop you off in the middle of nowhere, and then tell you to drive to your house, the first thing you’d have to do is figure out where you are currently. The same is true with training. If you don’t really know where you are, how can you possibly get where you want to go?
The initial assessment is paramount to the journey. You’ve got to know what’s going on with your body, from a mental, physical, and visceral perspective. Let me address each one individually.
I’m sure most of the readers of this article have heard of the “Westside” system. Well, I’ve never been to train with Louie Simmons or any of the other athletes at Westside, but I can tell you that the main ingredient to their success has to do more with the atmosphere and attitude of that gym than the actual training programs. There’s not much secret about what training protocols they follow, yet why isn't it that other gyms can’t stack up with their level of success?
I’ll tell you why. Everyone is so busy dissecting the “Conjugate” method or “Reactive” training that they forget to address one of the most important components of the “Westside” system - and that is the mental aspect. When you read articles by Dave Tate and Jim Wendler, they will tell you that unless you’re training at Westside, you’re not training “Westside,” and that’s because they understand how important the mental aspect is to the game.
What would you say is the genetic difference between the world class and the national class? Probably less than 1%. So what separates the two? Likely, it’s mental. Visualization of one’s goals is essential to realizing one’s goals. A lot of strength athletes could benefit from the mental exercises employed by such athletes as divers, golfers, and gymnasts. These athletes know exactly what they want to do in their minds before their bodies execute the movement.
Once you’ve got your head on straight, can the body follow? It has been said by many elite coaches that you can’t fire a cannon from a canoe. How strong is your foundation? Your body is a structure like any other and if the foundation of your building is weak and the walls and floor aren’t square, the strength of the building is limited. Now if no one ever goes in the building or the building is only one story tall, then perhaps this isn’t much of an issue. The thing is, by strength training, we’re attempting to build a skyscraper.
All movements are limited by the weakest component of that movement. In the deadlift, if your back is weak, it doesn’t matter how strong your hip extensors are. If you are limited in your thoracic extension, you will begin experiencing shoulder pain long before you ever achieve your maximum in overhead movements.
I compare this balance to that of an automobile. If you are traveling from a stop sign to another stop sign 1/2 mile down the road, you’ll be able to stay on the gas for much longer if you know your brakes and suspension are good and can stop you quickly. However, if your brakes and suspension are shot, you’ll need to back off the accelerator much earlier to make sure you can stop in time. Your body works the exact same way. You may not be aware of it, but your nervous system is. If your nervous system knows that the stabilizers of the shoulder are weak, then it will instinctively weaken the prime movers of the bench press. Make sense?
This is all probably fairly intuitive but how about the viscera? How can one’s internal organs hinder athletic performance? Consider that all of the systems within the human body require energy. From a survival point of view, what is more important: the function of the elbow or the heart? When the internal organs are in distress, then the body will rob energy from the muscles to try to restore the function of the organ.
When you eat very poorly, you not only sabotage optimal body composition; you tax your body on the inside as well. A body can only look good on the outside for so long if the inside is screwed up. If the liver is toxic and the gut is constantly inflamed due to poor food choices, alcohol and NSAID medications (for instance), the outside of the body will show symptoms. The gut will look bloated and no matter how hard the athlete tries, he or she won’t improve in performance or aesthetics.
When the liver is overburdened with toxins, it has to outsource the storage of said toxins. Do you know where the body stores toxins outside the liver? Yup, bodyfat. Now, if you keep toxifying the liver to the point that it has to store toxins elsewhere, how successful do you think you’ll be in removing excess bodyfat? The answer is, not very! Your body will hold onto the fat as a place to store the toxins until they can be dealt with. Once the liver becomes healthy, only then it can begin to metabolize the stored bodyfat.
How about cortisol? That’s the ultimate four-letter word when it comes to bodybuilding. Well, what is cortisol and why is it in our bodies anyhow? Cortisol is, among other things, a catabolic agent and a vital part of our internal defense system and can become elevated in times of extreme stress. This is a good thing - believe me. You want the body to secrete cortisol when it needs to. Cortisol is our own natural, built-in anti-inflammatory. The problem is when our body is constantly secreting cortisol due to constant sources of stress. Stress comes in lots of forms but suffice it to say, the body needs time to rebuild and if it’s so stressed all the time, it can never return to an anabolic state.
As you can see, there are many potential roadblocks to success in the gym. The key is to identify and remove these barriers. The first part of any successful strength and conditioning program is to assess the current status of the athlete. Find out what is an obstacle; is it the mind, the musculo-skeletal system, the internal organs or any combination of the above? If you take shortcuts in this process, then you are ultimately short-cutting your chances for success.
About the Author
John Cowell has been in the fitness industry as an Elite level cyclist with the United States Cycling Federation and as a fitness expert for over ten years. Since dedicating his life to training others, he has worked with some of the best athletes in the world as well as extremely complex orthopedic conditions; and everything in between! He is an author of several articles on fitness as well as a hired consultant and lecturer on the topic. He currently owns and operated Conscious Fitness (www.consciousfitness.com) in Raleigh, NC. You can contact him at john@cowellfit.com.
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By: Eric Cressey
Mike Roussell is one of my few "go-to" guys in the world of nutrition, and you can count on hearing a lot more from him in the months and years to come. Mike is very unique in his academic background, real-world experience, and - perhaps most importantly - the passion he brings to the industry. Last week, I was a guest on his show (www.MaxOutRadio.com), so it seems only fitting that he gets to drop some knowledge bombs on my readers this week with an interview in our newsletter.
EC: Hi Mike, thanks for taking the time to be with us today. I know quite a bit about you, but I'm sure our readers would like to hear a bit more about where you are, where you've been, and where you're going. Tell us your life story.
MR: Okay, this will probably bore everyone except my mother and my wife, but here I go. I played just about every sport growing up and eventually blew out my knee in high school. I picked up Muscle & Fitness one day while in rehab and the rest is history.
I have a B.S. in biochemistry and have spent a good deal of time doing organic chemistry synthesis. After college, I went to medical school, but halfway through my first year I knew it wasn’t for me and that wanted to pursue nutrition full time. So I left medical school and got a job in a biochemistry lab along with a position that allowed me to actually develop the nutrition curriculum for first year medical students at University of Vermont. During this time, I applied to nutrition graduate schools. I’m now at Penn State studying to receive my PhD in Nutrition.
During this whole academic journey, I have always been busy working with people and their nutrition, body composition, and performance goals. That’s what I love. I love seeing people succeed - helping them achieve their best body. There is no feeling better than when a client shares with you a story about how someone noticed changes in their body. You can see it in the client’s face and hear it in their voice how great it made them feel. It is special to be able to help people with that. I’m lucky.
EC: All our readers can insert the obligatory “awwww” as if there were playing with a puppy. I, on the other hand, will start right off with a tough question. I just wrote a two-part article about what I learned/did differently in 2006; what were a few of your “epiphanies” last year?
MR:
1. Butter is good. I realized that I don’t eat enough saturated fat. Chances are that you might not either. I’m big on olive oil, nuts, and avocados – all of which are great, but they weren’t giving me enough saturated fat. I was down at around 4% of total calories from saturated fat. I’ve doubled that now that I use butter on a regular basis. Plus, it makes food taste so good.
2. Alwyn Cosgrove is a sadist. I realized this after doing six weeks of his Afterburn II program.
3. It is important to write your goals in the present tense and keep them at the front of your mind.
4. It is really important not to blindly believe the things that you believe. I’m a big fan of fish oil and no matter how much I believe that fish oil is anti-inflammatory, we really have no idea how it works its anti-inflammatory magic. I was really stuck on the traditional way of thinking about fish oil’s mode of action, but the research says the opposite and there are a lot of people out there that refuse to see this.
5. It is better to embrace reality than fight it. Chances are you already know the answer to a problem with which you are struggling, but you don’t like it, so you are waiting for a new one. Let’s take diet, for example. Many people eat like crap on the weekends and it kills their progress. They know they don’t stick to their meal plan over the weekend, but they continue to look for the new diet, supplement, or guru that will allow them to achieve their goal. Just clean up how you eat on the weekends, and you’ll be amazed at the results.
6. You can never read too many books especially, in areas about which you know nothing.
EC: I managed to escape academia, but you’re still up to your neck in it. What’s new in the lab? Have you won your Nobel Prize yet?
MR: Well, over winter break, I just finished a review article on lifestyle interventions that affect HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol). It is going to come out in the first edition of a new journal called the Journal of Clinical Lipidology. Basically, the best way to increase your good cholesterol is to have 1-2 alcoholic drinks per day. This will increase HDL-C by about 7%. Exercise only increases HDL-C by about 4%, and when you lose weight, your HDL-C actually goes down! However, once your weight loss stabilizes, your HDL-C will increase by about 4% from where it was before the weight loss.
I’m also working on a grant for the USDA that involves giving people fish oil and monitoring various biomarkers – but I won’t bore your readers with the details.
One more thing: there is a really cool type of compound called Resolvins that are created in the body when you take aspirin and fish oil together. It could be the responsible for the anti-inflammatory actions of fish oil (that means we’ve all been wrong about fish oil’s mechanism of action). There has been essentially no work in humans with these compounds, so I have some plans to do some work with Resolvins and humans subjects this spring – again, really cool stuff (in a serious science nerd way).
So, as you can see, I am definitely up to my neck in academia!
EC: Where are most people missing the boat when it comes to nutrition in terms of:
a) general health
b) physique improvements
c) performance enhancement?
MR: Overall, people are missing the boat with compliance and not sticking to their plan. Generally, they eat too many starches – and at the wrong times.
a) General Health – Not taking high quality fish oil or getting enough of a variety of fruits and vegetables.
b) Physique Improvements – Undereating. This crashes your metabolism and makes fat loss really tough. The same goes for building lean tissue. If you aren’t growing even though you “eat a lot,” you need to eat more.
c) Performance Enhancement – Under recovery. Performance athletes really beat up their bodies. This places unique metabolic stressors on their system that proper nutrition can almost erase. Protein and carbs during and after a workout is a must. Total calories are also very important, but they need to be good calories. It drives me nuts when athletes put tons of effort into training but the guy behind the counter at McDonald’s knows them by name!
EC: As I’ve done in previous newsletter interviews, I’m going to ask you to give me your top five training/nutrition resources for people looking to take their knowledge to the next level.
MR: Here are my top five not in any particular order. I’ve actually read all of these books several times.
1. Enter the Zone, by Barry Sears – This book lays a great foundation of the effects of different macronutrients and the power of food.
2. The Anabolic Diet (now called The Anabolic Solution) – This book is a classic and definitely the most popular low carb diet in the weight lifting world.
3. Nutrient Timing by Drs. Ivy & Portman – This is a great resource on the biggest breakthrough in sports nutrition.
4. Precision Nutrition by John Berardi – John does a great job of laying out how you should structure your nutritional approach. I currently use this will all my clients.
5. Naked Nutrition – This is the nutrition manual that I just published - and I know you liked it!
EC: Yes, it was fantastic. Can you tell our readers a bit more about it?
MR: Here’s the thing: personally, I do not enjoy writing out meal plans. I love doing phone consults and working with people, but making meal plans isn’t any fun. So, I decided to put the entire step-by-step system that I use to develop meal plans for people into a manual. I also go into great detail about how to adjust your meal plan depending on your goals; that is the heart of the manual. I also lay out my “Six Pillars of Proper Nutrition,” how to maximize nutrient timing, how to prioritize and plan supplementation depending on goals, and a bunch more.
EC: Sounds like a definite winner and something that’s really needed. Be sure to keep us posted on its release! Where can our readers find out more about you?
MR: I have a main website, www.MikeRoussell.com, where I host my newsletter, blog, product reviews, articles, and my nutrition coaching. They can check out the Naked Nutrition Manual here. a.link:link {font:bold 11px Arial;color:000000; text-decoration:none;} a.link:visited {font:bold 11px Arial;color:000000; text-decoration:none;} a.link:hover {font:bold 11px Arial;color:000000; text-decoration:none;} td.link {padding:2px 10px 2px 10px; cursor:hand;} font.divider {font:11px Arial; color:666666} div.body {font:14px arial; color:000000;} body {font:13px arial; color:000000;} td {font:13px arial; color:000000;} a:link {color:0000cc;} a:visited {color:990099;} a:hover {color:cc0000}  |
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By: Eric Cressey As you’ve probably already surmised by now, I’m always looking to meet new physical therapists who are effective at bridging the gap between healthy and injured athletes. The sad truth is that just as there aren’t many trainers/coaches who really understand musculoskeletal dysfunction and the resulting pathology, there aren’t many PTs who really understand what an athlete puts his/her body through on a daily basis. Let’s just say that I’m lucky to have found Mike Stare, and it’s just my luck that he’s right up the road from me here in Massachusetts. Mike is a brilliant PT and trainer from whom you can expect to hear a lot more in the months and years to come; we’re already brainstorming on some projects together. Here’s a small sample of the great information Mike has to offer; as I told Mike, I think it’s some of the best information we’ve had in any interview at EricCressey.com thus far.
EC: Hi Mike, thanks for taking the time to join us today. Before we get cracking with the interview, could you tell us a bit about who you are, where you’ve been, where you are, and where you’re going?
MS: I’m a Physical Therapist and a CSCS, practicing with Orthopaedics Plus in Beverly, MA, as well as Director of Spectrum Fitness Consulting, also in Beverly. My early years as an oft injured and undersized athlete landed me in the orthopedists’ office far too often. After a serious neck injury from football, I found myself in Physical Therapy for several weeks. That experience really opened up my eyes and I decided that I wanted to pursue a career as a PT. I studied kinesiology at the University of Illinois, and began working as a personal trainer for the division of campus recreation. I also worked with the spinal cord athletes there, and had an opportunity to travel to the 1996 Paralympic games to work with spinal cord injured athletes. I moved East to pursue a Masters of Science in Physical Therapy at Boston University. I continued to work as a personal trainer with the Boston Sports Clubs and obtained the CSCS while I was in grad school. I also had the opportunity to help develop and teach a training curriculum for the trainers at BSC. After graduation, I worked in an outpatient rehab hospital where I saw the full spectrum of conditions. I treated a C5 quadriplegic who was more athletic the most people I know, a lady who had both legs amputated from her pelvis (best pair of arms on a 60 year old I ever saw and a heart of gold), bodybuilders with overuse injuries, chronic low back pain - you name it – I saw it. It was a phenomenal learning experience, but I knew that I needed to focus in order to hone my expertise. So I choose to concentrate on orthopedics, and jumped on board with Orthopaedics Plus. I returned to graduate school part-time while working full time as a clinician to finish my Doctorate in Physical Therapy, and then completed a two-year fellowship in orthopaedic manual therapy. That was an invaluable experience; I learned from what I truly believe to be the greatest minds in Physical Therapy. I had moved away from personal training while pursuing my post-graduate studies, and I really missed it. As a clinician, I grew frustrated with the fact that many of my patients were seeing me for injuries or conditions that could have been prevented if they had received the proper training or education. I thought I was going to lose my mind if I saw another 16-year-old girl with excessive genu valgum and the glute strength of a mosquito limping in after ACL reconstruction waiting to get back to her three soccer leagues. I decided that I needed to provide a service that would not only help people recover from their injury, but also reduce their injury risk and enhance their performance and health. As a result, in partnership with Orthopaedics Plus, I formed Spectrum Fitness Consulting this past January. We focus on providing personal training services, as well as sports conditioning for young athletes. Our studio is located adjacent to the PT clinic, which facilitates me working as both a clinician and a trainer. We are rapidly growing and have some excellent new programs coming soon. I’m looking forward to finding some quality trainers to help us grow, as well as expanding our reach throughout the North Shore region, developing more of a web presence, and hopefully perform some research in the near future For now, I’m trying to stay focused on getting things done right, keep my head from spinning off, and enjoy hanging out with my new baby and my wife as often as possible.
EC: The first chapter of your memoirs is now officially complete; congratulations! Moving on…you’ve done quite a bit of research on preventing elbow injuries in young pitchers; what have you got for us?
MS: Last fall I had the opportunity to mentor a Doctoral Student from BU. We found some great info about elbow and shoulder injuries in young baseball pitchers. Among some of the most notable findings: · Injuries in young pitchers most often involve the growth plates, as opposed to the rotator cuff, labrum, or ligaments commonly seen in adults · The growth plates are the weakest link in the joint complex in young pitchers. · Growth plates in the elbow are open until about 16 and until 19-22 in the shoulder. · Injury to the growth plate is very difficult to detect, except in severe cases. Thus, early and appropriate response to pain is critical. · Pitch counts and pitch types are associated with risk of elbow and shoulder injury. Researchers from the American Sports Medicine Institute (ASMI) have given specific recommendations for pitch type and count based on their findings. For example, a sample of 476 9-14 year olds who threw curve balls had a 56% increased risk for shoulder pain and those who threw sliders had an 86% increased risk for elbow pain. A sample of 330 9-12 year olds showed increased incidence of elbow and shoulder injury occurred with: 1) Those who threw >75 pitches/game or 600/season 2) Pitched in multiple leagues 3) Experienced arm pain during the season 4) Pitched less than 300 pitches per season.
EC: Very interesting; we often hear about throwing too much as being a problem, but some kids were actually having problems from not throwing enough pitches and then going out to “turn it loose?” In other words, is that 300-600 pitches/season number precedent for a “golden pitch count rule?”
MS: No, I don’t consider it as a golden rule. Rather, it should provide a basis from which coaches, clinicians, and researchers can begin to establish the boundaries between what is too much stimulus for a developing arm, and what is not enough stimulus to facilitate enhanced motor skill and optimal conditioning. The research from ASMI and others is merely revealing initial data about factors that correlate with shoulder and elbow injury, not cause the injuries. Pitch counts are a convenient way to quantify arm stress, but they are far from perfect. The research regarding this topic is still very new and continues to evolve. Pitch counts are just one of the many factors related to increased risk. I think focusing on a firm pitch count for the season may be a problem in that it relieves the coaches, parents, etc., of responsibility of considering other variables that may also indicate increased risk, essentially, providing a false sense of security. It still isn’t clear why pitching less than 300/season was associated with risk of arm injuries. Perhaps those who threw less had less skill, and thus imposed greater stress upon their arms. Maybe they were less conditioned. Or perhaps, as you mentioned, they progressed their volume of throwing too quickly. The higher risk with throwing greater than 600 seems more obvious – perhaps it was just too much? Regardless, I think the problem is not simply about too many pitches or too few pitches in games over the season. There seems to be a trend towards kids playing in less informal settings, and more often in competitive settings. This has some significant implications. Less informal play means less opportunity for honing the motor skill of throwing. Motor learning is best developed by practicing frequently, in small chunks of time, at initially lower intensities. This is what is typically done through informal play. There is a big difference between how you throw in a competitive game situation versus while practicing or playing catch with friends. Thus, kids are in more frequent situations that place higher stresses on the arm, while spending less time improving their motor skills. Given this trend, I think it becomes clear why the incidence of arm injuries is one the rise. Improving their conditioning and responding to the early warning signs of injury would substantially offset this higher risk. Combined with coaches focusing more on teaching the skill of throwing, while gradually increasing the volume and intensity of throwing, the incidence of arm injuries could be greatly reduced. Rather than just focusing on the pitch count, I suggest coaches and parents also simply rate velocity and control each inning, as well as observe any other signs of a change in mechanics or taking more time between pitches. This will be more effective than just quantifying pitch count.
EC: Great stuff – sorry to interrupt. What else have you got?
MS: · Certain flaws in pitching mechanics will predispose the shoulder or elbow to greater stress. For example, excessive shoulder rotation at initial contact of the stride leg, and a more cross body horizontal arm follow-through leads to increased torque on the elbow. · The humerus rotates up to 7000 degrees per second in from late cocking phase to acceleration phase, and the arm experiences a distraction force of up to 1.5 the athlete’s bodyweight during the deceleration phase · Clinicians and surgeons are reporting a 5-6 fold increase in pitching related elbow and shoulder injuries in youth pitchers. I’ve seen too many kids devastated by realizing that their throwing careers are over at age 15, recovering from their second arm surgery. There’s too much information out there; we need to apply it.
EC: Agreed! So why aren’t more trainers and coaches putting this information into practice?
MS: Although we found some great info about kinematics, kinetics, and epidemiology, there was very little information about conditioning or training strategies. It was implied by almost every researcher, but never thoroughly discussed. That is were my “Young Guns” program comes in. Our program will be the only that I’m aware of that will emphasize not only the preventative strategies via pitch count, pitch type, and throwing mechanic alterations, but also implement specific conditioning strategies. As with so many other conditions, the ability to generate and translate force through out the entire kinetic chain, as well as efficiently decelerate, correlates with improved performance and reduced injury. I think this reasoning applies perfectly to throwing athletes, and they should be trained accordingly.
EC: Great stuff; I’m sure it’ll be fantastic. How about correcting injuries once they’re in place? Any rehab tips for those who already have bum elbows?
MS: The injured tissue must be identified first. This is especially important for young athletes, as growth plates are particularly vulnerable. Treating a growth plate injury will be much different than treating a lateral epicondylopathy. Seeing an orthopedist who specializes in elbows and shoulders – together with a PT with a manual therapy background – is your best bet. Next, identify the cause of the problem. It’s always easier to investigate a crime closest to when it was committed. The irritating factors must be modified or avoided. Look at the shoulder, thoracic spine, and hips for mobility deficits. Inadequate mobility at any of the joints along the kinetic chain can result in greater compensatory mobility demands upon the more vulnerable elbow joint, leading to excessive strain and ultimately injury. If soft tissues of the elbow are involved, such as is the case with tendonopathy of the common extensor (lateral epicondylopathy) or common flexor (medial epicondylopathy) tendons, deep tissue massage is very effective. It doesn’t feel so good initially, but it works. Usually, you can do it yourself; just follow the tendons starting about ½ inch from the origin, and deeply massage with small amplitude parallel and perpendicular to the tendons. Joint mobilization is also very effective at restoring normal mobility and promoting joint healing – but you’ll need a skilled therapist for that. For less acute injuries, very high repetition, low load exercise can be effective at improving tensile qualities and promoting healing. The common practice of applying ice shouldn’t be overlooked. Ice massage is very easy and effective. Freeze water in a Dixie cup, peel back the edges, and rub the effected area for about 5-10 minutes.
EC: My favorite part is that you never recommended non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). We know we’re dealing with degenerative, not inflammatory conditions, so these interventions have little merit aside of pain relief, which is better accomplished with ice anyway. All those NSAIDs are just inhibiting the healing process and giving people a false sense of good health, leading them to throw the tissue back into the fire much too soon. Would you agree? (You’re not allowed to disagree, for the record; this is my newsletter!)
MS: I absolutely agree, and not just because I fear being chastised like your friend Hugo from a few newsletters ago! Soft tissue injuries have often been labeled as tendonitis, the –itis suffix inferring an inflammatory pathology. However, histological studies consistently fail to find markers indicative of inflammation with these conditions, leading to the increasing use of the appropriate term tendonopathy instead. This is more than a semantics issue. As you mention, taking an anti-inflammatory to treat something that does not have an inflammatory pathology may yield unnecessary risks and hinder healing. Recent research has demonstrated impaired bone healing in conjunction with NSAID usage. This is particularly important if bone pathology is suspected, as often is the case with young pitchers having a high incidence of growth plate injuries
EC: This has been fantastic stuff, Mike; thanks for taking the time. Where can our readers find out more about you?
MS: It’s my pleasure Eric, anytime. I can be reached at mike@spectrumfit.net, and your readers can learn more about Spectrum Fitness Consulting, the Young Guns program, and myself at www.spectrumfit.net.
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by Eric Cressey and Tim Skwiat
In Part 1, Tim and Eric set forth the dietary framework for Maximum Muscularity. Now, training and supplementation take center stage.
* Add Fuel to the Fire...On non-lifting days, we highly recommended that you perform high-intensity interval training (HIIT) in place of the resistance training. The fact that HIIT is most heavily reliant on muscle glycogen during exercise does not mean that it is an inefficient method of exercise for fat loss. On the contrary, HIIT is a much more efficient means of achieving fat loss than steady-state aerobics. Otherwise, you wouldn't see so many non-spandex deserving aerobics instructors with greater than 30% body fat! When the post-exercise period is factored in and excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) is taken into account, the total amount of fat and calories burned as a result of the HIIT is actually greater than with its lower intensity counterparts (20-22). And, let's not forget that in given the right work: rest ratio, you'll almost always perform more total work with HIIT than steady-state aerobics. Tremblay et al. found that subjects who performed a HIIT program showed a ninefold greater decrease in the sum of six subcutaneous skinfolds relative to a group of subjects that performed an endurance training program (23). Additionally, interval training is considered to be superior to steady-state, submaximal cardiovascular activity in improving VO2max (24). We know what you're thinking: "Why should I worry about VO2max? I lift weights; VO2max is only important for spandex-clad cyclists!" Well, even if being a more functional lifter (or athlete, if that's your cup o' tea) isn't reason enough to value VO2max improvements, you will still be interested to know that a greater VO2max value has been associated with increased thermic effect of food (25). That's right - jack up the VO2max, and the dozen Krispy Kremes that "accidentally" vanish in your presence are less likely to be stored as body fat.
As if all these benefits weren't enough, let's consider the explosive nature of HIIT work. Typically, your ball-busting work periods are in the 10-30 second range, a timeframe that closely approximates the duration of most strength training sets. In other words, you'll be training the same energy systems (ATP-PC and fast glycolysis) as in strength training (13). And, less scientifically, picture yourself digging deep to propel yourself forward during a sprint. Now, think of the last time your hip and knee extensors kicked in as fired out of "the hole" during a set of squats. You can bet that training your explosiveness will carry over to such performances. Finally, when you notice how insanely sore your hams, glutes, quads, calves, obliques, and lower back are after your first sprinting session, you'll be convinced of how effective HIIT can be in promoting muscle growth.
Okay, now that you understand why HIIT beats steady-state aerobics like a redheaded stepchild, let's consider the mode and structure of your HIIT sessions. There are plenty of options available: cycling, elliptical trainers (preferably with arm motion included), rowing, jumping rope, and boxing. However, ask any HIIT-aficionado, and he'll tell you that sprints are king! That said, the table below summarizes some HIIT guidelines to adhere to regardless of your mode of choice. Note: Because we are using interval training for physique enhancement rather than purely for performance improvement, these selections depart from traditional interval training protocols. At the very least, they represent the shortest end of the spectrum in terms of rest intervals, as total recovery should not be reached before the onset of the next work interval.
| Work Period |
Rest Period |
Work: Rest Ratio |
Repetitions |
Duration |
| 10s |
50s |
1:5 |
15 |
15:00 |
| 15s |
45s |
1:3 |
15 |
15:00 |
| 20s |
40s |
1:2 |
15 |
15:00 |
| 30s |
60s |
1:2 |
10 |
15:00 |
These guidelines are, however, very general; you'll need to modify them slightly based on your fitness level. With that in mind, suppose you do three HIIT sessions per week. You might opt to do all three at a 1:5 work: rest ratio the first week, and then switch to a 1:2 ratio for the second week. Or, you could add another interval each week. Finally, you could perform each session for the week at a different intensity. That's one of the beauties of Maximum Muscularity: flexibility. Just be sure to change your protocol of choice every few weeks.
Following the bout of HIIT, a brief (i.e. 5-15 minutes) session of low-intensity aerobics might work to enhance fat loss. It appears that inadequate blood flow to adipose tissue during high-intensity exercise is the culprit behind reduced fat oxidation (26). As a result, immediately upon cessation of high-intensity exercise, there is a marked increase in the concentration of plasma free fatty acids (2). By exercising at an intensity that relies primarily on the use of plasma fatty acids (i.e. less than 60% of heart rate reserve), you will maximize adipose tissue lipolysis and fat oxidation.
On HIIT days, the same schedule (i.e. time of training) need not be followed, but the same diet plan should be preserved. Again, it?s important to remember that high-intensity aerobic exercise (i.e. HIIT) is very heavily glycogen-dependent and can be much more depleting that resistance training. Significant glycogen depletion can occur with a mere 15-30 minutes of exercise performed at very high intensities (i.e. 90-130% of VO2max), which is similar to the protocol that is followed in HIIT-style training (12). Therefore, you should not be at all leery about maintaining your carbohydrate intake after HIIT sessions.
We recommend one complete day of rest from exercise per week. On this activity-free day, you should focus on consuming mostly meals of protein, fats, and fibrous veggies, as described above. That said, on this day, a breakfast of protein and carbs is warranted in most cases, particularly for those who are focusing on gaining muscle mass. Lastly, if your primary goal is muscle growth, you may choose to limit the frequency of HIIT to 1-2 sessions per week. Additionally, for these same individuals, the frequency of the lower intensity aerobic sessions may be reduced or the sessions themselves shortened.
With HIIT completing the training mix, here's what your sample split might look like:
|
Upon Rising |
HIIT |
Weight training* |
| Monday: |
20-45 minutes |
--- |
Late Afternoon |
| Tuesday: |
20-45 minutes |
--- |
Late Afternoon |
| Wednesday: |
--- |
Sprints |
--- |
| Thursday: |
20-45 minutes |
--- |
Late Afternoon |
| Friday: |
20-45 minutes |
--- |
Late Afternoon |
| Saturday: |
--- |
Sprints |
--- |
| Sunday: |
Relax. Kill, cook and eat furry woodland creatures. |
*Note: Weight training sessions may be followed by 5-15 minutes of low-intensity aerobics.
*Topping off the Tank...Some individuals may find that after a period of time following these guidelines that glycogen stores are not adequately topped off. Increasing the carbohydrate content of the protein and carb meals and/or increasing overall caloric intake can circumvent this dilemma. However, these increases are not feasible for some, particularly those in a hypoenergetic state who are using this plan as a vehicle for fat loss. That said, many individuals might find that a day of higher carbohydrate intake is needed once every 6-12 days. Obviously, this is a very broad range due to individual differences, so it may take some trial and error (start with every twelfth day). As a rule of thumb, the leaner you are, the more frequently you should carb up. Rather than engaging in an uncontrolled overfeed (consisting of refined, processed, sugary carbs), simply increase the number of protein and carb meals. These meals should be very similar in composition to those that you utilize on a daily basis (healthy carb sources). We encourage you to implement this day of reglycogenation following a weight training session; ideally, the training session would be performed early in the day (i.e. after one protein and fat meal) and be followed by 3-5 protein and carb meals containing 60-100g of carbohydrate each. Total carbohydrate intake will vary based on frequency of reglycogenation periods (i.e. degree of depletion) and activity level on that particular day. To maximize glycogen restoration, a carbohydrate intake of 3-5g/kg of lean body mass is a good starting point; more or less may be optimal. All in all, you'll need to pay close attention to your response to varying levels of carbohydrate intake, as well as varying frequencies of high-carb days. You will, however, still see comparable results if you opt to incorporate the increased carb intake on a rest day (breakfast should be the largest meal, and carb should slowly be tapered off as the day progresses). This higher carb day will prove beneficial in that it will be very anti-catabolic and will fill up muscle glycogen stores. More importantly for some, it will help to quell any possible mental cravings. Implementing the reglycogenation strategy in a relatively glycogen-depleted state will actually make possible more glycogen storage than if glycogen is restored on a daily basis (27). More glycogen = more energy. More energy = harder training. Harder training = more muscle and less fat.
*Supplements...Although the Maximum Muscularity plan does not require extensive supplementation, several supplements will increase its efficacy. With that in mind, we recommend:
1) BCAAs: These anti-catabolic amino acids will definitely prove valuable in the morning before the fasted-state activity and during your regular HIIT sessions. Xtreme Formulations' ICE is an excellent choice in this regard, as it also offers an appreciable dose of glutamine.
2) Nootropic: Marc McDougal outlined various nootropic supplements recently in his article, "This is Your Brain on Drugs". It goes without saying that many of these agents will enhance focus throughout the day ? especially during training sessions - and will help to create the vision of Maximum Muscularity that will keep you going!
3) Glucose disposal agents, particularly R-ALA: These are excellent complements to the protein and carb meals following training as well as the periodic high-carb days. We highly recommend R-lipoic acid (R-ALA) at a dosage of 100mg per 50g carbohydrates consumed in a meal. The capsules should be taken 20-30 minutes prior to the meal. In general, the brands of regular old-school ALA are racemic mixture products; they include both the R+ (naturally occurring form) and S- (synthetic form) isomers. R-ALA has proven more effective than its synthetic counterpart in promoting appropriate glucose disposal in skeletal muscle (28-30). This natural form is, however, pricier, so if cost is an issue or you just happen to have some old stuff kicking around, rest assured that the racemic (traditional) mixtures of ALA will still prove valuable (28,31,32). In short, with improved glucose disposal and enhanced insulin sensitivity, you'll be storing more carbs as glycogen and promoting anabolism.
4) Yohimbine: Increasing circulating catecholamines via supplementation or exercise results in elevated thermogenesis. Unfortunately, circulating norepinephrine (NEP) is not selective in the receptors to which it binds. While NEP binding to beta receptors stimulates thermogenesis, bindings to alpha 2 receptors trigger a negative feedback response that inhibits further NEP release. Because alpha 2 receptors are activated at low catecholamine levels (32), this phenomenon is most applicable at rest. Therefore, full-force thermogenesis may never be in effect! One way to overcome the alpha-inhibition of lipolysis is to ingest ephedrine and/or caffeine to increase circulating catecholamines, although this potential solution only reduces alpha-induced inhibition of lipolysis to a moderate degree (33). Yohimbine, as a selective alpha 2 receptor antagonist, is the key to maximizing lipolysis (34). By binding and antagonizing alpha 2 receptors, yohimbine inhibits the NEP negative feedback loop. Therefore, by maximizing circulating catecholamines, you also maximize thermogenesis and lipolysis.
An added benefit of yohimbine is increased peripheral blood flow (35,36). Blood flow to adipose tissue is necessary to transport free fatty acids in the bloodstream (after the breakdown of triglycerides in adipose tissue) to tissues for oxidation in the mitochondria. Activation of the alpha receptors (via NEP) causes vasoconstriction, and, consequently, less blood flow, to peripheral tissues (37,38). In this respect, yohimbine's ability to inhibit the activation of alpha receptors provides maximal peripheral blood flow.
Note: We are speaking of the yohimbine alkaloid from the yohimbe herb (similar to ephedrine being the active alkaloid in ephedra). Therefore, we recommended that you choose the hydrochloride version (i.e. Yohimbine HCl) over the herbal yohimbe in order to ensure purity and avoid unknown side effects of other alkaloids in the same family. If you choose the to go the herbal route, be sure to verify that you are dealing with a reputable company that lists the standardization for yohimbine on the label. The appropriate dosage for Yohimbine HCl is 0.2mg/kg (35,36), with smaller dosages providing less favorable results. A final word of caution: insulin completely blunts the lipolytic actions of yohimbine. Therefore, you should only ingest it before the low-intensity aerobic sessions and at times well separated from carbohydrate-containing meals.
5) Green Tea: This tasty beverage not only gives you a versatile option from water, but it also offers several other benefits of which you can take advantage. Green tea is now being recognized for a plethora of health benefits including those as an anti-oxidant, cholesterol lowering, antidepressant, capillary-strengthening and lipolysis-enhancing agent. As mentioned above, it may also act as a glycemic modifier in that it slows carbohydrate absorption. However, there?s even more exciting benefits than that. Recent research demonstrated that subjects who supplemented with a green tea extract containing 90 mg epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and 50mg caffeine three times daily resulted in a 4% greater energy expenditure and significantly lower respiratory quotient (i.e. greater fat oxidation) compared to subjects that consumed 50mg of caffeine alone or subjects that received a placebo (39). The fact that the subjects receiving the green tea extract experienced these benefits and the caffeine group did not clearly illustrates the inherent benefits of the EGCG, which is thought to be the most pharmacologically active catechin polyphenol in green tea. In light of this data, we recommend drinking 5-10 cups of green tea daily, either decaffeinated or caffeinated depending on the timing of ingestion.
Obviously, these supplements should serve as an addendum to your everyday supplements: multivitamin, antioxidants, protein powder, EFAs, and creatine. Beyond these specific recommendations, feel free to include other supplements as your budget allows.
Conclusion
The physique enhancement strategies set forth in the Maximum Muscularity plan are based on thorough evaluation scientific literature and anecdotal evidence. You'll be optimizing the hormonal milieu to control catabolism and anabolism, manipulating macronutrient and caloric intake for various activities, and paying close attention to nutrient timing as it relates to substrate utilization and storage. Beyond just offering an avenue to aesthetic improvements, Maximum Muscularity is a long-term perspective that enables you to achieve and maintain optimal health status regardless of the short-term goal. Rejoice, Rugged-Brethren! The old-school days of uncomfortable overfeeding followed by painstaking underfeeding are over! The stratagem to getting Huge and Ripped is now reality more than ever. All you have to provide is the determination and effort.
References
1. Romijn JA, Coyle EF, Sidossis LS, Gastaldelli A, Horowitz JF, Endert E, & Wolfe RR. Regulation of fat and carbohydrate metabolism in relation to exercise intensity and duration. Am J Physiol 1993 Sep;265(3 Pt 1):E380-91.
2. Rasmussen BB, Holmback UC, Volpi E, Morio-Liondore B, Paddon-Jones D, Wolfe RR. Malonyl coenzyme A and the regulation of functional carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1 activity and fat oxidation in human skeletal muscle. J Clin Invest 2002 Dec;110(11):1687-93.
3. Sweetman, SC (ed). Martindale: The Complete Drug Reference. Pharmaceutical Press: London, 2002.
4. Dulloo AG, Geissler CA, Horton T, Collins A, & Miller DS. Normal caffeine consumption: influence on thermogenesis and daily energy expenditure in lean and postobese human volunteers. Am J Clin Nutr. 1989 Jan;49(1):44-50.
5. Horowitz, JF, Mora-Rodriguez R, Byerley LO, Coyle EF. Lipolytic suppression following carbohydrate ingestion limits fat oxidation during exercise. Am J Physiol 1997 Oct;273(4 Pt 1):E768-75.
6. Montain SJ, Hppoer MK, Coggan AR, Coyle EF. Exercise metabolism at different time intervals after a meal. J Appl Physiol. 1991 Feb;70(2):882-8.
7. Nair KS, Halliday D, & Garrow JS. Thermic response to isoenergetic protein, carbohydrate or fat meals in lean and obese subjects. Clin Sci (Lond). 1983 Sep;65(3):307-12.
8. Day JL, et al. (1978). Factors governing insulin and glucagon responses during normal meals. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 1978 Nov;9(5):443-54.
9. Schade DS, & Eaton RP. Modulation of fatty acid metabolism by glucagon in man. I. Effects in normal subjects. Diabetes. 1975 May;24(5):502-9.
10. Dorgan J, et al. Effects of dietary fat and fiber on plasma and urine androgens and estrogens in men: a controlled feeding study. Am J Clin Nutr 64(6): 850-855. 1996.
11. Howarth, NC, E Saltzman, SB Roberts. Dietary fiber and weight regulation. Nutr Rev. 2001 May;59(5):129-39. Review.
12. Lowery, L. Temporal Nutrition, Part 1. Testosterone Magazine. 21 Mar 2003. http://www.t-mag.com/nation_articles/253temp.jsp.
13. Baechle, TR, & Earle, RW. Essentials of Strength and Conditioning: 2nd Edition. Human Kinetics, 2000.
14. Essen-Gustavsson B, & Tesch PA. Glycogen and triglyceride utilization in relation to muscle metabolic characteristics in men performing heavy-resistance exercise. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol. 1990;61(1-2):5-10.
15. Keizer HA, et al. Influence of liquid and solid meals on muscle glycogen resynthesis, plasma fuel hormone response, and maximal physical working capacity. Int J Sports Med. 1987 Apr;8(2):99-104.
16. Bourghouts LB, & Keizer HA. Exercise and insulin sensitivity: a review. Int J Sports Med. 2000 Jan;21(1):1-12. Review.
17. Zhang J, & Kashket S. Inhibition of salivary amylase by black and green teas and their effects on the intraoral hydrolysis of starch. Caries Res. 1998;32(3):233-8.
18. Lee YS. The effects of various intensities and durations of exercise with and without glucose in milk ingestion on postexercise oxygen consumption. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 1999 Dec;39(4):341-7.
19. Parker DC, & Rossman LG. Human growth hormone release in sleep: nonsuppression by acute hyperglycemia. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1971 Jan;32(1):65-9.
20. Phelain, JF, Reinke E, Harris MA, & Melby CL. Postexercise energy expenditure and substrate oxidation in young women resulting from exercise bouts of different intensity.
J Am Coll Nutr. 1997 Apr;16(2):140-6.
21. Bahr R, & Sejersted OM. Effect of intensity of exercise on excess postexercise O2 consumption. Metabolism. 1991 Aug;40(8):836-41.
22. Smith J, & McNaughton L. The effects of intensity of exercise on excess postexercise oxygen consumption and energy expenditure in moderately trained men and women. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol. 1993;67(5):420-5.
23. Tremblay A, Simoneau JA, & Bouchard C. Impact of exercise intensity on body fatness and skeletal muscle metabolism. Metabolism. 1994 Jul;43(7):814-8.
24. Gorostiaga, EM, Walter CB, Foster C, & Hickson RC. Uniqueness of interval training at the same maintained exercise intensity. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol. 1991;63:(2)101?107.
25. Hill JO, Heymsfield SB, McMannus C 3rd, & DiGirolamo M. Meal size and thermic response to food in male subjects as a function of maximum aerobic capacity. Metabolism 1984 Aug;33(8):743-9.
26. Samra JS, et al. Effects of epinephrine infusion on adipose tissue: interactions between blood flow and lipid metabolism. Am J Physiol. 1996 Nov;271(5 Pt 1):E834-9.
27. Goforth HW Jr, Arnall DA, Bennett BL, & Law PG. Persistence of supercompensated muscle glycogen in trained subjects after carbohydrate loading. J Appl Physiol. 1997 Jan;82(1):342-7.
28. Streeper RS, Henriksen EJ, Jacob S, Hokama JY, Fogt DL, & Tritschler HJ. Differential effects of lipoic acid stereoisomers on glucose metabolism in insulin-resistant skeletal muscle. Am J Physiol 1997 Jul;273(1 Pt 1):E185-91.
29. Saengsirisuwan V, Kinnick TR, Schmit MB, & Henriksen EJ. Interactions of exercise training and lipoic acid on skeletal muscle glucose transport in obese Zucker rats. J Appl Physiol 2001 Jul;91(1):145-53.
30. Moini H, Tirosh O, Park YC, Cho KJ, & Packer L. R-alpha-lipoic acid action on cell redox status, the insulin receptor, and glucose uptake in 3T3-L1 adipocytes. Arch Biochem Biophys 2002 Jan 15;397(2):384-91.
31. Jacob S, Henriksen EJ, Schiemann AL, Simon I, Clancy DE, Tritschler HJ, Jung WI, Augustin HJ, & Dietze GJ. Enhancement of glucose disposal in patients with type 2 diabetes by alpha-lipoic acid. Arzneimittelforschung. 1995 Aug;45(8):872-4.
32. Jacob S, Henriksen EJ, Tritschler HJ, Augustin HJ, & Dietze GJ. Improvement of insulin-stimulated glucose-disposal in type 2 diabetes after repeated parenteral administration of thioctic acid. Exp Clin Endocrinol Diabetes. 1996;104(3):284-8.
33. Arner P, Kriegholm E, et al. Adrenergic regulation of lipolysis in situ at rest and during exercise. J Clin Invest. 1990 Mar;85(3):893-8.
34. Goldberg MR, & Robertson D. Yohimbine: a pharmacological probe for study of the alpha 2-adrenoreceptor. Pharmacol Rev. 1983 Sep;35(3):143-80. Review.
35. Berlan M, Galitzky J, Riviere D, et al (1991). Plasma catecholamine levels and lipid mobilization induced by yohimbine in obese and non-obese women. Int J Obes. 1991 May;15(5):305-15.
36. Galitzky J, Taouis M, Berlan M, Riviere D, et al. Alpha 2-antagonist compounds and lipid mobilization: evidence for a lipid mobilizing effect of oral yohimbine in healthy male volunteers. Eur J Clin Invest. 1988 Dec;18(6):587-94.
37. Millet L, Barbe M, Lafontan M, Berlan M, Galitzky J. Catecholamine effects on lipolysis and blood flow in human abdominal and femoral adipose tissue. J Appl Physiol. 1998 Jul;85(1):181-8.
38. Ruffolo RR, Bondinell W, Hieble JP. Alpha- and beta-adrenoceptors: from the gene to the clinic. 2. Structure-activity relationships and therapeutic applications. J Med Chem. 1995 Sep 15;38(19):3681-716. Review.
39. Dulloo, AG, Duret C, Rohrer D, Girardier L, Mensi N, Fathi M, Chantre P, & Vandermander J. Efficacy of a green tea extract rich in catechin polyphenols and caffeine in increasing 24-h energy expenditure and fat oxidation in humans. Am J Clin Nutr. 1999 Dec;70(6):1040-5. |
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By Tim Skwiat and Eric Cressey
Typically, whenever a trainee aspiring to improve his physique utters, "I want to gain muscle and lose fat...", he is immediately greeted by eager critics from opposite ends of the spectrum. First, there are those experts that pounce on the opportunity to suppress such a bold quest. They proclaim that such a task is doomed for failure, and simply respond with an unscientific, "You can't. Choose one or the other." In contrast, there are those that say that such a mission is rather simple. While the former cynics are just downright ignorant, the latter faction is just as useless, offering no other advice than one must train hard and eat right. Uh, duh! With that in mind, we'd like to introduce a plan that we feel will lead to what many call the Holy Grail of Bodybuilding: Maximum Muscularity.
The term "Maximum Muscularity" elicits a beautiful vision of the classic physique of someone like Arnold or Serge Nubret. Maximum Muscularity isn't just about being ripped...yet of beanpole proportions, nor is it just about being huge--yet uncomfortably rotund. Rather, Maximum Muscularity is fusion of the two: being Ripped and Huge; it's about becoming a walking, super-sized anatomy chart. It's about pushing the envelope of one's capabilities to add muscle and lose fat.
In a broad sense, the ultimate goal of Maximum Muscularity is to gain muscle mass and lose fat mass. However, the principles of Maximum Muscularity also apply to gaining muscle while keeping bodyfat constant OR to losing fat while maintaining all hard-earned muscle--both scenarios involve a drop in percent body fat.
The context in which you view the aforementioned goals is paramount to the realization of these favorable scenarios. Rather than asking "How do I gain muscle and lose fat at the same time?", we ask you to ponder, "How do I gain muscle and lose fat in the same training period?" Our reasoning is very simple; at any given moment in time, the body is either in a state of anabolism (i.e. tissue-synthesizing: muscle or fat gain) or catabolism (tissue-destroying: breakdown of triglyceride, glycogen or protein stores). This is not to say, however, that one cannot control the shift from anabolism to catabolism or vice versa at various times throughout the day. With the Maximum Muscularity protocol, you will do just that.
This approach departs from the traditional Bulk and Cut scheme to which so many trainees adhere. This plan is especially well suited to those individuals who tend to store fat easily and gain more fat than muscle during traditional bulking cycles; it can and should be applied year-round and for long-term purposes. In short, there is absolutely no need to deviate from the Maximum Muscularity plan, as it is easily adapted to suit any physique goal and provides great versatility.
Gaining muscle and losing fat in the same training period is the culmination of diligent training and dietary practices. Paramount to achieving this lofty goal is the creation of a superior anabolic state and enhanced insulin sensitivity through various dietary and training measures. From a nutritional standpoint, you'll be paying specific attention to nutrient timing and energy intake to capitalize on and manage your body's hormonal milieu in order to promote muscle gain and fat loss. Likewise, your training protocol is of paramount importance to providing the anabolic and metabolic stimuli necessary to accomplish such a mythical feat. That said, here is a summary of the Maximum Muscularity principles:
*(Optional) Kickstart your day with some low to moderate activity (i.e. aerobics) before your first meal of the day. You're going to watch SportsCenter anyway, right? Why not jump on a treadmill or bike for 20-45 minutes while taking in the "Plays of the Week?" On the other hand, if infomercials and cooking shows suit your fancy, then we recommend you shell out five payments of $49.95 for "Saggy Man Breasts for Dummies;" you probably aren't cut out for Maximum Muscularity. This activity is, of course, optional and by no means needs to be done indoors. Intensity should be kept at 40-60% of heart rate reserve. At this low intensity, the majority of energy will be derived from plasma fatty acids (i.e. broken down from adipose tissue) (1) and will give your metabolism a brief kick in the pants without sacrificing precious lean body mass (1).
Prior to these low-intensity sessions, one can utilize stimulants (i.e. caffeine and ephedrine) and other fat mobilizers (i.e. yohimbine). These implements will enable you to maximize adipose tissue lipolysis without worrying about any unfavorable consequences in terms of insulin sensitivity and glucose disposal, as these sessions will not be followed immediately by carbohydrate-laden meals. The half-life of caffeine is broadly defined as 3-7 hours, depending on dosage and activity (exercise decreases this time period) (3). Assuming that you are leaving adequate time (i.e. 5 hours) between your morning java wave and any carbohydrate-containing meal, consumption of caffeine in the morning should not be problematic. Also of note, researchers have noted a 3-4% increase in metabolic rate in the 2.5 hours following ingestion of 100mg caffeine (4). We don't know about you, but we're all for maximizing our metabolic rates during the time of day where lipolysis is highest!
*Stoking the Fat-Burning Inferno...Consume protein and fat meals (a small amount of carbs from fibrous, low-calorie vegetables is encouraged with these meals) in the hours leading up to training. The caloric value of these meals should be at or slightly below what you would be eating at these times during a traditional maintenance phase. This allows you to keep insulin at bay and blood glucose stable, thus permitting an optimal environment for lipolysis. Ingesting a substantial amount of carbs, and the resulting insulin response, inhibits lipolysis both at rest (4) and during exercise (5,6). This same elevation in insulin will also suppress release of growth hormone (GH)), another critical player in our quest for Maximum Muscularity. Since most of you work jobs that demand little high-intensity activity, your energy needs will be most efficiently met by the metabolism of fat. Because fat can provide 2 ? times as much energy as carbohydrate per gram, it is the optimal substrate at low levels of oxygen consumption (e.g. napping at work or during class).
Protein and fat meals with very few carbs are beneficial in several other regards in these low-energy expenditure scenarios. First, such meals keep blood glucose and insulin levels stable, thus ensuring that you avoid episodes of hormonal hunger and dulled mental acuity that are associated with unstable blood glucose, insulin, and serotonin concentrations. In addition, the thermic effect?the amount of calories burned in order to process foodstuffs--of protein is about twice that of carbohydrate and more than three times that of fat (7); thus, by eating more protein, you'll be burning more calories! Also, protein and fat meals stimulate the release of glucagon (8), which ensures that fatty acids are released into the bloodstream for oxidation (9). Furthermore, protein and fat meals--along with ample amounts of fiber from low-carb, fibrous veggies that accompany these meals--slow digestion and offer far more satiety per gram than carbohydrates. By setting fat intake at a minimum of 0.5g/lb LBM, you'll be supporting endogenous testosterone levels and all the good stuff (e.g. libido, strength) that goes along with them (10). Assuming that you're balancing out your mono/poly/saturate intake, you'll also be deriving some cardiovascular health benefits (among others). While you're probably at least somewhat cognizant of the myriad of benefits of polyunsaturated fats--namely omega-3s--it is critical that you do not overlook the formidable cardioprotective benefits of monounsaturated fats (i.e. olive oil, mixed nuts, etc.).
Be sure to get plenty of fibrous veggies (e.g. broccoli, cauliflower, spinach) with these meals for fiber and other important nutrients. Howarth et al. recently demonstrated a decrease of 10% in daily caloric intake and a loss of 4.2 pounds in subjects that consumed an additional 15g of fiber daily over a period of four months! (11) We encourage you to emphasize whole-foods whenever possible to maximize satiety and the thermic effect of your feedings. We want to reiterate the fact that Maximum Muscularity emphasizes maximizing nutrient intake via whole-food sources.
* Maximum Muscularity and Density...There are countless solid training programs to suit your goals; there's no excuse for not having the aforementioned anabolic stimulus for impressive size and strength gains. When choosing a program, however, recall that some styles of training are less suitable for improving glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity. Specifically, the aforementioned carbohydrate metabolism factors are negatively affected by training that focuses on heavy negatives/long eccentrics (12). In light of the fact that we're constantly striving to maximize these critical factors and use them to our advantage, you'll definitely want to adapt your training accordingly (i.e. lowering carbohydrate intake during training periods that emphasize eccentrics, if you choose to include them at all). Ideally, you should be in the gym for 3-5 sessions per week. An added bonus of training in the late afternoon is that you increase the likelihood of maintaining constantly high testosterone levels throughout the day. Testosterone levels are typically highest in the morning and gradually decrease as the day progresses; by interrupting this decline with exercise-induced increases, you may be able to overcome this aspect your body's natural hormonal milieu (13).
The importance of the resistance-training component of the plan cannot be overemphasized. However, it's beyond the scope of such a comprehensive article to prescribe a new routine or training program. Rather, we direct you to consider the works of Charles Poliquin, Ian King, Don Alessi, Brian Haycock, Charles Staley, Dave Tate, Christian Thibaudeau, Chad Waterbury, Joel Marion, and John Romaniello.
* You may find it advantageous to follow up your resistance training session with 5-15 minutes of low- to moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, preferably a full-body mode (i.e. Elliptical trainer or jogging). The purpose of this aerobic session is to gorge those muscles that were just trained with blood. This massive blood flow will assist recovery by: 1) removing waste products from the muscles, 2) transporting nutrients and oxygen to the muscles, and 3) shuttling metabolic by-products (i.e. lactic acid) from the muscle to the liver for recycling (i.e. gluconeogenesis). Two added benefits: more energy expenditure and glycogen utilization, which creates a greater glucose economy, allows for more carbohydrate to be eaten in the recovery period, and enhances glucose uptake and skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity- critical factors for improvement in body composition. Be forewarned, though, that even at low and moderate intensities, if the aerobic components cause the exercise sessions to carry on too long (i.e. greater than 75 minutes), they may very well do more harm than good over an extended period of time. As such, it's important to keep you resistance training sessions to 60 minutes or less. Several factors, however, are contraindications (in most cases) to performing post-training aerobic activity; most notable among these factors are excellent pre-existing insulin sensitivity and high volume strength-training programs.
* The High-Octane Refuel- Resistance training can be heavily reliant on muscle glycogen and carbohydrate for fuel (14), while intense interval training can be even more taxing on the body's carbohydrate reserves (15). Therefore, during and after the training bouts are the most opportune times to capitalize on excellent insulin sensitivity and enhanced glucose uptake where you desire it most: skeletal muscles (16). Here's where individual differences strongly come into play; this portion of the plan needs to be altered according to one's training and physique goals, as carbohydrate recommendations are going to be vital to achieve optimal results. Most individuals either handle carbs well or poorly. Likewise, most individuals are primarily geared toward fat loss or muscle gain. With respect to the latter case, we have stated that the primary goal of this plan is to accomplish both. Nonetheless, choose from the following recommendations relative to your primary training goals and carbohydrate tolerance.
For those individuals with poor insulin sensitivity and a predisposition to easy fat storage, a single meal of protein and carbs should be consumed following training. While it is well established that liquid nutrition (e.g. Relentless, Vendetta) is an excellent choice as a post-training recovery meal, this meal can be either whole-food (i.e. solid) or liquid (i.e. Relentless). Due to the fact that carbohydrate is restricted to a single meal, one may opt for a food source over a liquid source. In the event that the whole-food route is chosen, one should consume BCAAs and glutamine (i.e. ICE) during training. This meal should contain approximately 50g of carbohydrate (about 0.6-0.7g/kg lean body mass) and adequate protein to meet daily needs.
Alternatively, if you are looking primarily to pack on slabs of ripped muscle and/or handle carbs very well, then we recommend you approach the mid/post-training window more aggressively. It goes without saying that nutrition during and immediately after training is optimal for building muscle. With this in mind, we recommend that you consume a serving of Vendetta or 1/2 serving of Relentess during and another one-half serving of Relentless immediately after training. You lean folk have already established outstanding insulin sensitivity and are in the quest of the optimal anabolic/anti-catabolic environment. Therefore, approximately one hour after the post-training liquid meal, we recommend an additional protein and carb meal. This meal is not for the timid or carbophobics; rather, the carbohydrate content of this meal should range from 1.0-2.5g/kg of lean body mass. This is a rather large range, but our recommendation is to push the envelope; if you are hesitant to utilize such a carb intake, begin with the lower end of the range and gradually add over a few weeks if fat gain is not apparent. The protein content of this meal should be 0.5-1.25g/kg of lean body mass.
The carb sources in all of the whole-food protein and carb meals (either one or two) should be comprised of low to moderate GI/II sources (i.e. oats, yams, whole-grain/mixed-grain bread, beans, fruits, etc). Also of benefit to lower the glycemic and insulinemic response to the carbohydrate would be to include extra fiber (i.e. veggies) and a high quality vinegar or lemon juice. Consume plenty of water with your high-carb meals?as well as throughout the day?because for every 1g of glycogen stored in the muscle, 2.7g of water are stored along with it. We advise you to drink at least 24 oz. of water/fluid with each meal. Adding lemon juice to your H20 is also a good idea, as doing so will not only offer flavor without calories, but also because it may act as glycemic modifier (i.e. lower glycemic response). Drinking decaf green tea may also help to slow down carbohydrate absorption (17), as well as provide other excellent benefits (see below). We offer further advice in the supplement section as to how you might be able to further increase muscle glucose uptake and improve the insulin response to the meal.
* You should consume protein and fat meals following the last protein and carb meal and continue them until the next training session. Make sure that at least two hours have elapsed after your last protein and carb meal before resuming protein and fat meals. However, there is no problem in ending the day with a protein and carb meal. These carbs will not interfere with fat loss (18) and will actually decrease recovery time. Contrary to popular belief, there seems to be NO inhibition of sleep-induced growth hormone release with acute hyperglycemia (19). Nevertheless, if you are still concerned over the issue of growth hormone release and insulin, then allowing about 90 minutes after eating the meal to go to sleep should be adequate to calm your nerves. To these individuals who train later and consume the protein and carb meals as their last (i.e. going without a meal for 90 minutes before sleeping), we strongly recommend a serving of Ultra Peptide upon awakening in the middle of the night. There's no need to set an alarm, though. Just drink an extra liter of water before you hit the sack and you-ll wake up on your own.
With these recommendations in mind, a sample day's diet might look something like this:
Breakfast: Eggs/Egg whites with Salad, olive/flaxseed oil, fish oil, vinegar, lemon juice
Mid Morning: Turkey, broccoli, nuts, vinegar, lemon juice
Lunch: Tuna, spinach, olive/flaxseed oil, vinegar, lemon juice
Mid-Afternoon: Steak, green beans, fish oil
Train: Appropriate pre/mid/post training drink (e.g. ICE, Vendetta, Relentless)
Dinner:
|
For those prioritizing growth and those with good carb tolerance:
Chicken, Yams, Salad, vinegar, lemon juice
or
For those prioritizing fat loss and those with poor carb tolerance:
Steak, salad, olive/flaxseed oil, vinegar, lemon juice |
Before Bed: Cottage Cheese, Xtreme Ultra Peptide, Natural Peanut Butter
2AM trip to the can (optional): Xtreme Ultra Peptide
*Note: Protein intake should be set at 4.0-4.5g/kg of lean body mass
In Part 2, Tim and Eric will discuss how to integrate training into the dietary considerations outlined above.
References
1. Romijn JA, Coyle EF, Sidossis LS, Gastaldelli A, Horowitz JF, Endert E, & Wolfe RR. Regulation of fat and carbohydrate metabolism in relation to exercise intensity and duration. Am J Physiol 1993 Sep;265(3 Pt 1):E380-91.
2. Rasmussen BB, Holmback UC, Volpi E, Morio-Liondore B, Paddon-Jones D, Wolfe RR. Malonyl coenzyme A and the regulation of functional carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1 activity and fat oxidation in human skeletal muscle. J Clin Invest 2002 Dec;110(11):1687-93.
3. Sweetman, SC (ed). Martindale: The Complete Drug Reference. Pharmaceutical Press: London, 2002.
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5. Horowitz, JF, Mora-Rodriguez R, Byerley LO, Coyle EF. Lipolytic suppression following carbohydrate ingestion limits fat oxidation during exercise. Am J Physiol 1997 Oct;273(4 Pt 1):E768-75.
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7. Nair KS, Halliday D, & Garrow JS. Thermic response to isoenergetic protein, carbohydrate or fat meals in lean and obese subjects. Clin Sci (Lond). 1983 Sep;65(3):307-12.
8. Day JL, et al. (1978). Factors governing insulin and glucagon responses during normal meals. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 1978 Nov;9(5):443-54.
9. Schade DS, & Eaton RP. Modulation of fatty acid metabolism by glucagon in man. I. Effects in normal subjects. Diabetes. 1975 May;24(5):502-9.
10. Dorgan J, et al. Effects of dietary fat and fiber on plasma and urine androgens and estrogens in men: a controlled feeding study. Am J Clin Nutr 64(6): 850-855. 1996.
11. Howarth, NC, E Saltzman, SB Roberts. Dietary fiber and weight regulation. Nutr Rev. 2001 May;59(5):129-39. Review.
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By: Nate Green
Psychology has always fascinated me. At the deepest level, I figure if you can understand how people think—what motivates, aggravates, and incapacitates their total progress, whether in the gym, the kitchen, on the field, or in any faculty of life, really—it’s easier and more exciting to coach them while having a significantly more powerful impact on their overall performance.
So, like EC and his somewhat scary, lustful quest for knowledge obtained from training, coaching, and business books, I’m pretty much a psychology whore—except I’m a much higher grade prostitute than Eric “dirty boy” Cressey – but don’t tell him that!
It’s with this in mind that I would like to introduce an interesting “smack-your-forehead-obvious-but-rarely-elaborated” concept to you: the process of flow. Coined by renowned psychologist, Mike Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced “cheeks sent me high”), flow describes a state in which one is so completely engaged with a favorable, enjoyable task that time seems to stop.
Now, while that may sound all well and good, Csikszentmihalyi is careful to differentiate between pleasures and enjoyments as they pertain to flow. While pleasures are seen more as consumption oriented activities that satisfy biological needs—bodily pleasures such as delectable tastes, soothing sounds, orgasms, and the like—enjoyments (or gratifications) are categorized as building psychological capital. Simply put, enjoyments, while they may not bring about intense bodily pleasures at the moment, cause us to invest in absorption and a feel a greater sense of accomplishment in retrospect.
Here are the components of flow:
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The task is challenging and require skill
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We concentrate
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There are clear goals
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We get immediate feedback
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We have a deep involvement
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There is a sense of control
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Time stops
As Dr. Martin Seligman points out in his book Authentic Happiness, “…flow is a frequent experience for some, but this state visits many others rarely if at all.” I believe that those of us into this whole “fitness thing” experience flow on a much more regular basis than the average individual. Whether we’re gasping for air after our last set of squats, taking our third lap around the track, or sinking into a hot, Epsom salt bath, I think it’s safe to say that fitness enthusiasts, whether athletes or weekend warriors, are constantly engaged in a sort of flow continuum.
Take a look back up to the list of components. Which ones describe the way you feel while in the gym or playing your sport? All of them? Good. Personally, I couldn’t imagine not being dedicated to lifestyle that brings about such high ‘psychological capital’.
Seligman writes, “While we moderns have lost the distinction between the pleasures and gratifications, the golden age Athenians were keen on it. For Aristotle, distinct from bodily pleasures (eudaimonia) is akin to grace in dancing. Grace is not an entity that accompanies the dance or comes at the end of the dance; it is part and parcel of a dance well done.”
That’s good stuff.
However, while both Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi separate pleasure from flow, I beg to differ slightly. While they’re both incredibly intelligent and renowned psychologists, I have reason to suspect that their physical conditioning may not be quite up to par with their “mental muscle.”
Now, if you have Dr. John Berardi’s Precision Nutrition program (which you should), you know all too well that your meals can be both pleasurable (with the right spices and food combinations) and gratifying (with the right macronutrient balance and other healthy effects). And, if you’ve ever been under hundreds of pounds of iron, you know that the cold bar against your hands just feels right, the way it bends just looks cool, the inhalation of chalk dust just smells, well, chalky. But along with those simple pleasures come the other enjoyable consequences (consequences can be defined as either negative or positive) associated with weight training: better body composition, proper and realistic goal setting, and increased psychological capital and motivation to just set the bar higher.
If you get a “rush” or a “high” from training, good for you; now you know that you’re also building a strong foundation of good habits, strength in every respect, and a strong base upon which you can build. When the bar hits the ground, inhale deeply and let the whole experience flow right through you.
Just don’t forget to exhale.
About the Author
Nate Green is a member of the Advisory Team for Maximum Fitness magazine, holds a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and is a NFPT certified trainer who works with clients in his hometown of Whitefish, Montana. He is currently reading everything on which he can get his hands, constantly pestering industry professionals for advice, and preparing to make a splash in the fitness realm. You can contact Nate at nategreen03@hotmail.com.
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