Conditioning Archives - Young Performance

Posted on June 4, 2019 by jyoungsc — Leave a comment

Are You Training or Trending?

I’ve asked my good friend and fellow strength and conditioning coach to help me out with some writer’s block. Jonathan Carroll and I go back a little ways to the glory days of interning at MBSC. Since then, we have stayed in touch and attended a few different continuing ed events together. He has since moved to Raleigh, North Carolina and is now co-owner of The Movement Lab Raleigh. If you want to learn something then definitely look into this guy’s blog and podcast!

how-to-get-a-bigger-butt

Since I moved from Boston to Raleigh and opened up my own gym I have realized there is a crossroads when it comes to selling training. A lot of people want what is sexy and social media does a great job reinforcing this. There are many trends such as “build your booty programs” and “high intensity everything” as well as “random acts of fitness” thrown together because of the gram! What isn’t sexy though is just plain old “good training”.

Don’t get me wrong, there are parts of the trends that we can embrace and make into legitimate training protocols to get stronger, just look at what Bret Contreras has done with hip thrusts. Hip thrusts were once an exercise that was scoffed at and are now more widely accepted as being a legitimate way to get stronger and build a powerful pair of glutes. My favorite trend though was and still is “Prancercize” – I use this on my recovery days.

Let’s address what exactly good training should include. Are you incorporating the following movements? A hip-hinge, squat, a push, a pull, and anti-extension, anti-rotation abs? At The Movement Lab we have these classified as our foundational movements. Once someone has become proficient at these we will then look to progress to our level two movements such as Kettlebell Swings, Turkish Get Ups and Kettlebell Snatches. The thing is, as a gym owner who knows what good training is – it’s not an easy sell compared to an instagram model in yoga pants and a smoking hot body who is doing the latest version of her for purchase booty program and magical unicorn supplement that has been proven to help a booty grow. In the words of Jay-Z, ” I Can’t Knock the Hustle”. However, when it comes to using a training program that will positively enhance your life, nothing comes close to accomplishing this quite like plain old good training.

A lot of people may want what is currently “hot”. If someone has an amazing body then that means everyone should do what they are doing to get the same results, right? Eh, not exactly. You see a lot of the fitness models on instagram or in fitness magazines are people who have won the genetic lottery. Their training alone didn’t get them that body, in fact they probably have that body despite their shoddy training protocols. Having interned and worked at Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning you get to connect with a lot of great coaches who recognize what good training consists of. Simply put, that consists of doing the basics, really well and with lots and lots of practice thrown in. The programs these coaches as well as myself use with the people we train never really veer off course from the main categories listed in the foundational moments above.

You’ll get stronger, improve your quality of life, live longer and when combined with solid amounts of deep sleep and nutrition you’ll probably reach those aesthetic goals of yours as well. The most pleasing feedback from the people I’ve coached down through the years include things like:

“I haven’t felt this good since I was in college”

“I can play with my son and daughter and not be out of breath inside of five minutes”

“Last week my doctor took me off my blood pressure medicine”

You get the idea. I haven’t reinvented the wheel, it’s simply good training practices passed on and practiced over and over. Getting better takes time and in an age where we want it now and not a second later, doing the same program for a month can seem like a year to some. We incorporate the StrongFirst principles at The Movement Lab” such as “Strength has a greater purpose” which you can see in the quotes listed above. We also believe that:

“Strength is a skill”

Yes, you need to practice it. The key to reaching your goals in the gym rest in this quote, not an expensive supplement or a flashy new exercise. Learn the basics and then practice them over and over. To this day I still learn something new when I set foot in the gym. Believe me when I tell you, training is a lifelong process but also one heck of an enjoyable one.

With that I challenge you to explore your current training program and ask the question, am I getting better? You can still keep some main elements in your program constant without changing up everything you do. Here are some ways you can mix things up without changing what you’re doing:

Manipulate sets and reps

Add time under tension (eccentric, pause & concentric reps)

Body awareness. What muscles do you feel when you are performing different exercises?

Can you get into the required position to optimally execute a sumo deadlift or a double kettlebell front rack squat etc

Add a plus set as your last set in the form of AMGRAP (As many good reps as possible

Don’t get caught up in trending fitness protocols and just keep training. Small steps are the way forward, Rome wasn’t built in a day. A lot of progress can be made in a year. Don’t believe me?Journal your training for a year based on a program from any good strength coach and you’ll see progress you didn’t think was possible.

Jonathan Carroll
Co-Owner, The Movement Lab

857.523.9437

themovementlabraleigh.com

Posted on October 31, 2018 by jyoungsc — Leave a comment

Random Thought: HRV

I just finished up working with a group of peeps that I’ve been working with for the last 10 years–take a moment just to think about that one–and as I was driving home it hit me, “why do I measure HRV?”

Great question, self!

What the heck is HRV anyway? HRV=heart rate variability, and it is something that I learned back in undergrad when dealing with the heart. Somewhere around Exercise Physiology 1 if I recall correctly. This was information so prudent, much like the Kreb’s cycle, electron transport chain, lactate threshold, etc that I immediately deleted the information from memory as soon as I wasn’t responsible for it (lost? don’t worry, these other terms aren’t the topic here).

If you really boil down what HRV is, it is the measurement of one QRS complex to the next on an ECG, or more specifically the R piece of that gathering of letters. In a normal individual you would expect to find that from heart beat to heart beat they would be roughly the same. This in turn means that your nervous system is regulating pretty darn well as that silly system drives each heart beat. However, in fatigued individuals such as athletes, corporate execs, and just anyone who has kids or multiple jobs you’ll find that from beat to beat there are slight differences. Simply put, your nervous system is struggling to keep everything regulated…just a bit though.

Why does this even matter?

If your nervous system is a little whacky trying to control the autonomic (automatic) systems in the body, then how do you think it will do with the controllable parts like the ever important biceps? Knowing that you’re HRV isn’t so great could give you or your coach the ability to maybe take out a set or two, maybe even give you the day for active recovery. You’re definitely not going to hit any PRs. You’re most likely going to crash and get some sort of illness or hurt if you keep pushing it. Think Seyle’s diagram where you’re overstimulated. Or to the layperson, think pneumonia or mono.

You can get this stuff pretty easy too. Shoot, the programs basically tell you if you’re good to go, mildly stressed, or in need of a staycation. You definitely don’t need an ECG/EKG everyday. I’m not personally affiliated with any group out there, however, I do use Bioforce HRV. I think that the owner is an incredibly smart guy and does his homework when it comes to the state of the nervous system and cardiac system which is what sold me ultimately. There are holes here and there for sure, but ultimately it is pretty high quality.

Take your training to the next step and work smarter not harder!

Posted on August 8, 2018August 7, 2018 by jyoungsc — Leave a comment

Why Do You Lift That Much?

So, this past weekend we made a trip to the wonderful vacation destination of Syracuse, NY for my sister’s graduation party extravaganza. My sister, much like my father is a runner. If any of you follow me on social media, you’ll know how I feel about the whole running cult.

Running Sucks — One of the coolest t-shirts

With that said, I should say that I do actually like to do sprints following a workout as nothing will make you feel like you’ve accomplished something more. Not run for 9 miles because gross. So if you do see me outside running then you should probably run in the same direction really quickly as I’m probably being chased by Sharknado, a lion, or Dunkin’ Donuts advocates.

I was lifting a large cooler out of the car by myself when my father told me to stop because I may hurt myself. Checking my ego I said, “nah it’s not that heavy, I pull over 400 pounds off the floor”. When in my habitat, that statement is usually met with some grunts followed by how much others pull. To people who don’t lift heavy weights often that is a meaningless piece of information. So he asked, why?

I’m generally pretty quick to fire back at my dad, the only person on the planet who has mastered the ability to find every single one of my buttons of irritation–and press them over and over again for the pure amusement. This time I still fired back because I like a challenge. But I stewed over this for a couple of days.

Part of me wanted to say, why do you run? That’s a silly thing to do. You can certainly develop your cardiovascular system in many other ways. Nothing in your life requires you to be good at running. But, this is more a look at why I like to lift things (don’t make that cliche statement from that stupid commercial about lifting things please!).

A couple of years ago I set a goal to bench over 315, squat and deadlift over 405, clean 275. None of this is necessary in my day-to-day requirements, however, when demonstrating to my athletes it was important that I could lift a semi respectable amount of weight. Otherwise they would think that I’m a phony (their words not mine). Plus, doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results was some smart guy’s (Einstein) definition of insanity. And I know with my education in physiology that I need to continue to push the status quo in order to achieve adaptation.

School threw my aggressive training routine into the toilet. Basically, life happens. Now I’m finally hitting those goals and striving for different ones.

So now I understand why my parents always told me to think before I spoke. Not only does lifting my goal coddle the ego a little, make sure that the high schoolers don’t chirp, but mostly I lift it because I like to. The feeling of accomplishing your goals is awesome albeit short lived. Runner’s want to run for 4 days straight–go ahead. If you’re goal was to do that and live, then awesome. If I want to lift a 20 pound cooler out of the trunk of the car without hurting myself, then don’t bend and twist.

Posted on April 27, 2018April 27, 2018 by jyoungsc — Leave a comment

Exercises You Love to Hate

We all have an exercise or two that we absolutely hate doing in the gym. You see it on your program and immediately you want to go back into the locker room, change, and leave because of some made up 24-hour disease you make up to avoid doing that one exercise. If only there was a way to add an exercise into the one you hate to make it a little more tolerable.

So, I try to convince you all that you need this particular exercise. It is something that you’re not good at, and you can’t always just do the things that you’re good at. If you only do the things that you’re good at here then you’ll develop imbalances, pain, potentially long term injury. Which is inevitably met with, “I know, but I still don’t like it”.

Unanimously, the Assault or Airdyne sprints are the least favorite. Personally, I don’t mind the Assault bike, I will choose it as a preferred method of aerobic work because I don’t enjoy running mostly (unless it is after a ball). I’ve heard it been called a number of different names with words consisting of “death” and “machine”. I’ll stop and ask why people don’t like it and all I get in return is a shrug of the shoulders or no real reason at all. I understand, if you told me to run for a prolonged period of time I wouldn’t really be too pleasant about it. Even sprints, no thanks.

Split squats and rear foot elevated/bulgarian split squats are pretty high up on that list too.

Personally, I have a love-hate relationship with RFE split squats. I know they’re good for me, I know that I am getting stronger, I can readily see that carryover to performance in other lifts and sprint performance, but they absolutely wipe me out. I’m virtually junk after doing these. So the idea of doing anything else afterward is absolutely demoralizing. Especially if I were to do some sort of HIIT–forget it. But, like I said, it is a necessary evil.

There are a few others that I get the mysterious 2 hour sickness report on. What does everybody else say?

Posted on September 11, 2017September 7, 2017 by jyoungsc — Leave a comment

Guest Post: Time for a Change

This is a guest post from one of my interns from the summer and current sports performance coach. Kathy is a very intelligent and driven individual who has donated her time around a hectic schedule to Young Performance. She aspires to bridge the gap between PT and performance and has some really good ideas. You can find more on her blog at blendingptandsc

I’m a PT student who, like most people, has no solid idea of what field to practice in. After going on a few clinicals, I found out that my expectations of rehab didn’t really exist in the real world – at least not yet. Having this existential crisis, I decided to go figure it out. I began throwing myself into different jobs and internships in the health and fitness field. This summer alone, I’ve been a PT aide at 3 separate clinics, a personal trainer in training , a kickboxing instructor, and a strength coach intern – which has lead to the creation of this blog. There were two glaring problems that I kept noticing: 1. the health and fitness field is muddled with misinformation and 2. everyone is constantly trying to one-up each other.

1. People are quick to believe what they hear or read without looking for evidence.

Carbohydrates are bad. All fats are bad. No rest during a workout is a good thing. There are so many health myths, so many “fads” backed with no scientific evidence, and, with the rise of social media, so much bad information posted by a lot of unqualified people. Not only is it dangerous, but it also creates another barrier for health providers who must spend their time re-educating and getting buy-in from their clients.

2. The health field, it’s a very “cut-throat” environment.

Everyone wants to have all of the credentials, the letters after their name in order to be the “best”. People also want to believe that their way of thinking is the right and only way. Hip vs foot, barefoot running vs orthotics – these topics cause a lot of frustration and bickering. It seems likewe’ve all forgotten why we started in this field, forgotten that we are looking down on our peerswho are using their best judgement to get to the same goal. Just because their way looks different, doesn’t make it wrong. The first thing we learn is that everyone is different and something that might work for Joe Shmoe might not work for the next person – so why are we still stuck on trying to have one golden principle? It’s all theory at the end of the day and if it works, it works!

Long story short, everyone wihin the health and fitness field needs to come together and not only educate people but to encourage peers for their different perspectives and ways of thinking. Without that, we will not progress very far.Guest

Posted on May 22, 2017February 13, 2018 by jyoungsc — Leave a comment

Long-Slow Distance Cardio

First off, it has been a little bit since my last check-in. I have been busy with licensure testing, changing a few details professionally, and jumping right into some continuing education. All those things, plus I have been coaching a high school lacrosse team in the area.

I was kicking back, sipping on a nice cup of coffee the other morning, reading over some “professional development” type material, when I came across a post along the lines of “why do long slow distance aerobic work?” That post of course got some great professional feedback, but it got me thinking too.

Most of what I was reading in terms of feedback was along the lines of: why indeed? Now, I like bang for the buck type exercise regimens. I feel as though we do a really good job of accomplishing both anaerobic and aerobic work in a relatively short period of time on a daily basis at our facility. By using simple concepts like HIIT in our lifts we are able to develop strength and power via resistance training at appropriate, demanding percentages; and, also tax the aerobic system at the same time. We also incorporate a conditioning portion after the lift that works usually on some type of lactic or alactic interval (think Certified Conditioning Coach) in the preseason phases.

But where can we fit in the long-slow distance type conditioning???

This is where I reflect back to my magical weekend at IFAST, listening to Joel himself hurl information grenades at all of us innocent Performance Coaches. In a very organized manner, he managed to explain to us how to use each concept that he has written about in books like “Ultimate MMA Conditioning”. Long story short, one cannot sustain all out lactic intervals 7 days a week for very long. This makes sense, right?!

With all the concepts in strength and conditioning regarding the importance of the nervous system, this should be a no-brainer. Simply put, sometimes it is just better to let your foot off the gas pedal, slow down, and let your body (and nervous system) relax. Let’s find that parasympathetic state for once in our training year.

Now that both sides of the continuum are screaming at me, let me elaborate. First off, no, I do not think that you should be performing long-slow distance aerobic conditioning all year round–unless your sport is running a marathon or the Tour de France in which case you still shouldn’t do it on consecutive days. Will you see strength and therefore power decrements as a result? Maybe. Will you be introducing a new variable into your training regimen? Absolutely! Cooling the jets for a few weeks will not have an absurd impact on strength/power/muscle fiber type. But, it may afford you the potential to get even better because you let the body experience a new stimulus.

Personally, I don’t like long distance cardio. I get bored with it, unless I am chasing a ball or object. Cycling is more doable, but still, the struggle is real. However, when no one is watching, I will jump on the Assault Bike for about 45-60 minutes and get in a good cardio sesh.