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Hey Kids!

This is my first Blog…and the boys have been on my case about getting something on here!

So I was doing some reading and came across this amazing piece of reading from strength GOD Charles Poliquin!!! Enjoy…

Selecting the Best “Bang for your Buck” Exercises

by Charles Poliquin

An exercise is only as good as the time it takes you to adapt to it. Provided you use enough weight for enough time, all exercises can build muscle – it’s just that some exercises are better at it than others.

This phenomenon has to do with what German strength physiologists call the scale of motor unit recruitment. For example, cam exercises for a given number of reps recruit less motor units than pulley exercises, and pulley exercises recruit less motor units than dumbbell exercises. The more you stick to what we humans were designed for – lifting rocks, carrying carcasses and generally just fighting against gravity – then the better off you are. What that means is using free weights over machines.

Some coaches argue that every exercise should be done standing if possible, but that would not be a wise practice. If you look at research on motor unit recruitment, the fewer muscles you involve in other parts of the body, the better. For example, there’s more motor unit recruitment during the seated incline curl and the Scott curl than during the standing curl. When you stand and curl, your whole posture changes so you don’t fall. When you’re seated doing curls, you can send all your neural drive to those motor units and get better recruitment.

Electromyography (EMG) studies at York University in Toronto showed that the more you can isolate the exercise with a free weight (in a single-joint movement), the more motor units are recruited. It’s true that if you measure motor unit recruitment in the quadriceps on a leg extension versus a squat for a given number of reps, you’ll always get more motor unit recruitment in the squat. But when we’re talking about single-joint exercises, the more you can isolate your neural drive for the targeted muscle, the better recruitment you’ll get.

The Seven Levels of Muscle Activation
One of the keys in strength training is choosing the right exercise – what I refer to as the “most bang for your buck” exercise. Here is a modification of Dietmar Schmidtbleicher’s chart on what he refers to as the six levels of muscle activation. Schmidtbleicher’s chart rates exercises on a scale of 1 to 6, with level 6 having the highest degree of muscle activation. I say “modified” because Riccard Nillson, a Swedish colleague of mine, added a seventh level. The higher the level, the greater the muscle activation. You should devote your training to exercises of mostly level 5 and above:

Compound vs. isolation exercises
(comparing levels of neuromuscular activity, or NMA)

Level 1
Isolation exercise on variable-resistance machine
Examples: leg extension on cam-type machine, such as the Cybex leg extension, or the DAVID leg curl

Level 2
Complex exercise on variable resistance machine
Examples: Nautilus leg press, LifeFitness incline press

Level 3
Isolation exercise with constant-resistance machine
Examples: Scott pulley curl, triceps pressdown on pulley machine

Level 4
Complex exercise with constant-resistance machine
Example: leg press on standard machine

Level 5
Isolation exercise with free weights
Examples: Scott barbell curl, lying flyes

Level 6
Complex exercise with free weights
Examples: snatch pulls, power cleans

Level 7
Complex exercise with free weights
Examples: power snatch, dips on rings, rope climbing, split jerks

I must add that eliciting survival fibers will cause you to recruit more motor units as well. If you do a split jerk, there’s more recruitment of the triceps because if there weren’t, you could drop the bar on your head. The snatch or power snatch will recruit more motor units than the power clean because there’s more risk with those exercises than with the power clean. Risk equals more motor unit recruitment. Also, adding chains or bands can actually help elicit greater recruitment.

Machines offer variety to your workouts, but as a general rule they should not encompass more than 20 percent of your training. Free weights will give you the most bang for your buck in terms of muscle fiber recruitment and therefore should get most of your workout time.

Cheers

Ed

Wow, what a weekend that was! So we finally got our new floor mats and running turf in last Friday. You heard right, the new gym now has a 40 yard sprinting track, we ordered the same indoor running turf that professional football teams use. It was like opening a big Christmas present, except really big! Here’s what the gym looked like just before we installed the new ruber flooring and running track…

Installing the turf actually turned out to be quite a bit more cumbersome than we imagined, despite the fact that the two guys that we had hired decided to not show up (don’t even get me started on that), our loyal friend and future champ Curtis Jackson along with Gisele were there all weekend to help me remove the old flooring (before that we had to move all of the weight equipment and treadmills at least 3 times) and install the new one.

Despite how finicky the turf was to put down, I think I will value it more when I’m sprinting on it while pushing a sled. Painful, yes! Effective, hell yes! I’ll attach some more pics of the progress. The track will be lined soon and we’ll also mark 10, 20, 30, and 40 yard lines on it. You guys are going to love this place. We are very close to being 100% done. We even got our blenders last week… for the juice bar?!! What do you mean what juice bar? OUR juice bar, it’s called Juice Monkey and it is going to rock your world! Also big thanks to Benny K for for helping out with the flooring install while getting a bit high on flooring adhesive. We are lucky to have such great friends. Osu!

This past weekend, I was home alone for a few hours and did something that shocked my wife and to a certain extent even myself! I scrubbed the balcony and BBQ clean, rolled out a carpet, bought some outdoor plants and made a little summer hangout space that I have been spending a lot of time in since Saturday. Also went out, got some fruit and other “healthy” ingredients and made the biggest batch of Sangria that one can consume in a few hours. (It was my free day, so don’t wag your finger).

As I sat down to enjoy my masterpiece in the pleasant 35 degree heat, I started thinking and evaluating this somewhat new chapter of my life, mainly the past 3 years since Versus was born, where I started, where I have been, and where I’m headed. I looked back to see what my goals used to be 3 years ago, how they have evolved over time(into little giants that at times haunt me at night:-) and how many of them I have reached vs. not even close to reaching. Despite taking great pride in being a positive thinker, I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed in myself for not having met a few of my major goals. As an example, let’s focus on my Jiu Jitsu game. About a year ago I set a goal for myself to not get submitted by any blue belt or lower ranks in our club no matter what. It wasn’t about tapping people out or putting on “pimp-shows”. It wasn’t about winning medals, it was a realistic goal that I was (and am) passionate about: Not making mistakes that put me in a dangerous position. Well, this week during training, I put myself in a few very dangerous positions. So what went wrong? Everyone makes mistakes, however that shouldn’t become a constant excuse. Sometimes you have to say it like it is: “I screwed up!” and see what you need to do to fix it.

I mentioned goals. I talk about goals lots with my students and clients. So naturally they also become reminders to myself and over time the concept of Goal Setting has become a significant part of my day-to-day life and it has worked well for the most part. However, I’d like to propose a small enhancement to Goal Setting – introducing: The Promise. In order to make my objectives more emotionally charged, I’m changing the word “Goal” to “Promise“. My reasoning is that I will think twice more before breaking a Promise. By breaking a promise, I will be letting myself or someone else down. By keeping a promise I will build credibility and get one step closer to to reaching my objective.

Se here’s my plan…

My Objective: Don’t get submitted by Blue Belts or lower in our club
What do I need to do in order to get to my objective? Not give up dangerous positions
What do I need to do in order not to give up dangerous positions? Work on my defensive game – So…
I Promise myself to train at least 3 times a week with a special focus on my defensive game.
I Promise to not risk submission attempts that expose me to danger
I Promise to stay calm and collected and think before I act
I Promise to ask my coach (Todd Smith, he’s awesome at the defensive game) at the end and during each training session to give me tips that will help me improve my defense. Sometimes a small promise like this, the promise to ask a seasoned veteran for help is the most important step.

I will also try to make the same small Promises to myself in order to get to my other objectives. Give that a try and let me know how it works for you. I will definitely keep you updated on my progress too.

One of the most simple, but effective, things you can do in your efforts to either get as lean as possible or to add as much muscle as possible is to change the way you think about your food. One of the best approaches to maximizing the results you get is to ask yourself every time you are about to eat something “Is this helping me to get to my goal?”. Most people will convince themselves that “one little chocolate bar won’t hurt”, but is it helping you? Apply this strategy and you will be making far less excuses for your diet and your results will come much, much faster.

Charles Poliquin is an internationally respected strength and conditioning coach, so his opinion carries some weight with me [and most any other athlete, coach or individual who has done their homework.] In his latest column at T-Nation, he dissects the Crossfit method of training with some legitimate issues that we might take into account in ANY training model.

Crossfit has become a very popular approach to training, and one that I and other coaches and athletes may sometimes use. But I am pretty selective in that I don’t use their more “risky” exercises, and I don’t always follow their exercise order, or certain techniques –> The Kip being one of them.

“Don’t want to hurt your feelings” Disclaimer: This post is not intended to insult anyone. I and other coaches and trainers that I work with try to welcome constructive criticism. Take what you can from his comments and look at your own training program to make sure you aren’t making one of these mistakes.

CrossFit Analyzed

Q: Coach, in your last column you talked a little about CrossFit, saying that “no athlete has ever gotten any good training like that.” Have you had a chance to look a little deeper into the method?

A: A lot of individuals love CrossFit. Many of them believe it’s the perfect program to achieve their goals. They’re very satisfied with their progress. And I have no doubt that some individuals have never been injured from CrossFit.

That said, I have six major issues with CrossFit-type training:

1. Lack of sufficient testing protocols

When I looked over detailed notes from a CrossFit certification, I saw protocols for beginning, intermediate, and advanced workouts using multi-joint movements. But I didn’t see any protocols for testing trainees for structural-balance issues.

I’ve worked with Olympians in 23 different sports, along with lots of professional athletes. Before having any of those athletes do their first power clean or squat, I do a series of tests to red-flag muscle imbalances that could increase the risk of injury.

And if there’s a history of injuries with that athlete, then of course that’s addressed in the workout design.

I’ll give you an example: Olympic shot-putter Adam Nelson couldn’t do power snatches before I started working with him because he had adhesions in his rotator cuff muscles. After we addressed the injury with Active Release Techniques (ART), Nelson was able to reintroduce the exercise in his workouts. Within a month he was handling personal-best weights.

Jim McKenzie, a professional hockey player I’ve trained, went from a 281-pound close-grip bench press to 380 pounds in less than four months by focusing on corrective exercises — and that’s without doing any bench presses at all for the first three months!

2. Focus on a single training protocol

The protocols in CrossFit aren’t appropriate for developing the highest levels of strength or power or speed. I doubt if you’ll see any elite powerlifters, weightlifters, or sprinters using CrossFit protocols as their primary method of conditioning.

For example, when I trained [long jumper] Dwight Phillips for the Athens Games, we worked first on structural balance, and then on increasing his eccentric strength.

Besides winning gold medals at the World Championships in Helsinki in 2005 and the Olympic Games in 2004, in training he beat some top-ranked sprinters in the 100 meters. I didn’t accomplish this by having him superset high-rep push-ups with mile runs.

Coaches often overemphasize energy-system training with athletes, to the detriment of other physical qualities. Check out any exercise physiology textbook and look at the studies performed on elite athletes and their VO₂ maxes. It’s not necessary for a baseball player — or a basketball player for that matter — to have a VO₂ max of 70. [A VO₂ max in the high 50s is considered outstanding for a male in his late 20s.]

The promotional materials I’ve read about CrossFit imply that this type of training addresses all the strength and conditioning needs of an athlete, but the concept of specificity tells us that if you try to excel at everything, you aren’t likely to reach the highest levels at anything.

This is why we don’t see individuals who can run a mile in four minutes flat that can also bench press 500 pounds.

3. Insufficient instruction for teaching complex training methods

It takes more than a single weekend seminar to develop the competency to teach certain types of exercises, or to prescribe protocols for complex training methods. I’d include Olympic lifts, strongman exercises, and plyometrics in this category.

These training methods are sometimes criticized as dangerous by strength coaches. But when you look at why athletes become injured, you can often point to poor technique.

Interestingly enough, my first comments about CrossFit got a lot of business for my PICP coaches. They got calls from CrossFit practitioners who wanted to learn how to lift properly.

4. Inappropriate repetition brackets for complex exercises

Although high reps and short rest intervals can be used to develop muscular endurance, these protocols shouldn’t be used with some exercises.

This is especially true with Olympic lifts, where it’s difficult to maintain proper technique with high reps. And it’s especially difficult when supersetting Olympic lifts with deadlifts, or any other multijoint exercise. If you want confirmation, just watch CrossFit trainees do these lifts in videos on their website.

The Olympic lifts should be used to develop power. If you want to develop muscular endurance, you should use simpler movements.

5. Inappropriate exercise order

In the CrossFit “Linda” workout, what’s the logic in fatiguing the lower back with deadlifts before doing power cleans? Not only does it prevent you from doing the power cleans with optimal technique, it makes it more difficult to activate high-threshold motor units. That’s why you should do all your sets of power cleans before you do deadlifts.

Another problem is that combining weight-training exercises with sprints places an athlete at a high risk of injury, especially to the hamstrings.

6. Endorsement of controversial exercises

On one website of a CrossFit affiliate, I saw video clips of athletes jumping onto cars and standing on Swiss balls. I appreciate the need to use a wide variety of exercises with clients, but not if they’re high-risk exercises.

Because of these six concerns, I can’t recommend CrossFit training, especially for those seeking the highest levels of athletic performance.

But in the interest of being open-minded, let’s leave it at this: Despite its shortcomings, the CrossFit system is continually evolving. It’ll be interesting to see how it changes as more athletes, along with nonathletes, participate in the program.

Thanks to http://masculineheart.blogspot.com/

If you want to train, you will always find a way. That’s exactly what we’ve been doing with our BJJ training… finding a way to train. Since we’ve been waiting for our new training center to get ready to move into (and for our new mats to arrive!) it has been challenging to find the time slot and the floor space to train Jiu Jitsu. Todd Smith was away last week in California training at the Gracie Jiu Jitsu Academy, the head quarters of the Gracie Jiu Jitsu Organization. He got back to Vancouver this week and I and the rest of the guys couldn’t wait to hear stories about his training with some of the world’s best BJJ practitioners.

So we squeezed into our tiny temporary office (yes, our office has mat floors;-) and had a great training session. Thanks Todd, Ali, Troy, Saeed, Sina and Kiarash for coming out. Todd, thanks for the stories of Training with Rener and the rest of the Gracie Clan. Definitely should organize a group trip down. See you all next Monday.

Gracie Philosophy: Powerful Principles and Egoless Sparring

Drive'em Drive'em Drive'em...

Last night, we had a killer FighterBody workout. Sun was our shining, 20 warm degrees and to top it off, an awesome turnout, we had 16 FB’ers show up to our temporary spot on Alexander. We started with an easy jog over to Crab Park (what a great hidden spot), followed by a good stretch and some warm-up runs 50%, 80%, laterals up the hill to make sure muscles are loose and warm before attacking that beast of a hill!

Seriously? that wasn't enough?!!

First part of the workout consisted of 12 X 10 second sprints to the top of the hill, easy walk down and full 120 second break to flush out all of that lactic acid. The last 2 minute breaks start to feel more like 20 seconds. To top it off we did lunges up the hill, followed by three sets of frog leaps half way up the hill and run up the second half. We broke a good sweat!

Thanks to everyone who came out. Let’s take advantage of the sun and head out every chance we get. Until next week…

Iman R.