My good friend Terrance Florence is holding a basketball camp this week and I was lucky enough to have time to help him out and do some speed, agility, quickness and strength training with his group of around 50 kids.
Here is the rundown of what we did yesterday, from 10:30 to about 11:50, with some descriptions:
Muscle activation warm-up - the group had been running through skills like shooting off the dribble prior to me starting so a full warm-up wasn't necessary. Activation exercises targeted the hips and glutes.
Vertical jumps - focus was on sticking the landing in the right position.
Wall drives and arm swings - acceleration technique.
Ball drop drills - focus on first step quickness, removing the false start and acceleration. We did these from a number of different starting positions.
Slide variations - I like progressing from closed chain (classic lane slides) to open chain (mirror drill or coach direction).
Strengthening - This was more of a talk than anything. We went over how to do YTA's and the importance of upper back strengthening. I talked about squatting, how low one needs to go, the importance of attaining a full range of motion and how to achieve a full ROM if you aren't currently there. We went over proper push up and single leg deadlift form. We finished with my favorite plank circuit that I got from Coach Cantor during my time at UMBC.
I will be back on Wednesday to do the same thing so I will post what I do with the campers. Overall, day one was great. The kids were receptive and worked hard.
Thanks for reading!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, May 23, 2011
Basketball Players Need to Work the Squat
After working with and taking the basketball players of the Albany Legends and the Siena Saints through the Functional Movement Screen, I've become aware of a common theme: basketball players have horrible hips.
This isn't surprising to me, as I had hip issues my entire career and still deal with my hips lacking flexibility and mobility.
It becomes a real problem when half of the players on a team complain of sore, tight or strained hip flexors. So here is the first few steps to opening up the hips, which should result in better movement and mobility in a crucial joint for any athlete.
Foam/PVC/Lax ball roll your hips. This is the best thing you can do for the tissues surrounding the hip. It will likely be very painful at first, but thats a good thing. It means there is restrictions in the muscle that can get better with work. Do this for a few minutes per side before you stretch.
Stretch your hip flexors. After rolling them out, stretch the hips by dropping into a lunge position, keeping an upright torso, and pushing forward on the front foot. Squeeze the glute on the leg that is back and then turn the torso to the side of the leg that is forward. To make this an even better stretch, put the shin and foot of the back leg flat on a wall, or if that is too much put the foot on a chair or bench. What we are looking for here is to get the back leg into actual extension. When you see athletes doing more of a shuffle down the court and not flexing and extending the leg at the hip, its likely that the hip flexors are the cause.
Get comfortable sitting in the squat position. This means finding something to hang on to, whether its a door frame, or anything to stop you from falling backwards while you sit in a full squat position. The key to this is to make sure you are keeping a flat back, upright torso and really trying to push your hips forward. Also, make sure you are sitting in between your knees, not over top of them (thank you Dan John for that great coaching cue).
Next, you will want to use a counterweight to help you sit in this position. Start with a dumbbell or kettlebell of about 20-30 lbs and as you squat, push the weight out in front of you. Work on bringing the weight into your body so that eventually you can sit down with the weight at your chest comfortably.
All of this is to get you to the point where you can sit in a squat position by yourself, no weight, no assistance, with a flat back, without feeling a crazy stretch.
Let me make this one point. Once you get to this range of motion, it doesn't mean you should be squatting with weight to full depth. Mark Rippetoe made a great point that at a certain depth your lower back has to relax to get this low. The last thing we want is for your lower back to relax with a heavy load compressing it. Squat depth is another blog for another time.
Even after a week or so of working on your tissue quality and in this new range of motion, you should feel like you are able to move better in the squat and when running.
The next blog will be about the corrective exercises I have used to get the sequencing of the body back to how it should be (activate the core first, then everything else can contract or relax).
Leave any questions or comments on the fb page. Thanks for reading!
This isn't surprising to me, as I had hip issues my entire career and still deal with my hips lacking flexibility and mobility.
It becomes a real problem when half of the players on a team complain of sore, tight or strained hip flexors. So here is the first few steps to opening up the hips, which should result in better movement and mobility in a crucial joint for any athlete.
Foam/PVC/Lax ball roll your hips. This is the best thing you can do for the tissues surrounding the hip. It will likely be very painful at first, but thats a good thing. It means there is restrictions in the muscle that can get better with work. Do this for a few minutes per side before you stretch.
Stretch your hip flexors. After rolling them out, stretch the hips by dropping into a lunge position, keeping an upright torso, and pushing forward on the front foot. Squeeze the glute on the leg that is back and then turn the torso to the side of the leg that is forward. To make this an even better stretch, put the shin and foot of the back leg flat on a wall, or if that is too much put the foot on a chair or bench. What we are looking for here is to get the back leg into actual extension. When you see athletes doing more of a shuffle down the court and not flexing and extending the leg at the hip, its likely that the hip flexors are the cause.
Get comfortable sitting in the squat position. This means finding something to hang on to, whether its a door frame, or anything to stop you from falling backwards while you sit in a full squat position. The key to this is to make sure you are keeping a flat back, upright torso and really trying to push your hips forward. Also, make sure you are sitting in between your knees, not over top of them (thank you Dan John for that great coaching cue).
Next, you will want to use a counterweight to help you sit in this position. Start with a dumbbell or kettlebell of about 20-30 lbs and as you squat, push the weight out in front of you. Work on bringing the weight into your body so that eventually you can sit down with the weight at your chest comfortably.
All of this is to get you to the point where you can sit in a squat position by yourself, no weight, no assistance, with a flat back, without feeling a crazy stretch.
Let me make this one point. Once you get to this range of motion, it doesn't mean you should be squatting with weight to full depth. Mark Rippetoe made a great point that at a certain depth your lower back has to relax to get this low. The last thing we want is for your lower back to relax with a heavy load compressing it. Squat depth is another blog for another time.
Even after a week or so of working on your tissue quality and in this new range of motion, you should feel like you are able to move better in the squat and when running.
The next blog will be about the corrective exercises I have used to get the sequencing of the body back to how it should be (activate the core first, then everything else can contract or relax).
Leave any questions or comments on the fb page. Thanks for reading!
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
4-Days a Week Strength Training Program
A few friends, both athletes and former athletes, have asked for a training program. Their goals are pretty much the same - some strength and some size. So here is a 4 day/week program using an upper/lower split. You can also do it as a 3 day/week program, cycling through the 4 days. This is very similar to what I have personally used in the past.
10 minute warm-up - a variety of foam rolling, calisthenics, stretching and mobility work
Day 1
A. Squat - 5x5 (for crying out loud, break parallel)
B. Lunge variation - 3x8/leg
C1. KB swing/Cable pull thru - 3x12-15
C2. core exercise of your choice - I like hanging from a pull up bar and doing knee or leg raises
D. High rep KB swings or short sprints
Day 2
A1. Bench press - 5x5
A2. pull up variation - 5xAMPRAP (As many perfect reps as possible, perfect being full range of motion and not reaching a point where you have to swing your legs to get higher)
B1. DB push press - 3x10
B2. Inverted/TRX rows - 3x12
C1. Face pulls - 3x15
C2. elbow flexion - 3x10-12
C3. elbow extension - 3x10-12
(your choice on C2 and C3)
D. push or pull a sled or run some hills for 15-30 minutes
Day 3
A. Deadlift - work up to a 5 rep max - 1 or 2 back down sets of 6-8 are ok too
B. DB step ups - 3x10/leg
C1. DB RDL - 3x12
C2. core exercise - Stability ball knee tucks/pikes or plank variation
D. High rep KB swings or short sprints
Day 4
A1. Low incline DB bench - 4x10
A2. 1 arm DB rows - 4x12
B1. BB military press - 3x8
B2. pull up variation - 3xAMPRAP
C1. Rear delt flyes w/ low cables or db's - 3x12
C2. dips - 3x12
C3. elbow flexion - 3x10-12
D. push or pull a sled or run some hills
You can also push or pull a sled on off days. Whatever works best for you. Personally, I like doing high rep kb snatches at the end of lower body days and hills or prowler pushes on off days or at the end of upper body days.
Any questions or comments, please leave them on my facebook wall. Thanks for reading!
10 minute warm-up - a variety of foam rolling, calisthenics, stretching and mobility work
Day 1
A. Squat - 5x5 (for crying out loud, break parallel)
B. Lunge variation - 3x8/leg
C1. KB swing/Cable pull thru - 3x12-15
C2. core exercise of your choice - I like hanging from a pull up bar and doing knee or leg raises
D. High rep KB swings or short sprints
Day 2
A1. Bench press - 5x5
A2. pull up variation - 5xAMPRAP (As many perfect reps as possible, perfect being full range of motion and not reaching a point where you have to swing your legs to get higher)
B1. DB push press - 3x10
B2. Inverted/TRX rows - 3x12
C1. Face pulls - 3x15
C2. elbow flexion - 3x10-12
C3. elbow extension - 3x10-12
(your choice on C2 and C3)
D. push or pull a sled or run some hills for 15-30 minutes
Day 3
A. Deadlift - work up to a 5 rep max - 1 or 2 back down sets of 6-8 are ok too
B. DB step ups - 3x10/leg
C1. DB RDL - 3x12
C2. core exercise - Stability ball knee tucks/pikes or plank variation
D. High rep KB swings or short sprints
Day 4
A1. Low incline DB bench - 4x10
A2. 1 arm DB rows - 4x12
B1. BB military press - 3x8
B2. pull up variation - 3xAMPRAP
C1. Rear delt flyes w/ low cables or db's - 3x12
C2. dips - 3x12
C3. elbow flexion - 3x10-12
D. push or pull a sled or run some hills
You can also push or pull a sled on off days. Whatever works best for you. Personally, I like doing high rep kb snatches at the end of lower body days and hills or prowler pushes on off days or at the end of upper body days.
Any questions or comments, please leave them on my facebook wall. Thanks for reading!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Albany Legends Off-Court Training
I recently became the strength and conditioning coach for the Albany Legends, a pro basketball team in the International Basketball League. I started the first couple weeks just doing some PNF stretching prior to games, but this week I've had the chance to work with them on some other stuff in the weight room. Here is what there week will look like.
Friday, Saturday, Sunday night games and Monday, Tuesday, Thursday practice
Monday - Lots of foam rolling, mobility, stretching, corrective exercise and core work.
Tuesday - Full body strength training.
Wednesday - Pool training.
Thursday - Upper body focused strength training with some light bodyweight stuff for the lower body, mostly forms of corrective exercise.
Today I had 4 of them go through 2 strength circuits. Because this was our first time working together and because they haven't done much as far as strength training in a while, we kept it pretty light, but they still worked hard.
We started with about 20 minutes of foam rolling, stretching, mobility and corrective work.
Here are the 2 circuits - we did both for 3 sets of 10-12 reps per set
A1. pullups
A2. goblet squats
A3. Wtd push ups with legs elevated
B1. TRX rows
B2. pump lunge with 25lb plate overhead
B3. Med ball alternating push up
We finished with this core circuit - went through it 2 times for 30 seconds at each position
front plank
right side plank
left side plank
on back, right knee to chest, left leg 6 inches over floor
on back, left knee to chest, right leg 6 inches over floor
(Thank you to Coach Cantor at UMBC for that core circuit)
I'll continue posting what these guys are doing. If you have any questions or comments, post them on fb. Thanks for reading!
Friday, Saturday, Sunday night games and Monday, Tuesday, Thursday practice
Monday - Lots of foam rolling, mobility, stretching, corrective exercise and core work.
Tuesday - Full body strength training.
Wednesday - Pool training.
Thursday - Upper body focused strength training with some light bodyweight stuff for the lower body, mostly forms of corrective exercise.
Today I had 4 of them go through 2 strength circuits. Because this was our first time working together and because they haven't done much as far as strength training in a while, we kept it pretty light, but they still worked hard.
We started with about 20 minutes of foam rolling, stretching, mobility and corrective work.
Here are the 2 circuits - we did both for 3 sets of 10-12 reps per set
A1. pullups
A2. goblet squats
A3. Wtd push ups with legs elevated
B1. TRX rows
B2. pump lunge with 25lb plate overhead
B3. Med ball alternating push up
We finished with this core circuit - went through it 2 times for 30 seconds at each position
front plank
right side plank
left side plank
on back, right knee to chest, left leg 6 inches over floor
on back, left knee to chest, right leg 6 inches over floor
(Thank you to Coach Cantor at UMBC for that core circuit)
I'll continue posting what these guys are doing. If you have any questions or comments, post them on fb. Thanks for reading!
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Off-Season Soccer Training
My time as a strength and conditioning coach at Averett (pronounced A-VER-ETTE)University has been invaluable. I feel that as a coach, getting on the court, field or weight room experience with athletes is the best way to learn how to teach. During my time I gained knowledge in the following areas:
- programming of in-season and pre-season athletic teams
- training programs that needed to be creative, due to equipment, size of the weight room, and number of athletes that needed to be trained in a timely manner
- working with coaches, discussing how their practices have been going to find the best times to hit the weights hard and when to back off a bit
- the cues and techniques that work best when teaching lifts
- proper progressions for athletes who have had little to no experience with strength training
Most importantly, the coaches trusted me in what I was doing and the teams bought in to the benefits of strength training.
There is no such thing as the perfect program, especially when your dealing with teams that numbered in the 30's. I know now that what I had the teams doing was ok, certainly better than nothing, and much more than other teams were doing. But as any coach should, I've continued to learn as much as I possibly can and my training style has changed accordingly.
I am still in contact with these coaches and continue to consult with them on their strength training. What follows is an outline of what I have sent to the women's soccer team at Averett. I was told that about half of the team will not have access to a weight room while they are home for the summer, so I will also be posting some training ideas of what I will give them with little equipment necessary.
Even though this is a program designed for female soccer players, I know it can be beneficial for men and women who are looking to gain strength, speed and athleticism.
"Warm-up" - This is not a traditional warm-up of jogging a lap and stretching, but works on areas that are issues with many athletes.
Foam Rolling
Stretching
Mobility work for the ankles, hips, shoulders and thoracic spine
Core work - exercises focused on anti-extension and anti-rotation of the core, upper back strengthining and glute activation
Strength work
Day 1
- hip dominant lower body
- upper body push
- knee dominant single leg
- upper body pull
- hip accessory - hamstring focused
- upper body push
Day 2
- explosive full body
- upper body pull
- hip dominant lower body
- upper body push
- knee dominant lower body
- upper body pull
Day 3
- knee dominant lower body
- upper body push
- hip dominant single leg
- upper body pull
- hip accessory - hamstring focused
- upper body push
There are 6 exercises in each day, and all of the strength work is done in an A1, A2 fashion (if you're doing 3 sets, you perform A1, then A2, then back to A1 for 3 total sets of each, then to B1).
Throughout the summer, intensity and volume increases, and then volume will decrease for another increase in intensity.
I will be posting some video's for the team so that they can get explanations of the exercises throughout the summer. Most of the exercise selections were based on those I have taught them, with a couple new ones, as well.
If you are interested in the specifics of the program, please email me. I would be more than happy to discuss the program with anybody who would like to know more.
Any questions or comments, hit me up on facebook. And be sure to check back for video's of new exercises!
Thanks for reading! Go Cougars!
- programming of in-season and pre-season athletic teams
- training programs that needed to be creative, due to equipment, size of the weight room, and number of athletes that needed to be trained in a timely manner
- working with coaches, discussing how their practices have been going to find the best times to hit the weights hard and when to back off a bit
- the cues and techniques that work best when teaching lifts
- proper progressions for athletes who have had little to no experience with strength training
Most importantly, the coaches trusted me in what I was doing and the teams bought in to the benefits of strength training.
There is no such thing as the perfect program, especially when your dealing with teams that numbered in the 30's. I know now that what I had the teams doing was ok, certainly better than nothing, and much more than other teams were doing. But as any coach should, I've continued to learn as much as I possibly can and my training style has changed accordingly.
I am still in contact with these coaches and continue to consult with them on their strength training. What follows is an outline of what I have sent to the women's soccer team at Averett. I was told that about half of the team will not have access to a weight room while they are home for the summer, so I will also be posting some training ideas of what I will give them with little equipment necessary.
Even though this is a program designed for female soccer players, I know it can be beneficial for men and women who are looking to gain strength, speed and athleticism.
"Warm-up" - This is not a traditional warm-up of jogging a lap and stretching, but works on areas that are issues with many athletes.
Foam Rolling
Stretching
Mobility work for the ankles, hips, shoulders and thoracic spine
Core work - exercises focused on anti-extension and anti-rotation of the core, upper back strengthining and glute activation
Strength work
Day 1
- hip dominant lower body
- upper body push
- knee dominant single leg
- upper body pull
- hip accessory - hamstring focused
- upper body push
Day 2
- explosive full body
- upper body pull
- hip dominant lower body
- upper body push
- knee dominant lower body
- upper body pull
Day 3
- knee dominant lower body
- upper body push
- hip dominant single leg
- upper body pull
- hip accessory - hamstring focused
- upper body push
There are 6 exercises in each day, and all of the strength work is done in an A1, A2 fashion (if you're doing 3 sets, you perform A1, then A2, then back to A1 for 3 total sets of each, then to B1).
Throughout the summer, intensity and volume increases, and then volume will decrease for another increase in intensity.
I will be posting some video's for the team so that they can get explanations of the exercises throughout the summer. Most of the exercise selections were based on those I have taught them, with a couple new ones, as well.
If you are interested in the specifics of the program, please email me. I would be more than happy to discuss the program with anybody who would like to know more.
Any questions or comments, hit me up on facebook. And be sure to check back for video's of new exercises!
Thanks for reading! Go Cougars!
P90X: Pro's and Con's
The shake weight. The ab coaster. The thigh blaster. 8 minute buns. We've become overwhelmed with at-home workout contraptions and programs. I think we should all be skeptical of an infomercial that guarantees "only 10 minutes a day to the body of your dreams." These statements are followed by men and women who have the ideal body. Chances are, the only time they ever used what is being sold is the day of the photo shoot.
P90X is different, though. It's not a 10 minute a day program. It seems to have real people on its infomercials. Its good for those who want to and can train alone. When I say can, I mean that some people will skip days very easily if they are accountable only to themself. Getting a group together would certainly take care of that issue and I suggest it.
I don't think there is much doubt that when you actually do the full program, you can see results. I've known people to go through it and some had success and some didn't. Once again, much of the success is based on diet, which I believe the program covers.
You might think that because I'm a strength coach and personal trainer I will now go into a long list of reasons why I don't like this program. I'm not. I do have a few issues, though.
1. EVERYBODY does the same program. No matter what your previous training looked like, or even if you haven't trained or exercised in years, everyone does the same program. That's obviously the easy thing to do when mass producing programs like this. Because of this, any tightness, pre-existing injury and faulty movement patterns will only get worse. Should a person who hasn't exercised in years and is 40pounds overweight be doing a "plyometric day"? Probably not. A way to fix your movement issues on your own is pick up Athletic Body in Balance by Gray Cook and perform the self assessment on yourself. Or find an FMS certified trainer (wink, wink). Then, do corrective exercises where you find necessary.
2. It can make you small and weak. If you don't have any amount of muscle mass to begin with, it will be fairly difficult to look all cut up. If all you want to do is lose weight, thats fine, but remember than muscle burns calories all day long. The guys you see with their shirts off on the infomercials had some muscle mass to begin with and lost the fat surrounding those muscles. Much of the program is high rep, low intensity to keep the cardio aspect in play at all times, so strength gains will be small. If strength and muscle is what your goals are, the basic barbell lifts and sprinting are a better choice.
3. When do you walk around with your shirt off? I like having abs, and I'm trying to get them back, without losing weight. I'd rather look like I lift weights for the other 9 months of the year when my shirt is on 100% of the time. That means I hit the big compound lifts week after week. For females, that toned look that many of you want are also gained by lifting weights consistently, not by running and aerobic work for days at a time.
4. Its not progressive. What do you do when you're done? I've heard people say that you just start over again after you finish. How is that progressive? I think the whole thing that people get excited about is "muscle confusion". So would a second run at it be "muscle re-confusion"? It leaves you hanging, back at square one. If it worked, you should be moving onto something better. If it didn't work, maybe it wasn't what you needed. Doing it again doesn't move you forward.
I'm not bashing this system. Its worked for people and anything that gets people exercising is ok in my book. However, its not for me personally for reasons I've already stated and its not for any athletes I train. For me, nothing will make you stronger, more athletic, and in better shape than the basics.
Thanks for reading! Leave questions and comments on facebook! I'd love to know what you think!
P90X is different, though. It's not a 10 minute a day program. It seems to have real people on its infomercials. Its good for those who want to and can train alone. When I say can, I mean that some people will skip days very easily if they are accountable only to themself. Getting a group together would certainly take care of that issue and I suggest it.
I don't think there is much doubt that when you actually do the full program, you can see results. I've known people to go through it and some had success and some didn't. Once again, much of the success is based on diet, which I believe the program covers.
You might think that because I'm a strength coach and personal trainer I will now go into a long list of reasons why I don't like this program. I'm not. I do have a few issues, though.
1. EVERYBODY does the same program. No matter what your previous training looked like, or even if you haven't trained or exercised in years, everyone does the same program. That's obviously the easy thing to do when mass producing programs like this. Because of this, any tightness, pre-existing injury and faulty movement patterns will only get worse. Should a person who hasn't exercised in years and is 40pounds overweight be doing a "plyometric day"? Probably not. A way to fix your movement issues on your own is pick up Athletic Body in Balance by Gray Cook and perform the self assessment on yourself. Or find an FMS certified trainer (wink, wink). Then, do corrective exercises where you find necessary.
2. It can make you small and weak. If you don't have any amount of muscle mass to begin with, it will be fairly difficult to look all cut up. If all you want to do is lose weight, thats fine, but remember than muscle burns calories all day long. The guys you see with their shirts off on the infomercials had some muscle mass to begin with and lost the fat surrounding those muscles. Much of the program is high rep, low intensity to keep the cardio aspect in play at all times, so strength gains will be small. If strength and muscle is what your goals are, the basic barbell lifts and sprinting are a better choice.
3. When do you walk around with your shirt off? I like having abs, and I'm trying to get them back, without losing weight. I'd rather look like I lift weights for the other 9 months of the year when my shirt is on 100% of the time. That means I hit the big compound lifts week after week. For females, that toned look that many of you want are also gained by lifting weights consistently, not by running and aerobic work for days at a time.
4. Its not progressive. What do you do when you're done? I've heard people say that you just start over again after you finish. How is that progressive? I think the whole thing that people get excited about is "muscle confusion". So would a second run at it be "muscle re-confusion"? It leaves you hanging, back at square one. If it worked, you should be moving onto something better. If it didn't work, maybe it wasn't what you needed. Doing it again doesn't move you forward.
I'm not bashing this system. Its worked for people and anything that gets people exercising is ok in my book. However, its not for me personally for reasons I've already stated and its not for any athletes I train. For me, nothing will make you stronger, more athletic, and in better shape than the basics.
Thanks for reading! Leave questions and comments on facebook! I'd love to know what you think!
Monday, April 18, 2011
Environmentally Friendly
How environmentally friendly is your gym? Is it a place that accepts you for who you are? Is it a place that makes you work hard whenever you enter?
I realize that everybody has different goals, but if you're going to a gym to exercise, should you really be inundated with pizza and tootsie rolls as you leave? Theres a very succesful chain gym that does this. Great business model, not exactly great at changing anybodys life for the better.
I suggest finding a place where the people and the overall environment of the place is in line with your goals. For example, are you looking to put on some muscle? You need to be able to squat or deadlift. Are you looking to shed some fat? You need to be able to jump rope, push something heavy and strength train with free weights.
If you dont have a place to hit your goals, figure something else out. Go to a playground and hit bodyweight and sprint circuits. Find an old tire, tie a rope around it and put something heavy inside it and drag it around. Throw a medicine ball, heavy stones or empty kegs around. All of these things will lead to better progress than sitting on the "strength circuit" at the previously mentioned gym, no matter what your goals are.
The best thing you can have is a group of people who have goals similar to you. This creates a brotherhood (or sisterhood, of course) type of feel. I know what you're going through and you know what I'm going through when were struggling to push out one more rep.
The take home points: Find a great place to train, gym or no gym. Find a group of people you can share your training ups and downs with and push them to get better every time you work together.
If you need any tips or pointers on finding a place for you or for ideas if you're making your own "unconventional" program, post on my facebook. I'm also now at twitter @BobbyFisk. Post comments on facebook as well. I'd love to hear about your training environment stories.
I realize that everybody has different goals, but if you're going to a gym to exercise, should you really be inundated with pizza and tootsie rolls as you leave? Theres a very succesful chain gym that does this. Great business model, not exactly great at changing anybodys life for the better.
I suggest finding a place where the people and the overall environment of the place is in line with your goals. For example, are you looking to put on some muscle? You need to be able to squat or deadlift. Are you looking to shed some fat? You need to be able to jump rope, push something heavy and strength train with free weights.
If you dont have a place to hit your goals, figure something else out. Go to a playground and hit bodyweight and sprint circuits. Find an old tire, tie a rope around it and put something heavy inside it and drag it around. Throw a medicine ball, heavy stones or empty kegs around. All of these things will lead to better progress than sitting on the "strength circuit" at the previously mentioned gym, no matter what your goals are.
The best thing you can have is a group of people who have goals similar to you. This creates a brotherhood (or sisterhood, of course) type of feel. I know what you're going through and you know what I'm going through when were struggling to push out one more rep.
The take home points: Find a great place to train, gym or no gym. Find a group of people you can share your training ups and downs with and push them to get better every time you work together.
If you need any tips or pointers on finding a place for you or for ideas if you're making your own "unconventional" program, post on my facebook. I'm also now at twitter @BobbyFisk. Post comments on facebook as well. I'd love to hear about your training environment stories.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Hill Season
The precipitation has turned from snow to rain. You can smell the grills on Saturday afternoon. The sun comes up before 8am. You don't need a winter hat, jacket and gloves to walk to your car. It can only mean one thing...
Yup. It's hill season.
The weather is nice enough to get your "cardio" done outside. Yesterday was day 1 for me and a training partner. It was brutal and awesome. We essentially did an hour of sprints.
I've written on here in the past about running hills and how much I love them and all the benefits so I won't go through that again. All I will say is get a partner or group together and start sprinting up a hill. Set a number or a time and every time you hit the hill push yourself to get better and progress.
Having a training partner is a must. Its very easy to quit half way through if you're by yourself. When you're with somebody else its very difficult and the more people you have the better.
For those of you in the Ravena-Coeymans area, the hill behind the high school is perfect. I'll be going 2-3 times per week and I'll be posting what times if anybody wants to jump on board.
Hill season comes before beach season. Get your hill on for the next 2 months and you'll be happy with the results.
Yup. It's hill season.
The weather is nice enough to get your "cardio" done outside. Yesterday was day 1 for me and a training partner. It was brutal and awesome. We essentially did an hour of sprints.
I've written on here in the past about running hills and how much I love them and all the benefits so I won't go through that again. All I will say is get a partner or group together and start sprinting up a hill. Set a number or a time and every time you hit the hill push yourself to get better and progress.
Having a training partner is a must. Its very easy to quit half way through if you're by yourself. When you're with somebody else its very difficult and the more people you have the better.
For those of you in the Ravena-Coeymans area, the hill behind the high school is perfect. I'll be going 2-3 times per week and I'll be posting what times if anybody wants to jump on board.
Hill season comes before beach season. Get your hill on for the next 2 months and you'll be happy with the results.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
The Most Important Factor in Training
Training relies on many things, but there is one important factor that is head and shoulders above the rest. That factor is intensity.
No matter what program you're on, how much protein your taking in or how sweet your gym is, none of it matters if you don't train with intensity.
You may have noticed that I don't use the word "working out". Instead, I use the word "train" with clients, friends and myself. Training means you have a goal. Training means you have a purpose. Training means you have more intensity than others when you step foot inside of the gym or weight room.
You focus on what you're goals are when you train with intensity. Every set is done with perfection. You push yourself and your partners to get the weights, reps and sets you are supposed to get. You don't give in when it gets tough.
This is from dictionary.com - great energy, strength, concentration, vehemence, etc., as of activity, thought, or feeling: He went at the job with great intensity.
If you're not pushing yourself, you aren't getting the results you could be. If you're comfortable with you're training and you're ok with how your body looks and feels, good for you. But if you want to make a change in your body, your strength, your athleticism and your life, put your game face on when its time to move weights and train with intensity. Thats how you make changes. Not going half-assed. Thats not how it works in the weight room or in life.
How many of you train at a place that is in line with your goals? I will discuss the importance of this in my next post.
Leave questions and comments on my facebook fan page. Also, follow me on twitter - @bobbyfisk.
No matter what program you're on, how much protein your taking in or how sweet your gym is, none of it matters if you don't train with intensity.
You may have noticed that I don't use the word "working out". Instead, I use the word "train" with clients, friends and myself. Training means you have a goal. Training means you have a purpose. Training means you have more intensity than others when you step foot inside of the gym or weight room.
You focus on what you're goals are when you train with intensity. Every set is done with perfection. You push yourself and your partners to get the weights, reps and sets you are supposed to get. You don't give in when it gets tough.
This is from dictionary.com - great energy, strength, concentration, vehemence, etc., as of activity, thought, or feeling: He went at the job with great intensity.
If you're not pushing yourself, you aren't getting the results you could be. If you're comfortable with you're training and you're ok with how your body looks and feels, good for you. But if you want to make a change in your body, your strength, your athleticism and your life, put your game face on when its time to move weights and train with intensity. Thats how you make changes. Not going half-assed. Thats not how it works in the weight room or in life.
How many of you train at a place that is in line with your goals? I will discuss the importance of this in my next post.
Leave questions and comments on my facebook fan page. Also, follow me on twitter - @bobbyfisk.
Monday, March 28, 2011
Jogging: The Athleticism Grim Reaper
It always makes me go crazy when I hear that a sports coach, specifically for basketball or football, makes their players go on long runs of a mile or more. Most of the time it seems a coach just runs out of stuff to do, or actually believes that they are helping their athletes "get in shape".
I'm sure they mean well, but what they may not understand is that basketball falls in between an intermittent-sprint and transition sport, as defined by Vern Gambetta in his book, Athletic Development, which is a must read if you're a coach at any level. Gambetta defines basketball as, "a sport that requires a series of efforts of varied intensity that occur in random patterns, with recovery that allows for complete recovery, at times".
Gambetta goes on to say, "We need to get away from the idea that the endurance base is built by long, slow, steady aerobic work".
So now we know what basketball consists of. Now lets look at why jogging isn't the best answer for conditioning.
Jogging causes physiological changes that are detrimental to the transition and power athlete. Jogging targets type I muscle fibers, which are the aerobic fibers. These are great for marathon runners, but will not help you become a quicker, faster, more powerful athlete. Sprinting, jumping and strength training with relatively heavy weights and high speeds target the type II muscle fibers, which are the fast-twitch fibers we hear about when a plyometric jumping program pops up on your computer screen. A good comparison that is made a lot is posing the question, would you rather have a body of sprinters or marathon runners? My guess is most people concerned with performance, whether its on the court, field or just with physique development, would choose to look like a sprinter.
With this in mind, its important to train athletes for the most important aspects of their sport; sprinting, jumping, changing direction, side stepping, sliding, backpedaling and all the other movements players do throughout a contest. Also, its important to train athletes, especially basketball players, to produce power quickly so that they can get to a full speed sprint in as little time as possible. In high school its more important because the court is smaller, but even in college and the pro's, how long does it take them to sprint from one end to the other? Anywhere from 3-5 seconds, so if you can get to full speed faster than you're opponent, chances are you're getting to that loose ball or finishing the lay-up before getting fouled, and every coach and player knows that games can come down to 1 or 2 plays.
Does an athlete need to have the endurance to last an entire game? Of course they do, but they need to be able to sprint and produce maximum amounts of power at the end of the game. I think that's why so many coaches end practices with timed sprints, or place them at different times throughout a practice.
The question I always ask athletes and coaches is this: If you're consistently jogging during games, how many games do you think you'll win? A base of conditioning is necessary, but you would have to question your players commitment to becoming better if they are so out of shape at any time of year that they can't get up and down the court or field for a couple hours of pick up games.
In the next couple days I will post some drills to train first step quickness and speed that you can do as a seperate workout from strength training, or add in after a warm up and before strength training. Make sure not to forget that STRENGTH is a determining factor in speed and power. I'll touch on that again soon, as well.
Questions or comments? Post on facebook or email me.
I'm sure they mean well, but what they may not understand is that basketball falls in between an intermittent-sprint and transition sport, as defined by Vern Gambetta in his book, Athletic Development, which is a must read if you're a coach at any level. Gambetta defines basketball as, "a sport that requires a series of efforts of varied intensity that occur in random patterns, with recovery that allows for complete recovery, at times".
Gambetta goes on to say, "We need to get away from the idea that the endurance base is built by long, slow, steady aerobic work".
So now we know what basketball consists of. Now lets look at why jogging isn't the best answer for conditioning.
Jogging causes physiological changes that are detrimental to the transition and power athlete. Jogging targets type I muscle fibers, which are the aerobic fibers. These are great for marathon runners, but will not help you become a quicker, faster, more powerful athlete. Sprinting, jumping and strength training with relatively heavy weights and high speeds target the type II muscle fibers, which are the fast-twitch fibers we hear about when a plyometric jumping program pops up on your computer screen. A good comparison that is made a lot is posing the question, would you rather have a body of sprinters or marathon runners? My guess is most people concerned with performance, whether its on the court, field or just with physique development, would choose to look like a sprinter.
With this in mind, its important to train athletes for the most important aspects of their sport; sprinting, jumping, changing direction, side stepping, sliding, backpedaling and all the other movements players do throughout a contest. Also, its important to train athletes, especially basketball players, to produce power quickly so that they can get to a full speed sprint in as little time as possible. In high school its more important because the court is smaller, but even in college and the pro's, how long does it take them to sprint from one end to the other? Anywhere from 3-5 seconds, so if you can get to full speed faster than you're opponent, chances are you're getting to that loose ball or finishing the lay-up before getting fouled, and every coach and player knows that games can come down to 1 or 2 plays.
Does an athlete need to have the endurance to last an entire game? Of course they do, but they need to be able to sprint and produce maximum amounts of power at the end of the game. I think that's why so many coaches end practices with timed sprints, or place them at different times throughout a practice.
The question I always ask athletes and coaches is this: If you're consistently jogging during games, how many games do you think you'll win? A base of conditioning is necessary, but you would have to question your players commitment to becoming better if they are so out of shape at any time of year that they can't get up and down the court or field for a couple hours of pick up games.
In the next couple days I will post some drills to train first step quickness and speed that you can do as a seperate workout from strength training, or add in after a warm up and before strength training. Make sure not to forget that STRENGTH is a determining factor in speed and power. I'll touch on that again soon, as well.
Questions or comments? Post on facebook or email me.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Single Leg Strength
Single leg strength is important and necessary for athletes. Lunging and its variations more closely mimic the act of sprinting, can help with flexibility in the quads and hip flexors and can aid in core stability. All of this makes single leg exercises functional exercises. The word functional gets thrown around a lot and brings to mind squats on swiss balls. Squats on swiss balls aren't functional, they're stupid and as Master RKC David Whitley says, the first rule of strength training is, "Don't be stupid," followed by his second rule, "Don't do anything that will get you hurt." Advice to live by.
Anyway, I believe the biggest benefit is gaining strength throughout the full range of motion (front knee at or below parallel). If you aren't squatting below parallel you should be, but when you lunge your knee should be hitting the ground (softly) with every rep so the range of motion test is built in to the exercise. Below is the progression I use for the lunge, as well as variations I use and ways to load in order to train single leg strength.
Progression
- pump lunge
- reverse lunge
- reverse lunge from step
- forward walking lunge
Other variations
- step ups
- step downs
- rear leg elevated (split squat)
- side lunge
Loading
- overhead weight (medicine ball or plate)
- dumbbells
- barbell
Anybody that has done these exercises knows that they might leave you a little bit sore. That's why the progression is good so you can ease into it. If you do find yourself sore, be sure to do something to get the blood flowing through your muscles. The days I have DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness, generally the worst 24-48 hours after exercise) I like performing a few sets of bodyweight lunges in between upper body exercises or pushing the bench around for 10-15 minutes, as seen in the last video I posted - http://www.youtube.com/bobbyfisksandc
The squat and deadlift are great and should be staples in your training, but when you're done with them, make sure you're getting some single leg work in too!
Questions or comments? Email me or post on facebook.
Anyway, I believe the biggest benefit is gaining strength throughout the full range of motion (front knee at or below parallel). If you aren't squatting below parallel you should be, but when you lunge your knee should be hitting the ground (softly) with every rep so the range of motion test is built in to the exercise. Below is the progression I use for the lunge, as well as variations I use and ways to load in order to train single leg strength.
Progression
- pump lunge
- reverse lunge
- reverse lunge from step
- forward walking lunge
Other variations
- step ups
- step downs
- rear leg elevated (split squat)
- side lunge
Loading
- overhead weight (medicine ball or plate)
- dumbbells
- barbell
Anybody that has done these exercises knows that they might leave you a little bit sore. That's why the progression is good so you can ease into it. If you do find yourself sore, be sure to do something to get the blood flowing through your muscles. The days I have DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness, generally the worst 24-48 hours after exercise) I like performing a few sets of bodyweight lunges in between upper body exercises or pushing the bench around for 10-15 minutes, as seen in the last video I posted - http://www.youtube.com/bobbyfisksandc
The squat and deadlift are great and should be staples in your training, but when you're done with them, make sure you're getting some single leg work in too!
Questions or comments? Email me or post on facebook.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
An Easy 10 Pounds
If you're looking to bulk up a little so you don't fit into that xtra-shmedium sized shirt come beach season, its really a lot easier than you may think. I know this is normally the time to "slim down" for the beach, but if you're an off-season athlete, you should have bigger picture goals to get stronger and more muscular if it will help you become a better player. The process isn't easy, but the things you should be doing in the gym and in your kitchen certainly isn't rocket science.
Like I said, eating to gain weight is easy, because there's not a lot to think about. The hard part is most of the time people think they're eating more than they are. It's similar to when people are trying to lose weight and they think they're eating less than they actually are.
Here is a typical conversation with a skinny athlete in college:
Skinny athlete - "Coach, I eat a lot, I just can't gain weight."
Me - "Do you eat breakfast?"
Skinny athlete - "No. I have class at 8am."
Me - "What time does the dining hall open?" (I know it opens at 7:30, because that's when I'm there),
Skinny athlete - "7:30," he says with his head down.
Me - "Then I'll see you then."
I actually had a "breakfast club" while I was an assistant men's basketball coach. Unfortunately, it didn't last very long and it resulted in players not putting on weight, getting stronger and not seeing improvements in their game. Commitment is the name of the game in college. If you want to be good, you gotta do the things that are going to make you better on a consistent basis. Its just like strength training.
So here is what you need to do to put on an easy 10 pounds:
- drink milk - One of my favorite strength coach's, Mark Rippetoe, has a program called GOMAD, which is an acronym for Gallon Of Milk A Day. Sounds daunting, but it works. If you aren't already drinking milk on a regular basis, start with 2 large glasses at every meal. The milk helps specifically because of the calories and protein.
- eat 6 times a day - 3 full meals and at least 3 snacks in between meals. This is non-negotiable if your looking to put on some size. By the way, if you aren't eating a full breakfast, you're really not that committed to changing your body. Wake up a little earlier and eat as many eggs as you can with something else, like pancakes, waffles, french toast, sausage, bacon or a combination of them all. Lunch is not a ham sandwich. Its 3 ham sandwich's with cheese and mayo, an apple and a bag of chips with two glasses of milk. Dinner is as much as you can pile in of what mom or dad makes. If you're in college, the dining hall is perfect for weight gain. If you're on your own, hamburger helper is perfect. Snacks can be anything really, just find a way to get them in and don't miss one.
- compound movements - with all these extra calories you will be consuming, you have to hit the big lifts that I've stressed in other blog posts like squats, deadlifts, bench press, push press, pull ups and rows. Do them often. If you need a program, check out Rippetoe's Starting Strength. Just make sure you have good form on all of the exercises and are using a full range of motion. Doing quarter squats will probably still help you put on size, but you will be laughed at when you show somebody how strong you are in the quarter squat. Go down all the way.
So what makes me qualified to speak on weight gain? Well I was a "hard-gainer" all through high school. I graduated at 6'1'', 160lbs. I think back on what my diet looked like and its no wonder I couldn't put on any weight. Then I got to college and gained 10 pounds a year for 3 years. That isn't a lot, but with the amount of basketball I was playing, its not bad. Then during my year off from school I got up to 215, lost it during the next two years so I could play around 190-195 my senior year, and during my two plus years in VA I got up to 240 (thank you Averett dining hall). Not to mention I followed the type of diet I described above for the last 3 months while in VA in an attempt to gain as much strength and weight as I could and put on 20 lbs. So believe me when I say it works if you're committed to it.
I will also say that 10 pounds added all over your body is a lot less than you think. I remember wanting to get to 180 while I was in college. When I got there, I wanted to get to 190, then 200, then 210 and so on, just to see what my body would look and feel like at that weight. So chances are you will want to continue to gain until you have reached a good level of strength and size.
Now get eating!
Post questions and comments on Facebook and if you decide to man up and put on some weight, keep everybody posted on your progress!!
Like I said, eating to gain weight is easy, because there's not a lot to think about. The hard part is most of the time people think they're eating more than they are. It's similar to when people are trying to lose weight and they think they're eating less than they actually are.
Here is a typical conversation with a skinny athlete in college:
Skinny athlete - "Coach, I eat a lot, I just can't gain weight."
Me - "Do you eat breakfast?"
Skinny athlete - "No. I have class at 8am."
Me - "What time does the dining hall open?" (I know it opens at 7:30, because that's when I'm there),
Skinny athlete - "7:30," he says with his head down.
Me - "Then I'll see you then."
I actually had a "breakfast club" while I was an assistant men's basketball coach. Unfortunately, it didn't last very long and it resulted in players not putting on weight, getting stronger and not seeing improvements in their game. Commitment is the name of the game in college. If you want to be good, you gotta do the things that are going to make you better on a consistent basis. Its just like strength training.
So here is what you need to do to put on an easy 10 pounds:
- drink milk - One of my favorite strength coach's, Mark Rippetoe, has a program called GOMAD, which is an acronym for Gallon Of Milk A Day. Sounds daunting, but it works. If you aren't already drinking milk on a regular basis, start with 2 large glasses at every meal. The milk helps specifically because of the calories and protein.
- eat 6 times a day - 3 full meals and at least 3 snacks in between meals. This is non-negotiable if your looking to put on some size. By the way, if you aren't eating a full breakfast, you're really not that committed to changing your body. Wake up a little earlier and eat as many eggs as you can with something else, like pancakes, waffles, french toast, sausage, bacon or a combination of them all. Lunch is not a ham sandwich. Its 3 ham sandwich's with cheese and mayo, an apple and a bag of chips with two glasses of milk. Dinner is as much as you can pile in of what mom or dad makes. If you're in college, the dining hall is perfect for weight gain. If you're on your own, hamburger helper is perfect. Snacks can be anything really, just find a way to get them in and don't miss one.
- compound movements - with all these extra calories you will be consuming, you have to hit the big lifts that I've stressed in other blog posts like squats, deadlifts, bench press, push press, pull ups and rows. Do them often. If you need a program, check out Rippetoe's Starting Strength. Just make sure you have good form on all of the exercises and are using a full range of motion. Doing quarter squats will probably still help you put on size, but you will be laughed at when you show somebody how strong you are in the quarter squat. Go down all the way.
So what makes me qualified to speak on weight gain? Well I was a "hard-gainer" all through high school. I graduated at 6'1'', 160lbs. I think back on what my diet looked like and its no wonder I couldn't put on any weight. Then I got to college and gained 10 pounds a year for 3 years. That isn't a lot, but with the amount of basketball I was playing, its not bad. Then during my year off from school I got up to 215, lost it during the next two years so I could play around 190-195 my senior year, and during my two plus years in VA I got up to 240 (thank you Averett dining hall). Not to mention I followed the type of diet I described above for the last 3 months while in VA in an attempt to gain as much strength and weight as I could and put on 20 lbs. So believe me when I say it works if you're committed to it.
I will also say that 10 pounds added all over your body is a lot less than you think. I remember wanting to get to 180 while I was in college. When I got there, I wanted to get to 190, then 200, then 210 and so on, just to see what my body would look and feel like at that weight. So chances are you will want to continue to gain until you have reached a good level of strength and size.
Now get eating!
Post questions and comments on Facebook and if you decide to man up and put on some weight, keep everybody posted on your progress!!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
The "He-Man" Push Up/Pull Up Circuit
I do a lot of reading. Books, articles, blogs and anything else that has to do with strength training. When I see something I like, the first thing I usually do is try it myself. After that, I try it out on a friend. It used to be a couple of former basketball players at Averett, now its my brother. Then I try it on an athlete or client. Sometimes I give my own spin to what I originally read and tried.
The workout I'm about to give you is one that I got from Nick Tumminello, a strength coach in Baltimore, MD. He originally wrote an article on t-nation.com a couple years ago, but I just saw the same workout in Men's Fitness, which gave me the idea to give my variation to you. Here is the online article. - http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/everything_pushups
It gives a ton of great information on push ups, which I feel are greatly under-used
What Nick gives us is a push up circuit consisting of 4 different types of push ups with a medicine ball.
The 4 types of medicine ball push ups:
1 arm lock-offs - do a push up with one hand on the med ball and one hand on the ground. If the left hand is on the med ball, push up all the way so all the weight is on the med ball and with your right hand, touch your left shoulder. Complete all the reps before switching sides.
Alternating med ball push ups - do a push up with one hand on the ball and one on the ground. Upon completion of one rep, roll the ball to the opposite hand and perform a push up.
2 hand med ball push ups - like a diamond push up, both hands are on the med ball while performing the push up.
Med ball drop offs - begin with both hands on the med ball, then drop your hands off to the side of the med ball on the floor. Quickly pop back onto the ball with both hands. Don't let your elbows flex too much when dropping off and "jumping" back on.
Coach Tuminello's version has you go straight through this circuit, performing 5-10 reps (per side when necessary) per exercise for 3 sets.
My variation has you perform a set of pull ups after the first two push up exercises and after the last two. The pull ups are done for as many perfect reps as possible (full range of motion). With this variation, you get all the push ups, but also six sets of pull ups.
This is a great workout to do if you're short on time or if you just want to try something different. If you get some squats, deadlifts, kettlebell swings or lunges in before doing the push up/chin up circuit you got yourself a pretty bad ass training session.
By the way, my variation has been termed the "He-Man" workout by the athletes and friends that have tried it, because of how it makes you feel when your done. Give it a shot sometime and let me know what you think.
The workout I'm about to give you is one that I got from Nick Tumminello, a strength coach in Baltimore, MD. He originally wrote an article on t-nation.com a couple years ago, but I just saw the same workout in Men's Fitness, which gave me the idea to give my variation to you. Here is the online article. - http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/everything_pushups
It gives a ton of great information on push ups, which I feel are greatly under-used
What Nick gives us is a push up circuit consisting of 4 different types of push ups with a medicine ball.
The 4 types of medicine ball push ups:
1 arm lock-offs - do a push up with one hand on the med ball and one hand on the ground. If the left hand is on the med ball, push up all the way so all the weight is on the med ball and with your right hand, touch your left shoulder. Complete all the reps before switching sides.
Alternating med ball push ups - do a push up with one hand on the ball and one on the ground. Upon completion of one rep, roll the ball to the opposite hand and perform a push up.
2 hand med ball push ups - like a diamond push up, both hands are on the med ball while performing the push up.
Med ball drop offs - begin with both hands on the med ball, then drop your hands off to the side of the med ball on the floor. Quickly pop back onto the ball with both hands. Don't let your elbows flex too much when dropping off and "jumping" back on.
Coach Tuminello's version has you go straight through this circuit, performing 5-10 reps (per side when necessary) per exercise for 3 sets.
My variation has you perform a set of pull ups after the first two push up exercises and after the last two. The pull ups are done for as many perfect reps as possible (full range of motion). With this variation, you get all the push ups, but also six sets of pull ups.
This is a great workout to do if you're short on time or if you just want to try something different. If you get some squats, deadlifts, kettlebell swings or lunges in before doing the push up/chin up circuit you got yourself a pretty bad ass training session.
By the way, my variation has been termed the "He-Man" workout by the athletes and friends that have tried it, because of how it makes you feel when your done. Give it a shot sometime and let me know what you think.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Are You Using Progressions Properly?
So your off-season has started and you took a couple weeks off. The weather is getting a little bit nicer and you're going to start heading to the park every day after school to work on your game and play some pick-up ball. You know you need to strength train as well, so you get to the school's weight room before or after school. It's your first time strength training so you jump on board with the football team, doing bench press, reverse grip tricep pushdowns, single leg bosu ball barbell squats and all the plyometrics you read about on an info-website.
Is this using progressions properly? You know the answer to that question.
It's very interesting to me how we use progressions in all aspects of learning and education, but when it comes to strength training, everybody (including myself) think that we are ready for the most complex exercises the first day we step into a weightroom.
Think about this example of progression using basketball - how many of you started playing the game with a full size basketball, on a full size hoop? I'm sure some did, especially if you didn't start playing until later in life, but how many of you had a nerf ball and hoop and played in the hallway of your home? This is a simple example of progression. The same type of example can be given through school. Nobody started out doing calculus.
So when you first start out in the weightroom, use progressions to get stronger and better at performing movements that will help you become a better athlete on the court.
Before bench pressing, progress to doing 15 push ups with your feet on a weight bench with at least 25 pounds on your back.
Before you back squat, goblet squat 1/3 of your weight for 10 reps.
Once you can back squat, progress to doing 1.5x your bodyweight before starting an intense plyometric program.
Before performing the Olympic lifts, learn to hip hinge and perform the deadlift and high pull.
Before performing walking lunges, perform pump lunges.
There are many progressions that can prepare you for more complex exercises. Use these progressions thoughtfully and you will see strength and performance gains for a long time to come.
I am currently looking to speak to basketball or any athletic teams about off-season strength training. If you or anybody you know has a group of athletes that may be interested, please let me know and we can set something up.
Any questions or comments? Leave a post on the Bobby Fisk Strength and Conditioning facebook page!
Is this using progressions properly? You know the answer to that question.
It's very interesting to me how we use progressions in all aspects of learning and education, but when it comes to strength training, everybody (including myself) think that we are ready for the most complex exercises the first day we step into a weightroom.
Think about this example of progression using basketball - how many of you started playing the game with a full size basketball, on a full size hoop? I'm sure some did, especially if you didn't start playing until later in life, but how many of you had a nerf ball and hoop and played in the hallway of your home? This is a simple example of progression. The same type of example can be given through school. Nobody started out doing calculus.
So when you first start out in the weightroom, use progressions to get stronger and better at performing movements that will help you become a better athlete on the court.
Before bench pressing, progress to doing 15 push ups with your feet on a weight bench with at least 25 pounds on your back.
Before you back squat, goblet squat 1/3 of your weight for 10 reps.
Once you can back squat, progress to doing 1.5x your bodyweight before starting an intense plyometric program.
Before performing the Olympic lifts, learn to hip hinge and perform the deadlift and high pull.
Before performing walking lunges, perform pump lunges.
There are many progressions that can prepare you for more complex exercises. Use these progressions thoughtfully and you will see strength and performance gains for a long time to come.
I am currently looking to speak to basketball or any athletic teams about off-season strength training. If you or anybody you know has a group of athletes that may be interested, please let me know and we can set something up.
Any questions or comments? Leave a post on the Bobby Fisk Strength and Conditioning facebook page!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
The Truth About Calf Raises
While growing up I was constantly in search of ways to make myself a better basketball player. One of my main sources of information was magazines like Sports Illustrated for Kids and as I got older, Slam Magazine. I still remember one article I read from SI for Kids that interviewed Grant Hill. The question asked was how he become a high-flyer. For those of you too young to remember, Grant Hill was an amazing athlete while at Duke and during his early years in the league.
Hill's response, paraphrased, of course: "I used to do calf raises every night when I was young."
That statement was probably the worst and best thing I could have ever read.
With this great information on how to turn myself into a dunk machine, I hit calf raises hard and often. From approximately 7th grade until I got to college, I spent very little time standing around. I did calf raises everywhere - in the shower, during halftime of Siena Saints basketball games, while brushing my teeth, in class while sitting down, when walking up stairs, and even in church (when my mom wasn't looking). If I was standing in place I was doing calf raises.
So I turned into a dunk machine, right? Wrong. Turns out, your calves are only responsible for about 15% of your jump height. The more important muscles are the hamstrings, glutes and quads. So I spent all that time doing calf raises with no rewards. Not exactly...
What I didn't realize at the time, is that just about everything I was doing was building rock solid ankles. Not only was I doing tons of calf raises, but I also only tied my sneakers when playing basketball. I simply slipped my sneakers on and off and wore them loose, which also helped create my strong ankles.
Anybody that has played basketball seriously for any amount of time has dealt with ankle sprains. Except for myself. Throughout my entire high school and college basketball career and into my adult playing career (Y men's league) I have suffered only one ankle sprain, which occurred my sophomore year of high school. This is not luck, as I have stepped on other players shoes and rolled my ankle plenty of times, to the point where teammates cringe and ask if I'm ok. But nothing ever happens. No sprain, no soreness, no weakness.
Now this post isn't meant to make me sound like an ankle hero and I won't be signing up for a strongman competition because of my rock solid ankles. This post is to give you some things you can start doing immediately to keep your ankles healthy, strong and keep you worry free when you jump into a crowd for a rebound.
Here are the take away pointers:
- start doing calf raises - there is no limit, just do them as much as you can
- loosen your sneakers - whatever kicks you wear during the day, tie and knot them loose so you can slip them on and off. The great idea that high tops were for basketball playing was the worst idea for general day to day movement. When you lace your shoes up tight, your sneakers are giving you support. When you keep them loose, your feet learn to give support.
- stretch your calves - push against a wall and keep your back leg straight to stretch your calf muscles, and push against a wall and bend at the knee of the front leg to stretch your achilles
- perform ankle mobility drills - - I still do these a couple times a day when I feel like my ankles are tight. These will also help in your squat technique if your ankles are a limiting factor. Here is a video of me demonstrating http://www.youtube.com/user/BobbyFiskSandC?feature=mhum#p/a/u/1/9tin_iwGVT8
- foam/pvc/tennis ball/lax ball roll your calves - this will help break up the tiny knots that develop from running, jumping, sliding, backpedaling and everything else you do when playing basketball. It may hurt at first, but it will increase the tissue quality of your calves and will eventually feel very good. Here is a video of me demonstrating
http://www.youtube.com/user/BobbyFiskSandC?feature=mhum#p/a/u/0/0kkbzY31U9g
The calf raise may not be the vertical booster I thought it was, but it sure did help me build strong ankles. Start building yours today!
Any questions? Post on fb or email me. Also, sign up to follow my youtube channel as I will be posting more videos on a regular basis and also please "like" and share my facebook page since all of the blogs and videos will also be updated there. Your support is greatly appreciated!!
Hill's response, paraphrased, of course: "I used to do calf raises every night when I was young."
That statement was probably the worst and best thing I could have ever read.
With this great information on how to turn myself into a dunk machine, I hit calf raises hard and often. From approximately 7th grade until I got to college, I spent very little time standing around. I did calf raises everywhere - in the shower, during halftime of Siena Saints basketball games, while brushing my teeth, in class while sitting down, when walking up stairs, and even in church (when my mom wasn't looking). If I was standing in place I was doing calf raises.
So I turned into a dunk machine, right? Wrong. Turns out, your calves are only responsible for about 15% of your jump height. The more important muscles are the hamstrings, glutes and quads. So I spent all that time doing calf raises with no rewards. Not exactly...
What I didn't realize at the time, is that just about everything I was doing was building rock solid ankles. Not only was I doing tons of calf raises, but I also only tied my sneakers when playing basketball. I simply slipped my sneakers on and off and wore them loose, which also helped create my strong ankles.
Anybody that has played basketball seriously for any amount of time has dealt with ankle sprains. Except for myself. Throughout my entire high school and college basketball career and into my adult playing career (Y men's league) I have suffered only one ankle sprain, which occurred my sophomore year of high school. This is not luck, as I have stepped on other players shoes and rolled my ankle plenty of times, to the point where teammates cringe and ask if I'm ok. But nothing ever happens. No sprain, no soreness, no weakness.
Now this post isn't meant to make me sound like an ankle hero and I won't be signing up for a strongman competition because of my rock solid ankles. This post is to give you some things you can start doing immediately to keep your ankles healthy, strong and keep you worry free when you jump into a crowd for a rebound.
Here are the take away pointers:
- start doing calf raises - there is no limit, just do them as much as you can
- loosen your sneakers - whatever kicks you wear during the day, tie and knot them loose so you can slip them on and off. The great idea that high tops were for basketball playing was the worst idea for general day to day movement. When you lace your shoes up tight, your sneakers are giving you support. When you keep them loose, your feet learn to give support.
- stretch your calves - push against a wall and keep your back leg straight to stretch your calf muscles, and push against a wall and bend at the knee of the front leg to stretch your achilles
- perform ankle mobility drills - - I still do these a couple times a day when I feel like my ankles are tight. These will also help in your squat technique if your ankles are a limiting factor. Here is a video of me demonstrating http://www.youtube.com/user/BobbyFiskSandC?feature=mhum#p/a/u/1/9tin_iwGVT8
- foam/pvc/tennis ball/lax ball roll your calves - this will help break up the tiny knots that develop from running, jumping, sliding, backpedaling and everything else you do when playing basketball. It may hurt at first, but it will increase the tissue quality of your calves and will eventually feel very good. Here is a video of me demonstrating
http://www.youtube.com/user/BobbyFiskSandC?feature=mhum#p/a/u/0/0kkbzY31U9g
The calf raise may not be the vertical booster I thought it was, but it sure did help me build strong ankles. Start building yours today!
Any questions? Post on fb or email me. Also, sign up to follow my youtube channel as I will be posting more videos on a regular basis and also please "like" and share my facebook page since all of the blogs and videos will also be updated there. Your support is greatly appreciated!!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Now What?
So your season is over and the question that comes up is, "what do I do now?"
The immediate answer is NOTHING! A basketball season is long and grueling and your body needs time to rest. You don't have to rest completely, as in not get off the couch other than to go to the fridge and school, but ease off of the basketball for two weeks. Ever notice how after you take a couple weeks off from everyday practice and games and you go back to the gym and you can jump a little higher? Your body is fully recovered when you or others are surprised at how athletic you've become from resting.
So now that your rest is out of the way, you gotta jump right back on it. The off-season is a time for making yourself into a player. Adding elements to your game, becoming a better shooter from a certain distance, working on your weak hand and becoming a stronger all-around player is the goal of the off-season.
Another important aspect is strength training. One thing I hear a lot of younger athletes say is that they found a workout on a website that (insert NBA All-Star here) did during his off-season and thats what they are going to use. This may seem like a good idea, but its not. Pro athletes are a special breed of human being. You need a plan for YOU, that can make YOU a stronger athlete, that can make YOU a better basketball player.
Some quick tips to get you started:
- focus on quality of movement - make sure you don't have anything hindering your movement patterns before you start lifting weights. If you do, you can create or make any imbalances worse and also begin creating microtrauma, the last thing you want during the off-season.
- move your bodyweight - if you don't have a lot of experience in a weight room, work on moving your body first. Pushups, pullups, squats, lunges, dips and all of their variations are a great start. Be great at these before using external loads.
- play basketball - I can't stress this enough and it may sound silly but its the truth. During the off-season you have to play a ton of basketball to make yourself a better player. Strength training can help you on the court, but it will not help you if you aren't also playing basketball every day. You need to use your newly created strength against other players who are better than you constantly. Not once in a while, not once a week, DAILY!
I was just reminded of how people become succesful at a career or a task while I listened to the radio a couple hours ago. The host mentioned the 10,000 hour rule. It takes 10,000 hours to become great at what you do. Do you want to become a great basketball player? Start logging those hours.
Any questions or comments, be sure to post on the new fb page!
The immediate answer is NOTHING! A basketball season is long and grueling and your body needs time to rest. You don't have to rest completely, as in not get off the couch other than to go to the fridge and school, but ease off of the basketball for two weeks. Ever notice how after you take a couple weeks off from everyday practice and games and you go back to the gym and you can jump a little higher? Your body is fully recovered when you or others are surprised at how athletic you've become from resting.
So now that your rest is out of the way, you gotta jump right back on it. The off-season is a time for making yourself into a player. Adding elements to your game, becoming a better shooter from a certain distance, working on your weak hand and becoming a stronger all-around player is the goal of the off-season.
Another important aspect is strength training. One thing I hear a lot of younger athletes say is that they found a workout on a website that (insert NBA All-Star here) did during his off-season and thats what they are going to use. This may seem like a good idea, but its not. Pro athletes are a special breed of human being. You need a plan for YOU, that can make YOU a stronger athlete, that can make YOU a better basketball player.
Some quick tips to get you started:
- focus on quality of movement - make sure you don't have anything hindering your movement patterns before you start lifting weights. If you do, you can create or make any imbalances worse and also begin creating microtrauma, the last thing you want during the off-season.
- move your bodyweight - if you don't have a lot of experience in a weight room, work on moving your body first. Pushups, pullups, squats, lunges, dips and all of their variations are a great start. Be great at these before using external loads.
- play basketball - I can't stress this enough and it may sound silly but its the truth. During the off-season you have to play a ton of basketball to make yourself a better player. Strength training can help you on the court, but it will not help you if you aren't also playing basketball every day. You need to use your newly created strength against other players who are better than you constantly. Not once in a while, not once a week, DAILY!
I was just reminded of how people become succesful at a career or a task while I listened to the radio a couple hours ago. The host mentioned the 10,000 hour rule. It takes 10,000 hours to become great at what you do. Do you want to become a great basketball player? Start logging those hours.
Any questions or comments, be sure to post on the new fb page!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Are You Moving Without Restriction?
The other day I decided to jump back into a book I had started before, but never completely finished because of school, "Athletic Body in Balance," by Gray Cook. It's definitely one of those books where you learn something everytime you read it no matter how many times you do. And even if you don't learn something, there is a quote or an idea that puts things back in perspective and helps get your training back on track.
This book is a must read for athletes and for those who train athletes. It's simple to understand and constantly has you nodding your head in agreement.
Now, back to the title of this post. To start, what does it mean to be moving without restriction? It means that you are able to perform basic, fundamental movements efficiently. For example, can you squat to below parallel without your heels coming off of the ground? If you can, great. If not, you have some sort of restriction, which could be coming from your ankles, hips or a lack of stability.
The better question is this: who cares if you can't get into a full squat if I am the best and strongest player on my team?
As small a problem as it is right now, it can lead to issues down the road. If you don't move correctly now, it is likely going to cause other parts of your body to overcompensate for this restriction. Once again, this may not be a problem now, but after years of overcompensation, problems are going to come up.
An example given in the book (paraphrased) describes a runner who has a tight ankle joint. The runner doesn't know it, but now the knee is overcompensating for this lack of movement in the joint below it. Now the knee is doing more work then it is supposed to and begins to hurt. The runner takes anti-inflammatory medication and ices the knee as he continues to run. The knee doesn't get any better and the runner goes to the doctor who checks out the knee and prescribes more medication. What eventually happens is a major issue, possibly needing surgery to repair a knee that never had problems within its own joint. Because of a restrictive issue elsewhere, though, overcompensation for years has caused chronic knee problems that never needed to take place.
Another reason why you want to find restrictions is because they could be causing you to move inefficiently, expending more energy than you need to in order to perform the movements of your sport. The less energy you use, the less fatigued you will be at the end of the game or match, the better you are at finishing off your opponents. Simple stuff. You want to move efficiently.
So if you are an athlete or train athletes, the message is this: screen yourself or your athletes to look for restrictions. If you are not qualified, find somebody who is at www.functionalmovement.com. Another alternative is to purchase the book yourself and go through the self-test of the movement screen.
If you have any questions or comments, be sure to leave them on facebook or below.
This book is a must read for athletes and for those who train athletes. It's simple to understand and constantly has you nodding your head in agreement.
Now, back to the title of this post. To start, what does it mean to be moving without restriction? It means that you are able to perform basic, fundamental movements efficiently. For example, can you squat to below parallel without your heels coming off of the ground? If you can, great. If not, you have some sort of restriction, which could be coming from your ankles, hips or a lack of stability.
The better question is this: who cares if you can't get into a full squat if I am the best and strongest player on my team?
As small a problem as it is right now, it can lead to issues down the road. If you don't move correctly now, it is likely going to cause other parts of your body to overcompensate for this restriction. Once again, this may not be a problem now, but after years of overcompensation, problems are going to come up.
An example given in the book (paraphrased) describes a runner who has a tight ankle joint. The runner doesn't know it, but now the knee is overcompensating for this lack of movement in the joint below it. Now the knee is doing more work then it is supposed to and begins to hurt. The runner takes anti-inflammatory medication and ices the knee as he continues to run. The knee doesn't get any better and the runner goes to the doctor who checks out the knee and prescribes more medication. What eventually happens is a major issue, possibly needing surgery to repair a knee that never had problems within its own joint. Because of a restrictive issue elsewhere, though, overcompensation for years has caused chronic knee problems that never needed to take place.
Another reason why you want to find restrictions is because they could be causing you to move inefficiently, expending more energy than you need to in order to perform the movements of your sport. The less energy you use, the less fatigued you will be at the end of the game or match, the better you are at finishing off your opponents. Simple stuff. You want to move efficiently.
So if you are an athlete or train athletes, the message is this: screen yourself or your athletes to look for restrictions. If you are not qualified, find somebody who is at www.functionalmovement.com. Another alternative is to purchase the book yourself and go through the self-test of the movement screen.
If you have any questions or comments, be sure to leave them on facebook or below.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Back To My Roots
Yesterday I was lucky enough to have an hour long phone conversation with one of my running mates growing up. I say running mates because for about two years, while we were both in high school together, we probably saw eachother every single day. Not because we were in the same classes or because we were next door neighbors, but because we played basketball every single day. At the park, after school in the gym, in the hallway with a tennis ball. No matter what we played ball and we loved it. It consumed our lives. And all we wanted to do was get better at playing the sport we loved.
Since then, a lot has changed. Now we are both trying to help others become better players and athletes. My friend is running an AAU basketball program just outside of Atlanta, GA (www.gounited.org). I'm just starting a strength training business that is looking to help student-athletes become stronger and more durable so that if they choose to follow our path of playing college basketball, or any sport, they will be better suited to do so. We want to give kids the same help that we got from our mentor.
So what does this mean for the blog? Not a whole lot will change, other than the fact that I will be posting more often, starting in the next couple of weeks, and that I will be posting on basketball related topics along with general strength and fitness topics.
With this in mind, if there is anything that you would like me to discuss, leave a comment below, post a comment on facebook or shoot me an email. My goal is to serve you the best way that I can.
Since then, a lot has changed. Now we are both trying to help others become better players and athletes. My friend is running an AAU basketball program just outside of Atlanta, GA (www.gounited.org). I'm just starting a strength training business that is looking to help student-athletes become stronger and more durable so that if they choose to follow our path of playing college basketball, or any sport, they will be better suited to do so. We want to give kids the same help that we got from our mentor.
So what does this mean for the blog? Not a whole lot will change, other than the fact that I will be posting more often, starting in the next couple of weeks, and that I will be posting on basketball related topics along with general strength and fitness topics.
With this in mind, if there is anything that you would like me to discuss, leave a comment below, post a comment on facebook or shoot me an email. My goal is to serve you the best way that I can.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Stick to the Basics
Last post I blasted body-part training and talked about the superiority of hitting the big, compound exercises regularly. Today, I'm going to talk about the specific exercises you should be doing multiple times per week.
If you just started training, congratulations, you're likely in for the biggest and best gains you will ever make in your life, especially if your 16-22 years old. A lot of these gains will be due to your neuromuscular system getting more efficient at doing the exercises. Also, the amount of testosterone that males are producing are at a high point for your life, so take advantage of it! Females, no reason to worry, your test levels do not increase at all during this time.
Even if your an intermediate level lifter, you can see great progress by sticking to the big exercises. If you lift three days a week, you should be doing full-body routines. If you lift four days, split body is the way to go, but there can be a little carryover, like doing the Olympic lifts on an upper body day (if you have not learned these from a good coach, check out Dan John here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l9mlcbmrAE&feature=related).
So, the exercises you need to focus all your attention to should be: squat, deadlift, bench press, overhead press, pull up, row and any Olympic lift.
These exercises are not only great for building strength and muscle, they are also recommended for increasing bone mass, tendon and ligament strength and can be used in an endurance routine. So no matter what your goal, these exercises should be used as the foundation of any resistance training program.
But right now, I'm talking strength. Do these exercises until you can squat 1.5x your bodyweight and you will not be disappointed in your results. It's likely that you will want to keep going. That's right, no overhead, single arm, reverse, cable tricep extensions. You'll thank me later.
It is recommended to perform multiple sets in the 4-6 rep range.
If you're an athlete, I know I am leaving out a very big part of traditional training: single-leg exercises. Well I have found a way to get around training the traditional way for one-leg strength and power that can be trained on the same day or off-days and doesn't leave you unable to get out of the seated position for 3 days like doing sets of heavy lunges.
For more details about what my current programming looks like or how to implement the big lifts to reach your goals, leave a comment here or on the NHaFC Facebook page, email me at bobby.fisk@yahoo.com, or come by NHaFC to get a first hand look.
If you just started training, congratulations, you're likely in for the biggest and best gains you will ever make in your life, especially if your 16-22 years old. A lot of these gains will be due to your neuromuscular system getting more efficient at doing the exercises. Also, the amount of testosterone that males are producing are at a high point for your life, so take advantage of it! Females, no reason to worry, your test levels do not increase at all during this time.
Even if your an intermediate level lifter, you can see great progress by sticking to the big exercises. If you lift three days a week, you should be doing full-body routines. If you lift four days, split body is the way to go, but there can be a little carryover, like doing the Olympic lifts on an upper body day (if you have not learned these from a good coach, check out Dan John here, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9l9mlcbmrAE&feature=related).
So, the exercises you need to focus all your attention to should be: squat, deadlift, bench press, overhead press, pull up, row and any Olympic lift.
These exercises are not only great for building strength and muscle, they are also recommended for increasing bone mass, tendon and ligament strength and can be used in an endurance routine. So no matter what your goal, these exercises should be used as the foundation of any resistance training program.
But right now, I'm talking strength. Do these exercises until you can squat 1.5x your bodyweight and you will not be disappointed in your results. It's likely that you will want to keep going. That's right, no overhead, single arm, reverse, cable tricep extensions. You'll thank me later.
It is recommended to perform multiple sets in the 4-6 rep range.
If you're an athlete, I know I am leaving out a very big part of traditional training: single-leg exercises. Well I have found a way to get around training the traditional way for one-leg strength and power that can be trained on the same day or off-days and doesn't leave you unable to get out of the seated position for 3 days like doing sets of heavy lunges.
For more details about what my current programming looks like or how to implement the big lifts to reach your goals, leave a comment here or on the NHaFC Facebook page, email me at bobby.fisk@yahoo.com, or come by NHaFC to get a first hand look.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Chest, Shoulders, Biceps, Repeat
Chest, Shoulders, Biceps, Repeat. Have you ever seen a training plan like this? It's far too common that these three body areas are the basis of a training routine. Scary, isn't it?
This routine's basis is around the "mirror muscles", so the thought process is by working the crap out of the muscles that one can regularly check out in the mirror, it will get you to swole city faster than if you worked all the muscles in the body.
It should make sense, except there are a few factors that work against this logic.
First, working only these muscles will cause crazy imbalances. It will cause your shoulders to round forward, which is the last thing anybody needs from their training since we already sit at a computer and on the couch for hours on end, which also makes the rounded shoulder problem worse.
Next, and most importantly, where is the lower body training? Specifically, squats and deadlifts. These two exercises should be the basis of any strength program. Why? These exercises will allow you to use more weight than any other, using a lot of muscles. More weight = more muscle. And, these movements are engrained in our genetic makeup. Ask a 3 year old to squat. It's perfect. Ask the same 3 year old to pick up a heavy (for them) object and they deadlift it. Need I say more?
It's also fairly easy to improve on these exercises once you learn how to do them properly. 5 pound a week increases can be attained because of all the muscles used. These increases won't continue for years on end, but can certainly remain constant for the first year or two if diet, recovery and training consistency are all in place.
Lastly, what's more badass than loading up a bar and putting it on your back or picking it up off the ground. Nothing!
Personally, I just flat out dislike bodypart training, as you can probably tell. The majority of it comes from bodybuilders jacked through the roof on illegal substances. I prefer training movements and areas of the body. If you strength train three days or less a week, train full body. If you strength train four days a week, train two upper body and two lower body.
In a similar fashion, if you do an upper body press exercise, do an upper body pull. If you do a lower body push (quad based exercise), do a lower body pull (hamstring based exercise). I also recommend, 2x as many hamstring exercises for athletes because the majority of them are "quad dominant" or more appropriately "hamstring weak" which is the cause for many knee injuries.
Regardless of how many days a week you train, the fundamental movements still need to be in place: Deadlifting, squatting, pressing and pulling. If you focus on these movements you will be far better off than blasting your bi's for an hour with 13 different exercises in front of the mirror. Who do you think has bigger biceps; the guy doing curls for an hour or the guy doing pullups with 90lbs strapped to his waist?
So focus on the big movements, leave your biceps alone for a few weeks and watch your strength and body progress!
This routine's basis is around the "mirror muscles", so the thought process is by working the crap out of the muscles that one can regularly check out in the mirror, it will get you to swole city faster than if you worked all the muscles in the body.
It should make sense, except there are a few factors that work against this logic.
First, working only these muscles will cause crazy imbalances. It will cause your shoulders to round forward, which is the last thing anybody needs from their training since we already sit at a computer and on the couch for hours on end, which also makes the rounded shoulder problem worse.
Next, and most importantly, where is the lower body training? Specifically, squats and deadlifts. These two exercises should be the basis of any strength program. Why? These exercises will allow you to use more weight than any other, using a lot of muscles. More weight = more muscle. And, these movements are engrained in our genetic makeup. Ask a 3 year old to squat. It's perfect. Ask the same 3 year old to pick up a heavy (for them) object and they deadlift it. Need I say more?
It's also fairly easy to improve on these exercises once you learn how to do them properly. 5 pound a week increases can be attained because of all the muscles used. These increases won't continue for years on end, but can certainly remain constant for the first year or two if diet, recovery and training consistency are all in place.
Lastly, what's more badass than loading up a bar and putting it on your back or picking it up off the ground. Nothing!
Personally, I just flat out dislike bodypart training, as you can probably tell. The majority of it comes from bodybuilders jacked through the roof on illegal substances. I prefer training movements and areas of the body. If you strength train three days or less a week, train full body. If you strength train four days a week, train two upper body and two lower body.
In a similar fashion, if you do an upper body press exercise, do an upper body pull. If you do a lower body push (quad based exercise), do a lower body pull (hamstring based exercise). I also recommend, 2x as many hamstring exercises for athletes because the majority of them are "quad dominant" or more appropriately "hamstring weak" which is the cause for many knee injuries.
Regardless of how many days a week you train, the fundamental movements still need to be in place: Deadlifting, squatting, pressing and pulling. If you focus on these movements you will be far better off than blasting your bi's for an hour with 13 different exercises in front of the mirror. Who do you think has bigger biceps; the guy doing curls for an hour or the guy doing pullups with 90lbs strapped to his waist?
So focus on the big movements, leave your biceps alone for a few weeks and watch your strength and body progress!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
What Are You Training For?
Do you have training goals? If not, you could be missing out. Missing out on attaining the strength, body composition or fitness that you are truly after.
If you don't set goals for your training, how do you know if what you are doing is actually working? For years I've seen people train consistantly and consistantly not get any results, despite hours of training. I don't know about you, but when I train I want to see myself, my clients and my athletes progress on a regular basis.
So how should you set your training goals? Just like any other goal: by using the SMART process.
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely
I'm not going to go through all of these, but if you need any help there are many websites available that will take you step by step through the process.
The most important thing to think about is what you actually want to get out of your training and stick to that goal. It's important to stick to one goal because it will take much longer if you have multiple goals and if you try to attain multiple goals at once you may never end up reaching any of them.
So, for example, your goal may be to bench press 225 within the next 3 months. It would be a bad idea to also say you want to lose 20 pounds to get ready for a vacation in April. So pick one goal, give that one goal all of your attention and follow the SMART outline.
Some other actions that will help is to tell people about your goal. This holds you more accountable. Another is to put a picture up in your bathroom or next to your bed of the body you want or of the barbell loaded with the weight you want to lift. This will constantly remind you of what your goal is and to stay focused on attaining it.
So set your goals, find out exactly what it is you have to do to reach them, and give it all you got!
Let me know your training goals on facebook at www.facebook.com/NHaFC.
If you don't set goals for your training, how do you know if what you are doing is actually working? For years I've seen people train consistantly and consistantly not get any results, despite hours of training. I don't know about you, but when I train I want to see myself, my clients and my athletes progress on a regular basis.
So how should you set your training goals? Just like any other goal: by using the SMART process.
Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely
I'm not going to go through all of these, but if you need any help there are many websites available that will take you step by step through the process.
The most important thing to think about is what you actually want to get out of your training and stick to that goal. It's important to stick to one goal because it will take much longer if you have multiple goals and if you try to attain multiple goals at once you may never end up reaching any of them.
So, for example, your goal may be to bench press 225 within the next 3 months. It would be a bad idea to also say you want to lose 20 pounds to get ready for a vacation in April. So pick one goal, give that one goal all of your attention and follow the SMART outline.
Some other actions that will help is to tell people about your goal. This holds you more accountable. Another is to put a picture up in your bathroom or next to your bed of the body you want or of the barbell loaded with the weight you want to lift. This will constantly remind you of what your goal is and to stay focused on attaining it.
So set your goals, find out exactly what it is you have to do to reach them, and give it all you got!
Let me know your training goals on facebook at www.facebook.com/NHaFC.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Warming Up for Successful Training
Whenever I work with somebody I always take them through a thorough warm-up based on the individuals or needs.
There are a few parts to a succesful warm-up that I will discuss.
First, is foam rolling. If you don't know what this is, search youtube for a ton of video's on the topic. If you are serious about your training you will foam roll your legs, butt, hips and calves at least 2 times a week.
Next, is a general warm-up. This can consist of a number of things, like jogging, biking or GPP drills. Personally, I like jumping rope. I do a routine I got from elitefts co-founder Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 ebook:
100 2 leg
50 right leg
50 left leg
100 alternating
50 high knees
100 2 leg
This will break a sweat, which is exactly what we want from the general warm-up.
The next thing is something that is highly debated: Stretching.
Here is my view on the topic
- if you are tight (can't touch there toes), you should stretch.
- if you feel better about training when you stretch, you should stretch.
Basically, if flexibility is something that prohibits you from doing exercises correctly, or if it just increases your readiness to train, stretch, but keep it to a few minutes so that you don't lose the affect of the general warm-up. If I have an athlete or client that needs to stretch, I will usually do some type of assisted stretching with them, which usually works better than self-stretching. A few area's I always stretch before training is my hip flexors, glutes, calves and chest.
Next is the dynamic warm-up or mobility work. What I like to do and what I like to have my athletes and clients do is hurdle step overs to the side, forward, backward and then hurdle duck unders going to the side and even forward and backward. Another good way to get your hip mobility work in is to get on your hands and knees and make circles with your knees, first by bringing your knee to your elbow, up and over toward the back of your body, and straight out behind you.
Last is the general warm-up, where you look at what it is you will be doing for your training and do a similar movement or activate a certain muscle group. Many times this will be glute activation since most training that I do with people is full body and all of us do so much sitting around that we need to wake the glutes up before we squat or deadlift. I also like bodyweight squats, lunges and pushups to get the body ready for the training that lies ahead.
I know all of this may seem like a lot, but taking 10-15 minutes to warm-up will help get you mentally and physically prepared for training.
What I want you to take from this post is some ideas of what you could do. Everybody will want to warm-up a different way, so just tinker around with some things until you find out what works best for you.
If you would like some more examples of warm-up routines just leave a comment or email me at bobby.fisk@yahoo.com. Or, stop by NHaFC for a more personal example!
There are a few parts to a succesful warm-up that I will discuss.
First, is foam rolling. If you don't know what this is, search youtube for a ton of video's on the topic. If you are serious about your training you will foam roll your legs, butt, hips and calves at least 2 times a week.
Next, is a general warm-up. This can consist of a number of things, like jogging, biking or GPP drills. Personally, I like jumping rope. I do a routine I got from elitefts co-founder Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 ebook:
100 2 leg
50 right leg
50 left leg
100 alternating
50 high knees
100 2 leg
This will break a sweat, which is exactly what we want from the general warm-up.
The next thing is something that is highly debated: Stretching.
Here is my view on the topic
- if you are tight (can't touch there toes), you should stretch.
- if you feel better about training when you stretch, you should stretch.
Basically, if flexibility is something that prohibits you from doing exercises correctly, or if it just increases your readiness to train, stretch, but keep it to a few minutes so that you don't lose the affect of the general warm-up. If I have an athlete or client that needs to stretch, I will usually do some type of assisted stretching with them, which usually works better than self-stretching. A few area's I always stretch before training is my hip flexors, glutes, calves and chest.
Next is the dynamic warm-up or mobility work. What I like to do and what I like to have my athletes and clients do is hurdle step overs to the side, forward, backward and then hurdle duck unders going to the side and even forward and backward. Another good way to get your hip mobility work in is to get on your hands and knees and make circles with your knees, first by bringing your knee to your elbow, up and over toward the back of your body, and straight out behind you.
Last is the general warm-up, where you look at what it is you will be doing for your training and do a similar movement or activate a certain muscle group. Many times this will be glute activation since most training that I do with people is full body and all of us do so much sitting around that we need to wake the glutes up before we squat or deadlift. I also like bodyweight squats, lunges and pushups to get the body ready for the training that lies ahead.
I know all of this may seem like a lot, but taking 10-15 minutes to warm-up will help get you mentally and physically prepared for training.
What I want you to take from this post is some ideas of what you could do. Everybody will want to warm-up a different way, so just tinker around with some things until you find out what works best for you.
If you would like some more examples of warm-up routines just leave a comment or email me at bobby.fisk@yahoo.com. Or, stop by NHaFC for a more personal example!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Write It Down!!
This weeks blog post is about a simple thing that many people overlook, or don't understand the importance of. It's something that I tell every single person to do when starting a training program of any kind.
This simple task is: Keep a training log and write everything you do in it!
What's the one thing you need in order to get into better shape? Progress
How are you supposed to know if your progressing if you're not writing down your training?
You can't! The best thing you can do for your progress is track it.
So what should you be writing down? Everything.
What you do for a warm-up (which will be the topic of next weeks post), exercises, sets, reps, weight, any cardio, grip or core training, how you felt, how much you can move up in weight or reps for next week, what supplements you are taking, a good idea you had for work while you were in between sets, EVERYTHING!!
Not only is this important for progress, but its also good to be able to look back on your training log and either have a good laugh at the dumb stuff you did (my laugh came from a terrible routine about 6 years when I apparently forgot I had a lower body) or for a reminder of how well you progressed during a certain program or phase from earlier in your training career, so that you can do something similar and hopefully see similar results.
Regardless of what you are doing, keeping a log is a simple step that can help you towards your strength and fitness goals. So grab a notebook and a pen and never leave for the gym without it!
As a reminder, I am starting my free training sessions for high school, off-season athletes this week. The sessions will be on Saturdays, will run for 4 weeks and are taking place at Neighborhood Health and Fitness Center in Ravena, NY.
The session will begin at 3pm and last about an hour. I will be putting athletes through a strength based session I put paying clients through.
Please call me at 518 312-8106 if you are planning on attending.
Post questions or comments below or email me at bobby.fisk@yahoo.com.
This simple task is: Keep a training log and write everything you do in it!
What's the one thing you need in order to get into better shape? Progress
How are you supposed to know if your progressing if you're not writing down your training?
You can't! The best thing you can do for your progress is track it.
So what should you be writing down? Everything.
What you do for a warm-up (which will be the topic of next weeks post), exercises, sets, reps, weight, any cardio, grip or core training, how you felt, how much you can move up in weight or reps for next week, what supplements you are taking, a good idea you had for work while you were in between sets, EVERYTHING!!
Not only is this important for progress, but its also good to be able to look back on your training log and either have a good laugh at the dumb stuff you did (my laugh came from a terrible routine about 6 years when I apparently forgot I had a lower body) or for a reminder of how well you progressed during a certain program or phase from earlier in your training career, so that you can do something similar and hopefully see similar results.
Regardless of what you are doing, keeping a log is a simple step that can help you towards your strength and fitness goals. So grab a notebook and a pen and never leave for the gym without it!
As a reminder, I am starting my free training sessions for high school, off-season athletes this week. The sessions will be on Saturdays, will run for 4 weeks and are taking place at Neighborhood Health and Fitness Center in Ravena, NY.
The session will begin at 3pm and last about an hour. I will be putting athletes through a strength based session I put paying clients through.
Please call me at 518 312-8106 if you are planning on attending.
Post questions or comments below or email me at bobby.fisk@yahoo.com.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Training ADD and Free Sessions
Now that 2011 is here many people have started a new training routine as well. I applaud anybody who has either been inactive and is now starting to condition their body again or who has been training for some time and just wants to get back into it with a renewed spirit.
One problem I see when people begin programs, specifically strength programs, is that they don't stick with them long enough. This is known as "training ADD". Because there is so much information on the internet, it is very easy to find the next "great program" to follow. Even worse is if your following new routines from the muscle mags every month.
So what needs to be done to get away from jumping around from program to program every other week in an effort to find the "perfect" one? Get rid of your training ADD and pick one that you like and COMMIT TO IT!!
If you're a beginner you can stick with a program for 2 months and see great results. Much of your results will be based on your central nervous system learning new motor patterns and thats ok; it will help you gain coordination for the next program you choose.
Unless you're an advanced trainee, you can stay on one program for as many as 6 weeks seeing great results and even then you may only need to change a few exercises or sets and rep schemes to continue seeing those great results.
So the tip of the week is to find a program, commit to it, and believe in it!
I want to end this weeks post by letting you know that myself and Neighborhood Health and Fitness Center will be offering free training sessions on Saturday's, starting on the 15th for any off-season athlete at 3pm.
This is not an "open gym" offer. This is an offer for free, 1 hour sessions for off-season athletes. I will be putting anybody who comes, through training sessions that I would have a paying client go through, which includes mobility work (and assessment), dyamic warm-up, strength training and strength conditioner, or "finisher".
If you are planning on attending please call NHaFC so I know what type of numbers will be there each week, at 756-3487. Also, if it is your first session, please come 20 minutes early so we can go through some paperwork.
Leave any comments or questions below, or don't hesitate to email me at bobby.fisk@yahoo.com.
One problem I see when people begin programs, specifically strength programs, is that they don't stick with them long enough. This is known as "training ADD". Because there is so much information on the internet, it is very easy to find the next "great program" to follow. Even worse is if your following new routines from the muscle mags every month.
So what needs to be done to get away from jumping around from program to program every other week in an effort to find the "perfect" one? Get rid of your training ADD and pick one that you like and COMMIT TO IT!!
If you're a beginner you can stick with a program for 2 months and see great results. Much of your results will be based on your central nervous system learning new motor patterns and thats ok; it will help you gain coordination for the next program you choose.
Unless you're an advanced trainee, you can stay on one program for as many as 6 weeks seeing great results and even then you may only need to change a few exercises or sets and rep schemes to continue seeing those great results.
So the tip of the week is to find a program, commit to it, and believe in it!
I want to end this weeks post by letting you know that myself and Neighborhood Health and Fitness Center will be offering free training sessions on Saturday's, starting on the 15th for any off-season athlete at 3pm.
This is not an "open gym" offer. This is an offer for free, 1 hour sessions for off-season athletes. I will be putting anybody who comes, through training sessions that I would have a paying client go through, which includes mobility work (and assessment), dyamic warm-up, strength training and strength conditioner, or "finisher".
If you are planning on attending please call NHaFC so I know what type of numbers will be there each week, at 756-3487. Also, if it is your first session, please come 20 minutes early so we can go through some paperwork.
Leave any comments or questions below, or don't hesitate to email me at bobby.fisk@yahoo.com.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)