As you may or may not already know, a Fire at 275 Bank Street has caused the temporary shut down of Trueform Health and Fitness as well as my personal training studio both located at this address.
The building caught fire on the 2nd and 4th floor, and damaged structures on all four floors. Thankfully both Trueform and my private studio are located in the basement and likely haven't suffered any fire damage. However, water damage will likely be significant in the basement and may take weeks to repair.
I'm just guessing here, but there may be as much as a foot or more of dirty, sooty, water in the basement, which will need to be pumped out. The bottom foot or two of all drywalled walls will likely have to be rebuilt, and all of the rubber mats in the gym and my studio will have to be lifted and cleaned and dried properly before being re-laid.
My studio computer was sitting on the floor, so I'm sure it's done! My biggest hope at this point is that all my textbooks which were on a shelf about 5 feet off the ground are not damaged.
Thankfully earlier this year I decided to set up a studio in my basement so I've been able to continue training a large number of my clients here.
I'll keep you posted as further details are released!
Thankfully nobody was hurt!
:)
Shane
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Program Design
In almost any domain, for every answer you get from one expert, you can find another contradictory answer from another expert. Strength training is no exception.
At the gym there are many discussions over bodypart splits and full body training routines, the merits and disadvantages of each system are thrown back and forth. It's hard to argue with a big strong guy who's used a typical bodybuilding split routine to build his physique. It's also hard to argue with a big strong guy who can clean and jerk two+ times his bodyweight.
Both styles of training seem to produce dramatic results. So how do you know which style of training is best for you? I will provide sample programs later in the article.
There are a number of factors to consider. The first is what type of physique do you want. If you want the bodybuilder look, a bodybuilding style training routine will help you shape your body more since you directly train all areas of the body. However, only people with excellent genetics for growth and appealing muscle shape will make significant long-term progress with this style of training. People without the best genetics for growth from bodybuilding training routines, will fare better with trying to build a significant strength base first, concentrating on the big three lifts, Squat, Deadlift, and Bench Press, and their supplemental and accessory lifts.
Powerlifting methods involve straining against significant loads, which makes the training far more (CNS) central nervous system intensive. Adaptations such as increased tendon size and strength are stimulated better through this style of training, and those who seek larger muscle size who are smaller to begin with will fare better by first developing the framework which includes stronger connective tissues. Later, higher volume bodybuilding methods will be more effective when larger loads can be used.
Planning your training can be confusing without some guidance. An important rule to consider is the frequency of training. Many bodybuilding style routines have users splitting their bodyparts over four to five days, training each area just once every five to seven days. While this may be beneficial for a very advanced athlete, for beginners and even intermediate trainees a higher training frequency will facilitate perfecting of technique. I can't say enough about the importance of good technique, so I am definitely in favour of the higher training frequency. Additionally, the training intensities required for building significant strength and muscle mass are difficult for beginners and intermediate athletes, so a higher frequency of training allows for a greater training volume, which can help produce results at lower intensities.
A novice trainee would be best starting out with a very basic routine just focusing on technique of the main three lifts, plus a few accessory lifts. Their program might look something like this:
WEEK 1
Monday
Box Squats 5x5 x40%-60%
Bench Press 5x6 x40%-50%
Deadlifts 5x3 x40%-60%
Plank 2x30 seconds
Wednesday
Box Squats 5x5 x40%-60%
Bench Press 5x6 x40%-50%
Deadlifts 5x3 x40%-60%
Plank 3x20 seconds
Friday
Box Squats 5x5 x40%-60%
Bench Press 5x6 x40%-50%
Deadlifts 6x3 x40%-60%
Plank 4x20 seconds
WEEK 2
Monday
Box Squats 5x5 x50%-60%
Bench Press 5x5 x50%-60%
Bent-Over Dumbbell Rows 3x10
Plank 3x30 seconds
Wednesday
Deadlifts 5x3 x50%-60%
Bench Press 5x5 x50%-60%
Reverse Grip Pulldowns 3x10
Side Plank 3x15 seconds
Friday
Box Squats 5x5 x50%-60%
Bench Press 5x5 x50%-60%
Bent-Over Dumbbell Rows 3x10
Plank 5x20 seconds
WEEK 3
Monday
Deadlifts 5x3 x50%-65%
Bench Press 5x5 x50%-65%
Rope Face Pulls 3x12
Plank 3x30 seconds
Wednesday
Box Squats 5x5 x50%-65%
Bench Press 5x5 x50%-65%
Reverse Grip Pulldowns 3x10
Side Plank 4x20 seconds
Friday
Deadlifts 5x3 x50%-65%
Bench Press 5x5 x50%-65%
Seated Cable Rows 3x10
Plank 3x30 seconds
Week 4
Monday
Box Squats 5x5 x50%-70%
Bench Press 5x5 x50%-70%
DB Step-ups 3x10
Parallel Grip Pulldowns 3x10
Plank 5x20 seconds
Wednesday
Deadlifts 5x3 x50%-70%
Military Press 5x4
Rope Face Pulls 3x10
Flat Dumbbell Press 3x10
Side Plank 3x25 seconds
Friday
Box Squats 5x5 x50%-70%
Bench Press 5x5 x50%-70%
Romanian Deadlifts (RDL) 3x10
Reverse Grip Pulldowns 3x10
Band/Tube Sideways Walking 3x10 steps
Plank 4x20 seconds
In this routine, percentages are given as a percent of a 1RM. A true 1RM test should only be performed by subjects with adequate training experience who have learned correct exercise technique and can maintain it under fatigued conditions.
An estimate of a 1RM can be made using the results of a 3RM-6RM test. Protocols for testing can be found HERE.
Once an approximate 1RM is known, all percents in the above program can be applies safely.
In this program, percentage ranges are given, and it is suggested that trainees start with the lower percentage on their first set, and progress upward in small incremements through each set towards the higher percentage in the range. Often novice trainees will be excited to try to push heavier weights soon in a program, but it is important to learn and practice proper technique with low weights during the initial 4 weeks of training. This reduces the occurrence of technical breakdown of exercise technique during subsequent loading in later training phases.
Rest periods between sets should be sufficient to prevent accumulation of fatigue which impairs motor co-ordination and limits outcomes of successful technique practice.
This sample exercise program will not produce much in the way of visual changes to the body, but it will provide significant motor pathway learning which lays the basis for further muscular strength and hypertrophic adaptation.
There has been much discussion concerning the merits of frequent bench pressing. Much of the lay press has jumped on the "don't train bench press to frequently" wagon, which is unfounded. Correct technique of the bench press requires frequent practice, and so long as loads do not exceed the 70%-85% range on a regular basis, the bench press can be safely practiced with a high frequency. When attempts at heavier loading are desired, training frequency can be reduced as well as loading at subsequent practice sessions.
Squats and Deadlifts carry similar nervous system fatigue characteristics, so they are usually not done in the same workout. During initial stages of learning technique they may be practiced in the same training session as the loads and repetition ranges are kept very low.
Upper back work is important to help build strength of the main parascapular stabilizers (rhomboids, trapezius, serratus anterior) which are required to be strong enough to stabilize the scapula during loading of the shoulder girdle which occurs during pressing movements. Seated rows, Bent-over dumbbell rows, and Rope face pulls all significantly involve this muscularture. Pulldowns do not involve the scapula to the same degree as the lats do not attach on the scapula, however pulldows are a beneficial back strengthening exercise that should be included in a balanced program. During squats and deadlifts, the lats are strongly recruited to help maintain a tight arch in the low back.
Dumbbell Step-ups and Dumbbell Romanian deadlifts are both accessory exercises that can help hypertrophy the quadriceps, glutes, and hamstrings, all which are intimately involved with producing force during the squat and deadlift.
As a basic start for abdominal strength, the plank and side plank are excellent exercises that strongly recruit all four muscles of the abdominal region.
For more information on program design, please contact shane@spectrumfitness.ca
Hopefully I've been able to shed some light on basic program design. I will be posting future articles on evolving a novice program into a good beginner program. Check back frequently for updates!
Just lift it!
:)
Shane
At the gym there are many discussions over bodypart splits and full body training routines, the merits and disadvantages of each system are thrown back and forth. It's hard to argue with a big strong guy who's used a typical bodybuilding split routine to build his physique. It's also hard to argue with a big strong guy who can clean and jerk two+ times his bodyweight.
Both styles of training seem to produce dramatic results. So how do you know which style of training is best for you? I will provide sample programs later in the article.
There are a number of factors to consider. The first is what type of physique do you want. If you want the bodybuilder look, a bodybuilding style training routine will help you shape your body more since you directly train all areas of the body. However, only people with excellent genetics for growth and appealing muscle shape will make significant long-term progress with this style of training. People without the best genetics for growth from bodybuilding training routines, will fare better with trying to build a significant strength base first, concentrating on the big three lifts, Squat, Deadlift, and Bench Press, and their supplemental and accessory lifts.
Powerlifting methods involve straining against significant loads, which makes the training far more (CNS) central nervous system intensive. Adaptations such as increased tendon size and strength are stimulated better through this style of training, and those who seek larger muscle size who are smaller to begin with will fare better by first developing the framework which includes stronger connective tissues. Later, higher volume bodybuilding methods will be more effective when larger loads can be used.
Planning your training can be confusing without some guidance. An important rule to consider is the frequency of training. Many bodybuilding style routines have users splitting their bodyparts over four to five days, training each area just once every five to seven days. While this may be beneficial for a very advanced athlete, for beginners and even intermediate trainees a higher training frequency will facilitate perfecting of technique. I can't say enough about the importance of good technique, so I am definitely in favour of the higher training frequency. Additionally, the training intensities required for building significant strength and muscle mass are difficult for beginners and intermediate athletes, so a higher frequency of training allows for a greater training volume, which can help produce results at lower intensities.
A novice trainee would be best starting out with a very basic routine just focusing on technique of the main three lifts, plus a few accessory lifts. Their program might look something like this:
WEEK 1
Monday
Box Squats 5x5 x40%-60%
Bench Press 5x6 x40%-50%
Deadlifts 5x3 x40%-60%
Plank 2x30 seconds
Wednesday
Box Squats 5x5 x40%-60%
Bench Press 5x6 x40%-50%
Deadlifts 5x3 x40%-60%
Plank 3x20 seconds
Friday
Box Squats 5x5 x40%-60%
Bench Press 5x6 x40%-50%
Deadlifts 6x3 x40%-60%
Plank 4x20 seconds
WEEK 2
Monday
Box Squats 5x5 x50%-60%
Bench Press 5x5 x50%-60%
Bent-Over Dumbbell Rows 3x10
Plank 3x30 seconds
Wednesday
Deadlifts 5x3 x50%-60%
Bench Press 5x5 x50%-60%
Reverse Grip Pulldowns 3x10
Side Plank 3x15 seconds
Friday
Box Squats 5x5 x50%-60%
Bench Press 5x5 x50%-60%
Bent-Over Dumbbell Rows 3x10
Plank 5x20 seconds
WEEK 3
Monday
Deadlifts 5x3 x50%-65%
Bench Press 5x5 x50%-65%
Rope Face Pulls 3x12
Plank 3x30 seconds
Wednesday
Box Squats 5x5 x50%-65%
Bench Press 5x5 x50%-65%
Reverse Grip Pulldowns 3x10
Side Plank 4x20 seconds
Friday
Deadlifts 5x3 x50%-65%
Bench Press 5x5 x50%-65%
Seated Cable Rows 3x10
Plank 3x30 seconds
Week 4
Monday
Box Squats 5x5 x50%-70%
Bench Press 5x5 x50%-70%
DB Step-ups 3x10
Parallel Grip Pulldowns 3x10
Plank 5x20 seconds
Wednesday
Deadlifts 5x3 x50%-70%
Military Press 5x4
Rope Face Pulls 3x10
Flat Dumbbell Press 3x10
Side Plank 3x25 seconds
Friday
Box Squats 5x5 x50%-70%
Bench Press 5x5 x50%-70%
Romanian Deadlifts (RDL) 3x10
Reverse Grip Pulldowns 3x10
Band/Tube Sideways Walking 3x10 steps
Plank 4x20 seconds
In this routine, percentages are given as a percent of a 1RM. A true 1RM test should only be performed by subjects with adequate training experience who have learned correct exercise technique and can maintain it under fatigued conditions.
An estimate of a 1RM can be made using the results of a 3RM-6RM test. Protocols for testing can be found HERE.
Once an approximate 1RM is known, all percents in the above program can be applies safely.
In this program, percentage ranges are given, and it is suggested that trainees start with the lower percentage on their first set, and progress upward in small incremements through each set towards the higher percentage in the range. Often novice trainees will be excited to try to push heavier weights soon in a program, but it is important to learn and practice proper technique with low weights during the initial 4 weeks of training. This reduces the occurrence of technical breakdown of exercise technique during subsequent loading in later training phases.
Rest periods between sets should be sufficient to prevent accumulation of fatigue which impairs motor co-ordination and limits outcomes of successful technique practice.
This sample exercise program will not produce much in the way of visual changes to the body, but it will provide significant motor pathway learning which lays the basis for further muscular strength and hypertrophic adaptation.
There has been much discussion concerning the merits of frequent bench pressing. Much of the lay press has jumped on the "don't train bench press to frequently" wagon, which is unfounded. Correct technique of the bench press requires frequent practice, and so long as loads do not exceed the 70%-85% range on a regular basis, the bench press can be safely practiced with a high frequency. When attempts at heavier loading are desired, training frequency can be reduced as well as loading at subsequent practice sessions.
Squats and Deadlifts carry similar nervous system fatigue characteristics, so they are usually not done in the same workout. During initial stages of learning technique they may be practiced in the same training session as the loads and repetition ranges are kept very low.
Upper back work is important to help build strength of the main parascapular stabilizers (rhomboids, trapezius, serratus anterior) which are required to be strong enough to stabilize the scapula during loading of the shoulder girdle which occurs during pressing movements. Seated rows, Bent-over dumbbell rows, and Rope face pulls all significantly involve this muscularture. Pulldowns do not involve the scapula to the same degree as the lats do not attach on the scapula, however pulldows are a beneficial back strengthening exercise that should be included in a balanced program. During squats and deadlifts, the lats are strongly recruited to help maintain a tight arch in the low back.
Dumbbell Step-ups and Dumbbell Romanian deadlifts are both accessory exercises that can help hypertrophy the quadriceps, glutes, and hamstrings, all which are intimately involved with producing force during the squat and deadlift.
As a basic start for abdominal strength, the plank and side plank are excellent exercises that strongly recruit all four muscles of the abdominal region.
For more information on program design, please contact shane@spectrumfitness.ca
Hopefully I've been able to shed some light on basic program design. I will be posting future articles on evolving a novice program into a good beginner program. Check back frequently for updates!
Just lift it!
:)
Shane
Thursday, September 11, 2008
M.I.A...
It's been a while since my last blog post, I've been busy with a number of projects, and took a bit of vacation time with my wife and some friends, so all rested up, I'm back in the swing, and I'll have some new pieces for you shortly.
In the mean time, here's a favourite recipe of mine, courtesy of my wife Tanya.
For those of you out there who hate broccoli but know you should be eating it.. I promise with this recipe you'll be able to consume your broccoli and you'll absolutely love it!
Broccoli Soup
Ingredients:
2 heads broccoli
4 carrots
2-3 tbsp chicken broth
1 med onion
1/2 cup milk
3-4 cloves garlic
1- 1.5 tbsp flour
Preparation:
Cut broccoli, carrots, and onion into 10" diameter pot.
Add water (approx 8 cups) to cover veggies by 1" water.
Bring to boil and ensure veggies are well cooked.
Let stand 10 minutes.
Pour mixture into blender, puree until smooth.
Pour blender contents back into pot.
Add milk.
Add crushed garlic.
Put heat at med.
Mix flour with 1/2 cup hot water and whip until pasty (no chunks), then add flour and water mixture to pot contents and stir until bottom starts to thicken.
Turn off heat and stir occasionally until desired consistency.
Serve hot or let cool and freeze for future use.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Note: May replace 2% milk with half and half or table cream for a creamier soup if you don't mind the extra calories.
I had this for dinner tonight and as always with this soup, I never enjoy my broccoli so much!
Hope you enjoy it too!
:)
Shane
In the mean time, here's a favourite recipe of mine, courtesy of my wife Tanya.
For those of you out there who hate broccoli but know you should be eating it.. I promise with this recipe you'll be able to consume your broccoli and you'll absolutely love it!
Broccoli Soup
Ingredients:
2 heads broccoli
4 carrots
2-3 tbsp chicken broth
1 med onion
1/2 cup milk
3-4 cloves garlic
1- 1.5 tbsp flour
Preparation:
Cut broccoli, carrots, and onion into 10" diameter pot.
Add water (approx 8 cups) to cover veggies by 1" water.
Bring to boil and ensure veggies are well cooked.
Let stand 10 minutes.
Pour mixture into blender, puree until smooth.
Pour blender contents back into pot.
Add milk.
Add crushed garlic.
Put heat at med.
Mix flour with 1/2 cup hot water and whip until pasty (no chunks), then add flour and water mixture to pot contents and stir until bottom starts to thicken.
Turn off heat and stir occasionally until desired consistency.
Serve hot or let cool and freeze for future use.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Note: May replace 2% milk with half and half or table cream for a creamier soup if you don't mind the extra calories.
I had this for dinner tonight and as always with this soup, I never enjoy my broccoli so much!
Hope you enjoy it too!
:)
Shane
Monday, August 4, 2008
To Wear Gloves or Not to Wear Gloves...
Hi Shane,
Is it better to wear gloves or build up hand callouses when lifting? If hand callouses are better, then what is the hand care to prevent painful bloody rips?
:)
Sunny
Hi Sunny,
Good question! Definitely building up calluses is the better route. When you wear gloves you remove bar feel. It's like the difference between driving a standard and automatic. There's an intangible "feel" of the road with a standard, and there's a similar "feel" to the bar that you just don't get when you wear gloves. Some people feel like the gloves give them a better grip because their hands get sweaty. For you guys.. use chalk! Chalk delivers the ultimate bar grip while retaining 100% bar feel!
Finally.. to prevent torn calluses... and the caveat here is that there is no perfect system for preventing them 100% of the time, but when you start to notice that the calluses are getting tipped or pointy and/or are starting to fold over a bit, it's time to get out some good old coarse sandpaper and just smooth them over a little. Get rid of the tip/point but don't get rid of the thickened base.
A number of years ago after three heavy months of deadlifting, I tore a good callus off my hand and yep..it was damn painful and bled like crazy! That was my lesson. Now every month or two I'll use some sandpaper to keep them even.
Hope that helps!
:)
Shane
Hi Sunny,
Good question! Definitely building up calluses is the better route. When you wear gloves you remove bar feel. It's like the difference between driving a standard and automatic. There's an intangible "feel" of the road with a standard, and there's a similar "feel" to the bar that you just don't get when you wear gloves. Some people feel like the gloves give them a better grip because their hands get sweaty. For you guys.. use chalk! Chalk delivers the ultimate bar grip while retaining 100% bar feel!
Finally.. to prevent torn calluses... and the caveat here is that there is no perfect system for preventing them 100% of the time, but when you start to notice that the calluses are getting tipped or pointy and/or are starting to fold over a bit, it's time to get out some good old coarse sandpaper and just smooth them over a little. Get rid of the tip/point but don't get rid of the thickened base.
A number of years ago after three heavy months of deadlifting, I tore a good callus off my hand and yep..it was damn painful and bled like crazy! That was my lesson. Now every month or two I'll use some sandpaper to keep them even.
Hope that helps!
:)
Shane
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
What's The Plate Under The Heel For?
Hi Shane,
Sometimes I see people put a plate under their heels when squatting. I tried it and found that I could squat more deeply than normal. I know you're a proponent of deep squatting, so at first I thought it was a good idea, but lately I've seen you having your clients squat without their shoes on at all. So what's the deal then.. shoes off or a plate under the heels and why?
Thanks,
Dale
Hi Dale,
Thanks for your question... it's a real good one. The plate under the heels is definitely a common sight in most gyms. In fact I used to do it myself years ago, and along with a slew of other bad habits I used to have, I give it partial credit for some of the laxity of my knee ligaments.
The squat when done properly is a deep squat. The safety issue of the depth of the squat is really a non-issue and is rather an issue on misunderstanding the mechanics of the muscles that act upon the knee during a squat.
When most people try to squat deeply, they do it with poor technique, allowing their lumbar spine to lose it's natural arch, and their knees to move too far forward, with the pull of the quadriceps on the tibia unrestrained except for the role of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL). Both of these technique flaws increase the risk of injury to the lumbar dics and knee joints. BUT... for those without the flexibility in the ankles, hamstrings and hips, this will be the only way they will be able to squat deeply.
So knowing they shouldn't let their low back lose the arch, some bright fella has come along at some point and showed young Jimmy that if he places some plates under his heels that he can now squat deeply without losing the arch in his back.
Feeling confident now, young Jimmy is off squatting deeply with a plate under his heels.
The problem is that what really happens when you put a plate under your heels is that you're circumventing the problem of tight hamstrings which prevent you from squatting deeply. Usually you'll find young Jimmy off stretching his hamstrings at the end of his workout anyway, which won't do much to lengthen them permanently. And of course by virtue of circumventing the position in the squat where your hamstrings reach the end of their functional range of motion under load, you remove likely the most effective way to increase hamstring flexibility. Done correctly, the squat when taken to the point where the hamstrings become taught under load, over weeks and months of practice will increase in length to accomodate the deeper hip position required to squat deeply and safely.
The plate under the heel merely raises the ankle joint which allows the knees to travel forwards further (this motion if it occurs should come from increased ankle mobility, not raising the heel). But when the knee moves forward, the insertion point of the hamstring on the hip also moves forward, allowing the hamstring to remain loose enough for the hips to go deep.
Back to the orginal question... Why is it bad? It is bad because when the hamstrings stay loose as the hips descend, they do not restrain the tibia under the forward moving knee. So the only restraint engaged is the ACL. You won't often hear of ACL rupture from this, but over the years you'll definitely increase the laxity of the ACL and in turn compromise joint stability.
The second part of the question (much shorter answer I promise!) was about my clients not wearing their shoes when they squat. The primary reason is because most people come to the gym with either absolutely awful shoes that are ready for the garbage (You know who you are! ;p) or with fancy-schmancy running shoes which have great big cushy heels (which are perfect for absorption of forces during heel strike when running)... but are lousy for transfering loads effectively through the foot to the floor during a squat. When you're squatting the last thing you want is to have something under your foot thats going to absorb the force you're trying to create and transfer to the floor. Especially when the absorption may not be perfectly even from left to right foot. Running shoes can create a scary wobbly feel under you when squatting with any decent loads. So short of having my clients go out and buy thin, hard sole shoes, I just have them squat with their shoes off. This way all the force that their muscles create is transferred directly to the floor. Safer, and more effective.
Finally, it makes it a little tougher to get deeper into the squat and thus encourages increased hamstring flexibility.
So either get some thin, hard soled shoes, or take off the running shoe. I promise you'll notice a postive difference right away!
:)
Shane
Sometimes I see people put a plate under their heels when squatting. I tried it and found that I could squat more deeply than normal. I know you're a proponent of deep squatting, so at first I thought it was a good idea, but lately I've seen you having your clients squat without their shoes on at all. So what's the deal then.. shoes off or a plate under the heels and why?
Thanks,
Dale
Hi Dale,
Thanks for your question... it's a real good one. The plate under the heels is definitely a common sight in most gyms. In fact I used to do it myself years ago, and along with a slew of other bad habits I used to have, I give it partial credit for some of the laxity of my knee ligaments.
The squat when done properly is a deep squat. The safety issue of the depth of the squat is really a non-issue and is rather an issue on misunderstanding the mechanics of the muscles that act upon the knee during a squat.
When most people try to squat deeply, they do it with poor technique, allowing their lumbar spine to lose it's natural arch, and their knees to move too far forward, with the pull of the quadriceps on the tibia unrestrained except for the role of the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL). Both of these technique flaws increase the risk of injury to the lumbar dics and knee joints. BUT... for those without the flexibility in the ankles, hamstrings and hips, this will be the only way they will be able to squat deeply.
So knowing they shouldn't let their low back lose the arch, some bright fella has come along at some point and showed young Jimmy that if he places some plates under his heels that he can now squat deeply without losing the arch in his back.
Feeling confident now, young Jimmy is off squatting deeply with a plate under his heels.
The problem is that what really happens when you put a plate under your heels is that you're circumventing the problem of tight hamstrings which prevent you from squatting deeply. Usually you'll find young Jimmy off stretching his hamstrings at the end of his workout anyway, which won't do much to lengthen them permanently. And of course by virtue of circumventing the position in the squat where your hamstrings reach the end of their functional range of motion under load, you remove likely the most effective way to increase hamstring flexibility. Done correctly, the squat when taken to the point where the hamstrings become taught under load, over weeks and months of practice will increase in length to accomodate the deeper hip position required to squat deeply and safely.
The plate under the heel merely raises the ankle joint which allows the knees to travel forwards further (this motion if it occurs should come from increased ankle mobility, not raising the heel). But when the knee moves forward, the insertion point of the hamstring on the hip also moves forward, allowing the hamstring to remain loose enough for the hips to go deep.
Back to the orginal question... Why is it bad? It is bad because when the hamstrings stay loose as the hips descend, they do not restrain the tibia under the forward moving knee. So the only restraint engaged is the ACL. You won't often hear of ACL rupture from this, but over the years you'll definitely increase the laxity of the ACL and in turn compromise joint stability.
The second part of the question (much shorter answer I promise!) was about my clients not wearing their shoes when they squat. The primary reason is because most people come to the gym with either absolutely awful shoes that are ready for the garbage (You know who you are! ;p) or with fancy-schmancy running shoes which have great big cushy heels (which are perfect for absorption of forces during heel strike when running)... but are lousy for transfering loads effectively through the foot to the floor during a squat. When you're squatting the last thing you want is to have something under your foot thats going to absorb the force you're trying to create and transfer to the floor. Especially when the absorption may not be perfectly even from left to right foot. Running shoes can create a scary wobbly feel under you when squatting with any decent loads. So short of having my clients go out and buy thin, hard sole shoes, I just have them squat with their shoes off. This way all the force that their muscles create is transferred directly to the floor. Safer, and more effective.
Finally, it makes it a little tougher to get deeper into the squat and thus encourages increased hamstring flexibility.
So either get some thin, hard soled shoes, or take off the running shoe. I promise you'll notice a postive difference right away!
:)
Shane
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Bench Press Safety Tip
I was at the gym last week and saw a guy doing the bench press with a thumb-less grip. I approached him and respectfully suggested for safety reasons that he use a full thumbed grip on the bar citing injury potential as outweighing any potential or perceived benefits of a thumb-less grip.
I found it a bit odd that he really tried to persuade me that it was safe enough if done "carefully", and that he was careful.
Granted, you may never have an accident, but just like the risk of lumbar disc injury from rounding your back during a deadlift, the thumb-less grip on bench press is just asking for trouble.
Take a look at this video and see for yourself the kind of "impact" the thumb-less grip can have on you!
If that isn't enough to get you to use a full thumbed grip... then just make sure you do this kind of thing in your home gym so we don't have to deal with your ignorance here!
Grip it right or get out!
;)
Shane
I found it a bit odd that he really tried to persuade me that it was safe enough if done "carefully", and that he was careful.
Granted, you may never have an accident, but just like the risk of lumbar disc injury from rounding your back during a deadlift, the thumb-less grip on bench press is just asking for trouble.
Take a look at this video and see for yourself the kind of "impact" the thumb-less grip can have on you!
If that isn't enough to get you to use a full thumbed grip... then just make sure you do this kind of thing in your home gym so we don't have to deal with your ignorance here!
Grip it right or get out!
;)
Shane
Monday, July 28, 2008
Sunday's Workout - Dynamic Effort Lower Body
We went to the Freedom Fight Title Quest Mixed Martial arts fight on Saturday night and were treated to some amazing fights. As always conditioning plays such a crucial role in allowing these athletes to continue into the later rounds. Watching these guys is definitely motivating to say the least. So throwing some Prowler pushes into our Sunday workout was influenced by our Saturday night outing.
The goal of Dynamic Effort (DE) training is to improve the ability to accelerate loads. High rates of acceleration require very high forces. Consequently DE training improves rate of force production which contributes to maximal strength. We use accommodating resistance modalities such as chains or bands to increase the tension on the muscles as the natural strength curve of the exercise gives us improved leverage.
Generally we start with a bar weight equal to about 50% of your 1RM and then add either chains or bands to give a top position weight of between 90-110% of your 1RM. The goal is to then explode from the bottom as hard as possible so that you are accelerating right through to the top position.
That said, here's what we did yesterday:
Warmup:
Skipping 10 min
Foam Roller: Quads, IT Band, Hams, Glutes, Adductors, T-Spine.
Tennis Ball: Piriformis
Band external rotator cuff work to warm up in prep for the low bar position.
DE Box Squats (did a few warm-up sets of 5 reps with various band tensions then decided to use chains.)
2x95 + 1 set chains
2x115 + 2 sets chains
2x135 + 2 sets chains
10x2x155 + 2 sets chains
We took just as long a rest between sets as it took the other person to do their set.
So around 30-45 seconds rest. I haven't weighed them yet, but I'm pretty sure each set of chains is around 60 lbs.
DE Deadlifts - For this exercise we sat the bar on the ground inside the rack and just threw a doubled up monster miniband over the bar from the two band pins.
I haven't had deadlifts in my program for the past 8 weeks, so going pretty light we did:
10x1x185 + 1 doubled monster mini. (I would estimate the tension the band added was close to 100 lbs at the top.
After this a little volume work..
Dumbbell Step-ups 2 warm-up sets then 3x10
45 degree hypers w/bands 3x10
Reverse Hypers 1x20x20lbs fast, 1x15x20 slow w/ 2 sec isohold at top, 1x15x20
(unilateral)
Grappler Barbell Twists: 16 x bar, long handle 2x8 x bar
Hanging leg raises 20, 15, 15, 9
Then after all this we headed outside to push the Prowler.
Here's some video footage of our work outside!
We even got my brother in law's baby girl to try giving the Prowler a push.. but she wasn't into it! LOL
So all in all it was a pretty brutal session. Thankfully we'd just changed the water in the hot tub and it was still a balmy 74 degrees.. so we hopped in to cool down afterwards.
That's it for our training logs. A new week is upon us!
Have a great one!
:)
Shane
The goal of Dynamic Effort (DE) training is to improve the ability to accelerate loads. High rates of acceleration require very high forces. Consequently DE training improves rate of force production which contributes to maximal strength. We use accommodating resistance modalities such as chains or bands to increase the tension on the muscles as the natural strength curve of the exercise gives us improved leverage.
Generally we start with a bar weight equal to about 50% of your 1RM and then add either chains or bands to give a top position weight of between 90-110% of your 1RM. The goal is to then explode from the bottom as hard as possible so that you are accelerating right through to the top position.
That said, here's what we did yesterday:
Warmup:
Skipping 10 min
Foam Roller: Quads, IT Band, Hams, Glutes, Adductors, T-Spine.
Tennis Ball: Piriformis
Band external rotator cuff work to warm up in prep for the low bar position.
DE Box Squats (did a few warm-up sets of 5 reps with various band tensions then decided to use chains.)
2x95 + 1 set chains
2x115 + 2 sets chains
2x135 + 2 sets chains
10x2x155 + 2 sets chains
We took just as long a rest between sets as it took the other person to do their set.
So around 30-45 seconds rest. I haven't weighed them yet, but I'm pretty sure each set of chains is around 60 lbs.
DE Deadlifts - For this exercise we sat the bar on the ground inside the rack and just threw a doubled up monster miniband over the bar from the two band pins.
I haven't had deadlifts in my program for the past 8 weeks, so going pretty light we did:
10x1x185 + 1 doubled monster mini. (I would estimate the tension the band added was close to 100 lbs at the top.
After this a little volume work..
Dumbbell Step-ups 2 warm-up sets then 3x10
45 degree hypers w/bands 3x10
Reverse Hypers 1x20x20lbs fast, 1x15x20 slow w/ 2 sec isohold at top, 1x15x20
(unilateral)
Grappler Barbell Twists: 16 x bar, long handle 2x8 x bar
Hanging leg raises 20, 15, 15, 9
Then after all this we headed outside to push the Prowler.
Here's some video footage of our work outside!
We even got my brother in law's baby girl to try giving the Prowler a push.. but she wasn't into it! LOL
So all in all it was a pretty brutal session. Thankfully we'd just changed the water in the hot tub and it was still a balmy 74 degrees.. so we hopped in to cool down afterwards.
That's it for our training logs. A new week is upon us!
Have a great one!
:)
Shane
Saturday, July 26, 2008
High Intensity Intervals for Fat Loss - Work it like a Dog!
So we live in a suburb where there's quite a few Labrador Retrievers. We own a black Lab, her name is Sona. In our neighbourhood the other Labs are often out for long walks with their owners. Some are really slow (doesn't really count for cardio) and others are faster. One guy goes out on his bike and his Lab runs beside him. I've seen another lady out jogging and her Lab is running with her. So what does all this have to do with high intensity intervals for fat loss?
Well... if you've seen our Lab you know she's very lean. We feed her very well, including oats, carrots, broccoli, Udo's oil, cottage cheese, blueberries, tomatoes, apples, bananas, as well as a few cans of Natural Balance dog food daily. So she's getting plenty of nutrition. To top it all off, she always finishes all our leftovers after we eat. So her calorie levels are as high as most labs, but we take her out three to four times a day for a 10-15 minute high intensity interval training session that we call "Play"... Basically we throw the tennis ball using the whippit and she retrieves the ball. Her sprint out to get the ball is at maximum effort, and then her return is a slower pace.
When we bring her in the house, for the next couple hours her breathing is heavier, and she's quite hot. This is the excess post-exercise oxygen consumption period where her body continues to burn calories at a much higher rate.
It's also what we do outside when we push the Prowler up and down in between our house and our neighbours.
When we have very limited time our workout looks like this:
Prowler push 3-5 sets of 30-60seconds with 60-120 seconds rest intervals.
If you give it all you've got.. this can pretty much flatten you!
Admittedly when we did it a few weeks back I was a little out of shape cardio-wise, and it took just 3 sets 60 seconds of all out effort to put me out of commission for nearly 20 minutes.
There's an intuitive feeling that this kind of effort is really good for you. So here's to high intensity intervals for fat loss!
Work it like a Dog!
:)
Shane
Well... if you've seen our Lab you know she's very lean. We feed her very well, including oats, carrots, broccoli, Udo's oil, cottage cheese, blueberries, tomatoes, apples, bananas, as well as a few cans of Natural Balance dog food daily. So she's getting plenty of nutrition. To top it all off, she always finishes all our leftovers after we eat. So her calorie levels are as high as most labs, but we take her out three to four times a day for a 10-15 minute high intensity interval training session that we call "Play"... Basically we throw the tennis ball using the whippit and she retrieves the ball. Her sprint out to get the ball is at maximum effort, and then her return is a slower pace.
When we bring her in the house, for the next couple hours her breathing is heavier, and she's quite hot. This is the excess post-exercise oxygen consumption period where her body continues to burn calories at a much higher rate.
It's also what we do outside when we push the Prowler up and down in between our house and our neighbours.
When we have very limited time our workout looks like this:
Prowler push 3-5 sets of 30-60seconds with 60-120 seconds rest intervals.
If you give it all you've got.. this can pretty much flatten you!
Admittedly when we did it a few weeks back I was a little out of shape cardio-wise, and it took just 3 sets 60 seconds of all out effort to put me out of commission for nearly 20 minutes.
There's an intuitive feeling that this kind of effort is really good for you. So here's to high intensity intervals for fat loss!
Work it like a Dog!
:)
Shane
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Real Core Stability...
This is getting ridiculous! Can I please go one day without hearing another so called fitness expert or Pilates person or whoever talk about "drawing your navel towards your spine" during exercise to protect the spine.
Based on an Australian study in 1996 where they found that the firing of the transverse abdominus (TVA) was delayed slightly in the people in the study who were suffering from low back pain. Their advice was to draw the navel back towards the spine (which does engage the TVA) and hope that over time this "drawing in" would become automatic.
I am not aware of any study that shows that drawing in on the navel has ever or could ever become automatic. Additionally, others have drawn the same conclusion before me. Shirley Sahrmann has stated, "I don't know of a study that shows that drawing in becomes a subconscious reflex", Sahrmann is a professor of physical therapy at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and is author of "Diagnosis and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes", arguably one of the best references for everything related to joint disfunction. I have personally learned more from this book than any other relating to muscle length/tension relationships and their effect on joint function and disfunction.
A name that if you're not already familiar with, you will be before too long is Dr. Stuart McGill. Dr. McGill is the foremost back specialist in the world. His research into the mechanics of the spine is shedding new light on the causes of disc injury and prevention.
Dr. McGill states clearly that although the TVA is definitely important in core stabilization, it is just one muscle, and all of the muscles that act upon the core are involved in stabilization. Dr. McGill says if you want to see an easy example of how just pulling in your navel reduces your core strength, sit in a chair and try to stand up by just pulling in your navel versus "bracing" your whole abdominal wall.
"Bracing" is the new key word. You'll see it popping up everywhere and I think we've finally got it right with this one. Of course it was instinctively done thousands of years ago by anybody who was straining to lift a heavy object. Dr. McGill explains that to "brace" your abdominal wall, pretend you're about to get punched in the abdominals and do what comes naturally. A contraction of all the abdominal muscles as well as the musculature that surrounds the spine at the back occurs when you brace.
Another example is consider what you would do if you had to lift a very heavy object in a hurried fashion. Lets say a heavy object fell on someone and you were going to try to lift it off. You would bend down, with knees and hips, and take a very deep breath and drive the pressure down into your stomach by "bracing" all your abdominals. Then you would try to lift the object.
You may have heard of the "Valsalva Maneuver" named after the 17th century physician Antonio Maria Valsalva is taking a deep breath and forcibly exhaling against a closed glottis. This causes an increase in intra-abdominal pressure by the contraction of the core musculature.
So please folks, even if your Pilates instructor says to draw in your navel when you're exercising, just brace your core by tensing all of the muscles in your abdominal region.
It could save your discs!
:)
Shane
Based on an Australian study in 1996 where they found that the firing of the transverse abdominus (TVA) was delayed slightly in the people in the study who were suffering from low back pain. Their advice was to draw the navel back towards the spine (which does engage the TVA) and hope that over time this "drawing in" would become automatic.
I am not aware of any study that shows that drawing in on the navel has ever or could ever become automatic. Additionally, others have drawn the same conclusion before me. Shirley Sahrmann has stated, "I don't know of a study that shows that drawing in becomes a subconscious reflex", Sahrmann is a professor of physical therapy at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and is author of "Diagnosis and Treatment of Movement Impairment Syndromes", arguably one of the best references for everything related to joint disfunction. I have personally learned more from this book than any other relating to muscle length/tension relationships and their effect on joint function and disfunction.
A name that if you're not already familiar with, you will be before too long is Dr. Stuart McGill. Dr. McGill is the foremost back specialist in the world. His research into the mechanics of the spine is shedding new light on the causes of disc injury and prevention.
Dr. McGill states clearly that although the TVA is definitely important in core stabilization, it is just one muscle, and all of the muscles that act upon the core are involved in stabilization. Dr. McGill says if you want to see an easy example of how just pulling in your navel reduces your core strength, sit in a chair and try to stand up by just pulling in your navel versus "bracing" your whole abdominal wall.
"Bracing" is the new key word. You'll see it popping up everywhere and I think we've finally got it right with this one. Of course it was instinctively done thousands of years ago by anybody who was straining to lift a heavy object. Dr. McGill explains that to "brace" your abdominal wall, pretend you're about to get punched in the abdominals and do what comes naturally. A contraction of all the abdominal muscles as well as the musculature that surrounds the spine at the back occurs when you brace.
Another example is consider what you would do if you had to lift a very heavy object in a hurried fashion. Lets say a heavy object fell on someone and you were going to try to lift it off. You would bend down, with knees and hips, and take a very deep breath and drive the pressure down into your stomach by "bracing" all your abdominals. Then you would try to lift the object.
You may have heard of the "Valsalva Maneuver" named after the 17th century physician Antonio Maria Valsalva is taking a deep breath and forcibly exhaling against a closed glottis. This causes an increase in intra-abdominal pressure by the contraction of the core musculature.
So please folks, even if your Pilates instructor says to draw in your navel when you're exercising, just brace your core by tensing all of the muscles in your abdominal region.
It could save your discs!
:)
Shane
Saturday, July 19, 2008
What Motivates You?
When you set out to accomplish a task be it physical, academic, or other, we often have motivating factors that help push us along when we might otherwise pack it in.
With physical tasks such as exercising we do it because it's good for our health, it helps give us more energy, or even to look better on the beach. Whatever our reasons, we all have them.
Now take Dick and Rick Hoyt, a father and son team who compete in marathons and Ironman triathlons. It was Rick who convinced his father to enter these races with him.
So this was Dick's motivation. Now... that sounds nice and all.. but watch the video and you'll really understand the depth of commitment on Dick's part to his son.
Sorry to suck you in to a nearly 10 minute video, and I'm not a big fan of the music in the video.. but the story is simply incredible.
When I see something like this, I want to never make an excuse for why I couldn't or I didn't do something that was important. Whether it's a favour for a friend, a loved one, or something as simple as getting in some exercise.
I hope you enjoyed the video as much as I did.
Excuseless...
:)
Shane
With physical tasks such as exercising we do it because it's good for our health, it helps give us more energy, or even to look better on the beach. Whatever our reasons, we all have them.
Now take Dick and Rick Hoyt, a father and son team who compete in marathons and Ironman triathlons. It was Rick who convinced his father to enter these races with him.
So this was Dick's motivation. Now... that sounds nice and all.. but watch the video and you'll really understand the depth of commitment on Dick's part to his son.
Sorry to suck you in to a nearly 10 minute video, and I'm not a big fan of the music in the video.. but the story is simply incredible.
When I see something like this, I want to never make an excuse for why I couldn't or I didn't do something that was important. Whether it's a favour for a friend, a loved one, or something as simple as getting in some exercise.
I hope you enjoyed the video as much as I did.
Excuseless...
:)
Shane
Friday, July 18, 2008
What to Do When it Rains!
Like many of you I awoke at around 4am to a mad storm outside. Thunder, lightning, and deafening rain striking the roof and siding on the house kept me awake for about 20 minutes!
I guess it all stopped at some point around or before 5am, as my alarm woke me up at 5:30am. I had definitely fallen back asleep, but didn't remember falling back asleep. I was pretty tired, but had to get up for my first client at 6am.
I hit the shower to wake up (didn't really work), had breakfast and headed downstairs to my studio to prepare for my 6am client. At 6:08am I sent a text wondering if we were still on for training. When I didn't get an answer by 6:15am I called. Turns out they'd had their windows open and had quite a bit of water get in the house. So training was off, as they had clean-up to take care of at home.
So.. I was there, now awake, in my studio... what do I do. I could go back to bed, but by the time I would get to sleep, I'd have to be up by 7:15 anyway for my next client, so I decided that some restoration work would be the most productive use of my time.
Here's what I did.
Foam Roller: Quads, IT band, Hamstrings, Adductors, Glute Max, Glute Med, Thoracic Spine, Lats, and Pecs.
I grabbed my tennis ball and took care of my Infraspinatus and Piriformis.
Then I did some static stretching for my Rectus Femoris / Tensor Fascia.
I probably spent about 25 minutes in all, and as I went upstairs after, I was reminded again by how good all my joints felt of the importance of soft tissue work.
So don't skip out on your foam roller!
It's Friday folks.. so I gotta roll!
;)
Shane
I guess it all stopped at some point around or before 5am, as my alarm woke me up at 5:30am. I had definitely fallen back asleep, but didn't remember falling back asleep. I was pretty tired, but had to get up for my first client at 6am.
I hit the shower to wake up (didn't really work), had breakfast and headed downstairs to my studio to prepare for my 6am client. At 6:08am I sent a text wondering if we were still on for training. When I didn't get an answer by 6:15am I called. Turns out they'd had their windows open and had quite a bit of water get in the house. So training was off, as they had clean-up to take care of at home.
So.. I was there, now awake, in my studio... what do I do. I could go back to bed, but by the time I would get to sleep, I'd have to be up by 7:15 anyway for my next client, so I decided that some restoration work would be the most productive use of my time.
Here's what I did.
Foam Roller: Quads, IT band, Hamstrings, Adductors, Glute Max, Glute Med, Thoracic Spine, Lats, and Pecs.
I grabbed my tennis ball and took care of my Infraspinatus and Piriformis.
Then I did some static stretching for my Rectus Femoris / Tensor Fascia.
I probably spent about 25 minutes in all, and as I went upstairs after, I was reminded again by how good all my joints felt of the importance of soft tissue work.
So don't skip out on your foam roller!
It's Friday folks.. so I gotta roll!
;)
Shane
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
First Workout In New Studio!
I Christened my new studio yesterday with a split routine leg workout.
I had 45 minutes in the morning and 45 minutes at night to thoroughly thrash my legs.
Here's what I did.
Training Session #1 12:45pm
Foam Roller: Quads, IT Band, Hip Flexors, Hams, Calves, Peroneals, Adductors, Glutes, T-Spine.
(10 min)
Dynamic stretching for Hip Flexors, Quads, Hams, and Glutes.
(5 min)
Squats: worked up to a tough 4x5RM
Dumbbell Split Squats 4x8
Band Sideways X-Walking 3x12 (Red Jumpstretch)
Training Session #2 8pm
Dynamic warm-up consisting of: squat to stand, side-side lunging, cradle walk. (5 min)
1-leg squat to bench w/Kettlebell counter weight 4x10 (this is ridiculously difficult.. takes a lot of concentration)
Glute & Ham Raises 4x10
Romanian Deadlifts 3x8
Decline Sit-ups 3x10 (Easy.. no weight, very slight decline)
Reverse Hyperextensions 3x10
Grappler Barbell Twist 3x10
Incline Reverse Crunches 3x10
At this point I was toast, even if I could have done more, Sona, my pup was jumping all over me. She'd had just about enough of me grunting... I figure she thinks i'm in pain (kinda true) and she's jumping all over me to see if I'm ok? Funny.
Anyway.. it was a great workout.. and today I'm well aware of it!
Tonight I'm going to take apart my pulldown/seated row unit gotta remove the whole weight stack in order to get it to a manageable weight to carry down the stairs.
:)
Shane
I had 45 minutes in the morning and 45 minutes at night to thoroughly thrash my legs.
Here's what I did.
Training Session #1 12:45pm
Foam Roller: Quads, IT Band, Hip Flexors, Hams, Calves, Peroneals, Adductors, Glutes, T-Spine.
(10 min)
Dynamic stretching for Hip Flexors, Quads, Hams, and Glutes.
(5 min)
Squats: worked up to a tough 4x5RM
Dumbbell Split Squats 4x8
Band Sideways X-Walking 3x12 (Red Jumpstretch)
Training Session #2 8pm
Dynamic warm-up consisting of: squat to stand, side-side lunging, cradle walk. (5 min)
1-leg squat to bench w/Kettlebell counter weight 4x10 (this is ridiculously difficult.. takes a lot of concentration)
Glute & Ham Raises 4x10
Romanian Deadlifts 3x8
Decline Sit-ups 3x10 (Easy.. no weight, very slight decline)
Reverse Hyperextensions 3x10
Grappler Barbell Twist 3x10
Incline Reverse Crunches 3x10
At this point I was toast, even if I could have done more, Sona, my pup was jumping all over me. She'd had just about enough of me grunting... I figure she thinks i'm in pain (kinda true) and she's jumping all over me to see if I'm ok? Funny.
Anyway.. it was a great workout.. and today I'm well aware of it!
Tonight I'm going to take apart my pulldown/seated row unit gotta remove the whole weight stack in order to get it to a manageable weight to carry down the stairs.
:)
Shane
Monday, July 14, 2008
Equipment Arrives!
With plans of starting a family, I decided that the 2 hours per day of travel time to and from work in the winter was going to be too much to handle. So the decision to put a training studio in my basement was put into action.
The planning took a couple months, and the construction took another couple, but it's finally come together. Before I started, my basement had the normal unfinished appearance.
Main Space
The nearly finished interior as it looked a few weeks ago can been seen in the pic below.
Main Space - Nearly Finished
With the main space finally completed, and after numerous shipping, and customs delays, my equipment has finally arrived. Of course for most gyms that order commercial gym equipment they've got big huge garage doors that open and the stuff is just rolled in on a skid and carried to the location in the gym. But for me, everything arrived "assembled", so I had to "disassemble" everything, carry it downstairs and then "re-assemble" it all again in the studio space.
Equipment Jammed into Garage
The Narrow Staircase and Reason Disassembling Was Required
Main Space - Looking towards entrance.
Another few days and everything will be in place! I can't wait!
Well that's it.. just a quick update on the private training studio
in Aylmer.
:)
Shane
The planning took a couple months, and the construction took another couple, but it's finally come together. Before I started, my basement had the normal unfinished appearance.
Main Space
The nearly finished interior as it looked a few weeks ago can been seen in the pic below.
Main Space - Nearly Finished
With the main space finally completed, and after numerous shipping, and customs delays, my equipment has finally arrived. Of course for most gyms that order commercial gym equipment they've got big huge garage doors that open and the stuff is just rolled in on a skid and carried to the location in the gym. But for me, everything arrived "assembled", so I had to "disassemble" everything, carry it downstairs and then "re-assemble" it all again in the studio space.
Equipment Jammed into Garage
The Narrow Staircase and Reason Disassembling Was Required
Main Space - Looking towards entrance.
Another few days and everything will be in place! I can't wait!
Well that's it.. just a quick update on the private training studio
in Aylmer.
:)
Shane
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Anterior Shoulder Pain When Benching
Q: I've been pushing my bench pretty hard in the past 6 months with mostly good results, but i'm starting to get some pain in the front of my left shoulder. I took a few days off training intially, the pain subsided, but then came back the very next time I did bench. So now I'm lifting lighter and periodically I try to go up but every time I go up there's pain at the front of my shoulder.
What can I do?
Thanks,
Jay H.
A: Jay, there could be a number of different causes for your pain. Without watching you bench in person, it will be hard to be specific. But I'll go over a couple scenarios for you.
Firstly, if your subscapularis muscle is weak, then you may be getting some anterior humeral head gliding. Anterior glide of the humeral head will often lead to stretching of the anterior joint capsule and subsequent loss of glenohumeral stability. When you bench, your pec pulls the humeral head forward forcefully and it's the job of the subscapularis to pull it backward and down into the correct position.
To remedy the problem, first, you would need to back off on lifting anything heavy, and then start doing 3x15 tube or band internal rotations from above (See Fig 1.1 & Fig 1.2).
Fig 1.1 - Tube internal rotation from above - Start and Finishing position.
Fig 1.2 - Tube internal rotation from above - Midpoint position.
Do this daily for about a week and then move to every second day and increase to 4x15. Finally drop it to twice a week and then try to keep it in your program at least once a week to keep that muscle strong as you gradually return to pressing.
Second possibility is that you've got some impingement going on in the shoulder. Impingement is usually the cause if you have pain when raising your arm to the front or side in between about 60 or 70 degrees and 120-130 degrees of flexion. If this is the case, again you'll have to back off from anything heavy, and perform a few sets of the pendulum exercise (See Video 1.1) to help open up the sub-acromial space Be sure to use only 5-8 lbs. Going heavier than 8 lbs tends to cause the outer muscles to take up the tension, when we want it on the ligaments in the shoulder.
Video 1.1 - The Pendulum Exercise - Creating distraction at the humeral head to increase sub-acromial space.
When you get impingement, the humeral head is being pulled upward against the sub-acromial bursa and supraspinatus tendon. This pressure causes pain and often swelling (which further reduces the sub-acromial space). A bit of time off from heavy benching will be required to allow any swelling to go away.
Once you can raise your arm through the normally painful range without pain, this means you're ready to start strengthening a few areas that need to be stronger to prevent the re-occurence of the pain. This doesn't mean you're ready to bench again, and if you can bench a little that's fine, but DON'T go heavy yet.
Tube external rotations (See Fig. 2.1-2.6) from a few different angles will help to strengthen the external rotator cuff muscles. The teres minor and the infraspinatus being heavily involved in stabilizing the shoulder joint during bench press.
Fig 2.1 - Tube External Rotation (Focus Teres Minor) - Start & Finish Position
Note: Place a small towel or similar object in between arm and ribcage.
Fig 2.2 - Tube External Rotation (Focus Teres Minor) - Midpoint Position
Note: Place a small towel or similar object in between arm and ribcage.
Fig 2.3 - Tube External Rotation 90/0 (Focus Infraspinatus) - Start & Finish Position
Fig 2.4 - Tube External Rotation 90/0 (Focus Infraspinatus) - Midpoint Position
Fig 2.5 - Tube External Rotation 0/90 (Focus Infraspinatus) - Start & Finish Position
Fig 2.6 - Tube External Rotation 0/90 (Focus Infraspinatus) - Midpoint Position
Additionally, spend a few weeks doing extra rows, dumbbells, barbells, cable rows, they will all help. Also spend some time doing some rope face pulls or prone incline trap raises which allow the upper and lower traps to work without involving the rhomboids. Some people tend to be rhomboid dominant, which means scapular stability is created mostly by the rhomboids and with very little help from the traps. Often people with rhomboid dominance have weak serratus anterior muscles. Weak serratus anterior muscles can contribute to a host of other compensation patterns which ultimately produce anterior shoulder pain. To strengthen the serratus anterior muscles perform 2-3 sets of 10-15 reps of Serratus/Scapula Pushups (see Video 2.1). Keep your elbows locked and sink between your shoulder blades. You'll feel them squash together as you sink down, and then push yourself back up and pull your shoulder blades as far apart as possible at the top. Try to avoid creating the upward movement simply by rounding your upper back.
Video 2.1 - Serratus/Scapula Pushups
A third possibility for your shoulder pain involves the long head biceps tendon. Speed's test is a good way to determine whether or not the long head biceps tendon is involved. To perform speed's test, make a fist and pretend you are doing a dumbbell curl and bring your fist up towards your shoulder. Continue to move your fist up a few inches further by flexing your shoulder joint. From this position have a friend or training partner pull down on your fist while you resist. If you have pain or significant weakness in your shoulder during this test, some or all of your shoulder pain involves the long head biceps tendon.
If there is inflammation, again some rest time is needed. Icing the afflicted area and some ibuprofen will help to bring the swelling down. Once the pain has subsided, heat will help encourage blood flow to the area, which will help speed healing. Use the speed's test again but ask your partner to pulldown with much less force and resist them less as well to see if you still have soreness in the shoulder. If you are doing the test and you pull too hard you might aggravate the area again. So always perform subsequent tests at a lower intensity.
After a couple weeks of adding these exercises into your program, you can gradually bring benching back into your program. But spend the first couple weeks using loads close to 60%-80% of the loads that were causing your pain. After a few weeks at these lighter loads, and continued use of the tube exercises and serratus/scapula pushups, you'll be ready to resume some heavier lifting.
When you resume training, for a while, try to do most of your overhead pushing and pulling movements using a closer hand spacing. Same thing for horizontal pressing movements. Spend some time working on your close grip bench press. This movement puts less stress on the shoulder than the wider grip varieties.
Don't rush it. Remember this... one or two additional weeks off training to really prepare those shoulder tissues for loading again can save you months off with serious inflammation.
A final word... It can be very discouraging to find out you've injured yourself and that you have no choice but to take a lengthy break from bench pressing, but if you're like most people in the gym, you probably spend a disproportionate time on your bench anyway, so use this opportunity to work on your deadlifts and squats. When you come back to bench, hopefully your squat and deadlift will have benefitted!
:)
Shane
What can I do?
Thanks,
Jay H.
A: Jay, there could be a number of different causes for your pain. Without watching you bench in person, it will be hard to be specific. But I'll go over a couple scenarios for you.
Firstly, if your subscapularis muscle is weak, then you may be getting some anterior humeral head gliding. Anterior glide of the humeral head will often lead to stretching of the anterior joint capsule and subsequent loss of glenohumeral stability. When you bench, your pec pulls the humeral head forward forcefully and it's the job of the subscapularis to pull it backward and down into the correct position.
To remedy the problem, first, you would need to back off on lifting anything heavy, and then start doing 3x15 tube or band internal rotations from above (See Fig 1.1 & Fig 1.2).
Fig 1.1 - Tube internal rotation from above - Start and Finishing position.
Fig 1.2 - Tube internal rotation from above - Midpoint position.
Do this daily for about a week and then move to every second day and increase to 4x15. Finally drop it to twice a week and then try to keep it in your program at least once a week to keep that muscle strong as you gradually return to pressing.
Second possibility is that you've got some impingement going on in the shoulder. Impingement is usually the cause if you have pain when raising your arm to the front or side in between about 60 or 70 degrees and 120-130 degrees of flexion. If this is the case, again you'll have to back off from anything heavy, and perform a few sets of the pendulum exercise (See Video 1.1) to help open up the sub-acromial space Be sure to use only 5-8 lbs. Going heavier than 8 lbs tends to cause the outer muscles to take up the tension, when we want it on the ligaments in the shoulder.
Video 1.1 - The Pendulum Exercise - Creating distraction at the humeral head to increase sub-acromial space.
When you get impingement, the humeral head is being pulled upward against the sub-acromial bursa and supraspinatus tendon. This pressure causes pain and often swelling (which further reduces the sub-acromial space). A bit of time off from heavy benching will be required to allow any swelling to go away.
Once you can raise your arm through the normally painful range without pain, this means you're ready to start strengthening a few areas that need to be stronger to prevent the re-occurence of the pain. This doesn't mean you're ready to bench again, and if you can bench a little that's fine, but DON'T go heavy yet.
Tube external rotations (See Fig. 2.1-2.6) from a few different angles will help to strengthen the external rotator cuff muscles. The teres minor and the infraspinatus being heavily involved in stabilizing the shoulder joint during bench press.
Fig 2.1 - Tube External Rotation (Focus Teres Minor) - Start & Finish Position
Note: Place a small towel or similar object in between arm and ribcage.
Fig 2.2 - Tube External Rotation (Focus Teres Minor) - Midpoint Position
Note: Place a small towel or similar object in between arm and ribcage.
Fig 2.3 - Tube External Rotation 90/0 (Focus Infraspinatus) - Start & Finish Position
Fig 2.4 - Tube External Rotation 90/0 (Focus Infraspinatus) - Midpoint Position
Fig 2.5 - Tube External Rotation 0/90 (Focus Infraspinatus) - Start & Finish Position
Fig 2.6 - Tube External Rotation 0/90 (Focus Infraspinatus) - Midpoint Position
Additionally, spend a few weeks doing extra rows, dumbbells, barbells, cable rows, they will all help. Also spend some time doing some rope face pulls or prone incline trap raises which allow the upper and lower traps to work without involving the rhomboids. Some people tend to be rhomboid dominant, which means scapular stability is created mostly by the rhomboids and with very little help from the traps. Often people with rhomboid dominance have weak serratus anterior muscles. Weak serratus anterior muscles can contribute to a host of other compensation patterns which ultimately produce anterior shoulder pain. To strengthen the serratus anterior muscles perform 2-3 sets of 10-15 reps of Serratus/Scapula Pushups (see Video 2.1). Keep your elbows locked and sink between your shoulder blades. You'll feel them squash together as you sink down, and then push yourself back up and pull your shoulder blades as far apart as possible at the top. Try to avoid creating the upward movement simply by rounding your upper back.
Video 2.1 - Serratus/Scapula Pushups
A third possibility for your shoulder pain involves the long head biceps tendon. Speed's test is a good way to determine whether or not the long head biceps tendon is involved. To perform speed's test, make a fist and pretend you are doing a dumbbell curl and bring your fist up towards your shoulder. Continue to move your fist up a few inches further by flexing your shoulder joint. From this position have a friend or training partner pull down on your fist while you resist. If you have pain or significant weakness in your shoulder during this test, some or all of your shoulder pain involves the long head biceps tendon.
If there is inflammation, again some rest time is needed. Icing the afflicted area and some ibuprofen will help to bring the swelling down. Once the pain has subsided, heat will help encourage blood flow to the area, which will help speed healing. Use the speed's test again but ask your partner to pulldown with much less force and resist them less as well to see if you still have soreness in the shoulder. If you are doing the test and you pull too hard you might aggravate the area again. So always perform subsequent tests at a lower intensity.
After a couple weeks of adding these exercises into your program, you can gradually bring benching back into your program. But spend the first couple weeks using loads close to 60%-80% of the loads that were causing your pain. After a few weeks at these lighter loads, and continued use of the tube exercises and serratus/scapula pushups, you'll be ready to resume some heavier lifting.
When you resume training, for a while, try to do most of your overhead pushing and pulling movements using a closer hand spacing. Same thing for horizontal pressing movements. Spend some time working on your close grip bench press. This movement puts less stress on the shoulder than the wider grip varieties.
Don't rush it. Remember this... one or two additional weeks off training to really prepare those shoulder tissues for loading again can save you months off with serious inflammation.
A final word... It can be very discouraging to find out you've injured yourself and that you have no choice but to take a lengthy break from bench pressing, but if you're like most people in the gym, you probably spend a disproportionate time on your bench anyway, so use this opportunity to work on your deadlifts and squats. When you come back to bench, hopefully your squat and deadlift will have benefitted!
:)
Shane
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Why I Get Frustrated!
About three years ago, I was contracted by a group of professionals to do a nutrition seminar for them. It was one of my first, so I was a little nervous. When I arrived and set up, people slowly started filling the room. It wasn't a huge room, but by the time I started there was probably 45 or 50 people in attendance.
I had already set out a few sheets of paper and a pen on the tables where everyone sat.
I introduced myself and asked a few people in the room what their occupations were. These were legal secretaries, lawyers, brokers, entrepreneurs, doctors, and a couple travel agents. So I had a room of pretty smart cookies here.
I joked that if they were all so smart, why did they need me to tell them how to eat to be healthier and change their bodies?
I got some laughs.. but then they all kept staring at me.. obviously because the still felt they needed my help. Well either that or they were thinking I was a smart-ass! ;)
So I asked them to all write down on one of the sheets of paper, what they thought a perfectly balanced meal plan would look like for just one day. It took about ten minutes, there were some little discussions here and there, but as people finished writing, they all seemed to have sort of puzzled, unsure expressions on their faces.
I continued and asked them to now take a second piece of paper, and to the best of their recollection, write out EXACTLY, what they had eaten the previous day. From the time they got up, to the time they went to bed.
It was as I expected...
The postured perfect day of food consisted of eggs (some bacon), cereals, fruit, milk, nuts, lean meats, vegetables, milk, and I even had a few people list "a protein shake".
The order of foods, and the combinations wasn't necessarily the best, but the content was great. It was mostly foods that you eat in their natural state, with but a few exceptions.
Then the laughter came...
Having some of the audience read out what they'd consumed on the previous day was met with snickers, and smiles across the room.
One gentleman proudly read out his list:
Breakfast
nothing
Lunch
nothing
Dinner
Fettucini Alfredo
4 Scotch drinks
1 piece of Tiramisu
Late Evening
1 bowl oreo ice cream
His was definitely the worst, but most of them weren't that far off. Missed meals, carbohydrate only diets, donuts and coffee for breakfast, it was quite funny.
Funny, that these "smart" professionals could all list off what a fairly healthy diet would consist of, yet most of them were eating pretty horrible diets.
At this point I really wanted to make it clear to them that they had hired me to provide knowledge. But Knowledge without it's application is useless. I could give them some pretty amazing meal plans with carb-rotation diets to really help them peel off their last few pounds of bodyfat, but if they don't follow the diet, then what's the point.
This is what gets me frustrated!
Almost everyone you know.. knows how to eat healthy! But so many don't! So many people don't eat healthy because they don't see it change their health for the better.. immediately!
Yet all you doctors, lawyers, investment bankers all tell people that they need to stop smoking, get proper legal advice, or put away money for the future, because it pays off down the road.
The same thing goes for intelligent eating habits.
Don't keep reading new books on diets and food, don't keep hiring nutritionists to tell you what to eat (again!), and don't keep asking your doctor what to do to be healthier.
Just write out what you think will make you healthier and do it!
That's it.. that's all!
Almost any positive change will make you healthier. Start with just one or two, make them stick, and then introduce more changes. But whatever you do, don't try to do it all at once. That's why people stop eating sensibly because it seems so overwhelming when they do a full 180 degree diet makeover.
Just make small changes and stick to them. The rest will follow!
Yours in Health,
:)
Shane
I had already set out a few sheets of paper and a pen on the tables where everyone sat.
I introduced myself and asked a few people in the room what their occupations were. These were legal secretaries, lawyers, brokers, entrepreneurs, doctors, and a couple travel agents. So I had a room of pretty smart cookies here.
I joked that if they were all so smart, why did they need me to tell them how to eat to be healthier and change their bodies?
I got some laughs.. but then they all kept staring at me.. obviously because the still felt they needed my help. Well either that or they were thinking I was a smart-ass! ;)
So I asked them to all write down on one of the sheets of paper, what they thought a perfectly balanced meal plan would look like for just one day. It took about ten minutes, there were some little discussions here and there, but as people finished writing, they all seemed to have sort of puzzled, unsure expressions on their faces.
I continued and asked them to now take a second piece of paper, and to the best of their recollection, write out EXACTLY, what they had eaten the previous day. From the time they got up, to the time they went to bed.
It was as I expected...
The postured perfect day of food consisted of eggs (some bacon), cereals, fruit, milk, nuts, lean meats, vegetables, milk, and I even had a few people list "a protein shake".
The order of foods, and the combinations wasn't necessarily the best, but the content was great. It was mostly foods that you eat in their natural state, with but a few exceptions.
Then the laughter came...
Having some of the audience read out what they'd consumed on the previous day was met with snickers, and smiles across the room.
One gentleman proudly read out his list:
Breakfast
nothing
Lunch
nothing
Dinner
Fettucini Alfredo
4 Scotch drinks
1 piece of Tiramisu
Late Evening
1 bowl oreo ice cream
His was definitely the worst, but most of them weren't that far off. Missed meals, carbohydrate only diets, donuts and coffee for breakfast, it was quite funny.
Funny, that these "smart" professionals could all list off what a fairly healthy diet would consist of, yet most of them were eating pretty horrible diets.
At this point I really wanted to make it clear to them that they had hired me to provide knowledge. But Knowledge without it's application is useless. I could give them some pretty amazing meal plans with carb-rotation diets to really help them peel off their last few pounds of bodyfat, but if they don't follow the diet, then what's the point.
This is what gets me frustrated!
Almost everyone you know.. knows how to eat healthy! But so many don't! So many people don't eat healthy because they don't see it change their health for the better.. immediately!
Yet all you doctors, lawyers, investment bankers all tell people that they need to stop smoking, get proper legal advice, or put away money for the future, because it pays off down the road.
The same thing goes for intelligent eating habits.
Don't keep reading new books on diets and food, don't keep hiring nutritionists to tell you what to eat (again!), and don't keep asking your doctor what to do to be healthier.
Just write out what you think will make you healthier and do it!
That's it.. that's all!
Almost any positive change will make you healthier. Start with just one or two, make them stick, and then introduce more changes. But whatever you do, don't try to do it all at once. That's why people stop eating sensibly because it seems so overwhelming when they do a full 180 degree diet makeover.
Just make small changes and stick to them. The rest will follow!
Yours in Health,
:)
Shane
Friday, May 30, 2008
Moving from a Maintenance Diet to Fat Loss
Q: Hi Shane... Following our discussion 6 months ago in which you suggested I work on good eating habits and to try to make better bad food choices when I can't make a really good food choice, I've dropped probably about 10 lbs of fat, and gained pretty close to that in muscle weight as the scale hasn't budged, but I've dropped two pants sizes. Before my goal was just to drop all the extra weight I was carrying, and just get healthy. But as I've been progressing, my goals have changed, and now I'm interested in really getting leaner. A six-pack would be great!
The problem is that I can't seem to lose any more bodyfat. I'm training with weights 3 times per week for one hour, and I'm doing 3 cardio sessions per week of walking for 1 hour on the treadmill.
My diet is as follows:
Breakfast: 2 eggs, 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup milk, 1 fruit
Mid-morning: 1 fruit, handful walnuts, 1/2 cup Liberte organic yogurt
Lunch: spinach salad w/chicken, cherry tomatoes, onion, carrots
Mid-afternoon: 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1/2 cup blueberries
Dinner: 4 oz meat, loads of veggies, 1/2 cup brown rice or 2-3 oz potato/sweet potato
Evening: 1 cup plain popcorn, 1 glass milk, 1 cup grapes
I have tried cutting out the popcorn and grapes at night, but I didn't feel like it was helping me lose any more bodyfat.
What can I do?
Thanks!
Chris B.
A: Chris, your diet is great! And dropping two pants sizes, while maintaining scale weight is evidence that you're boosting your metabolism with strength training.
The reason you're not dropping any more weight despite your "sometimes" efforts at cutting back a bit more on carbs at night is because you're reached a new equilibrium where your body has matched it's energy expenditure with your energy intake.
So you have two options now. You can either cut back a lot more on your energy intake, which would result in further fat loss, but it would also cause you to lose some muscle mass as well. The drop in muscle mass would then help your body to reduce its energy demand to your new lowered energy intake.
So the better option is to use a carb-rotation. This is a modified version of what I do with my competitive athletes.
When you reduce your carbohydrate intake (keeping protein and fat unchanged), for a time your body will burn more fat. But after a short while it adjusts the metabolic rate to compensate for the drop in carbohydrate and overall energy. So a carb-rotation diet simply keeps your body's compensation mechanism off guard slightly by giving you carbohydrate and calorie boost every 3rd or 4th day to prevent a reduction in metabolic rate.
So here's how your menu above might look. I've listed the changes as to the base food plan you've been following:
Day 1 (no change)
Breakfast: 2 eggs, 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup milk, 1 fruit
Mid-morning: 1 fruit, handful walnuts, 1/2 cup Liberte organic yogurt
Lunch: spinach salad w/chicken, cherry tomatoes, onion, carrots
Mid-afternoon: 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1/2 cup blueberries
Dinner: 4 oz meat, loads of veggies, 1/2 cup brown rice or 2-3 oz potato/sweet potato
Evening: 1 cup plain popcorn, 1 glass milk, 1 cup grapes
Day 2 (change in evening only)
Breakfast: 2 eggs, 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup milk, 1 fruit
Mid-morning: 1 fruit, handful walnuts, 1/2 cup Liberte organic yogurt
Lunch: spinach salad w/chicken, cherry tomatoes, onion, carrots
Mid-afternoon: 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1/2 cup blueberries
Dinner: 4 oz meat, loads of veggies, 1/2 cup brown rice or 2-3 oz potato/sweet potato
Evening: glass milk
Day 3 (change in both dinner and evening)
Breakfast: 2 eggs, 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup milk, 1 fruit
Mid-morning: 1 fruit, handful walnuts, 1/2 cup Liberte organic yogurt
Lunch: spinach salad w/chicken, cherry tomatoes, onion, carrots
Mid-afternoon: 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1/2 cup blueberries
Dinner: 4 oz meat, loads of veggies ( yeah.. just meat and veggies)
Evening: glass milk
Day 4 (change in breakfast, mid-morning)
Breakfast: 2 eggs, 1 cup oats, 1/2 cup milk, 1 fruit
Mid-morning: 1 fruit, handful walnuts, 1/2 cup Liberte organic yogurt
Lunch: spinach salad w/chicken, cherry tomatoes, onion, carrots, 3 small red potatoes
Mid-afternoon: 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 2/3 cup blueberries
Dinner: 4 oz meat, loads of veggies, 1/2 cup brown rice or 2-3 oz potato/sweet potato
Evening: 1 cup plain popcorn, 1 glass milk, 1 cup grapes
Repeat...
So beginning with Day 1, where you follow your normal meal plan, you move to Day 2 and Day 3 where we remove successively more carbohydrate, and then on Day 4 add back all that was removed and then give you some extra to help boost your metabolic rate.
Now even if the average calorie load was to be exactly the same over the four days as the original meal plan, the work required to store the additional calories would create a deficit of some sort. So even at worst, you'll be ahead by staggering your caloric intake.
This is a fairly straight-forward example of rotating your carbohydrate intake. But it would be a good starting point for you Chris.
I would also suggest changing up 1 or 2 of your walks on the treadmill for some interval sessions. Originally when we first spoke, you had some pain in the arches of your feet, and hence my suggestion for easy cardio. But with that cleared up, moving into cardio intervals will help increase the number of calories you burn over steady state cardio.
Essentially it's the EPOC (Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption) that we're interested in raising. When you engage in very rigorous exercise you create a large oxygen deficit. The restoration process is costly from an energy standpoint, consequently with your goal of increased fat-loss, I strongly recommend it.
Write me back in a few months. I'd love to hear about your progress!!
:)
Shane
The problem is that I can't seem to lose any more bodyfat. I'm training with weights 3 times per week for one hour, and I'm doing 3 cardio sessions per week of walking for 1 hour on the treadmill.
My diet is as follows:
Breakfast: 2 eggs, 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup milk, 1 fruit
Mid-morning: 1 fruit, handful walnuts, 1/2 cup Liberte organic yogurt
Lunch: spinach salad w/chicken, cherry tomatoes, onion, carrots
Mid-afternoon: 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1/2 cup blueberries
Dinner: 4 oz meat, loads of veggies, 1/2 cup brown rice or 2-3 oz potato/sweet potato
Evening: 1 cup plain popcorn, 1 glass milk, 1 cup grapes
I have tried cutting out the popcorn and grapes at night, but I didn't feel like it was helping me lose any more bodyfat.
What can I do?
Thanks!
Chris B.
A: Chris, your diet is great! And dropping two pants sizes, while maintaining scale weight is evidence that you're boosting your metabolism with strength training.
The reason you're not dropping any more weight despite your "sometimes" efforts at cutting back a bit more on carbs at night is because you're reached a new equilibrium where your body has matched it's energy expenditure with your energy intake.
So you have two options now. You can either cut back a lot more on your energy intake, which would result in further fat loss, but it would also cause you to lose some muscle mass as well. The drop in muscle mass would then help your body to reduce its energy demand to your new lowered energy intake.
So the better option is to use a carb-rotation. This is a modified version of what I do with my competitive athletes.
When you reduce your carbohydrate intake (keeping protein and fat unchanged), for a time your body will burn more fat. But after a short while it adjusts the metabolic rate to compensate for the drop in carbohydrate and overall energy. So a carb-rotation diet simply keeps your body's compensation mechanism off guard slightly by giving you carbohydrate and calorie boost every 3rd or 4th day to prevent a reduction in metabolic rate.
So here's how your menu above might look. I've listed the changes as to the base food plan you've been following:
Day 1 (no change)
Breakfast: 2 eggs, 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup milk, 1 fruit
Mid-morning: 1 fruit, handful walnuts, 1/2 cup Liberte organic yogurt
Lunch: spinach salad w/chicken, cherry tomatoes, onion, carrots
Mid-afternoon: 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1/2 cup blueberries
Dinner: 4 oz meat, loads of veggies, 1/2 cup brown rice or 2-3 oz potato/sweet potato
Evening: 1 cup plain popcorn, 1 glass milk, 1 cup grapes
Day 2 (change in evening only)
Breakfast: 2 eggs, 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup milk, 1 fruit
Mid-morning: 1 fruit, handful walnuts, 1/2 cup Liberte organic yogurt
Lunch: spinach salad w/chicken, cherry tomatoes, onion, carrots
Mid-afternoon: 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1/2 cup blueberries
Dinner: 4 oz meat, loads of veggies, 1/2 cup brown rice or 2-3 oz potato/sweet potato
Evening: glass milk
Day 3 (change in both dinner and evening)
Breakfast: 2 eggs, 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup milk, 1 fruit
Mid-morning: 1 fruit, handful walnuts, 1/2 cup Liberte organic yogurt
Lunch: spinach salad w/chicken, cherry tomatoes, onion, carrots
Mid-afternoon: 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1/2 cup blueberries
Dinner: 4 oz meat, loads of veggies ( yeah.. just meat and veggies)
Evening: glass milk
Day 4 (change in breakfast, mid-morning)
Breakfast: 2 eggs, 1 cup oats, 1/2 cup milk, 1 fruit
Mid-morning: 1 fruit, handful walnuts, 1/2 cup Liberte organic yogurt
Lunch: spinach salad w/chicken, cherry tomatoes, onion, carrots, 3 small red potatoes
Mid-afternoon: 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 2/3 cup blueberries
Dinner: 4 oz meat, loads of veggies, 1/2 cup brown rice or 2-3 oz potato/sweet potato
Evening: 1 cup plain popcorn, 1 glass milk, 1 cup grapes
Repeat...
So beginning with Day 1, where you follow your normal meal plan, you move to Day 2 and Day 3 where we remove successively more carbohydrate, and then on Day 4 add back all that was removed and then give you some extra to help boost your metabolic rate.
Now even if the average calorie load was to be exactly the same over the four days as the original meal plan, the work required to store the additional calories would create a deficit of some sort. So even at worst, you'll be ahead by staggering your caloric intake.
This is a fairly straight-forward example of rotating your carbohydrate intake. But it would be a good starting point for you Chris.
I would also suggest changing up 1 or 2 of your walks on the treadmill for some interval sessions. Originally when we first spoke, you had some pain in the arches of your feet, and hence my suggestion for easy cardio. But with that cleared up, moving into cardio intervals will help increase the number of calories you burn over steady state cardio.
Essentially it's the EPOC (Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption) that we're interested in raising. When you engage in very rigorous exercise you create a large oxygen deficit. The restoration process is costly from an energy standpoint, consequently with your goal of increased fat-loss, I strongly recommend it.
Write me back in a few months. I'd love to hear about your progress!!
:)
Shane
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS)
I just got an email from yet another client who is experiencing DOMS, and is a little confused as to why he is so sore, when he didn't feel like he was really working that hard.
Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness is the type of muscle soreness that sets in usually 24-36 hours after your training session, and it can last as long as 7 or 8 days depending on the severity.
Many trainees as they progress their workouts associate DOMS with workouts in which they are really pushing themselves to the limits. In these cases the DOMS occurs because they have passed a certain threshold for work capacity or muscle tension that has caused the DOMS. They have basically given a stimulus to the muscle that it isn't used to.
In my clients case today, he was surprised because he had felt DOMS on a number of occasions previously after some pretty tough leg training sessions that I put him through. However in this case, he didn't feel like he had worked that hard that he would be feeling so sore.
What led to the DOMS in this case was that although he was only lifting about 80% of the weight lifted in the previous few workouts, he had missed about ten days of training, which reduces the threshold at which DOMS is achieved.
So even though it felt a little easier than the previous workout, relatively to his muscles there was a greater stress.
DOMS is not something to be overly concerned with unless it interferes with your day to day activities. In most cases recovery is spontaneous, but ice, soft tissue work, sufficient calories, and lots of sleep can help speed the recovery.
Many people believe that they will not progress with their training unless they feel DOMS after their workouts. While anecdotally this has been reported, there is very little research to back up this theory. Those who train hard enough to feel DOMS, may progress in their training despite the DOMS, not because of it. If you are a drug free athlete, and you are trying to build muscle, if you can only train a bodypart once every seven or eight days because of DOMS, you will not likely progress as quickly as you could with a higher training frequency.
There's always more to write, but I'll leave it here for now.
Hope this clears up any confusion surrounding DOMS!
:)
Shane
"Train to Stimulate... Not Annihilate" -- Lee Haney - 7 Time Mr. Olympia
Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness is the type of muscle soreness that sets in usually 24-36 hours after your training session, and it can last as long as 7 or 8 days depending on the severity.
Many trainees as they progress their workouts associate DOMS with workouts in which they are really pushing themselves to the limits. In these cases the DOMS occurs because they have passed a certain threshold for work capacity or muscle tension that has caused the DOMS. They have basically given a stimulus to the muscle that it isn't used to.
In my clients case today, he was surprised because he had felt DOMS on a number of occasions previously after some pretty tough leg training sessions that I put him through. However in this case, he didn't feel like he had worked that hard that he would be feeling so sore.
What led to the DOMS in this case was that although he was only lifting about 80% of the weight lifted in the previous few workouts, he had missed about ten days of training, which reduces the threshold at which DOMS is achieved.
So even though it felt a little easier than the previous workout, relatively to his muscles there was a greater stress.
DOMS is not something to be overly concerned with unless it interferes with your day to day activities. In most cases recovery is spontaneous, but ice, soft tissue work, sufficient calories, and lots of sleep can help speed the recovery.
Many people believe that they will not progress with their training unless they feel DOMS after their workouts. While anecdotally this has been reported, there is very little research to back up this theory. Those who train hard enough to feel DOMS, may progress in their training despite the DOMS, not because of it. If you are a drug free athlete, and you are trying to build muscle, if you can only train a bodypart once every seven or eight days because of DOMS, you will not likely progress as quickly as you could with a higher training frequency.
There's always more to write, but I'll leave it here for now.
Hope this clears up any confusion surrounding DOMS!
:)
Shane
"Train to Stimulate... Not Annihilate" -- Lee Haney - 7 Time Mr. Olympia
Friday, May 23, 2008
What To Do If you only have 5 minutes...
It's Friday afternoon, and I was supposed to leave at 5:30pm, but not having had time to train as much this week as I'd hoped and I have to be at home by 6:30pm... I realize opening my blog and putting this up here is taking extra time, but at 5:30pm I decided I couldn't leave without doing a short workout. In only 5 minutes I wouldn't have time to warm up to heavier weights on bench press and I had decided that I wanted to do a blast for my upper body. So here's what I did.
3 sets of these two exerices:
Pushups 30
Chin-ups 10
I know it's not much, but I did it in just about 3 minutes.. which is all I could really afford to do time-wise.
So now I'm leaving.. Chest/Back/Arms.. all nice and happy!
It's not a big workout.. but i made the decision NOT to do nothing!
Hope you have a great weekend!
:)
Shane
3 sets of these two exerices:
Pushups 30
Chin-ups 10
I know it's not much, but I did it in just about 3 minutes.. which is all I could really afford to do time-wise.
So now I'm leaving.. Chest/Back/Arms.. all nice and happy!
It's not a big workout.. but i made the decision NOT to do nothing!
Hope you have a great weekend!
:)
Shane
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
How To Get a Bigger Bench - Part II
In part 1 of How to Get a Bigger Bench we discussed the required bench press technique. As mentioned, without correct technique, none of the tools for increasing your bench press strength are going to help because as soon as the weight gets heavy you're going to lose your technique and fail the lift.
So presuming you've got the technique the next thing to do is figure out where you're weak. To do this, work up slowly towards a 1RM.
Depending on how strong you are your warm-up set-up may be a little longer or shorter on sets but this will give you a sample to follow.
Let's say the best you've done lately is a set of 5 reps with 250. So your warm-up will look like this:
8x45, 5x135, 3x185, 2x225, 1x245.
Then you will attempt 1x265, 1x275, 1x285 and possibly 1x295.
Wherever you fail, your previous best is your 1RM to work from.
With a new 1RM of lets say 285, now we're going to drop back down to 250 and work on your sets of 5.
Do 5 reps, and then continue to attempt sets of 5 reps until you fail.
Where do you fail?
Do you fail to get the bar past the sticking point? Do you manage to get past the sticking point but fail to get the lockout? Or do you generally just find it tough all the way through without either point being more difficult than the other.
If you just generally find it tough, in other words both the sticking point and the lockout are tough for you, then you'll need to work on both areas. Otherwise if you only have one weakness, then you'll focus on that area mostly.
Sticking Point Solutions:
Due to the joint angle geometry, the point at which you have the least mechanical leverage during the lift is at what is called the sticking point. So clearly if you're getting stuck at the sticking point, getting stronger is going to help, but if it's where you fail, and you can't lift any heavier to get stronger, then how do you train to beat the sticking point?
Momentum = Mass x Velocity
So as you may recall from Physics 101, an object in motion tends to stay in motion. What this means to us is that if you put an object into motion (say a bar moving from the chest towards the sticking point), to a certain degree it will continue to move upward so long as the forces acting upon it allow it to continue.
Gravity is working against you, and your muscles are working for you. Since at the very bottom of the lift, just off the chest, your joint leverage is stronger than at the sticking point, it is at the bottom where you can potentially apply more force to the bar than at the sticking point.
Again from Physics 101, Force = Mass x acceleration.
So if you can accelerate the bar from the chest towards the sticking point, while your joint leverage is strong, the bar will have a greater velocity when it reaches the sticking point. If the bar has a greater velocity at the sticking point, it will have more momentum and a better point of making it past the sticking point. Essentially what we're looking at is combining our maximum force at the lower leverage sticking point along with the momentum gained from accelerating the bar from your chest to the sticking point. This combination helps you push "through" the sticking point that you previously failed at.
To help you learn how to accelerate the bar, the use of accommodating resistance is most helpful. Either chains or bands can be used to help you practice accelerating the weight.
Lockout Solutions:
If your main problem during bench press is the lockout, essentially you need to work on handling heavy loads in the top portion of the movement.
Board Presses and Rack Lockouts are the best tools for this purpose. Rack lockouts allow you to practice maximum poundage elbow extension over a very small range of motion. Board presses also allow for heavier elbow extension, but they also have the added advantage over rack lockouts in that they allow the weight to come down and transfer to your body, which you then transfer back into your push against the bar.
Triceps Strength:
If you usually finish your workout with 1-arm overhead triceps extensions, or kickbacks.. STOP!
These exercises are a waste of time if you're looking to get stronger.
In my opinion the top triceps exercises are, in no particular order:
1. Tate Triceps Press (flat to high incline)
2. Decline Close Grip Bench Press
3. Lying dumbbell/barbell triceps extensions
4. Heavy tricep pressdowns (maybe!)
Spend more time finishing your pressing workouts with these exercises and you'll notice more benefit on your bench!
Back Strength:
Everybody in the gym does pulldowns. Lots of variations of them exist, and while I think they're a good mass builder and they're good for beginners to get their shoulder joints accustomed to loading, in terms of strength carryover to bench press, they suck! Wide pull-ups, chins, and other variations are far better for helping develop strength that will carry over to the bench. But if your number one goal is a bigger bench, then keep your chinning and pull-up work to a minimum, and put most of your efforts into developing your strength with Rows. Bent-over barbell rows are probably the best, but bent-over dumbbell rows and T-Bar rows are good too. Essentially you want to load the muscles while they're in the same anatomical position as when on the bench. Rows are perfect for this.
For balance, be sure do some High Rows as well where the upper arm is at or above 90 degrees to the body. This will help avoid rhomboid dominance and ensuing problems.
To recap then, first figure out where your weakness is. A test of your 1RM is always a good idea so you have an idea of what kind of weights you should be using. Then a few good sets of a relatively heavy weight (5RM or a little less) and you should have a good idea of where you fail.
Work the sticking point by developing explosive strength and accelerate the bar off the chest towards the sticking point. Accommodating resistance with chains or bands can be used to help learn how to push fast!
Work the lockout with board presses and rack lockouts. Stay way from pansy triceps exercises and stick to what works, and finally do tons of rows!
In future articles I will discuss full set-up for chains and bands with pictures and video so you'll have a complete understanding of exactly how to set it all up!
:)
Shane
Everybody wanna be a bodybuilder, but ain't nobody wanna lift no heavy ass weights!
- Ronny Coleman -
To recap, the first thing is to find out
So presuming you've got the technique the next thing to do is figure out where you're weak. To do this, work up slowly towards a 1RM.
Depending on how strong you are your warm-up set-up may be a little longer or shorter on sets but this will give you a sample to follow.
Let's say the best you've done lately is a set of 5 reps with 250. So your warm-up will look like this:
8x45, 5x135, 3x185, 2x225, 1x245.
Then you will attempt 1x265, 1x275, 1x285 and possibly 1x295.
Wherever you fail, your previous best is your 1RM to work from.
With a new 1RM of lets say 285, now we're going to drop back down to 250 and work on your sets of 5.
Do 5 reps, and then continue to attempt sets of 5 reps until you fail.
Where do you fail?
Do you fail to get the bar past the sticking point? Do you manage to get past the sticking point but fail to get the lockout? Or do you generally just find it tough all the way through without either point being more difficult than the other.
If you just generally find it tough, in other words both the sticking point and the lockout are tough for you, then you'll need to work on both areas. Otherwise if you only have one weakness, then you'll focus on that area mostly.
Sticking Point Solutions:
Due to the joint angle geometry, the point at which you have the least mechanical leverage during the lift is at what is called the sticking point. So clearly if you're getting stuck at the sticking point, getting stronger is going to help, but if it's where you fail, and you can't lift any heavier to get stronger, then how do you train to beat the sticking point?
Momentum = Mass x Velocity
So as you may recall from Physics 101, an object in motion tends to stay in motion. What this means to us is that if you put an object into motion (say a bar moving from the chest towards the sticking point), to a certain degree it will continue to move upward so long as the forces acting upon it allow it to continue.
Gravity is working against you, and your muscles are working for you. Since at the very bottom of the lift, just off the chest, your joint leverage is stronger than at the sticking point, it is at the bottom where you can potentially apply more force to the bar than at the sticking point.
Again from Physics 101, Force = Mass x acceleration.
So if you can accelerate the bar from the chest towards the sticking point, while your joint leverage is strong, the bar will have a greater velocity when it reaches the sticking point. If the bar has a greater velocity at the sticking point, it will have more momentum and a better point of making it past the sticking point. Essentially what we're looking at is combining our maximum force at the lower leverage sticking point along with the momentum gained from accelerating the bar from your chest to the sticking point. This combination helps you push "through" the sticking point that you previously failed at.
To help you learn how to accelerate the bar, the use of accommodating resistance is most helpful. Either chains or bands can be used to help you practice accelerating the weight.
Lockout Solutions:
If your main problem during bench press is the lockout, essentially you need to work on handling heavy loads in the top portion of the movement.
Board Presses and Rack Lockouts are the best tools for this purpose. Rack lockouts allow you to practice maximum poundage elbow extension over a very small range of motion. Board presses also allow for heavier elbow extension, but they also have the added advantage over rack lockouts in that they allow the weight to come down and transfer to your body, which you then transfer back into your push against the bar.
Triceps Strength:
If you usually finish your workout with 1-arm overhead triceps extensions, or kickbacks.. STOP!
These exercises are a waste of time if you're looking to get stronger.
In my opinion the top triceps exercises are, in no particular order:
1. Tate Triceps Press (flat to high incline)
2. Decline Close Grip Bench Press
3. Lying dumbbell/barbell triceps extensions
4. Heavy tricep pressdowns (maybe!)
Spend more time finishing your pressing workouts with these exercises and you'll notice more benefit on your bench!
Back Strength:
Everybody in the gym does pulldowns. Lots of variations of them exist, and while I think they're a good mass builder and they're good for beginners to get their shoulder joints accustomed to loading, in terms of strength carryover to bench press, they suck! Wide pull-ups, chins, and other variations are far better for helping develop strength that will carry over to the bench. But if your number one goal is a bigger bench, then keep your chinning and pull-up work to a minimum, and put most of your efforts into developing your strength with Rows. Bent-over barbell rows are probably the best, but bent-over dumbbell rows and T-Bar rows are good too. Essentially you want to load the muscles while they're in the same anatomical position as when on the bench. Rows are perfect for this.
For balance, be sure do some High Rows as well where the upper arm is at or above 90 degrees to the body. This will help avoid rhomboid dominance and ensuing problems.
To recap then, first figure out where your weakness is. A test of your 1RM is always a good idea so you have an idea of what kind of weights you should be using. Then a few good sets of a relatively heavy weight (5RM or a little less) and you should have a good idea of where you fail.
Work the sticking point by developing explosive strength and accelerate the bar off the chest towards the sticking point. Accommodating resistance with chains or bands can be used to help learn how to push fast!
Work the lockout with board presses and rack lockouts. Stay way from pansy triceps exercises and stick to what works, and finally do tons of rows!
In future articles I will discuss full set-up for chains and bands with pictures and video so you'll have a complete understanding of exactly how to set it all up!
:)
Shane
Everybody wanna be a bodybuilder, but ain't nobody wanna lift no heavy ass weights!
- Ronny Coleman -
To recap, the first thing is to find out
What's Your Excuse??
I got an email this morning from a colleague whom I have been a judge with for the Ontario Physique Association for more than ten years. The email was in regards to another colleague of ours, Brent Felstead, who has sat beside both of us as a judge, but unlike us, Brent is also a competitive bodybuilder.
What's so special about being a competitive bodybuilder? Well apart from the massive discipline required to maintain a strict diet, there are hours upon hours of grueling training routines. But then that's the easy part for Brent. The hard part for Brent is that he's does all this while suffering from Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
Read more about Brent's story here... http://www.ottawasun.com/Sports/OtherSports/2008/05/13/pf-5547021.html
So in closing, I ask myself, "What's your excuse?", if I don't feel like training as hard today or tomorrow.
I think we can all ask ourselves that question in light of the amazing accomplishments of people like Brent!
Chomp on that one for a bit!
:)
Shane
What's so special about being a competitive bodybuilder? Well apart from the massive discipline required to maintain a strict diet, there are hours upon hours of grueling training routines. But then that's the easy part for Brent. The hard part for Brent is that he's does all this while suffering from Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
Read more about Brent's story here... http://www.ottawasun.com/Sports/OtherSports/2008/05/13/pf-5547021.html
So in closing, I ask myself, "What's your excuse?", if I don't feel like training as hard today or tomorrow.
I think we can all ask ourselves that question in light of the amazing accomplishments of people like Brent!
Chomp on that one for a bit!
:)
Shane
Monday, May 12, 2008
How To Get A Bigger Bench! - Part I
I've been asked frequently about how to get a bigger bench press. A guy by the name of Steve, a member at Trueform (where I train many of my clients) in particular asked me why in four years he's never been able to do more than 6 reps at 225 lbs. To answer a question like this and really give an answer that will help him increase his bench required more information. I asked Steve what his warm-up sets and sets x reps x weight looked like for his workout. I also asked him how long he'd been following his current routine and how many times a week he trains bench.
His answers were sort of what I expected. A good guy, strong, but just not someone who's had very much guidance or direction. He said his bench workout starts off like this:
Bench Press 12 x 135, 8x185, 1x6x225, 1x5x225, 1x4-5x225 He said no matter how hard he tries, he just doesn't seem to get past 6 reps and then his reps drop off on subsequent sets. He says the bar goes up off his chest but always gets stuck about 4-6 inches off his chest.
There's other dumbbell work, presses, flyes, cables, and pec deck, which is sometimes replaced with dips. Steve made it clear that he wanted to work the muscle from all angles to make sure all opportunities for increased strength were used.
I went over briefly with Steve in the gym some of what I'm going to say here, but for the record Steve, there's more info here than we talked about so give this a good read.
The first thing you should understand about the bench press is that it is a highly technique dependent exercise. I would suggest that you start off by practicing technique with nothing more than an EMPTY bar. EMPTY!!
With that in mind, here's the technique that I suggest:
1. Lie on the bench and position yourself so that your chin or mouth is directly beneath the bar.
2. Alternate between a narrow (17"), medium (22"), and a wide grip (27") from set to set.
3. Slide your heels towards your butt on the floor until they come up off the ground a little. Now dig them into the ground hard. Keep them firmly planted throughout the whole set. This will take practice. You will likely find that your heels pop up unless you actively think about it. So keep that thought in your mind throughout your set.
4. Tighten your back muscles and pull your shoulder blades towards your butt so that the distance between your butt and your shoulders along the bench is as short as possible.
5. Squeeze your shoulder blades as tightly together. Along with pulling your shoulders towards your butt, try to visualize the shoulder blades pulling along a V shape from where they would normally rest on the bench down towards the centre of the base of your spine.
6. Squeeze the bar tightly with a closed thumb grip and lift the bar up and straight out to a position as vertical as possible above the bottom of your chest.
7. Continue to squeeze the bar tightly, and bring the bar down under control to just below your chest, but not past the bottom of your ribcage. Where you bring the bar down to depends on how wide your grip on the bar is. The narrower your grip, the lower you bring the bar. So if your grip is fairly wide, the bar won't come down as low on your ribcage. It may touch somewhere around the nipple line. Rarely during bench press training will we bring the bar down to touch the chest at a point higher than the nipple line.
8. Continue to squeeze your shoulder blades tightly together and maintaining the pull of the shoulders towards your butt along the bench, drive the bar up to a point as vertically as possible until the elbows lock out.
That's your bench press technique Steve.
Unless you've got your technique down perfectly, none of the things you can do to increase your bench matter at all. So work on this, and I'll post a part II where I'll discuss what you can do to get your bench up.
REMEMBER: With Bench Press.. you focus more on staying tight than you do on the push. So until you've got it perfect.. forget weight and focus on staying tight!!!
His answers were sort of what I expected. A good guy, strong, but just not someone who's had very much guidance or direction. He said his bench workout starts off like this:
Bench Press 12 x 135, 8x185, 1x6x225, 1x5x225, 1x4-5x225 He said no matter how hard he tries, he just doesn't seem to get past 6 reps and then his reps drop off on subsequent sets. He says the bar goes up off his chest but always gets stuck about 4-6 inches off his chest.
There's other dumbbell work, presses, flyes, cables, and pec deck, which is sometimes replaced with dips. Steve made it clear that he wanted to work the muscle from all angles to make sure all opportunities for increased strength were used.
I went over briefly with Steve in the gym some of what I'm going to say here, but for the record Steve, there's more info here than we talked about so give this a good read.
The first thing you should understand about the bench press is that it is a highly technique dependent exercise. I would suggest that you start off by practicing technique with nothing more than an EMPTY bar. EMPTY!!
With that in mind, here's the technique that I suggest:
1. Lie on the bench and position yourself so that your chin or mouth is directly beneath the bar.
2. Alternate between a narrow (17"), medium (22"), and a wide grip (27") from set to set.
3. Slide your heels towards your butt on the floor until they come up off the ground a little. Now dig them into the ground hard. Keep them firmly planted throughout the whole set. This will take practice. You will likely find that your heels pop up unless you actively think about it. So keep that thought in your mind throughout your set.
4. Tighten your back muscles and pull your shoulder blades towards your butt so that the distance between your butt and your shoulders along the bench is as short as possible.
5. Squeeze your shoulder blades as tightly together. Along with pulling your shoulders towards your butt, try to visualize the shoulder blades pulling along a V shape from where they would normally rest on the bench down towards the centre of the base of your spine.
6. Squeeze the bar tightly with a closed thumb grip and lift the bar up and straight out to a position as vertical as possible above the bottom of your chest.
7. Continue to squeeze the bar tightly, and bring the bar down under control to just below your chest, but not past the bottom of your ribcage. Where you bring the bar down to depends on how wide your grip on the bar is. The narrower your grip, the lower you bring the bar. So if your grip is fairly wide, the bar won't come down as low on your ribcage. It may touch somewhere around the nipple line. Rarely during bench press training will we bring the bar down to touch the chest at a point higher than the nipple line.
8. Continue to squeeze your shoulder blades tightly together and maintaining the pull of the shoulders towards your butt along the bench, drive the bar up to a point as vertically as possible until the elbows lock out.
That's your bench press technique Steve.
Unless you've got your technique down perfectly, none of the things you can do to increase your bench matter at all. So work on this, and I'll post a part II where I'll discuss what you can do to get your bench up.
REMEMBER: With Bench Press.. you focus more on staying tight than you do on the push. So until you've got it perfect.. forget weight and focus on staying tight!!!
Friday, May 9, 2008
To Squat Deep or Not to Squat Deep
I get this question a lot. People always notice that I squat deep and all my clients squat deep, and the subject always comes up about the safety of deep squats.
There are many factors that contribute to knee health, and certainly if you can't squat deeply without pain, then you shouldn't (immediately) do it. The causes of knee pain need to first be identified and addressed. Things such as muscle length-tension relationships with regards to the lateral quad and rectus femoris muscle. Often when either of these two muscles is too tight, there can be some associated knee pain. Another cause of knee pain is poor patella (kneecap) tracking, which is often caused by vastus medialis weakness.
Further, the quality of all the soft tissues of all the muscles that act upon the knee during squats should be assessed. If movement is restricted in the hamstrings or adductor muscles, or if the glutes aren't firing properly, these are all issues that can cause knee pain.
So clearly, just because you can't squat deeply without pain doesn't mean you shouldn't do it, but rather that you have some other problems that need to be solved first.
With that in mind, let's look at whether a deep squat is actually dangerous or not in an otherwise healthy pain-free knee.
First, when you squat to a height above parallel hamstring involvement is limited. Without sufficient hamstring involvement, the primary anterior translation restraint becomes the ACL or Anterior Cruciate Ligament. What this means is that when your squat depth ends while the hips are still higher than the knees, as the quadriceps pull strongly to deccelerate you and then push you back up, the ACL bears significant stress.
In contrast, when you squat to below parallel, so long as you make an effort to avoid forward knee travel past a vertical line (approximately) above the toes, the hamstrings come to the end of their functional range of motion, and the pull tightly on the back of the tibia, thus becoming the primary source of restraint to tibial anterior translation. This relieves the ACL of such associated shear stress.
There is a mechanical truth that the greater depth you squat to the higher the compressive forces on the back of the kneecap, and this is often taken out of context in locker room discussion. Firstly, there are hundreds of thousands of people around the world at any given point who are deep squatting 600-700 lbs, and their kneecaps are doing just fine. Folks who have premature deterioration of the posterior patellar articular surfaces would know early on that squatting deep was not good for them. But this group of pe0ple is small compared to the general population.
The number of people I see at the gym who are squatting above parallel with far heavier weights that are quite risky at best to their low backs as well as to their knees would be much better off at the very least halving the weight they lift and working on performing a correct deep squat which involves the hamstrings, glutes, adductors, and quads as opposed to their current high-risk quad squatting.
All you have to do is see for yourself. The people who complain the most about knee pain are above parallel squatters. Those who squat full depth rarely have knee pain because all of the muscles that act upon the knee joint are being used together to compress and support the knee joint properly.
Finally, if you are someone who has trouble squatting deep and you want to learn how, there is a method to learn the movement. You should speak to a qualified trainer who knows how to teach squatting correctly.
Bottoms Down!
There are many factors that contribute to knee health, and certainly if you can't squat deeply without pain, then you shouldn't (immediately) do it. The causes of knee pain need to first be identified and addressed. Things such as muscle length-tension relationships with regards to the lateral quad and rectus femoris muscle. Often when either of these two muscles is too tight, there can be some associated knee pain. Another cause of knee pain is poor patella (kneecap) tracking, which is often caused by vastus medialis weakness.
Further, the quality of all the soft tissues of all the muscles that act upon the knee during squats should be assessed. If movement is restricted in the hamstrings or adductor muscles, or if the glutes aren't firing properly, these are all issues that can cause knee pain.
So clearly, just because you can't squat deeply without pain doesn't mean you shouldn't do it, but rather that you have some other problems that need to be solved first.
With that in mind, let's look at whether a deep squat is actually dangerous or not in an otherwise healthy pain-free knee.
First, when you squat to a height above parallel hamstring involvement is limited. Without sufficient hamstring involvement, the primary anterior translation restraint becomes the ACL or Anterior Cruciate Ligament. What this means is that when your squat depth ends while the hips are still higher than the knees, as the quadriceps pull strongly to deccelerate you and then push you back up, the ACL bears significant stress.
In contrast, when you squat to below parallel, so long as you make an effort to avoid forward knee travel past a vertical line (approximately) above the toes, the hamstrings come to the end of their functional range of motion, and the pull tightly on the back of the tibia, thus becoming the primary source of restraint to tibial anterior translation. This relieves the ACL of such associated shear stress.
There is a mechanical truth that the greater depth you squat to the higher the compressive forces on the back of the kneecap, and this is often taken out of context in locker room discussion. Firstly, there are hundreds of thousands of people around the world at any given point who are deep squatting 600-700 lbs, and their kneecaps are doing just fine. Folks who have premature deterioration of the posterior patellar articular surfaces would know early on that squatting deep was not good for them. But this group of pe0ple is small compared to the general population.
The number of people I see at the gym who are squatting above parallel with far heavier weights that are quite risky at best to their low backs as well as to their knees would be much better off at the very least halving the weight they lift and working on performing a correct deep squat which involves the hamstrings, glutes, adductors, and quads as opposed to their current high-risk quad squatting.
All you have to do is see for yourself. The people who complain the most about knee pain are above parallel squatters. Those who squat full depth rarely have knee pain because all of the muscles that act upon the knee joint are being used together to compress and support the knee joint properly.
Finally, if you are someone who has trouble squatting deep and you want to learn how, there is a method to learn the movement. You should speak to a qualified trainer who knows how to teach squatting correctly.
Bottoms Down!
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
fat loss for general joe..
I was in the gym last week with a client when a regular came up and asked me what kind of diet and training he needed to do to get ripped for his upcoming vacation. He had 4 weeks before his vacation.
This guy was about 5'8" and weighed about 150 lbs but had a bit of a gut.. small.. not really noticeable in a T-shirt.. but when he pulled up the shirt you could see the little belly he wanted to get rid of. His words were "get ripped". So I inquired a bit more as to what he meant by "get ripped". His answer was so that he would have defined abdominal muscles and separation between his biceps, triceps, and shoulders and in the muscles of his upper back and legs. He said he wanted to get really lean.. so all his muscles would be visible. He also said he was willing to do whatever kind of training and diet it would take.
The answer I gave him was that it wasn't going to happen. Not in 4 weeks. Not even in 4 months. I had to go back to my client, but not wanting to leave him totally dismayed.. I told him to check out my full answer to his question here on my blog.
So the full answer goes something like this:
We read the magazines and see these guys in before and after pics who were chubby and then got ripped in sometimes as little as 4-6 weeks. We think.. hell if they can do it why not me? In some cases, like the guy at the gym, he didn't even have that much bodyfat to lose to get ripped.. maybe 8-10 lbs maximum. There would be about 4 pounds locally from his abs and love handles area and the other 4 lbs from the rest of his body.
So why can't he do it.. but the guys in the magazine can? There's a number of reasons.. but the main reason in this guy's case is that at his height of 5'8" and only weighing 150 lbs.. he doesn't carry enough lean body mass to support a fast enough metabolism to "get ripped". Sure he could starve himself and finally once he loses about 20 lbs of body "weight" .. he would look ripped.. but.. ripped as in.. no fat... and no muscle.. just bones!
Of course this is not what he was looking for.
Guys.. if you're 5'8" and less than 180 lbs don't even think about trying to get ripped. Of course there's always exceptions, but I'd seen this guy at the gym for a while and he wasn't one of them. Add or subtract ten pounds for every inch taller or shorter and if you're not around these numbers then first work on building muscle. Once you've put on some more lean body mass..then you can think about getting ripped.
I'm 6'2" and when I start dieting for a photo shoot or some publicity work I'll usually be around 195 lbs and to be honest.. I have to work extra hard and use lots of special dieting techniques to get ripped because even I don't have enough muscle to really get ripped easily.
So if you aren't in the right range.. work on building some muscle... and then come talk to me!
If not, any old diet where you burn off more calories than you consume will help you shed a few pounds.. but you'll likely lose as much muscle as fat!
Here's to building slabs of beef!
:)
Shane
This guy was about 5'8" and weighed about 150 lbs but had a bit of a gut.. small.. not really noticeable in a T-shirt.. but when he pulled up the shirt you could see the little belly he wanted to get rid of. His words were "get ripped". So I inquired a bit more as to what he meant by "get ripped". His answer was so that he would have defined abdominal muscles and separation between his biceps, triceps, and shoulders and in the muscles of his upper back and legs. He said he wanted to get really lean.. so all his muscles would be visible. He also said he was willing to do whatever kind of training and diet it would take.
The answer I gave him was that it wasn't going to happen. Not in 4 weeks. Not even in 4 months. I had to go back to my client, but not wanting to leave him totally dismayed.. I told him to check out my full answer to his question here on my blog.
So the full answer goes something like this:
We read the magazines and see these guys in before and after pics who were chubby and then got ripped in sometimes as little as 4-6 weeks. We think.. hell if they can do it why not me? In some cases, like the guy at the gym, he didn't even have that much bodyfat to lose to get ripped.. maybe 8-10 lbs maximum. There would be about 4 pounds locally from his abs and love handles area and the other 4 lbs from the rest of his body.
So why can't he do it.. but the guys in the magazine can? There's a number of reasons.. but the main reason in this guy's case is that at his height of 5'8" and only weighing 150 lbs.. he doesn't carry enough lean body mass to support a fast enough metabolism to "get ripped". Sure he could starve himself and finally once he loses about 20 lbs of body "weight" .. he would look ripped.. but.. ripped as in.. no fat... and no muscle.. just bones!
Of course this is not what he was looking for.
Guys.. if you're 5'8" and less than 180 lbs don't even think about trying to get ripped. Of course there's always exceptions, but I'd seen this guy at the gym for a while and he wasn't one of them. Add or subtract ten pounds for every inch taller or shorter and if you're not around these numbers then first work on building muscle. Once you've put on some more lean body mass..then you can think about getting ripped.
I'm 6'2" and when I start dieting for a photo shoot or some publicity work I'll usually be around 195 lbs and to be honest.. I have to work extra hard and use lots of special dieting techniques to get ripped because even I don't have enough muscle to really get ripped easily.
So if you aren't in the right range.. work on building some muscle... and then come talk to me!
If not, any old diet where you burn off more calories than you consume will help you shed a few pounds.. but you'll likely lose as much muscle as fat!
Here's to building slabs of beef!
:)
Shane
Thursday, August 16, 2007
To box squat or not to box squat?
I've been a member at the gym for about six months and I've noticed that you always have your clients do box squats but almost everyone else does regular squats without the box. Is there something special about the box?
Thanks.
Dave
Thanks.
Dave
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