You don’t have to be playing in front of thousands of people or sign a seven-figure contract in order to train like an athlete.
Although, lets be honest: both would be nice.
I’m often asked how I go about writing programs for my athletes as opposed to by everyday regular Joes and Janes; how much do they differ?
Well, not as much as you think!
Rest assured there’s a lot of attention to detail when training anyone – regardless of athletic background. It’s important to take into consideration one’s injury history, anthropometry (anatomical differences), training experience, goals, and a host of other variables.
However, with regards to athletes, I’d be lying if I said we didn’t have to be even more meticulous with their programming at times. When you’re dealing with a million dollar arm – literally – for example, the last thing you want to do as a strength & conditioning coach is place the athlete in peril, performing exercises with high-risk/low-reward value.
(For the record, peril in this case doesn’t mean life threatening or anything. Just, you know, you don’t want to do stupid shit with them, like juggling chainsaws on a BOSU ball, or using a BOSU ball in general).1
Not to mention you have to respect the ebbs and flows of off-season vs. in-season program design, and the unique stress each sport places on the body.
I.e, how you write a program for a football player will differ quite a bit from a baseball player…based off the demands of the sport.
All that said, the principles I follow whether I’m training an athlete or general pop client don’t differ much.
My male and female clients still squat, deadlift, row, press, perform farmer carries, toss med balls, push the sled, and otherwise vomit (not literally) strength and conditioning all over the place.
Likewise, while I may not clock their 40 yd times, I still have them skip, shuffle, jump, and move around like athletes.
Life = The Ultimate Game
Am I right, or am I right?
Training like an athlete provides many benefits: (generally speaking) improved muscle mass, strength, body composition, bone health, CNS inter/intra coordination, better balance, and an overall sense of athleticism.
It also makes you a better dancer. #truestoriesitellmyself
Lets face it: after a long day at work and using all your will power not to stab your boss in the throat with a stapler, what sounds more enticing….heading to the gym to perform a few sets of this and a few reps of that with no rhyme or reason or lifting something heavy with some purpose and tossing/dragging stuff around?
On a related note: wanna know what my litmus test is for athleticism in my “non-athletic” clients?
It’s not 1RM testing on anything, and it’s not testing their vertical jump.
It’s a simple drill that everyone has done at one point or another in their lives………….
Skipping
And I’m not talking about “Dorothy skipping down the yellow brick road” skipping. I mean, athletic skipping.
The saying is true: “if you don’t use it, you lose it.” (<– trying really hard to refrain from a penis joke here).
Athleticism is one of the first things to fade as we grow into adulthood. We trade in fields and courts for filing cabinets and coffee mugs that says “World’s Best Boss.”
One of the first drills I use with my general fitness clients to help build up their athleticism is plain ol’ vanilla skipping.
Along with shuffling, medicine ball drills, jumping, kettlebell swings, and uphill sprints (less wear and tear on joints).
Many people are programmed to think that training has to be analogous to calculus: “x”reps for “y” sets, done with the same machines, in the same order, time and time and time again. Boring.
It’s amazing to see my clients become invigorated and enjoy their training sessions again by having them perform more un-traditional exercises/drills. They think they’re training like athletes….
…..because they are.
Why You Should Train Like an Athlete
My good friend, Jen Sinkler, is involved with a new project coming out soon called Lighting & Thunder.
Below is a link to a short video you can watch explaining some of the benefits of training like like an athlete, even if you’re not.
NOTE: no spam involved here. Jen hates spam as much as she hates not wearing lip gloss.
I am not a perfect coach. While I feel I’m above average in my abilities, I’ll be the first to admit I have many “gaps” in my knowledge-base.
Some things I’m good at: coaching the barbell lifts, assessment, hand-to-hand combat vs. zombies.
Some things, not so much: Olympic lifting, speed and jump training.
I’ve written about my thoughts on Olympic lifting in the past, and it’s been within recent months that I’ve decided to take a more proactive approach to addressing my gap in speed & jump training.
I’ve been devouring resources from Lee Taft and Adam Feit on the topic.
To that end, today’s EPIC post, written by strength coach Eric Bach, continues said gap narrowing.
FTY: his new resource, The Power Primer 2.0, just went on sale this week at 50% off the regular price. It jumps (<– HA, get it?) into jump training; and why, even if you’re not an athlete, is something you should be incorporating into your training program(s) to become a lean, mean, machine.
Enjoy. It’s a VERY thorough and informative post.
Jump Your Way to Power Development
Here’s a new twist that answers an old question: how can you bridge the gap between performance-oriented training and physique training?
Can you really look great and improve athletic performance, no matter who you are?
Put more bluntly, can you really have it all?
And does it matter where you train?
The surprising answer has more than a little to do with jumping, of all things.
WTF?
But let me back up to set the stage.
A few months ago, I moved from a sports performance facility to an independent facility. I work with fewer athletes and more people who just want to look great naked and stay healthy.
Note from TG: Hey! Just like me!
Most trainers try to move in the opposite direction. They train general population clients, but really want to train athletes.
It’s been quite a transition. But I noticed something interesting. None of my clients – old or new, in-person or online, athlete or ordinary Joe — JUST have physique goals or JUST have performance goals. Everyone wants the total package.
And why not?
Everyone wants to be confident struttin’ down the beach to jump into a Volleyball game, whether they are 26 year-old ex-athletes or 50-year-old executives.
Here’s the secret: explosive intent is everything. This blog post will explain how you can jump your way to success.
For every high-performance gym with turf and bumper plates, there are 30 “regular” gyms packed with machines and dudes reading the newspaper on a preacher curl.
Being jacked, tan, and strong is nice. But it’s best to top off your physique with real-world athleticism.
Jumps improve performance for recreational athletes.
Jumps build stronger, more powerful legs.
Jumping requires explosive hip and knee extension. It’s the same movement needed to accelerate in sprinting, crush a heavy squat, and to a lesser degree, get you from your Lazy Boy to grab leftover pizza.
Key Point: Jumps Increase Your Athleticism
You need to generate strength quickly to generate force that propels your body (or an object) through space.
That’s where jumps come in. Incorporating jumps into your training bridges the gap between the strength you have and the speed you need.
Get Powerful with a Minimal Learning Curve
Just load up and jump, right?
It’s not quite that simple, of course. But it’s a lot simpler than learning how to clean and snatch.
Jumps work the same athleticism-developing movement pattern as most Olympic lifts, squats, and deadlifts: explosive hip extension, sans the technicalities and steep learning curve.
Compared to mastering the Olympic movements, jumps provide the best bang for your buck to add an explosive component to your training in any gym environment.
Boost your Deadlift and Squat Numbers
Let’s get all rigorous and sciencey and stick to the irrefutable facts, backed up by the finest peer-reviewed literature. We know with certainty that:
Tony likes Star Wars and deadlifts (P.S: Imagine if they did deadlifts in Star Wars?)
Donald Trump’s mullet is the same color as mustard.
Strength serves as the foundation that allows you to improve every other quality in the gym.
Digging into my third point, maximum strength is vital. But lifters would benefit from an occasional change.
They should add explosive training to further improve their strength gains. Even the strongest lifters will derive huge benefits to adding jumps to their training.
The reason is improved nervous system efficiency. In both the deadlift and the squat, extending the hips and knees with power is key to performance. The same holds true for crushing jumps.
Adding jumps to your training grooves the same hip and knee extension movement with lighter weights and more explosiveness.
This is huge for two reasons: Intramuscular and intermuscular coordination.
Don’t let these complicated terms intimidate you. I’ll break it down:
Intramuscular Coordination is the ability of individual muscle fibers (say your quads in a jump) to fire and generate force together.
Intermuscular Coordination is firing of muscle groups to work together in a movement pattern, such as your quads, hamstrings, and glutes contracting and relaxing during the jump.
By training similar movement patterns with various loads, like a heavy squat and a jump squat, you’ll teach your nervous system to recruit more muscle fibers to fire faster. And you’ll groove agonist and antagonist muscles to produce smoother movement.
Training with explosive movements improves your muscles ability to work individually and concurrently with other muscles, producing stronger and more explosive movements.
This is important for a few reasons:
Lighter, more explosive exercises are less stressful than always lifting heavy ass weights.
Lifting heavy weights is still important to build strength, but for most lifters less Central System and joint stress is a good thing.
Replacing a heavy strength session with explosive, sub-maximal exercises opens the door for multiple training improvements.
Because stress is lower, you’re capable of practicing a movement pattern more often for faster improvements in technique.
By and large, less stress allows you to train with more volume. This sets the table for progressive overload and muscle growth.
Keep doing heavy strength work. But consider making it less frequent. Use explosive jumps or sub-maximal speed squats as an alternative.
Jump to Prevent Injuries
We all know someone who’s played flag football or pick-up basketball, only to land awkwardly and shred a knee.
Sometimes, these are the guys that look like they’re in the best shape.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t always matter how strong and athletic you are. If your mechanics stink, your injury risk will skyrocket.
If you’re not performing an exercise right or landing correctly, you’re grooving a technique that’s dangerous and inefficient, whether it’s a squat or a jump.
When you get out the gym and onto the field, fatigue can set in and form can go out the window, leading to injury
In the interest of not winding up thigh deep in a leg brace, it’s best to groove optimal mechanics every time you jump. Here are some guidelines:
1) Your feet should be flat, rather than in an anterior weight displacement on the toes. If you’re landing on your toes, you’re not getting full hip extension and limiting power. And you’re placing more stress on the knee joint due to greater shear stress.
2) Knees should be neutral, rather than in valgus or varus (knees diving in or diving out, respectively).
3) Abs braced: any rounding of the back and trunk shows a power leak that will cascade down the kinetic chain and place stress on the hips, knees, ankles, and feet. Keep the abs engaged so you can absorb force and transfer power.
4) Eyes ahead, chest up: Stand up, keep your head down, and walk ten stops. Starting to trip over your toes yet?
Wherever your head goes, your body will follow. Keep your head neutral and eyes ahead, otherwise the rest of your mechanics will go out the window.
Activate More Muscle Fibers For Growth
You can’t build muscle fibers that aren’t activated. That means step one to building muscle is activating a greater number of muscle fibers.
That happens in two ways:
First, Lift heavy weights. By being a dedicated reader to this blog I’d assume you already are. Just sayin’…
Second, lift lighter weights (or your bodyweight) faster, which…this case means jumping. TADA!
Now, you could argue that except for beginners, neither lifting explosively nor heavier weights directly builds muscle. What they do-do (Yay, a poop joke) is increase neural drive to your muscles, activate dormant fibers, and crank up the efficiency of your central nervous system.
Take it a step further. If you only lift heavy and moderate intensity weights, adding in lighter more explosive exercises improves muscle unit recruitment. You’ll be throwing a figurative lightening bolt to your nervous system.
This is where it gets cool! You’ve activated more muscle fibers and your strength should increase.
By being stronger, you’ll be able to lift more weight for more reps with more muscle fibers. This gets you progressive overload: the driving force for all progress in the gym.
Getting more explosive provides another tool to turn on muscle fibers. This allows you to more aggressively train the muscle building mechanisms needed to get jacked, tan, swole, and sexy.
This is all fine and dandy, so what the hell are we supposed to do…Jump Volume Training?
Not quite. We can’t jump to conclusions. First, lets cover different types of jumps and why each variety is important.
Static Versus Countermovement Jumps
Static jumps and countermovement jumps look similar, but there are distinct differences in how they train your body.
On static jumps you start loaded, just like the bottom of a squat before jumping. In this position you negate the storage of elastic energy, making the static squat jump a great way to build static strength and explosiveness. Further, because there’s no countermovement, these jumps are less complex and generally safer for most lifters.
Static Jump:
Countermovement jumps differ because you start tall, using a downward arm swing while dropping into a squat. Then, from the bottom of your squat you rapidly extend and jump.
This countermovement makes the jump more complex, adding a full eccentric motion (dropping into a squat) before rapidly transitioning to your concentric (going up).
Note: I’m using dumbbells in this case, hence no countermovement with the arms, but there is still a countermovement in the lower body.
Countermovement:
I’d recommend starting with static jumps for at least 4-6 weeks to groove proper take off and landing technique. Then, as dictated by technique, incorporate countermovement jumps for more complexity.
Single Versus Multiple Jumps
As you guessed, single jumps are done as individual jumps within a set, with a re-set between each rep.
Most of the time, these are a better option to groove technique and train explosive power.
Multiple Jumps are a set of jumps performed in rapid succession. In this case, a set of 3 jumps would be 3 squat jumps performed with a consistent range of motion without spending too long in transition.
This transition time, known as the amortization phase, should be kept to a minimum. Otherwise, energy stored during the eccentric of each jump dissipates.
Bring in multiple jump sets gradually, grooving proper landing and takeoff mechanics before going all-out with multiple jumps.
Types of Jumps
If you haven’t squatted in years it would be a bad idea to load the bar with near-maximum weights and giver’ hell, right?
Right?
Well, the same thing applies to jumps.
Jumps are stressful, especially if you haven’t done explosive training or played sports in years. So ease into jumps, starting with jumping rope, building up to box jumps, squat jumps, and then broad jumps (if appropriate.) You’ll groove technique while conditioning the tissues in your lower body for the impact of jumps.
Jumping Rope:
Jumping rope is an exceptional tool to build foot speed, athleticism, and coordination with little space or equipment. Start by adding three to five minutes before and after your training. A huge benefit of jumping rope is it’s a rate limiting activity. The exercise ends when your technique breaks down, making it damn near impossible to jack yourself up.
Box Jumps
Box jumps, when done for power rather than a conditioning exercise, are a great tool to building explosiveness. Box jumps are an ideal candidate if you’re working on technique because they allow you to groove takeoff and landing technique while reducing joint stress on impact.
On each jump make sure you’re emphasizing hip extension—not testing hip mobility. Pause at the top of each rep to reinforce landing technique. Use another box to step down onto. Jumping off backwards defeats the purpose of focusing on technique and decreasing joint stress.
Squat Jumps
Squat jumps are an explosive lower body exercise with a short learning curve, making them perfect for most non-athletes. Start jump squats as static, single jumps before moving on to weighted or multi-rep jump sets.
Broad Jumps
Broad jumps are awesome for developing explosive hip extension in a more hip dominant manor than squat jumps. This may lead to more carryover on hip dominant exercises like deadlifts…along with activities that require horizontal power development, like sprinting.
But with a horizontal trajectory comes a caveat: increased shear stress on the knee, making broad jumps tougher on the joints.
To minimize joint stress, perform broad jumps for lower reps and focus on jumping up and out to reduce shear stress on your knees.
Adding Jumps into your Routine
Squat jumps are an explosive exercise ideally programmed after a dynamic warm-up and before lifting.
To increase your hops and potentiate your body pick one type of jumps once or twice per week.
Focus on technique and explosive intent, not high volume. Try 2-4 sets of 3-6 reps on lower-body training days.
1) Workout A: Lower Body, Squat Dominant
Full Dynamic Warm-Up
1a. Static Squat Jump 3×5 Rest 60 seconds
1b. Plank 3×45-60 seconds rest 60 seconds
2. Front Squat 4×6, 6,4,4 Rest 120-150 seconds
3a. Dumbbell Walking Lunge 3×8/each rest 60
3b. Half kneeling pallof Press 3×8 each rest 60
4. Dumbbell RDL 3×12 rest 90 seconds
2) Workout B: Upper Body
3) Workout C: Lower Body, Hinge Dominant
Full Dynamic Warm-Up
1a. Broad Jump 3×3, rest 90 seconds
1b. Single arm farmers walk 3×30 steps, rest 60-90 seconds
2. Deadlift 4×4, 4,2,2 Rest 120-150 seconds
3a. Barbell Single Leg RDL 3×5/side rest 30 between sides, 60 after set
3b. RKC Plank 3×20 seconds, rest 60 seconds
4. Goblet Bulgarian Split Squat 3×8 each, rest 30 between sides, 60 after set
Height isn’t the most important factor, form is.After all, there’s no point in building power on top of a faulty foundation. Keep your focus on full hip extension and sound landing mechanics.
Then, once you’ve nailed your technique, progress to dumbbell and/or multi-response jumps.
A progression of exercises would be:
Bodyweight single response –> bodyweight multi-response –> dumbbell/vest single response –> dumbbell/vest multi-response.
Next Steps: Power Up Your Training Today
May I offer additional help?
I’ve just written an eBook and compiled a video bundle that that elaborates on these concepts. It’s called The Power Primer 2.0.
And it will help you get strong and lean.You’ll supercharge your athleticism and build muscle, no matter who you are.
More than two years in development, The Power Primer 2.0 bridges the gap between your performance and looking your best.
It’s a package of four eBooks 200 pages over 50 videos that gives you the best of both worlds: A body that looks great and performs great — inside and outside the gym.
You will:
Increase training frequency and nervous system efficiency for strength.
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Improve performance and maximize muscle retention while shredding body fat.
And I’ve offering everything for 50% off this week only. That’s less than a jig of your favorite protein powder.
If you’re like most people you’ve felt…
Discouraged by ineffective workouts that leave you discouraged from training and skipping training sessions
Unathletic and incapable of performing outside the gym
Like you couldn’t build lean muscle, despite training 5-6x per week
Plateaued in your strength, stuck lifting the same weight as last year
Help me, help you. You deserve a plan that gets you the best results.
Today I have an excellent guest post from strength and conditioning coach, jump training specialist, and Director of Sports Performance at Reach Your Potential Training, Inc (www.igotrypt.com), Adam Feit.
Adam’s new resource, Complete Jumps Training, is available starting today. Unlike most traditional jump training programs that tend to focus solely on sagittal plane exercises or worse, utilize ankle weights2, this one actually, you know, helps get people more athletic.
Hybrid Jumping: More Efficient Than Your Prius
Sure, I get it. It’s good for the environment.
Better gas mileage. Minimizing the carbon footprint. Hell, you even get a tax break in most states.
But you’d think they would work on the aesthetics a bit better, no?
All kidding aside, what if I could introduce a new type of hybrid locomotion that would close the gap between where you are and where you want to be?
Possibly even save you time, space and money (without the fear of being made fun of by your friends)?
Would you consider it?
Good.
Because we’re going to explore the latest innovation in jump training for today’s athlete—the hybrid.
When I transitioned from coaching NCAA and NFL athletes to today’s youth, I knew we did not have the resources or the athletes to advance our jump training exercises like we used to.
We actually had real budget restrictions, athletes who had never trained before and limited space. And it got even worse as our business continued to grow and new groups were added.
We were filling the gym but limiting our capacity to move, move often and move well.
So we adapted.
We overcame and attacked the situation at hand and found a way to work around all those roadblocks, specifically when it came to jump training.
Most jump programs focus on some sort of variation of the vertical jump and long jump.
Why? Because they’re easy to coach, touch on both aspects of vertical and horizontal power and allow results to be compared across multiple sporting and coaching organizations.
But was there more to jumping than simply getting up as high as possible or far as possible, especially when it involved athletics? Could jump training be properly programmed and planned out to maximize performance and reduce the risk of future injury?
No question.
After coaching thousands of athletes through jump training, we noticed a few reoccurring themes.
1) Athletes had a difficult time jumping on one leg and landing on the same or the alternate leg.
2) They were stuck moving in the vertical or linear plane, only moving up or out.
3) Coaches did not know how to progress outside the scope of increasing volume or height/distance.
4) There was less and less transfer to actualsport tasks simply because of focusing on double-legged takeoffs and landings.
Years ago, Coach Michael Boyle addressed this very issue and proposed a simplified way of explaining jumps to his coaches and athletes. To minimize confusion amongst his coaches and athletes, he classified jumps as follows:
Jump: a two-legged takeoff with a two-legged landing (e.g., vertical jump)
Hop: a one-legged takeoff with a same one-legged landing (e.g., vertical hop)
Bound: a one-legged takeoff with an alternate one-legged landing (e.g., lateral bound)
However, the more we looked at our own athletes, the more we realized this needed to be expanded. We decided to add a fourth category to the list.
Enter the hybrid.
The hybrid is the combination of any type of jump, hop, or bound with the possible addition of a medicine ball (MB) for upper body power development (e.g., lateral bound to double-legged landing or a hurdle jump to MB punch.)
The hybrid category was a valuable addition to Coach Boyle’s original three categories for three primary reasons:
1) It bridged the gap between the transition of double-leg and single-leg jumping exercises.
With the use of the hybrid, we were able to better prepare for single-leg hops and bounds through the use of single-legged takeoffs with double-legged landings.
No longer were we rushing to do a vertical hop or long hop.
Now, we could slow down our teaching progressions even further to ensure long-term success and appropriately layer sequences within themselves for optimal programming.
Don’t believe us?
Ask your athletes to do a vertical jump (two legs). Then watch them do a vertical hop (one leg).
What do you see?
Dropped chests? Internally rotated hips and valgus knees? Lack of triple extension?
By adding a single-legged takeoff with a double-legged landing (novice) or double-legged takeoff to a single legged-landing (expert), we were able to better prepare our athletes for the forces, speeds and positions they may face in sport.
(Not to mention better hops and bounds for our highlight videos!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn5v85ekXFs
2) It provided what we call “variation within simplicity.”
Rather than change exercises completely, we could simply add or remove one piece of the drill to change the stimulus and keep our athletes and coaches progressing.
Too often, coaches use a two-dimensional approach in regards to progressive overload—heavier weight or more volume.
What about rest periods? Changes in body positioning? Use of different implements?
When our space and time got cut shorter and shorter, we had to think of a way to combine not only types of jumps but also where they were occurring. Instead of devoting a day to solely linear jumping, why not combine it with another day?
Rather than only performing a long jump, why not add a lateral bound to a long jump? Or perhaps a rotational hurdle jump to a vertical jump and long jump?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUbClRjpLGk
Variation within the jumping exercise itself allowed us to combine multiple takeoffs, landings and planes of motion to better prepare the athlete for future exercises and what they may feel on the court or field.
3) Lastly, it allowed our staff to analyze single-leg jumping and landing mechanics much earlier in the programming.
Instead of wasting a period of 4–6 weeks on primarily double-leg takeoffs and landings, we could work on the limiting issue (usually single-leg strength/stability/power) right away.
From experience, we knew the importance of using jump training not only for power development, but also more importantly, for the reduction of future injury.
We have seen too many orthopedic doctors clear athletes for their return to play without evaluating all dimensions of their performance, namely deceleration and change of direction. Because of this, we have devoted our efforts to educating our staff and athletes on the importance of single-leg training, specifically jumping and landings.
We perform jump training in the warm-up, during movement, and throughout weight-training sessions.
After all, running, cutting, planting, pivoting, and jumping almost always occur with one leg at a time. Why would we not want to make it a priority?
So, if you’re looking to take your coaching and programming to the next level, I’d strongly urge you to check out the Coaches’ Guide to Jump Training.
It was made for coaches, by coaches. Whether you’re working with middle-schoolers or high-profile professionals, we’re certain this system will add another element to your awesome coaching.
Also, if you are looking to improve your own jump training, this is a fantastic resource. It’s currently available for HALF-PRICE.
Well, I mean, as far as 39 year olds who are roughly 15 years removed from playing any competitive sports are concerned, I’m lightening quick.
Besides, baldness increases aerodynamics right?
Truth be told: as a strength and conditioning coach it’s not required I win the 100m in the Olympics in order to speak to the topic at hand. Granted I should be able to demonstrate a sprint or sprint mechanics without resembling a one-legged pirate or worse…blowing out a hamstring.
But I don’t need to be a world-class sprinter myself in order to coach or teach others to be able do it. Which is why I’ve been making my way through Lee Taft’s Certified Speed and Agility Coach curriculum to better augment my coaching abilities.
At the end of the day it’s about having the ability to break down movement into more manageable parts and more importantly, having the ability to get your athletes into better positions(in order to express speed or strength or whatever).
CSP Coach, George Kalantzis, demonstrating how to use sled work to improve torso angle for linear acceleration.
And when it comes to getting people into better positions – especially as it relates to linear acceleration – as Lee notes, we don’t need to get too fancy with our toolbox.
Which Begs the Question: What Is Linear Acceleration?
Good question.
I’ll tell you what it’s not….sprinting/top speed.
Sprint/Top Speed = more perpendicular posture.
Acceleration = more forward pitch or torso inclination.
When we’re coaching (linear) acceleration it’s important to respect that the idea here is to produce a lot of force quickly. However, that force is still going to be longer in terms of foot contact time compared to top speed.
Linear acceleration requires getting things started and getting the center of mass moving. It’s different than top speed.
We must produce a lot of force down and away
We also need an extremely long arm action, which then coordinates with the same side leg and high knee drive. All of this accomplishes a ROM of the leg which then allows the athlete to produce as much force as needed to finish the push off to get into the next stride.
It sounds like a lot – and complicated – but I assure you it’s not. This isn’t to imply, of course, that some attention to detail isn’t warranted. If it were easy everyone would be a challenging Usain Bolt to a game of Duck-Duck-Goose.
But there are some easy and ingenious strategies in the form of EXTERNAL CUEING that’ll help accomplish all of the above.
Linear Acceleration Troubleshooting
To reiterate: linear acceleration is not the same as top speed. First and foremost, with acceleration we’re working on starting speed which implies different joint angles and positions.
1) I already mentioned above that top speed requires more of a perpendicular posture and acceleration implies more forward pitch of the torso.
As such, a major mistake many athletes make out of the gate is, well, a poor starting position. Like this:
Here I’m starting way too upright and my hips (and shoulders) are too far back. Not a conducive position to produce horizontal force.
Ideally we’d want to start in a more staggered stance with the hips in front of push off (this will make it easier to gain momentum and get mass moving), which implies a more angled torso. Too, we want the shoulders to be in front of the hips
2) More Aggressive Arm Action
In acceleration the back side needs to be long, front side short. The back side is what matters in acceleration. The front side becomes more important during top speed.
Lee Taft hammers this point home time and time again throughout his CSAC course.
To that end, a common mistake made is that people aren’t aggressive enough with their arm action.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpzkwBgZoVc
You’ll notice my back arm “stays short” and as a result both my arms and legs are choppy.
A beautiful external cue to use here is to tell the athlete to be more aggressive with “THROWING THE HANDS BACK.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v193yEgzjs
Looks sexier, right?
And, subsequently, the more aggressive arm action “nudges” a more aggressive forward action of the knee….with minimal additional cueing.
But what if all of that still doesn’t get the desired effect?
The Magical World of External Cueing
A brilliant corrective strategy4 I “stole” from Lee Taft is to give the athlete a target to shoot for. This is external cueing at its finest.
External cueing takes into consideration what the body is doing in space and implies direction, intent, and action.
The corrective in this case would be to place a med ball – or anything: cone, hurdle, Ewok action figure – a few feet away from the athlete’s starting position. The athlete must then explode, “CHASE HIS SHOULDERS,” and get past the object within one step.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51B3WnDCq6w
As you can see, this immediately incorporates a better arm action. Better arm action mirrors a greater leg action, which then produces more horizontal displacement.
Giving the athlete a target or something to shoot/aim for (EXTERNAL CUEING) will “correct” acceleration mechanics without too much fluff.
The addition of the target cues the athlete to push harder into the ground and then physics takes over.
The curriculum is only available until this Friday, January 29th and then it goes bye-bye.
Now, I’m not saying it’s going to be tossed into a Disney Vault never to see the light of day again…..but for all intents and purposes, you WILL NOT be able to purchase this course after the 29th.
I’ve been making my way through the course and to say I am highly impressed would be an understatement.
It’s currently be offered at a generous discount and there are payment plans available.
I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas or start to their respective Holiday Season. Lisa and I are currently in the Dallas/Fort Worth area visiting family so I’ll be taking a brief hiatus from the website this week. Thankfully a few friends and colleagues were kind enough to pinch hit for me and provide some stellar content in my absence.
First up is Shane “The Balance Guy” McLean who’s written several excellent articles for this site in the past. Today he discusses “cardio” for meatheads.
Cardio For Meatheads
I despise traditional cardio.
I’d rather pour gasoline over myself and jump into a fire than run on a treadmill.
However, give me a barbell and a few weight plates and I’m happier than a pig in mud. Happier pigs make yummier bacon, and the World Health Organization should be dammed, just saying.
For the most part, I’ve been a guy who never really found it difficult to get lean.
However, this has been harder as I’ve gotten older. This creates a conundrum as strength training is no longer enough for me to drop fat, but joining those cardio bunnies on the dreadmill is never an option.
Since the health benefits of cardiovascular exercise are undisputed, and the theory that cardio eats muscle like termites through wood has been smashed to pieces (Alex Viada is a prime example), I should suck it up and join the masses, right?
With most gyms having battle ropes, kettlebells, and medicine balls, that’s never going to happen. After all, there are more interesting ways to get your sweat on instead of being held captive by the treadmill or elliptical.
The beauty of using these tools is it saves your joints from taking an unwanted pounding on the treadmill, and with little or no eccentric stress involved with the exercises below, you’re not likely to get sore afterwards which allows you to have your bacon and eat it, too.
The routines below are my go to cardio when training for strength or hypertrophy.
Insert these at the end of your training as a finisher or between strength training sessions in place of traditional cardio. Smile and wave at the cardio bunnies while you’re sweating because they’re probably wondering what the heck you’re doing.
1) Battle Ropes/Side Plank Combo
I borrowed these from the Sons of Strength, Eric and Ryan Johnson. This combination is brutally effective and a great way add some extra core work in.
Instructions – Do any variation (see video below for ideas) for 30 seconds and then immediately get into side plank. Make sure to breathe down into your belly and engage your glutes. Hold this for 30 seconds. Go back to the battle ropes for other 30 second interval and do the side plank on the opposite side. Repeat this sequence for 10 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QStcSUGBJ1I
2) Kettlebell Swings/RKC Front Plank
This is another combo I stole from the Sons of Strength. Holding a full tension plank after heavy kettlebell swings is a challenge you’re sure to enjoy.
Instructions – Do 20 Russian Style kettlebell swings and then immediately get into an RKC Front plank. Once you have hit full tension take 10 deep inhales (and exhales) while maintaining full tension. Repeat the kettlebell-plank sequence for 5- 10 rounds.
3) Kettlebell Swings/Medicine Ball Slam
This duo will get your heart racing because the heart is working double time pushing blood from the lower to the upper body and back again. As an added bonus your lungs will burn, which is a sure sign of a good time. It will help to channel your inner Hulk smash on the slams.
Instructions – Do this as a countdown superset. Do 20 reps each of the swings and the slams and go down by two each time you perform a round until you reach two reps for each exercise (for example 20-18-16-14….2). If you don’t have access to medicine balls, substitute in battle rope slams.
Note – You can mix and match these combinations to keep things interesting. For example
Swings- Side plank
Battle ropes- RKC front plank
4) 10 Minute Farmers Carry
Dan John is a believer that inefficient exercise (exercises you suck at) is essential for fat loss and the farmers carry definitely fits the bill.
The following 10 minute carry combination is straight out of Dan’s play book which I unashamedly stole for your benefit.
At first glance this appears easy, but this carry combination will light you up.
Instructions– Depending on your strength level, start with one 20, 25 or 30 pound kettlebell. Hold the bell overhead (bottoms up) and walk, keeping your biceps by or behind your ear. After you lose your grip, stop and reset. When you lose your grip for the second time, bring the bell into the rack position and keep walking.
Once you lose neutral wrist position or your upper back is screaming at you, hold the bell suitcase style by your side and keep walking. Do this for a total of 5 minutes on each side.
Wrapping Up
Conditioning shouldn’t always be a grind and neither should it stand between you and your gains. This is a time to keep it short, sweet, intense and most of all fun.
After all, life is too short to be bored out.
Author’s Bio
Shane “The Balance Guy” McLean, is an A.C.E Certified Personal Trainer working deep in the heart of Dallas, Texas.
No, Shane doesn’t wear a cowboy hat or boots. After being told that his posture blows by Eric Cressey, he has made it his mission to rid the world of desk jockeys, one person at a time, and have fun while doing so.
There aren’t many coaches out there who are as “diverse” as Nick Tumminello. He’s equal parts meathead and evidence based, which basically means he can sit at any table he wants to in the proverbial high-school cafeteria.
It doesn’t matter if it’s with the cool-kids, football players, hipsters, Honor Society, or theater nerds…Nick’s “in” with them all, just like in the fitness community.
Bodybuilders, powerlifters, CrossFitters, Olympic lifters, barbell lifter uppers, you name it, he’s always invited to the party.
I respect Nick a ton. He’s someone I’m always learning from and someone who always keeps things in perspective. What’s more, he’s never dogmatic in his approach to training people. If something works – and can be backed up with a rationale explanation (whether anecdotal or backed by evidence/research) – it works.
There’s a reason his Twitter profile says the following:
“I train the trainers.”
His latest resource, S3 Training Method: A Programming Framework for Improving Speed, Size, and Strength, is a doozy (<– it will rock your world it’s so thorough, and is an excellent addition for any trainer or coach looking to add a little “kick” to their programming for the new generation of clients looking to have it all), and is available starting today at a heavily discounted price.
He was kind enough to contribute a stellar guest post today.
Enjoy!
The 3 S’s of Hybrid Training: How to Increase Speed, Size and Strength
Is it possible to get stronger, enhance your performance and get bigger all at the same time?
I’d say yes…
Training through a spectrum of movement speeds and loads will enhance your explosiveness, improve your strength, and increase your muscle will leave. Gone are the days where you must focus on one specific goal and ignore the others.
The Three S’s
Let’s explore the three S’s—speed, strength, and size—to help you understand exactly what each quality is.
Movement-Speed Training
In the context of this article, movement-speed training focuses on improving your rate of force development—that is, how quickly you can use your strength.
Remember: power = strength × speed. Therefore, exercises used to improve your movement speed are total-body power exercises. The heavier the load you’re working against, the slower your movement becomes. For this reason, the principle of specificity dictates that, in order to do all you can to improve your explosive power, you don’t just do exercises that involve moving against high loads (i.e., strength exercises). You also do exercises that require you to move at high speeds.
Adaptations to training are specific to the demands that the training puts on the body. Therefore, regularly performing exercises that require you to move fast in certain directions makes your body more capable of moving fast in those or similar directions.
With this principle in mind, you should include exercises for each of the three pillars of power—vertical (or diagonal), horizontal, and rotational—in order to improve your functional capacity by enhancing your capability to move fast in multiple directions.
Since the goal is to move fast, the exercises improving total-body power (i.e., movement speed) use loads that are not heavy (relative to the loads used to improve strength). In fact, they should incorporate very light loads (sometimes just body weight), but demand that you move at high speed – as fast as you possible can.
In addition to training movement speed, we also need to better adapt to and potentially refine the tri-phasic muscle-activation pattern used only during fast, ballistic athletic movements.
One of the best workout methods to achieve both of these goals is to perform medicine-ball throwing exercises.
When throwing the ball, unlike when lifting weights, you don’t have to slow down at the end of the range of motion; you can just let the ball fly. Therefore, simply throwing the ball in different directions (power is direction specific) trains your body to generate explosive power without putting on any brakes.
Also, whereas Olympic weightlifting can be difficult to learn and trains only in the vertical or diagonal power pillar, explosive medicine-ball throwing exercises are easy to learn and require you to move fast and explosively in all three pillars of power.
To do so use a variety of medicine-ball throwing exercises—throwing either against a wall or into open space (e.g., field or parking lot)—to help you become more explosive and therefore more powerful and athletic.
Movement-Strength Training
Training for improved strength means improving one’s capability to produce force in various movements. Put simply, the more force you can produce in a given movement, the stronger you are in that movement.
Like power, strength is task specific; therefore, the further an exercise gets away from the specific force-generation and neuromuscular coordination patterns of a given movement, the less directly it carries over to that movement. This fact in no way makes the exercise bad, and it certainly doesn’t make it nonfunctional. It simply means that the less specific an exercise is, the more general it is.
You should incorporate a wide variety of cross-body and compound exercises to help you improve your functional capacity by developing strength in various movement patterns, directions, and body positions.
Remember, if you can perform a broader range of specific tasks, you possess a higher functional capacity. This relationship is crucial because you don’t want your body to be merely more adapted to a limited number of gym-based exercise movements (only Olympic lifters and powerlifters need to specialize in specific exercise movements).
Instead, you want your body to be more adaptable so that you can successfully take on a variety of physical demands.
Although training for strength gains and training for size gains (i.e., hypertrophy) are certainly not mutually exclusive, the size–strength continuum is characterized by some important differences between the two.
Although both involve creating mechanical tension on the muscles, strength training is geared toward increasing force production. Size training, on the other hand, is geared toward getting a muscle pump and creating microscopic damage in the muscle, which causes the muscle to repair itself and grow larger.
If you think of your body as a computer, then strength training is geared more to upgrading your software (your central nervous system, or CNS) than to upgrading your hardware (your muscles). In contrast, training for size is geared more to upgrading your body’s hardware—bones, connective tissues, and, of course, muscles.
Muscle-Size Training
The rule of thumb in training for size calls for using more reps and lower loads than when training for strength. In practical terms, this approach means using a weight load that allows you to perform about 9 to 15 reps per set; performing 6 to 8 reps per set serves as a nice middle ground between the general strength.
Although all types of training can provide neurological benefits—especially early on—the goal of training for size is more physiological than neurological.
In fact, contrary to popular belief, increasing muscle size depends not on the specific exercises you do but on the specific physiological stimulus you create. To build muscle, you need to create a training stimulus that elicits the three mechanisms for muscle growth (i.e., hypertrophy): mechanical tension, metabolic stress, and muscle damage (Schoenfeld 2010).
In short, there are two ways to get stronger and build a great-looking body that can get things done: neurologically and physiologically. Both approaches are addressed by the S3 Method: A Programming Framework for Improving Speed, Strength & Size, which helps you reprogram your body’s software and improve its hardware for more muscle and better performance capability.
References
Adam, A., and C.J. De Luca. 2003. Recruitment order of motor units in human vastus lateralis muscle is maintained during fatiguing contractions. Journal of Neurophysiology 90: 2919–27.
Baechle, T.R., and R.W. Earle. 2008. Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning. 3rd ed. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Cheung, K., P. Hume, and L. Maxwell. 2003. Delayed onset muscle soreness: Treatment strategies and performance factors. Sports Medicine 33 (2):145–64.
Grant, A.C., I.F. Gow, V.A. Zammit, and D.B. Shennan. 2000. Regulation of protein synthesis in lactating rat mammary tissue by cell volume. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 1475 (1): 39–46
Millar, I. D., M.C. Barber, M.A. Lomax, M.T. Travers, and D.B. Shennan. 1997. Mammary protein synthesis is acutely regulated by the cellular hydration state. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 230 (2): 351–55.
Miranda, F., et al. 2011. Effects of linear vs. daily undulatory periodized resistance training on maximal and submaximal strength gains. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 25 (7): 1824-30.
Mitchell, C.J., et al. 2012. Resistance exercise load does not determine training-mediated hypertrophic gains in young men. Journal of Applied Physiology 113: 71–77.
Prestes, J., et al. 2009. Comparison between linear and daily undulating periodized resistance training to increase strength. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 23 (9): 2437–42.
Rhea, M.R., et al. 2002. A comparison of linear and daily undulating periodized programs with equated volume and intensity for strength. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 16 (2): 250–55.
Santana, J.C., F.J. Vera-Garcia, and S.M. McGill. 2007. A kinetic and electromyographic comparison of the standing cable press and bench press. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 21 (4): 1271–77.
Schoenfeld, B.J. 2010. The mechanisms of muscle hypertrophy and their application to resistance training. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 24 (10): 2857–72.
Simão, R., et al. 2012. Comparison between nonlinear and linear periodized resistance training: Hypertrophic and strength effects. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 26 (5): 1389–95.
Stoll, B. 1992. Liver cell volume and protein synthesis. Biochemical Journal 287 (Pt. 1): 217–22.
Werner, S.L., et al. 2008. Relationships between ball velocity and throwing mechanics in collegiate baseball pitchers. Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery 17 (6): 905–8.
Whether you refer to it as a circuit, death circuit, METCON, or my preference…a finisher, the goal is one in the same: you spend 10-15 minutes at the end of your training session kicking the living crap out of yourself pushing things, lifting things, throwing things, pulling things, flipping things, or any combination of “things” that will make you hate life.
Simply put: a finisher finishes you. Except in this instance Sub Zero isn’t ripping your spine from your body Mortal Kombat style.
No fatalities here.
For most people, most of the time, a finisher is designed to not tickle and basically serve as a way to post something badass on their Instagram feed.
On one hand, I get it. There’s a sense of accomplishment and bravado that comes with completing a challenging finisher. It’s not for the faint of heart, and I for one will never begrudge someone who goes out of his or her way to work hard and get after it in the gym.
On the flip side, however, I find there’s a rate of diminishing return when the goal of a finisher is to solely make you feel tired or exhausted at the end of a workout.
When you think about it that’s not that hard to do.
As a strength coach and as someone who’s interested in not only improving performance, but also helping people possibly address injuries, postural imbalances, and/or movement deficiencies it behooves me not to be more meticulous in how I design my finishers.
Put another way, I’d rather a finisher do more than just finish you.
In my latest article on BodyBuilding.com I discuss my favorite mode of finisher and offer up THREE different variations for you to tinker with.
Throughout my life there are a handful of things I never thought I’d do. I never thought I’d live in a big city such as Boston. I never thought I’d use the word “delish” to describe something I ate.
Speaking which: that’s a habit I need to stop immediately.
I never thought I’d read a Twilight book. It was just one, scout’s honor. I had to figure out what all the fuss was about
And never, in my wildest dreams, did I ever think I’d own a cat and that I’d love her to pieces.
Oh, my wife ranks up there, too…;o)
Furthermore, something else happened recently I’d never thought I’d do. I wrote an article on the benefits of doing “cardio.”
Yes that cardio.
I’ve had a change of heart of late, and feel the advantages far outweigh the perceived disadvantages. Especially in the weight room.
It’s my latest article on T-Nation and you can read it HERE.
change.
By training similar movement patterns with various loads, like a heavy squat and a jump squat, you’ll teach your nervous system to recruit more muscle fibers to fire faster. And you’ll groove agonist and antagonist muscles to produce smoother movement.
