A few things Ive learnt this year. 1. Soft tissue work is incredibly important. This is my roller. Though there are many like it, this one is mine. Without me, my roller is useless. Without my roller, I am useless. I start every session with dedicated soft tissue work. Five to ten minutes of dry humping a PVC pipe around the gym floor, trying not to scream out my safe word (its pumpernickel), before moving into some session specific dynamic movements. I will spend longer on days when Im feeling sore or tight. Religiously. It warms me up, loosens me up and prepares me for the session. The cited benefits are many: increased joint ROM with no loss of strength (unlike static stretching), increased blood circulation and increased rate of recovery are just a few. 2. Soft tissue work isnt that important. I have an elderly client. Every session we play the same game. I come in to see her five minutes early for her sessions halfway through her warm up, and I say Did you roll today? And she will dutifully say Of course I did and Im hurt that you would suggest otherwise. I sigh and force her to hit the soles of her feet and her glutes quickly with a lacrosse ball, because Im a quitter by nature and capitulation is just easier. In the past I would force her into the same brutal, fascia splitting warm up as me and some of my stronger clients and to be honest her performance didnt seem to vary. So I had a movement that was is awkward, painful, that the client doesnt enjoy and had minimal apparent benefit. I got rid of it and spent extra time on movement patterns and breathing.* *Defs going to get kicked out of the functional club for that but yolo. They can take their bosu balls with them. 3. The importance of time management. The biggest barrier most people face in regards to health is time. It is the number one excuse I hear day in and day out, right next to money. However there are so many ways to shave time of your session. Active rest. (Picked up from Shannan Maciejewski from raw fast) This is my favourite time management technique because if used correctly it can enhance the exercise you are performing. Basically you average 90sec of rest in between most sets. You can A) spend time fruitlessly searching for the mythical sweet spot in the gym, where it is rumoured that the down lighting will accentuate your double bicep pose to Kai Greene-esque proportions, (the much vaunted el derado of selfies) or B)perform another exercise that wont take away from your next set. For example doing light body weight glute bridges or deadbugs in between squats and deadlifts for glute and core activation, as well as a bit of extra volume. Another good one is face pulls or band pulls parts aparts in between benching. Definitely leads to healthier shoulder in the long run. Or even hitting accessory work in between your main movement. Bicep curls in between bench or calves in between squats. It may not accentuate the movement but it shaves minutes of your workout. Although Tnation coach Christian Thibedeau even talks a lot about feeling better when he curls in between his benching. Something to do with the bicep stabilising the elbow. Sorcery I imagine.. Escalating Density Training. This is a technique I first read about on in an article in Tnation by Charles Staley article here: t-nation/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/escalating_density_training The way I utilise the protocol is much more scientific. Pick an exercise, a weight and a time limit. Perform as many reps as you can in that time limit whilst maintaining 2legit 2quit form. An AMRAP basically. Nek week do more. Or do the same quicker. Or with a heavier weight. Progress comes in all forms. 4. Chicks dig guys who deadlift in tight Hawaiian style pants. Probably. Citation needed. 5 The difference between training and exercising. This is the one that is the hardest to explain. It comes back to having specific goals. If your goal is just to feel good and look better you are probably exercising. Which is fine. A lot of people get into amazing shape exercising. But if you have a highly specialised goal in mind, a sporting event or competition, then your approach, and that of your coach should be to find the quickest, safest and most efficient way to get you to where you need to be. Which means picking exercises that take risk vs reward into consideration. Is what Im doing right now going to make me a better athlete? Is it unnecessarily dangerous? Could I get equal or more benefit from performing a similar exercise with less chance of injury? And you will constantly be told yeah but my cousin/sister/brother does deficit behind the head thrusters skull crusher hybrids for reps and shes drug free and mr universe and runs in Olympic 100m. Thats great, but is it an optimal way to train? Well thats all. Let me know what you think. Good chat
Posted on: Thu, 21 Aug 2014 10:22:43 +0000
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