What would we do if doctors did not want to share information with one another?  Research would come to a halt, innovation would cease and diseases like mumps and polio would run rampant.  Sounds like a pretty cruel scenario, but thankfully this is not the reality for the medical community.  Unfortunately, it IS the reality in the fitness community.  The more I talk to trainers, the more I scratch my head.  There are many who think that there is some “secret formula” to achieve goals and obtain results.

Trainer 1: “I do back and shoulders with my clients.”
Trainer 2: “Oh, wow (Trainer 1 is an idiot)…I do back and biceps with my clients.”

Unless both of these morons are training people for the 2020 Mr. Olympia then, they are both WRONG!!!  How about I blow the roof off of the entire fitness industry!?!?!?!

Here is the SECRET way to get ANYONE in shape, no matter what their goal is:
1)      Move around
2)      Train in all planes of motion
3)      Push / pull, rotate and move sideways

Stop overcomplicating everything!!!  I don’t give a crap about bosu balls, agility ladders, dots, cones or any other gimmicks, they are IRRELEVANT!!!

Sorry, this is NOT going to get you into great shape, maybe a trip to the hospital.

Upper Body
Vertical (Above Shoulder): Push (overhead press), Pull (Chin up)
Vertical (Below Shoulder): Push (dips), Pull (Deadlift)
Horizontal: Push (Bench Press), Pull (Back Row)

Lower Body
Push (Back/Front/Hack Squat), Pull (Hip Press)

What about lateral movement?!?!?!  Do some side shuffles, run around, play sports.

This applies to 99.9% of the population.  Maybe if you are an Olympic athlete or you are a professional athlete, you need something more in depth, I agree 100%, but for everyone else, it is not more complicated than that.

Bruce Lee tried everything while he trained.  His goal in doing so was to distill everything he tried into a simple philosophy.  That was his hallmark, be as effective as possible while also being simple.  Have you ever asked someone a question and their answer takes 10 minutes, but you can probably summarize it in a few sentences?  Me too!  This is the exact opposite of the philosophy that Bruce Lee espoused.

I had a great conversation with a fellow strength coach this week.  One of my favorite topics, muscle hypertrophy (i.e. muscle growth), came up and I asked him his opinion after being in the game for 15 years.  He started with, “I am a big fan of simplicity.”  When I heard this, I smiled J  This is the answer of someone who has tried it all and distilled his experience into what was the most simple and most effective, much like Bruce Lee.

Hypertrophy is all about higher volume with a moderately heavy weight.

Mon/Thu = 2 big lifts (Deadlift + Squat) + 1 Assistance Exercise
Tues/Fri = 2 big lifts (Bench Press + Back Row) + 1 Assistance Exercise
Wed/Sat = 2 big lifts (Shoulder Press + Shrugs) + 1 Assistance Exercise

1^st 4 weeks: 5 sets x 5 reps (big lifts) – increase each set by 5+ LBS until reaching failure
2^nd 4 weeks: 8 sets x 8 reps (big lifts) – increase each set by 5+ LBS until reaching failure
3^rd 4 weeks: 10 sets x 10 reps (big lifts) – increase each set by 5+ LBS until reaching failure

After reaching failure on the big lifts (i.e. can’t reach 5, 8 or 10 reps for the set), cut the weight in half and do 50 reps.  It doesn’t matter how long it takes, just don’t rack the weight until you reach 50 reps.

For the assistance exercises, do 5 sets of 12-20 reps OR do 5 sets of bodyweight exercises (chin ups, push ups, dips, etc.) and go to failure each set.  It may take more than the prescribed number of sets to reach complete failure.

REPEAT after 12 weeks.

Do variations of each of the lifts to keep it interesting.  That’s it, hypertrophy made SIMPLE!!!

Smitty commented that 95% of the questions he saw on EliteFTS related to pain.  As he dug a bit deeper, he and Joe realized that weaknesses and mobility were topics that received lots of hits.  The two of them decided to fill this gap by creating the AMPED Warm-Up system.  I have the AMPED system and I highly recommend it whether you train athletes, general population or you train alone and want to feel and perform better.

Lax ball, resistance band and foam roller...the weapons in your warm-up arsenal!!!

There are 4 parts to a proper warm-up: 
1)      Soft Tissue Work – use a foam roller and / or a lacrosse ball to massage and loosen up the muscles

2)      Mobility Work – consists of various movements to loosen up the muscles and ensure flexibility through a full range of motion

3)      Central Nervous System (CNS) Activation – priming the body and gearing it up to be ready for the work ahead.  This essentially wakes the body up and gets you ready to lift.

4)      Muscle Activation – warming up of the muscles which will be worked that day so they are ready for the session of work ahead

The order is not set in stone and it can be blended.  If in the midst of training, the individual does not feel 100%, they can continue to incorporate these techniques in between sets or in between exercises.  Doing some foam rolling and mobility work between exercises can serve to loosen up muscles that are really tight and will improve performance and recovery.

Joe and Smitty both use auto-regulation to determine the status of their clients.  Auto-regulation can be described simply as “how do you feel?” and it is a matter of determining how the body is responding to stimuli.  If after a full warm-up, the client still seems like they are not at 100% or that they are overtrained from a previous session, Joe and Smitty would rather send someone home than push them when their body is not ready.  Some telltale signs of overtraining are red palms, a feeling that the weights are cold to the touch and an elevated resting heart beat (i.e. heart is beating fast when you are not doing anything).  It is better to be safe than sorry and you will be better served in the long-run by listening to your body when it is not ready to train.

Morning Session of the Seminar
Smitty started out by having us put one hand on our chest and the other on our stomach and telling us to breathe.  Most people, including me, have their chest rise when they breathe.  Smitty stressed diaphragmatic breathing (breathing from the stomach, not the chest) because it stabilizes the core, promotes good posture and is more efficient.

After this, we got down to business and did soft tissue work by rolling with a foam roller and lacrosse balls.  We split into groups of 2 and I had the good fortune of having the lacrosse balls in my hands to start off with and I was seeing stars as I lay on top of them and rolled them up and down my spine.  The best way to describe how this feels is to imagine a circus clown pedaling a unicycle back and forth on your spine!!!  We started with the upper body going through the thoracic spine, upper back, lats and shoulders.  The upper body warm-up concluded with Face pulls, Lat & Shoulder stretches with bands and several variations of the Roll Over and Stretch.

After the upper body was ready to rock, we foam rolled the lower body, including the piriformis, glutes, quads, IT bands and hamstrings.  Joe DeFranco showed us how he uses the lacrosse ball to loosen up the Achilles and the calves.  He also had us lie face down with the lacrosse ball above our knee on our quad and we flexed the knee; this really loosened up the quad.  The lower body warm-up concluded with loosening up the hips.  We hooked a band up to the squat rack and put our leg through it so the band was near the top of our leg and then got on all fours facing away from the rack and flexed & extended the hip (backwards & forwards) and then we adducted & abducted the hip (side to side).  This did an incredible job loosening up the hips.

Worth the Price of Admission #1
In the midst of Foam rolling, Smitty said that when you reach a tough spot, stay on it and move your limbs.  So, when rolling on your back, find a tough spot, stop on it and move each arm in a sweeping motion overhead then, move both arms overhead and back to the sides.  This really helps with hard to reach areas around the shoulder blades where knots tend to form.

Worth the Price of Admission #2
Move that saved Joe DeFranco’s shoulder:  Lie on your side, have your shoulder tucked with your upper arm (triceps) on the ground perpendicular to your body.  Place a lacrosse ball under your armpit, flex your lower arm at the elbow until your forearm is perpendicular to the ground and slowly push your hand down to the ground, stop and hold for a count of 3 to 5, push further and hold for a count of 3 to 5 and continue until your palm is flat on the ground.  Do both shoulders.  Be careful and move SLOWLY since you are in a very vulnerable position here.  These small muscles (Infraspinatus, Supraspinatus, Teres minor, etc.) tighten up very easily so, this exercise will work wonders in loosening up the shoulders.

Worth the Price of Admission #3
I had the chance during breaks to pull Smitty and Joe D aside separately and ask them about 2 issues:

1)      Tight Hamstrings – I can stretch all I want to, but I can never touch my toes.  I have legs that are longer than my torso so, that makes it a little more difficult, but I can even remember not being able to touch my toes when I was very young. 

Smitty – “It isn’t your hamstrings; you have tight hips, guaranteed.  Loosen up your hip flexors and you will get more mobility.  Your hamstrings are tight as a compensation for your hips.”

Joe D. – “We have tons of athletes with tight hamstrings and knock on wood we haven’t had any hamstring pulls.  The key is loosening up the hips and the glutes.  When those 2 areas are locked up then, your range of motion will be compromised.  Loosen them up and you will be fine.”

2)      Patellar Tendonitis in my right knee – I had a chance to ask Smitty about this and it came back to the hips.  Tight hips and the associated lack of range of motion are resulting in pressure being placed on the patella.

There is a very interesting takeaway here…the area where you are having an issue is where the problem is being REALIZED, but typically the issue ORIGINATES elsewhere.  The body compensates for our weaknesses in areas other than where the problem is so, treating the symptom (tight hamstrings) is not going to address the problem (tight hips / glutes).

This is a pic of the crew who attended the Seminar

Afternoon Session of the Seminar
After eating some great food from Muscle Maker Grille, we were ready for the afternoon portion which consisted of Mobility & Activation.  Joe DeFranco led us through this portion and we did Jumping Jacks, Seal Jacks, Cossack Squats, Bodyweight Squats and Lunges (forward & backward), Wideouts, Sprinting in place, Skips, Side Shuffles and Hip Rotator Skips (skipped backwards by externally rotating one hip at a time).  After this, we were ready to train!!!

We broke up into groups where we went to one of five stations:
1)      Box Squat – push hips and glutes back, push knees out to the side NOT forward, touch the box and explode upward.

2)      400LB Tire Flip – get in a deadlift position with hands under the tire, lift the tire up with hands underneath and once you get it to 45 degrees, kick it up with your knee and push forward with your hands until the tire hits the ground.  You can turn it into a complex by jumping onto the tire or jumping into the tire and through.  If you have a sledgehammer, you can hammer the tire after flipping it.

3)      Box Jump – this was the station that Joe DeFranco was at.  There was a 36 inch box set up but it had padding to prevent injury.  The first round, we squatted down and used our arms to explode upward and land softly on the box.  The second round, we held two 10LB dumbbells and jumped upward and upon landing, dropped the dumbbells and jumped up again.  Joe explained that your brain and motor neurons still think you are holding the dumbbells after you have dropped them so, more muscle is recruited and you jump higher.

4)      25 LB Med Ball Throw – this happened on the turf.  We squatted down while holding the med ball and exploded upward with the legs and arms and launched the ball as far as we could.

5)      Prowler loaded with 90 LBS – there was a rope attached to the Prowler and we pulled it 50 feet towards us and once it got to us, we grabbed the handles and pushed it 50 feet back to the starting position.

Jim "Smitty" Smith (left) and Joe DeFranco (right) finished with a great Q&A session

Joe and Smitty finished up with a Q&A which was really helpful.

Q: “What do you recommend for recovery the night of the workout and the next day if it is an off day?”

Smitty: “Get some rest and some food after the workout.  We have our athletes do foam rolling the night of the workout and then on the day off they come in, do the full warm-up and go home.”

Joe: “After the workout we make sure our guys get some food in their body.  That night, we have our athletes do mobility work and take an ice bath for soreness.  We have 2 or 3 warm-up sheets posted on any given day and the athletes take a picture of it on their phone and do the mobility portion.”

Q: “How can you tell if someone is overtrained and their nervous system is fried?”

Joe: “Watch the warm up and you can tell how they are feeling.  I have found that the best way to tell is the vertical jump.  If a guy is a 31 inch vertical jumper and he does 26 then, he is off and I will have him go home and come back the next day when he has recovered.”

Smitty: “Red hands are a big indicator for me.  That is something I have noticed over the years.  A high resting heart rate and the weights feeling cold to the touch are also indications that they are fatigued.

Q: “Do either of you use PNF (Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation) Stretching?”

Smitty: “We use it sparingly.”

Joe: “We use it when needed.  If I am working with some NFL guys and I can tell that they are tight, I will do some PNF stretching on them myself.”

Q: “What do you guys use to evaluate new clients?”

BOTH: “A bodyweight squat is a great exercise which will tell you a lot.  Does the back round? Do the knees collapse? Are the heels coming up?  Have them perform a push-up, do their hips sag?  Other good exercises to assess with are the plank and the overhead reach.  Mix it up, do static positions and dynamic movements, try the same exercise loaded versus unloaded.  Sometimes imbalances show up when an exercise is loaded, but not unloaded and vice-versa.”

Joe: “Sprinting is a great assessment.  By watching someone move you can see many different things, including whether their hip flexors are tight.”

Q: “What do you do when you see asymmetry in an athlete?  How do you develop a program for them?”

Joe: “I have always found that the best method is to create a balanced program.  Whatever the person normally does (e.g. offensive lineman = pushing), train them to do the opposite (e.g. rows, pulls, etc.).  A Balanced athlete is going to last longer, perform better and have fewer injuries.”

Joe then mentioned that the next product he and Smitty are coming out with is about developing power for athletes.  Power is strength x speed so, the more powerful you are, the more athletic you will be.  To this end, Joe said that if he could go back and do something over again, he would have incorporated med balls much sooner.  Whether it is throwing, chest passing or overhead tosses, med ball work is most transferable to athletics because there is no deceleration, there is acceleration and power throughout the entire movement.  Joe mentioned an All-Pro offensive lineman who plays for the NY Giants which he trains and how he brought in one of their new rookies who is a huge offensive lineman.  Both guys had a similar huge bench, but the difference maker was in their power.  The veteran can launch the med ball, but the rookie cannot.  It goes to show that barbell exercises are not the be-all end-all and a power movement like a med ball throw is more transferable to the field than a big squat or big bench.

So, there you have it!  The inaugural AMPED Seminar was a MASSIVE success and I learned a ton of stuff that will help me and the people I train.  Joe DeFranco and Smitty are not just at the top of their game, but both of these guys are gentlemen who were humble and more than happy to answer any and all questions.  I would highly recommend checking out the next AMPED Seminar and learning how you can improve your results and the results of those whom you train.  Reading and seeing how to do the warm-ups is not the same as doing them, especially when you are learning from the best!!!  Thanks Joe and Smitty!!!

To see Joe DeFranco’s gym: click here
To see Smitty and the Diesel Crew: click here
To check out the AMPED Warm-Up System: click here

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Situation: Reminding a client that there is one set left…
Excuse: “I can’t, I’m too tired”

Situation: Giving someone a nutrition plan and they respond with…
Excuse: “I NEED carbs…can’t I have more than that?” (Note: Nobody NEEDS carbs.  Carbohydrates are the only macronutrient that we do not NEED to obtain from our diet.  There are Essential Amino Acids (Protein) and Essential Fats which must be obtained from our diet, but our body can convert Fat or Protein into fuel)).

Sorry ladies, you don't "NEED" carbs.

Situation: Not showing up to the gym to train
Excuse: “I am too busy, too tired, my spouse needs me to do something, etc.”

While those aforementioned excuses are fairly common, one of the most depressing excuses is, “I can’t because I am too old”.  Age is something that we cannot stop and its negative effects range from decreases in testosterone, muscle mass and bone density to memory loss.  Though many folks use age as an excuse, there are those out there who put people half their age to shame.  Here are 3 men who NEVER use age as an excuse:

Jack LaLanne

Jack LaLanne is a legend.  Back in the day, he got many people off of their butts and into the gym by showing the benefits of smart nutrition and exercise.  He practiced what he preached and recently passed away at the age of 96 in late January 2011.  His family said that he continued to perform his daily workout routine until the day before his death.  Jack LaLanne’s daily workout wasn’t a walk around the block; he continued to do push-ups, pull-ups, dips and other muscle-building total body exercises. 

Dr. Charles Eugster

A retired Dentist from England, Dr. Eugster was a self-professed couch potato until his 50’s.  He realized that if he wanted to live a long life that he would have to get active and that is exactly what he did.  Dr. Eugster became a World Champion rower, winning dozens of medals.  He began adding heavy weights into his training at the age of 87 (yes, you read that right), after which he noticed dramatic improvements in his rowing performance.  In 2010, at the age of 91, Dr. Eugster scored the highest number of points ever in a Strenflex competition with a winning performance which included doing 57 dips, 61 chin-ups, 50 push-ups and 48 abdominal crunches, each in 45 seconds!!!  Most people one quarter his age could not accomplish that!!!

Louie Simmons

Louie Simmons is the epitome of Unstoppable Strength.  Anyone and everyone in the iron game knows Louie and his legendary gym, Westside Barbell.  Louie’s bio from the Westside Barbell website: “One of only six lifters to total Elite in five weight classes, Louie Simmons is no stranger to the lifting community. For the last 27 years Louie Simmons has totaled Elite in various lifting organizations. He is the only lifter over 50 years of age to squat 920 and total 2100. Ranked 4th nationally in 2000 in the open division, Louie has squatted 920, benched 600 (at age 50), and deadlifted 722.”  At 62 years old, Louie is stronger than most College Football Players (yes, you read that correctly).  Louie is a personal hero of mine and his contributions to the world of strength are second to none.  He has produced “25 world and national champions, 28 800+ squatters, ten 900+ squatters, and three 1000+ squatters”, enough said.

I know what you are thinking, these guys are the exception to the rule, I am not going to benefit from Strength Training because I am starting too late, I am too old, etc.  When someone above the age of 55 who had never trained previously gave me the excuse, “I’m too old for that”, I would not push because I didn’t want them to get injured, but then I read a study which COMPLETELY changed my mindset about the role of age in strength training…the fountain of youth is made of IRON!!!

In the February 2011 Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, there was an eye-opening study conducted by Candow, et al. entitled “Short-term heavy resistance training eliminates age-related deficits in muscle mass and strength in healthy older males”.  The following is a synopsis of the study⁽¹⁾.

Objective:  To determine whether short-term heavy resistance training in healthy older men could eliminate deficits in muscle mass and strength compared with healthy younger men.  

Methodology:  Seventeen older men (60–71 yr) performed supervised resistance training for 22 weeks. Before and after resistance training, measurements were made for lean tissue mass, muscle thickness, and strength (measured by leg and bench press 1 repetition maximum) and were compared with values of younger men (18–31 yr). Before training, older men had significantly lower lean tissue mass, muscle thickness, and strength compared with younger men.

Findings:  All deficits were eliminated after 22 weeks of resistance training.

Conclusion:  Short-term, heavy resistance training in healthy older men is sufficient to overcome deficits in muscle mass and strength when compared with healthy younger men.  The practical application from this research is that healthy older men can be prescribed a whole body heavy resistance training program to substantially increase muscle mass and strength to levels similar to young, active individuals.

What did we learn?
1)      You CAN train heavy even if you are older.
2)      You CAN gain benefits from heavy strength training when you are older.  Amazingly, even in old age, you can return to levels of strength and muscle mass seen in healthy younger adults.
3)      It is NEVER too late to start strength training.

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References:
1) Candow, DG, Chilibeck, PD, Abeysekara, S, and Zello, GA.  “Short-term heavy resistance training eliminates age-related deficits in muscle mass and strength in healthy older males”.  Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. February 2011 Vol. 25 No. 2 pgs. 326–333

The most common mistake which I see is people who do Bodybuilding routines though their goal is fat loss.  Not only that, but they will do Bodybuilding routines with a set / rep scheme that is more indicative of a Strength routine.  At the gym, I often see skinny guys trying to lift as much weight as they possibly can while doing a single joint exercise such as bicep curls or triceps kickbacks.  My goal is Hypertrophy so, these same skinny morons will look over me and the weight that I am lifting and they will smile thinking, “Ha, I am stronger than that guy; look at that weight he is using!!!”  While there is merit to lifting heavy weights in order to gain muscle, that only follows if you are ensuring progressive resistance, increasing the weight each workout and doing enough repetitions to induce sufficient stress to the muscle that it responds to the stress by repairing and growing in order to handle greater stress.  So, what is the SECRET to getting the PERFECT body???  First you must define your goal (i.e. what is “perfect” to you) and then, you must map out a plan to achieve that goal.  I am going to assume that the vast majority of people reading this have one of three goals: 1) Gain Muscle 2) Get Stronger 3) Lose Fat.

Who do you want to look like?

The variables that we are going to work with are reps, weight and rest.  

Gain Muscle

This happens to be my goal and it can be achieved with varying rep ranges, but the ideal rep range for hypertrophy is 6-12 reps using a weight which is 67-85% of your One-Rep Max (1RM)⁽¹⁾.  When I first started training, I had the good fortune of having a family member who was a Bodybuilder back in the 80’s and he gave me a super simple routine which was very successful for me.  3 sets of 8-12 reps, 3 exercises per session, Monday through Friday (Chest, Back, Legs, Shoulders, Arms).  I did that routine for 12 months and went from 178LBS to 228LBS!!!  Truth be told, some of that was adipose tissue, but I gained a great deal of muscle and saw tremendous gains in strength and size.  His recommendation was simple: “Go to failure every set and once you fail at 12 reps, increase the weight and start again at 8 reps and continue the process.”  For someone starting out, I would focus on Multi-joint exercises (i.e. Deadlift, Bench Press, Back Squat, etc.) and then work in single-joint exercises (e.g. Biceps curls, Triceps kickbacks, Seated Leg Raises, etc.) to increase work performed later on.  Multi-joint exercises induce a greater hormonal response and allow you to perform greater work capacity in less time.  As a quick example, a Deadlift set of 225LBS for 10 reps is 2,250 LBS of total work whereas Biceps Concentration Curls with a 40LB Dumbbell for 10 reps for each arm is 800 LBS of total work.  The Deadlift results in nearly 3 times more work performed and has an impact on many different muscle groups, not just the arms.  Here is the routine and some examples of exercises which I did as a beginner with the goal of gaining muscle:

Get Stronger

A lot of times people confuse gaining muscle and getting stronger.  While a Strength-focused routine will also get you more muscular and a Hypertrophy-focused routine will also get you stronger, to optimize each goal individually requires a different set/rep scheme.  The ideal rep range for Strength is less than 6 reps using a weight which is >85% of your One-Rep Max (1RM)⁽¹⁾.  The prime example of someone focused exclusively on getting stronger is a Powerlifter.  In competition, a Powerlifter will perform the Bench Press, Barbell Back Squat and Deadlift and the sum total of the 3 highest weights lifted is their total for the competition.  The goal of a Powerlifter is to continually increase their PR (personal record) in each of the 3 lifts (Bench, Squat and Deadlift).  As I mentioned earlier, you will gain muscle with a Strength routine, but there are many examples of incredibly strong people who are not all that big and in many cases, guys want to be the Strongest in a particular weight class so they will want to become stronger without getting bigger.  Personally, I find Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 Routine to be incredibly effective if your goal is to Get Stronger.  I used the 5/3/1 Routine and it is very simple and effective.  I increased my PR’s in the Bench, Squat and Deadlift and don’t know of anyone who has not had success with this routine. 

The premise of 5/3/1 is this:

1) Basic multi-joint lifts – The routine is built around 4 core lifts, the bench press, back squat, deadlift, and standing barbell press.

2) Start light – starting light allows for more room to progress going forward.

3) Progress slowly – it takes time to make significant progress and by starting light and progressing slowly you will make greater gains in the long run. 

4) Break personal records – the program allows you to break PR’s throughout the course of a year.  This is more geared towards rep records and not one rep max.  If you go from lifting 300LBS for 6 reps to 300LBS for 10 reps, you are stronger.

In 5/3/1, you train three or four days a week with each workout centered around one of the 4 core lifts (bench, squat, deadlift or press).  The percentages below are multiplied by 90% of your 1RM, each training cycle lasts four weeks, the fourth week is a de-load week and the following are the set-rep goals for each major lift:

Then you start the next cycle, using slightly heavier weights on the core lifts and you continue to get Stronger and progress forward, simple yet effective.  Let’s use a simple example with the Shoulder Press.  If your 1RM is 110LBS then 90% of that is about 100LBS.  That is the number which the percentages will be multiplied by throughout:

At the end of Week 4, you increase each of the weights in the table and continue to progress forward.  Follow this process with each of the 4 lifts (e.g.  Monday = Deadlift, Tuesday = Bench, Thursday = Squat, Friday = Shoulder Press)

Lose Fat

In order to lose fat, you need to maximize the amount of work done in a small amount of time.  The surest way to accomplish that is to decrease the rest periods between sets.  In order to burn fat, you need to cause your body to require so much energy that ATP and glycogen are completely used up and then fat stores are targeted.  Incomplete recovery, as a result of little rest, will ensure that you utilize fat stores for energy because you generate EPOC.  EPOC (Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption) is an increased rate of oxygen intake after performing very demanding or strenuous activity (e.g. tabata protocol, interval training or complexes) to erase the oxygen debt and return the body back to where it was at rest before the exercise was performed.  EPOC increases the body’s demand for fuel so, fat stores are broken down and released into the blood, hence, EPOC = fat loss.

My current routine is geared towards fat loss; it is a metabolic routine which focuses on compound movements with only 45 seconds of rest between sets.  The weights that you use will come down, but by the end of the workout, you WILL be CRUSHED!!!

To optimize the achievement of any one of these three goals, you need to make sure that you get enough sleep.  My best results, regardless of my goal, have occurred when I have gotten plenty of sound restful sleep (7-9 hours).  Follow my advice and Muscular, Strong or Lean will one day describe YOU!!!

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References:

1)      Baechle, Thomas R and Earle, Roger W. “Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning” 3rd Edition. Champaign, Illinois: Human Kinetics. 2008. Pgs. 401-408.

 
Looking at the top 5:  Average Height = 6 ft 1 in, Average Weight = 190 lbs, Average Drive = 308.9 yds.  I think that it is safe to say that none of the above have ever been mistaken for Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno or Mr. Olympia AND I doubt anyone has ever asked any of them how much they can bench, squat or deadlift.  The point I am making here is that these are not the biggest and strongest guys so, you wouldn’t suspect that they can crush a 300 yard drive.  So, what’s their secret?

Arnold is Bigger & Stronger, but JB Holmes drives it longer!!!

Whereas most other sports require you to move back and forth or side to side, golf requires that you twist.  Hence, most sports operate in the Sagittal plane (forwards & backwards) and Frontal plane (up, down and side to side), but Golf operates in the Transverse plane (rotational)

While Core Strength and Flexibility are important for golf, Strength and Flexibility in the Transverse Plane is the SECRET to hitting the long ball!!!  The only problem is, most sports and most lifts are of the push / pull variety.  The “core barbell lifts” (bench, squat and deadlift) don’t lend themselves to any rotation whatsoever.  What other sports are similar in movement to golf?  Football? Nope…Baseball? Kinda, but not really…Basketball? Nope…I GOT IT!!!  THROWING EVENTS IN TRACK AND FIELD!!!  The Hammer, Discus and Shotput all involve movement in the Transverse plane and require more strength and explosive power than golf.  While it is a very niche area of training, I am fortunate to be friends with a Strength Coach who is an expert on training for the throwing events, Matt Ellis of Primal Athlete Training Center in Cranston, Rhode Island.  Matt was a thrower in High School and College and his primary focus at Primal ATC is training throwers.  Matt and I are HTKA Brothers and he is a guy who eats, sleeps and breathes the throwing events.

I reached out to Matt to pick his brain on training in the transverse plane and instead of just answering my questions over the phone or via e-mail, Matt was cool enough to put together a great video which includes advice and exercises for Building Strength and Flexibility in the Transverse Plane.  Golfers and Throwers are both trying to produce power and torque through the transverse plane.  To crush a long drive or be a good thrower, you need to produce a lot of rotational torque through the body and the hips.  The goal for a thrower or a golfer is to keep their feet stationary and turn their hips and shoulders as far as possible to generate the most torque.  So, while it is important to be strong in the hips, core, lower back and glutes, you MUST be flexible as well.  It is not just about the mid-section being strong; it also has to be super flexible to generate a massive amount of rotational torque and power.

Watch Matt Ellis show us 3 exercises to improve strength and flexibility in the transverse plane:

1) Seesaw press with Kettlebells
Grab two kettlebells (one in each hand) in the rack position.  Since our goal is to move a small implement as quickly as possible (golf club, shotput, etc.), we are focusing on using lighter weights so we can generate explosive power.  With your feet a little more narrow than shoulder width, rotate your upper body while pressing one kettlebell overhead and keeping the kettlebell on the non-rotating side in the rack position.  Finish looking behind yourself with the line of your shoulders at a 90 degree angle to the line of your feet.  Rotate back to facing forward while bringing the kettlebell back to the rack position and do the same movement going the other way.  Perform exercise as one fluid motion rotating left and right.

2) Side Snatch with a Kettlebell
Get into position to perform a kettlebell snatch with the kettlebell between your feet, back flat and knees bent.  Start out with the Kettlebell on the inside of one leg (e.g. INSIDE LEFT FOOT), grab it with the hand of the opposite side (e.g. RIGHT HAND), load the hips and drive your feet into the floor using your legs and upper body to explosively lift the Kettlebell overhead to the opposite side (e.g. RIGHT SIDE ABOVE SHOULDER) with arm at full extension.  For example, the Kettlebell would be on the inside of your left foot, you would reach across and down, grab it with your right hand and perform a snatch to the right side.

3) Russian Twists with a Thick Rope through a Kettlebell
 Matt learned this exercise from World Class Hammer Thrower Koji Murofushi of Japan.  Loop a thick rope (2-3 inch diameter) through a Kettlebell, put feet and hips on a flat bench, with elbows tucked in tight to the body, use core and upper body to lift the thick rope and Kettlebell up off the ground and over your body to the other side and bring it down without having it touch the floor.  Continue motion side to side in a rhythmic fashion.  This exercise forces our feet to stay on the bench and it is forcing our upper body to twist.  As long as we keep the elbows by the ribs, we can turn properly and increase flexibility through the hips and the mid-section while increasing strength.  We are not working on moving a heavy weight slowly; we are working on moving a medium-sized weight as fast as possible.  This increases the strength in our core AND our flexibility.  This will carry over to the golf course and the shotput circle.

To learn more about Matt Ellis and his unique methods for training Discus, Shotput and Hammer Throwers, visit Primal Athlete Training Center here: http://www.primalatc.com/

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490BC – Pheidippides, a messenger by trade, runs 25 miles from Marathon to Athens to deliver news of a Greek victory.  After delivering the message, he collapses and dies at the age of 40.

7/20/84 – Jim Fixx, author of “The Complete Book of Running”, drops dead of a heart attack at the age of 52.  Dr. Eleanor N. McQuillen, Vermont’s chief medical examiner who performed an autopsy on Mr. Fixx, said in an interview that all three of his coronary arteries were damaged by arteriosclerosis, the underlying cause of heart attacks.

3/19/04 – Brian Leigh Maxwell, an avid marathoner and founder of PowerBar dies of a heart attack at 51 years old. 

12/19/04 – Greg Marr, Editor of Silent Sports magazine and an avid runner, dies unexpectedly while skiing at Iola Winter Sports Center in Iola, Wisconsin. While skiing, Marr collapsed as the result of a heart attack. He was only 52 years old and in excellent physical condition.

Those are just a few of the many examples and those don’t include individuals who had heart attacks but did not die.  All of the aforementioned cases were of individuals in peak physical condition, with no genetic abnormality (e.g. enlarged heart) and were avid distance runners and marathoners.  None of these cases involved an out of shape individual who ran all out on a whim and suffered a heart attack.  How do seemingly “fit” individuals drop dead at a relatively young age?  The activity they thought was increasing their life span ultimately cut it short. 

Long Distance running can induce arrhythmia
 An arrhythmia is also known as an irregular heartbeat.  When a heart beats irregularly, it can either beat too slow (bradyarrhythmia – less than 50 beats per minute) or too fast (tachyarrhythmia – faster than 100 beats per minute).⁽¹⁾  “Athletes with no discernible danger can be susceptible to arrhythmias, especially during runs of 15 miles or more. On long runs you can become significantly dehydrated, leading to changes in the blood’s levels of potassium, magnesium, and calcium.  These chemicals play a vital role in starting and conducting electrical impulses in the heart.”⁽²⁾ An arrhythmia can lead to cardiac arrest and ultimately death.  Notice the key statement above (15 miles or more), we aren’t talking about a jog around the block.

Long distance running INCREASES coronary plaque buildup
Based on the multitude of treadmills at the average gym, the idea of jogging endlessly gives the impression that you are “getting in some cardio” and that “your heart will thank you”.  Two recent studies show that is NOT the case.  One study, administered at the West-German Heart Center Essen, focused on male marathoners age 50 and up.  Among the study’s findings, while the runners had lower than average cholesterol levels and better blood pressure, they had more measurable coronary calcium buildup or plaque than the general population.  In the study, German scientists scanned the hearts of 108 experienced, male distance runners in their 50s, 60s and 70s.  The runners had completed a minimum of 5 marathons in the previous 3 years.  When the researchers studied the runners’ scan results, they found that more than a third of the men showed evidence of significant calcification or plaque build-up in their heart arteries.  Several also had scarring of some of the tissue in their hearts.  The researchers stated, “In our study regular marathon running seems not to protect runners (from coronary artery disease).  In fact, we even cannot exclude the possibility that exercise to this degree has deleterious effects on coronary arteries.”⁽³⁾

A second study of 25 middle-aged male runners, each of whom had completed the Twin Cities Marathon annually for the past 25 consecutive years, demonstrated they had significantly greater mean volumes of coronary calcified plaque than did age-matched sedentary controls.  The lead researcher, Dr. Jonathan Schwartz said, “The bottom line here is just because you run a lot of marathons and you’re very active doesn’t mean you’re protected from coronary artery calcification.  Benefits to long-term, high-volume endurance training for overall health include favorable body mass index, heart rate, and lipid panel, but these may be counterbalanced by metabolic and mechanical factors that enhance coronary plaque growth.”⁽⁴⁾  Coronary plaque reduces blood flow which can result in a heart attack and if a piece breaks off, one may suffer a stroke.  Heart attacks and strokes usually result in various forms of irreparable damage and often result in death.

Long distance running increases the buildup of scar tissue in and around the heart
A recent study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology⁽⁵⁾ examined the incidence of myocardial fibrosis (scar tissue in and around the heart) in veteran lifelong endurance athletes.  The study involved 12 veteran athletes ages 50-67, 20 age-matched controls (non-athletes) ages 52-69 and 17 younger endurance athletes ages 26-40.  50% of the veteran endurance athletes had scar tissue in and around their heart versus ZERO in the younger athletes and the non-athletes who were the same age.  As stated in the study, “The affected men were, in each case, those who’d trained the longest and hardest.  Spending more years exercising strenuously or completing more marathon or ultramarathon (>50 miles) races was, in this study, associated with a greater likelihood of heart damage.”⁽⁵⁾  Scar tissue is rigid and can cause the heart to beat irregularly and ultimately lead to heart failure.  A recent study in laboratory rats⁽⁶⁾, showed a link between certain kinds of prolonged exercise and heart damage.  For the study, published in the journal Circulation, scientists had young, healthy male rats run at an intense pace, day after day, for three months (10 years in human terms).  The training was designed to mimic many years of serious marathon training in humans.  The rats had begun the study with perfectly normal hearts.  At the end of the 3 months, heart scans showed that most of the rats had developed scarring and some structural changes, similar to the changes seen in the human endurance athletes.  A control group of unexercised rats had developed no such changes to their hearts.

I know what some of you are saying, “I am not running marathons for a living, I just want to do one!” OR “I have ran a marathon a few times, what’s the big deal?”  Did you know that the stress placed on your body after just one marathon can produce inflammation and negative effects that last for up to 3 months!!!  Dr. Eric Larose told the 2010 Canadian Cardiovascular Congress, “…marathon running can damage your heart.  Fortunately the exercise-induced injury is reversible over time, but it could take up to three months to completely recover.”⁽⁷⁾

Marathoner vs Sprinter: which would you rather look like?

The fact of the matter is that our bodies were not meant to run long distances for long periods of time.  At the end of the day, we are animals.  Have you ever watched the Discovery Channel or observed animals before?  If you have then, you would notice that the vast majority of the time they are resting.  Whether it is your dog, your cat or the lion hanging out in the Serengeti in Africa, the vast majority of the time, they are relaxing.  When they do move to catch pray or avoid a predator, they sprint.  This activity does not happen often or for prolonged periods, it is only when necessary.  Their “exercise” involves short intense bursts not long slow movements such as jogging.

You don’t see him jogging for hours on end

The intent of this article is not to justify being lazy or sitting and doing nothing.  Most folks in America don’t have the problem of too much exercise, but rather too little.  What I don’t want to see is you wasting your time doing distance running when you can get better results in less time, all without damaging your heart.  The best part is that you can gain muscle AND burn fat rather than look like a skinny weakling!!!  Tune in next time to find out the cardio that you SHOULD be doing.

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References:

1) Robert J Bryg, MD. “Heart Disease and Abnormal Heart Rhythm (Arrhythmia)”, Published on 3/7/09, Accessed on 3/25/11. http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/guide/heart-disease-abnormal-heart-rhythm

2) Jennifer Pirtle. “The Heart of a Runner”, Runner’s World magazine. August 2004.

3) Breuckmann F, Möhlenkamp S, Nassenstein K, Lehmann N, Ladd S, Schmermund A, et al. “Myocardial late gadolinium enhancement: prevalence, pattern, and prognostic relevance in marathon runners”, Radiology. April 2009 251:50-57.

4) Schwartz JG, Merkel-Kraus S, Duval S, et al. “Does elite athleticism enhance or inhibit coronary artery plaque formation”. American College of Cardiology 2010 Scientific Sessions; March 16, 2010; Atlanta, GA.

5) Wilson MG, O’Hanlon R, Prasad S, Deighan A, Macmillan P, Oxborough D, et al.  “Diverse patterns of myocardial fibrosis in lifelong, veteran endurance athletes”, Journal of Applied Physiology. Published online 2/17/11. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21330616

6) Begoña Benito, MD; Gemma Gay-Jordi, PhD; Anna Serrano-Mollar, PhD; Eduard Guasch, MD; Yanfen Shi, MD; Jean-Claude Tardif, MD, et al. “Cardiac Arrhythmogenic Remodeling in a Rat Model of Long-Term Intensive Exercise Training”, Circulation. 2011;123:13-22. Published online before print December 20, 2010.

7) Dr. Eric Larose. “Marathons damage the hearts of less fit runners for up to 3 months”, Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2010; October 25, 2010; Montreal, Quebec.

A weight belt doesn’t have any magical powers, it is not a fashion statement and if you aren’t lifting more than your bodyweight and you are using good form then, don’t bother with a weight belt.  People walk around the gym like they just pinned Hulk Hogan at Wrestlemania and they are pimping the Championship Belt.  I have seen people do sit ups with a weight belt on, YES, you read that right, SIT UPS!!!  If your back is so fragile that not wearing a weight belt will result in paralysis or an inability to stand then, you probably shouldn’t be exercising with weights in the first place.

"I need the belt back Hulk, I have a crazy set of sit-ups to do."

2) TOO Much CORE work
Don’t spend so much time doing ab work.

I see some individuals spending 30-50% of their entire workout doing abs.  WTF is wrong with these people???  The people who think training abs alone will give you great abs are the same people who think that eating fat makes you fat.  This is a case of “monkey see, monkey do” because if you walk into any commercial gym, you will see more ab devices than you can shake a stick at.  I guess the Squat Racks and Texas Power Bars must be on backorder J 

One time I did a Boot Camp and there were about a dozen stations with various exercises including: overhead presses, goblet squats, pushups, hip bridges, etc.  Afterwards one of the guys came up to me and said, “I thought that was good, but I would like more CORE work.”  Before I continue, let me tell you about this guy.  He is about 5 feet 5inches tall, probably weighs close to 200 LBS and has a beer belly that would make Homer Simpson proud. 

Me:  “Did any of those exercises work your CORE?” 

Beer Belly:  “Nope.” 

Me:  “Hmmmm…so, your CORE was not engaged when you did overhead presses, squats, pushups, etc….Actually, ALL of those worked your CORE!!!  The CORE may not have been the primary focus in each exercise, but it provided the stability your body needed to properly perform each exercise.  See the problem is that you have some fat blocking your CORE and all of the CORE work in the world isn’t going to show your abs.  You need to lose fat for that.  Losing fat is a function of conditioning and diet.  I would work on those before worrying about direct CORE work.”

Beer Belly:  [Blank Stare]

In this guy’s defense, the average individual needs to be better educated about diet and exercise; any professional in the Strength & Conditioning field will tell you that.  His education regarding the human body came from the advertisement of the fifty different ab devices that get paraded around on infomercials at 3AM.

This is NOT the secret to having visible abs

If and when you DO perform direct CORE work, do it RIGHT!!!  A reverse sit up (lie flat on back and bring your knees to your chest) only involves movement of the LOWER half of your body!!!  I can’t tell you how many people I see with their butt on a bench and they perform a quasi reverse sit up where their chest meets their knees in mid-air with both halves moving.  It looks like me trying to open and close a beach chair at the Jersey Shore!!!

If you are performing multi-joint compound exercises (i.e. Squat, Deadlift, etc.) then, you are working your abdominals.  This is not to say that you should never do any direct ab work.  There is a time and a place for doing some reverse sit-ups, hanging leg raise, sit-ups on a decline bench with a weight plate on your chest, etc., but these are SECONDARY or “assistance” exercises.  If your abs are the weak link preventing you from increasing your Deadlift or weak abs are causing you to lean forward or round your back in the middle of a squat then, that needs to be addressed, but abs are not an area that requires you to spend 20% or more of your training time on.  Your abdominals provide your body with stability in just about every other exercise that you perform so, they already receive a tremendous amount of attention.  If you can’t see your abs, focus more on tightening up your diet and do more conditioning work.

3) Inefficient Conditioning Methods
I love looking at the lost souls jogging on the treadmills with their potbellies, complete and total lack of muscle mass and faces that looks like the mask from Scream. 

“Jogging, one of life’s pleasures!”

I don’t know who started the movement to “get on a treadmill and jog for hours on end”, but if I ever meet them, I will smash a 45 LB plate over their head.  I don’t know about you, but the thought of jogging on a treadmill for a long period of time makes me want to go insane.  I am not going to get into a big diatribe about interval training being better for fat loss than jogging; that is for a different time.  My main focus is TIME.  I always want the best results in the fastest time possible.  I also get bored easily so, I can’t wrap my mind around jogging for 30-60 minutes.  When I want to get in some conditioning work, I either do Sled pushes / pulls or Complexes.

a) Sled Work
Anyone who has played football, especially on the offensive or defensive line, knows what it is like to push a sled.  The good news is that the sled work that I am referring to doesn’t involve you wearing pads in 90 degree heat with a Coach standing on the back saying that his mother can do better and she is in a wheelchair. 

There are various types of Sleds including the famous “Prowler” from EliteFTS, but really any sled which allows you to load it with weight plates will do.  Pushing or pulling a sled not only challenges your entire body, but it will ramp up your heart rate, get you breathing heavy and push you to the limit of your mental and physical ability.

“Push me, I dare you.” – Prowler

b) Complexes
I think the best description of complexes was given by Strength Coach Dan John: “A complex is a series of lifts back to back where you finish the reps of one lift before moving on to the next lift.  The barbell only leaves your hand or touches the floor after ALL of the lifts are completed.”  Complexes can be performed with dumbbells, kettlebells or a barbell.  I prefer to use a barbell. 

Complexes allow you to burn fat AND build muscle at the same time.  The key to setting up a complex is to ensure that the lifts logically follow one another in terms of body parts trained (i.e. don’t do 2 of the same parts in a row) and ensure that the weight is based on the weight you would use in the WEAKEST of the exercises (e.g. use the weight that you would shoulder press NOT the weight that you would Back Squat)

Performing Complexes is like doing interval training without running.  Similar to interval training, Complexes produce EPOC (Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption).  EPOC is an increased rate of oxygen intake after performing very demanding or strenuous activity (e.g. interval training or complexes) to erase the oxygen debt and return the body back to where it was at rest before the exercise was performed.  EPOC increases the body’s demand for fuel so, fat stores are broken down and released into the blood, hence, EPOC = fat loss.

Here are a couple examples of complexes that you can try:

Complex #1:
Upright Row,
Snatch,
Back Squat,
Shoulder Press,
Bent-Over Row

Complex #2:
Deadlift,
Bent-Over Row,
Power Clean,
Front Squat,
Push Press,
Back Squat,
Upright Row,
Snatch

Perform 6-8 reps (depending on the weight) or do a pyramid (4-3-2-1-2-3-4) where you perform ALL exercises at a certain number of reps and then repeat (i.e. 4 reps of each exercise (Deadlift through Snatch) then 3 reps of each and so on)

Rest 60-90s and repeat.  It only takes about 8-10 minutes to be completely CRUSHED.

Sled Work and Complexes are more effective and efficient than jogging on a treadmill and they are both more challenging and fun too!

4) Routine does not match Goals or Ability level
Your routine (training regimen) is dependent upon your ability level and your goal.

I have seen both ends of the spectrum on this one.  It usually involves a very skinny person or a very overweight person.  They are doing body part splits like a Bodybuilder, yet, they cannot perform pushups, pull-ups or dips with their bodyweight using good form.

Ability level
Whenever I am dealing with someone for the first time, no matter what their condition or ability level, I always make sure that they can do basic bodyweight exercises with proper form.  How can you squat 300 LBS if you can’t do a deep (hams to calves) bodyweight squat with good form?  You always need to build a solid foundation.  Once you have a strong foundation and the basic movements are fundamentally sound then, you can start loading the exercise.

Goals
If someone wants to lose weight, jumping into a Bodybuilding routine with body part splits is not the most sensible way to accomplish that goal.  Frankly, even if someone wants to get huge, I wouldn’t start them out with a traditional Bodybuilding routine until they were very good with the basic compound movements:  Bench Press, Back Squat, Deadlift.  Those lifts give you the best bang for your buck and allow you to put on a good deal of lean mass very quickly.  Your goals should define your routine.  The “I want to be a FREAK” routine is different from the “I want to be lean and look good naked” routine.  Though there are some overlaps, each goal and the routine which will best accomplish that goal efficiently and effectively are different

Using a weight belt too often, doing way too much CORE work, jogging on a treadmill for conditioning and having the wrong routine are just a few of the common mistakes that I see on a daily basis at the gym.  Avoid the mistakes I mentioned above and follow the aforementioned advice and you will accomplish your goals more efficiently and effectively.

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I think of a badass supreme killing machine and I am glad they are fighting for our country.  Other thoughts that come to mind are their elite level of fitness, superior combat skills, and ability to fight at the highest levels under any and all conditions.

The strength & conditioning of a Navy Seal is second to none and they don’t have a mobile weight room.  Navy Seals find themselves on ships pretty often and, as you can imagine, it is not so easy to do any sort of weight training while your environment is moving back and forth. Because of this, the majority of their strength training is done with bodyweight exercises.  Realizing the difficulty of training on the move, but understanding the need to stay in top physical condition, Randy Hetrick created the TRX® Suspension Training System.

He developed it so he and his teammates could work out on a ship, in the woods and just about anywhere.  Ironically, the name of the Company he created which sells the TRX® is called Fitness Anywhere, Inc.!!!  As stated on the Company Website: “The original TRX® ® was a training harness – a few lengths of parachute webbing hand-stitched together by boat repair tools.”  The current model is an improvement over the original, but the concept remains the same.  While I have used the TRX® numerous times, I wanted to find out everything that this training system had to offer so, I took part in an all day TRX® Suspension Training Course.

There are 3 advantages which I feel the TRX® Suspension Training System provides over most other training implements:

1) It allows you to train in all 3 planes of motion
2) The difficulty level can be increased / decreased quickly and easily
3) It allows you to train almost anywhere

Allow me to elaborate:
1) Ability to train in all 3 planes of motion (sagittal (forwards & backwards), frontal (up and down) and transverse (rotational))

While I am a big advocate of traditional multi-joint barbell exercises to gain strength and size (e.g. bench press, back squat, rowing, shoulder press & deadlift); these movements do not mimic some of the key motions which athletes need to develop.  Traditional barbell exercises are done mostly in the sagittal (e.g. bench press and row) and frontal (e.g. shoulder press) planes.  This will limit the total development of an athlete since neural patterns for actions such as throwing (the body rotates in the transverse plane), swinging (baseball and golf) and side to side movements (e.g. a defender in basketball) are not learned, nor able to be practiced, within the range of motion of traditional barbell movements.  This is where the value of a TRX® is realized since these athletic movements can be targeted.

There are six positions relative to the TRX®:
1. Stand facing towards the anchor point (TRX® Elevated Back Row)
2. Stand facing away from the anchor point (TRX® Chest Press)
3. Stand sideways to the anchor point (TRX® Standing Hip Drop)
4. Prone (TRX® Atomic Push-Up)
5. Supine (TRX® Hip Press)
6. Lying Sideways (TRX® Side Plank)

Images courtesy of Fitness Anywhere Inc.

2) Ability to increase / decrease the level of difficulty quickly and easily
To increase the resistance, move further away from the anchor point.
To decrease the resistance, move closer to the anchor point.

Resistance can be altered by changing the position of your feet:
1) Staggered (one foot slightly in front, the other slightly behind) = MOST STABLE
2) Side to Side
3) Together
4) One Leg = LEAST STABLE

The less stable you are, the more you engage your CORE in order to maintain balance.  Altering your feet really adds a great abdominal component to any exercise.

It is pretty easy to see how the TRX® can be great for people of average ability, yet made challenging enough for Professional Athletes by altering the resistance.

3) Ability to train anywhere
As long as you have something to wrap the TRX® around, you are in business!  Indoors you can get the door attachment and once you close and lock the door the TRX® is ready for use and Outdoors a sturdy tree branch, jungle gym or rack on top of a truck / SUV will do just fine for anchoring.  It is easy to carry around and weighs less than 2 LBS yet it can support users up to 350 LBS.

As I mentioned above, I am a big advocate of traditional multi-joint barbell exercises to gain strength and size though I find tremendous value in the TRX® for achieving total development.  Personally, I find the TRX® useful for metabolic circuits since you can change positions very quickly and you can target the entire body.  With dozens of different exercises for the Upper body, Lower body and CORE, the TRX® is a great total body training tool that can be utilized to mix up your workouts and provide you and your clients with an incredible challenge.

To learn more about the TRX® Suspension Training System: click here

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If you answered “A lot more money than me!”, you are correct, but the answer I am looking for is, “They are all trained by Todd Durkin.”  Not a bad group of guys to have on your resume

Who Dat? 2009 NFL MVP Drew Brees performs a TRX plank with Todd Durkin

What is Todd Durkin’s “secret”?
A:  It goes beyond knowledge and has everything to do with I.M.P.A.C.T.  IMPACT is the combination of a philosophy on life and training.

IMPACT is an acronym that Todd created; the following is an explanation:
I = Live INSPIRED –
Talk from your heart and soul
Stay inspired by writing down goals and planning ways to achieve them
Inspire others by giving more and acknowledging those around you

M = MASTER YOUR CRAFT –
Become great at what you do and the money will come
Hone in on your niche
Continue to invest in yourself

P = PLAY at World Class Levels –
Be persistent and mentally tough
Always have faith and believe in yourself
Surround yourself by the best and it will make you better

A = ACTION -
Every day have a “To Do List” and DO IT!
Have a daily, weekly and long-term list of 5 things you are going to do

C = CONDITIONING –
The way you train is the way you live
Your 2 most precious resources are 1) Your physical energy and 2) Your mental focus

T = Be TENACIOUS

I can tell you firsthand that Todd practices what he preaches.  When you talk to him, you feel like you are the only person in the room and Todd is the kind of guy that could motivate you to be excited about raking a pile of leaves!  The ability to listen and motivate are KEY elements of success in coaching and Todd has both.

I experienced the “C” in IMPACT when I went through Todd’s “Impact Challenge” Metabolic Circuit and it is BEASTLY!!!

IMPACT CHALLENGE – as many reps as possible for 60 seconds then rest 60 seconds
1) Jam Ball Slams
2) Bosu Release Pushups
3) Rows with the TRX Suspension Trainer
4) Jump Rope with a Heavy Rope (pretty sure it was a 10 LB rope)
5) Heavy Rope Slams

The Impact Challenge Metabolic Circuit utilizes the same philosophy as High Intensity Interval Training to increase metabolic stress through incomplete recovery.  Bouts of high intensity exercise (i.e. above lactate threshold) results in an increase in growth hormone secretion⁽¹⁾.  Growth hormone is lipolytic (i.e. burns fat) hence, high intensity exercise helps burn fat⁽²⁾.

To learn more about Todd Durkin: click here
Check out Todd’s book, “The IMPACT! Body Plan”:
The IMPACT! Body Plan: Build New Muscle, Flatten Your Belly & Get Your Mind Right!

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References:

(1) Nancy E. Felsing, Jo Anne Brasel, and Dan M. Cooper, Effect of Low and High Intensity Exercise on Circulating Growth Hormone in Men, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. 1992; Vol. 75, No. 1: pg. 160.
(2) Malin Ottosson, Peter Lonnroth, Per Bjorntorp, and Staffan Eden, Effects of Cortisol and Growth Hormone on Lipolysis in Human Adipose Tissue, Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. 2000; Vol. 85, No. 2: pgs. 801-802.