The Dope Sheet: NO Boosters

One of the relatively new kids on the block, but one that has made a lot of money, in the world of exercise supplementation have been NO Boosters.  These come in a few different forms from just straight l-arginine to glycine-arginine-alpha-ketoisocaproic acid (GAKIC).  To most trainees the claims make sense.  Increased vasodilation brings more blood to muscles which makes you stronger in the gym and increases muscle protein sysnthesis (muscle building) afterwards.  And when products like NO Xplode and SuperPump 250 literally claim you will get “roadmap vascularity and muscle tearing pumps” and have professional body builders saying they swear by the stuff there will probably be a line of trainees out the door waiting to buy.  Sounds great, where do I sign up?

What It Does

Arginine is the major player when it comes to nitric oxide (NO) production.  Arginine is a conditionally essential amino acid and has a host of other health benefits not related to training (mostly in postoperative wound healing).  Arginine is oxidated to NO via nictric oxide synthase (NOS).  The NO is then thought to work its bioactive magic on the muscles and vascular system.  It does this by dilating (makes bigger) the blood vessels.  The reasoning is that the bigger the blood vessels the more volume of blood that can get to and help the muscle perform.  There have also been claims that arginine supplements increase the growth hormone response.

But Does It Actually Work?

Yes and no.  Arginine containing supplements will dilate the blood vessels, that much is true.  And when taken in conjunction with caffeine it can give you a boost of energy.  But, NO has been shown to improve exercise performance in UNTRAINED trainees only.  Anytime a study has been done with trained individuals the benefits have disappeared, even with higher doses.

Even when a study has shown a benefit it is usually short lived.  In a study on young males a NO group and a placebo group performed ten 10s sprints with a one minute rest period between sprints.  The NO group showed an increased mean power for the SECOND SPRINT ONLY.  For all the other sprint trials there was no statistically significant improvement in performance.  Also note that this same protocol was performed with trained cyclists and the NO group showed zero increased performance over the control group.

The increased growth hormone response is also very misleading.  When studies have been conducted at rest there has been shown to be an increase in growth hormone secretion with both high and low doses.  When studies have been conducted looking at growth hormone response to NO boosters in conjunction with exercise, the growth hormone response is actually LOWER than it would have been with exercise alone.

If you are brand spanking new to training NO boosters may give you some performance enhancement in the short term.  BUT, it may actually hinder progress by limiting your natural growth hormone response.  Trust me; you’d rather have a higher growth hormone output than a bit of a buzz doing your 95 lb. bench press.

Should I Take It?

No.

Is It Safe?

If you shouldn’t take it, it doesn’t matter if it is safe.  Buuuut if you’re not going to listen to me and take it for psychological reasons then yes, it’s safe to take.  Even at high doses no real negative side effects have been shown.

Summary

In conclusion, my recommendation is to save your money.  If you want a bit of a kick pre-workout there are much cheaper and equally effective means of obtaining it, like coffee for instance.  Save your money, lift heavy, and spend that money on food that will actually help you build muscle.  Not some broscience supplement that only gives you false hopes.

Getting jacked, bro.

Sources

The effect of nitric-oxide-related supplements on human performance.  Bescós R, Sureda A, Tur JA, Pons A.  Sports Med. 2012 Feb 1;42(2):99-117.

Effects of 7 days of arginine-alpha-ketoglutarate supplementation on blood flow, plasma L-arginine, nitric oxide metabolites, and asymmetric dimethyl arginine after resistance exercise.  Willoughby DS, Boucher T, Reid J, Skelton G, Clark M.  Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2011 Aug;21(4):291-9.

Effects of citrulline supplementation on fatigue and exercise performance in mice.  Takeda K, Machida M, Kohara A, Omi N, Takemasa T.  J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo). 2011;57(3):246-50.

The acute effects of a low and high dose of oral L-arginine supplementation in young active males at rest.  Forbes SC, Bell GJ.  Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2011 Jun;36(3):405-11. Epub 2011 May 16.

Failure of glycine-arginine-α-ketoisocaproic acid to improve high-intensity exercise performance in trained cyclists.  Beis L, Mohammad Y, Easton C, Pitsiladis YP.  Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2011 Feb;21(1):33-9.

Glycine-arginine-alpha-ketoisocaproic acid improves performance of repeated cycling sprints.  Buford BN, Koch AJ.  Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2004 Apr;36(4):583-7.

Growth hormone, arginine and exercise.  Kanaley JA.  Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2008 Jan;11(1):50-4.

Bolus arginine supplementation affects neither muscle blood flow nor muscle protein synthesis in young men at rest or after resistance exercise.  Tang JE, Lysecki PJ, Manolakos JJ, MacDonald MJ, Tarnopolsky MA, Phillips SM.  J Nutr. 2011 Feb;141(2):195-200. Epub 2010 Dec 29.

Training Update and Random Thoughts

Monday

Fat Bar Clean and Press: 154x5

Fat Bar Clean and Push Press: 184x5, 154x5x4

Wednesday

Med Ball Throws

Jumps

Trap Bar Speed Dead Lift: 275 x 8 sets of 3

Gun Show

Complex:

RDLx6, BTN Push Pressx6, Squat Jumpx6

Friday

Squat: 405x5, 365x5, 325x5x2

RDL: 308x5x3

Prowler

There wasn’t a training update last week due to the short week and me being in Wausau, which was awesome.  The Circle of Friends Winter Trips are always a great time.  The kids have a blast and I get to see some of the friends that I’ve made over the past four years of being in the program.  This year I’m going to step up my game and do my own little fundraiser for the trips.  What I’m planning on doing is a 500 pound Dead Lift Challenge.  I’m going to give myself 30 minutes to do as many dead lifts with 500 pounds as possible.  What I’m asking you dear reader is to get on board to donate $1 per successful lift.  I’m thinking about doing it in early June.  

The Dirty Birds

Knowing myself I’m probably going to be good for about 20 reps.  So if you commit yourself to donating no more than $30 dollars then you’ll be helping out a great cause.  I’ll be posting more info once I get the details smoothed out.  If you are interested you can email me at tdequaine@hotmail.com.  DO NOT make me guilt trip the hell out of you guys.  Because I’ll do it.

Squats felt awesome today.  405 felt the lightest it has in a long time.  I really think the med ball throws, jumps, and sprints are helping my strength out of the bottom.  I think I could have probably gone 425-445 for five today.  I gave it serious consideration but decided against it.  Got to think big picture.

I heard Marshall Tucker Band’s Can’t You See the other day on the radio. 





I haven’t heard this song in a long time but has been one of my favorite songs of all time.  The melody of the electric and acoustic guitars, the bass, the percussion, piano, and even the flute, along with the soulful, heartfelt lyrics make this an awesome southern blues rock staple.  It made me very sad for the state of the music industry today.  Very few bands are actually composed of good musicians.  There aren't any songs that have true meaning to the artist.  And because songs like this are now the most popular:

Sometimes I don’t want to live on this planet anymore.

Upping my calories has worked out pretty well so far.  I’m at about 195 right now with not a lot of fluff put back on.  I feel like I’ve filled out well and I think what could be considered fat is just a healthy layer of bloat.  Something that is essential to build muscle.  I hate to admit it but I think my hormone levels were a little depressed towards the end of the diet.  I've noticed I’m not as cold as I used to be, I get hungry even if I have eaten recently (metabolism is higher), and when I wake up in the morning my daily pee is a little more bent over than in the past couple weeks (fellas will know exactly what I'm talking about).  All good things.

I’m going to Texas Roadhouse tonight as part of my Valentine’s Day gift from my girlfriend, Amy.  It’s going to be tough to not look at the steak part of the menu and just say, “Yes.  I'll have that.  ALL OF IT IT!”  I loves me some steak.  And loaded sweet potatoes.  Aaaaand maybe a Shamrock Shake.

One thing I’ve been trying is having a “cheat” day on Saturday and then fasting Sunday with my first meal post cheat being my post workout meal on Monday.  I usually ate whatever I wanted and as much of it as I wanted until about 8 pm Saturday and then started the fast.  This worked ok but I felt like I didn’t have a lot of pop for the lift on Monday.  So I tried inserting a small meal with some protein and veggies right before I went to bed on Sunday night.  Last Sunday I had about 4 ounces of fish with a few cups of steamed broccoli.  No more than 250 calories but a huge difference to not eating.  This setup seemed to give me more energy for Monday’s lift without getting in the way of the benefits of the fast.

Speaking of fasting I’ve come across some interesting research on it.  I think I also saw Harper's has an article on the subject this month.  I’ll probably gather these up and put together another article on the research side of things.  There are some potentially awesome benefits to say the least.

NX Level has a few guys at the NFL Scouting Combine this weekend.  Wisconsin fullback Brady Ewing and cornerback Antonio Fenelus will be shopping their wares all over Indianapolis.  Both of them are great guys who have been busting their asses and both have legit shots at having great careers at the next level.  A couple other guys have pro days and other workout/tryouts coming up as well.  I’m wishing them all the best.

On Thursday night southern Wisconsin was supposed to get 1-3 inches of rain/snow mix and Chicago was going to get slammed.  Instead Chicago got rain and Wisconsin got 5 inches of snow.  Wish I could be extremely wrong when I give clients advice and still have a job.  Oh wait, Dr. Oz is still on TV spouting nonsense and misinformation every damn day?  Never mind.

Best Exercises For Distance Athletes

In the course of my strength training career I’ve been fortunate to work with a lot of distance athletes.  When I say distance athletes I’m talking mostly about swimmers and runners, but cyclists (and triathletes) can be thrown in there as well.  Some have been to the Olympics, some are well on their way, but most are normal high school students or soccer moms that still like to run a 10k of half marathon from time to time.  In that time I’ve noticed a few exercises that most distance athletes will respond well to.

Often times distance athletes downplay the importance of proper strength training in their workout regimen.  It is usually the genetically gifted athletes that can get by and be successful without so much as picking up a dumbbell.  And since the modalities of the successful are usually followed strength training takes a back seat.  Most, however, are not in the genetically gifted category and need a strength training program to gain a competitive advantage.

In fact, strength training can take any distance athletes game to a whole new level.  The goal of strength training for the distance athletes is NOT to create lifters who can squat 500 pounds, bench press 300 pounds, and dead lift a house.  The purpose of strength training for the distance athlete is to make the activity easier.  Here is an example:

Athlete A and Athlete B have identical body types and compete in the same event (let’s say the 1 mile freestyle swim).  It takes Athlete A 45% of the maximal force she can generate to complete a stroke (arm stroke and kick combined).  Because of a quality strength program, it takes Athlete B 25% of her maximal force to complete the same stroke.  Who do you think will tire faster?  Who do you think will eventually win?  All signs would point to Athlete B being the winner due to the higher efficiency of her stroke.  When it gets down to the end of the race she’ll have much more energy to tap into to give her the extra boost she needs to finish the race strong.  And on the flip side of that, if she knows that she can swim the entire race performing each stroke at 45% of her maximal force her 45% stroke will be much stronger, and cause her to travel more distance per stroke than Athlete A’s 45% stroke.

This article is about strength exercises but it should be mentioned that a distance athlete’s best friend is going to be a soft tissue and mobility program that is done on a consistent basis.  Without proper mobility and soft tissue quality all the strength exercises in the world won’t be of much help at best, and at worst will only accelerate overuse injuries.  So if you are a distance athlete you better know your way around a foam roller and lacrosse ball.

Exercise #1: Goblet/DB Front Squat

I’ve become a huge fan of this exercise in the last year or so.  On top of the total body strength benefits it helps teach athletes the proper squatting position.  Having the weight to the front of the body forces the core musculature (abs, obliques, and spinal erctors) to engage hard to prevent the chest from falling forward.

The proper squatting position it pushes athletes into distributes the force of the movement more toward the gluteals (butt).  Many athletes need all of the gluteal work they can get as this area is often tight, weak, and very underdeveloped.

Exercise #2: Reverse Hyper Extension

This is another one for the glutes.  Another reason I love the reverse hyper is that it can really help keep your low back strong and healthy.  Your low back has musculature in it just like everywhere else on your body.  When those muscles get worked they’ll fill with blood and feel tight.  DO NOT mistake this as low back pain. 

Getting all of the muscles that hold your posture in place stronger is going greatly improve posture, especially if you feel upper or lower back pain during races.

Another awesome benefit of all this glute work is that it will help to relieve imbalances through the hips.  Many distance athletes have tight hip flexors and quads and weak and tight glutes and hamstrings.  The tight quads and hip flexors will pull your pelvis forward creating an anterior tilt.  This tilt will pull on the hamstrings and glutes causing them to feel tight when they are actually in a “lengthened” state.  When a muscle is lengthened stretching it IS NOT the answer.  The muscle is already longer than it should be and making it even longer will only further the problem.  Stretching and rolling out the front side (quads, hip flexors) and strengthening the backside (glutes, hamstrings) is the best course of action.

If you don’t have access to a reverse hyper then weighted glute bridges with a dumbbell or barbell are a good substitute.

Exercise #3: Inverted Rows

Inverted rows are one of the best upper back exercises out there.  They are extremely versatile in that there are a ton of variations and can be modified for any strength level.  It’s essentially a pull up but in the horizontal direction.

The horizontal rowing action of the inverted row targets all of the often neglected muscles of the upper back which include the rhomboids, subscapularis, trapezius II and III, rear deltoid, teres major and minor, and the lats.  These muscles are essential for proper shoulder health and function which is especially important for swimmers who perform a lot of work with the front side musculature (pectoralis major and minor {chest}, anterior and medial deltoid {shoulder}, biceps, and triceps).

When the front side of the shoulder girdle is over worked those muscles will become tight, a lot like the front side of the hips.  This will cause the upper arm (humerus) to rotate into an unnatural position inside the shoulder socket.  When the humeral head sits in an internally rotated position this can cause a lot of shear force on the small muscles that make up the rotator cuff and the labrum.  Anyone who has had these injuries can tell you how painful they are and that it would be best to avoid them.

Exercise #4: Band Pull Aparts

These are another excellent upper back exercise.  They aren’t going to make you strong strong, but they go a long way to keeping your shoulders healthy.  An ounce of prevention yaddayaddayadda, as the pundits and grandmothers are so apt to say.

Much like the inverted rows band pull aparts get all the muscles of the upper back firing.  If you are weak to begin with back there the first time you try band pull aparts will be a very humbling experience.  The motion is simple, hold a band at arm’s length with your hands about shoulder width apart.  Keeping your arms straight and your back tight pull your hands apart until the band touches your chest.  Keep the band under constant tension as you bring it back to the start.  Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy, right?  Wrong.  Do fifty and tell me how the pump in your lats and rear deltoids feels.  And then I’ll tell you that’s what getting better feels like.

The upper back can generally recover pretty fast.  These and the inverted rows can and probably should be done 2-3 times per week especially if your shoulders round forward or if your mother has ever told you to stand/sit up straight.  Posture, posture, posture.

Exercise #5: Plank Holds

Solid as a rock.

Plank holds are definitely my favorite core exercise.  They require zero equipment, can be done anywhere, and the tougher variations project how strong you really are.  The reason why your core (which includes all of the musculature from just above your knees to just below your armpits, not just your abdominal wall) is so important is that all energy is transferred through it.  If your core is weak you will leak energy worse than Yugoslavian cars leak oil. 

If you are a swimmer and you are trying to get as big of a push off the blocks or walls but fall apart at the midsection your streamline will stink.  If you are a runner and have a weak core and cannot resist upper body rotation then you will be wasting energy with every stride.  Same goes for cyclists.  If you are preoccupied with what your upper body and midsection are doing you are not focused on what your legs are doing.

On to the planks.  Planks are extremely simple to perform.  Body stays in a straight line, elbows stay underneath your armpits, forearms and toes are the only thing touching the ground.  Holding for extended periods of time (more than a minute) can be beneficial in some instances but I prefer to do more sets with shorter work times while making them harder.  To make them harder all you need to do is lift a foot, an arm, or both off the ground.  You can also wear a backpack with some books in it to add some weight to the equation.  I also really like the RKC version where you try to pull your feet and elbows towards each other thereby creating as much tension through your midsection as possible.  Give some different variations a try.  Planks are like pushups in that there are a ton of different options to keep them interesting.

Exercise #6: Rope Chop Variations

As I hinted at in the plank hold section, the main duty of the abdominal wall, spinal erectors, and obliques isn’t to initiate movement, but instead to resist it.  They also promote movement where movement is supposed to happen (thoracic spine) and stability where stability is supposed to happen (hips and low back).  Rope chops mimic this perfectly by having the rope pass in front while you turn at the mid back and shoulders and resist movement at the low back and hips.  Often times with distance athletes the opposite is the case when moving freely.  The thoracic spine and hips have diminished mobility so the lumbar spine (low back) picks up the slack.  This is a recipe for back pain.

Having poor mobility through the thoracic spine makes breathing in the water more difficult since more of your torso needs to turn to get your face out of the water.  If your thoracic spine is stiff when you run oftentimes your traps and upper back will be the first to fatigue.  Not only that but you’ll leak energy through your hips since they will have to twist more to compensate for the lack of mobility above them.

Summary

Adding these exercises to any distance athlete’s strength training program will not only promote strength increases but also enhance the mobility of the athlete.  When a distance athlete is both strong and mobile then each stride, stroke, and pedal are extremely efficient and use 100% of the energy put into them.  Poor strength and poor mobility are the cause of energy leaks and premature fatigue.  Premature fatigue means shaking your competition’s hand after they get their gold medal.  Be strong.  Be mobile.  Be a winner.

President's Day: 2012

In posts past I've highlighted some of our great nation's most bad-ass Presidents.  Those included Zachary Tyler, Andrew Jackson, and my all-time favorite, Theodore Roosevelt.  In honor of President's Day being today I'm going to highlight the life and times of another one of the leaders that has helped this country be so great, Harry S. Truman.

At the right angle he kind of resembles a bald eagle.

Harry S. Truman began his road to the Presidency by serving in the National Guard during World War I.  He was first declined due to his poor eyesight.  Saying, "Fuck that noise," he memorized the eye chart and gave the doctor the double middle finger as he walked away to get his uniform.

During the war he rose tot he rank of battery commander in a division that had some discipline issues.  During a sudden attack by Ze Germans his unit started to disperse.  Using a long string of cuss words that would make Yosemite Sam blush he ordered them into position.  The back bone fortifying lambasting worked and they made their way to safety.  Under Truman's command his division didn't lose a single man during the war.

Truman was devastated by the ending of the war.  He had a fever, and the only prescription was the blood of his enemies.  He said this at the war's end, "It's a shame we can't go in and devastate Germany and cut off a few of the Dutch kid's hands and feet and scalp a few of the old men."  God.  Damn.  That's some Colonel Kurtz-type blood lust right there.

Truman became president during the tail end of WWII when Franklin Roosevelt passed away.  The day he took office was the day he learned about America's secret mission to build and test atomic weapons known as The Manhattan Project.  This would lead to his most defining moment as President; whether or not to use the atomic bombs Little Boy and Fat Man on Japan.

In early August of 1945 after Japan refused the terms of the Potsdam Conference he calmly took the con and made the call.  Japan was going down.  Hiroshima and Nagasaki were thusly devastated and the war was ended.

Boom.

To make the decision to kill almost 150,00 people, mostly non-combatants, is not a decision that I would want to make.  But to Truman it was a no-brainer.  "I knew what I was doing when I stopped the war...I have no regrets and, under the same circumstances, I would do it again."

There are people that say that his decision was immoral and unnecessary but those people probably have dreadlocks, eat shit loads of tofu, and smell like patchouli oil.  In other words, their opinions are meaningless as they more than likely hate freedom AND justice for all.

Warning: Not to be taken seriously.

During Truman's presidency he also oversaw the formation of the United Nations, got Congress to spend the cash needed to restart Europe's post-war economy, and took and hard line no-bullshit stance on Communism.  This was none more apparent than his approval of the Berlin Airlift which supplied the three Soviet blocked Western sectors of Berlin.  The airlift was a huge success and was even continued after road access was granted.  Democracy: 1; Pinko Communism: 0.

Truman was also a champion of Civil Rights in America.  This royally pissed off many Southern politicians but Truman gave not one single fuck stating, "...my very stomach turned over when I learned that Negro soldiers, just back from overseas, were being dumped out of Army trucks in Mississippi and beaten."

Truman went triple dog dare right away and issued three Executive Orders, two in 1948 and one in 1951.  The first essentially desegregated the military, something that was a long time coming.  The second Order stated that those that were applying for civil service positions could not be discriminated against based on race.  The third created the Committee for the Government Contract Compliance which ensured defense contractors to the military couldn't discriminate a person for their race.

When Truman left office he had picked up a lot of haters on the way.  His approval rating was lower than Nixon's in Nixon's last month in office.  Over the passing decades though he has been looked at in a new light, consistently ranking in the top ten in polls on best presidents.  The Navy even named an aircraft carrier after him even though he sought to end the carrier arm of the Navy.  The ship even comes complete with one of the more bad ass battle flags around.  Not a bad way to be remembered at all.

Source:


Wikipedia


Related Posts:


Hail to the Chief

President's Day

Guys I Would Like to Drink With: Winston Churchill

When Should Kids Start Strength Training: Part Two

You can find the first part of this article on when the time is right to begin your child in a strength andconditioning program here.

The decision has been made, the sessions have been bought and planned out, and your child is ready and rearing to go.  This second part of the article is going to take a look at what a strength and conditioning program should look like.  

But first, let’s dispel some common myths about kids and strength training.

Myth #1: Lifting Will Make Kids Short 

This is a very common myth and it is one that has been repeatedly busted in the scientific literature (Ratel).  The fact of the matter is that the body, and growth plates in particular, are subjected to much higher load and shearing forces when running, jumping, and changing direction than when they are performing lifts, bodyweight and otherwise, in a controlled and safe manner.

Myth #2: Kids Will Get Bulky 


For females and kids that compete in weight class divided sports in general this is a legitimate concern.   It’s a highly unfounded myth that is propagated by the media but legitimate nonetheless.  The fact of the matter is that these athletes are not hormonally capable of huge increases in muscle mass.  Before a male goes through puberty he isn’t producing a lot of testosterone.  If you are a normally functioning female you aren’t either.  


The literature shows that females and pre-pubescent males have about a tenth of the testosterone production as normal males.  Testosterone is a requisite compound to build muscle.  If you don’t have a lot of it you won’t build a lot of muscle.  You can get stronger, faster and more coordinated without it.  You just won’t get a lot bigger.

Myth #3: Kids Won’t Get Stronger


This goes back to number two.  It’s true that kids won’t see strength gains because of gains in muscular size.  But they will see strength gains due to an improvement in neurological function.  Your muscles and the nerves that send them the signals to move will become more efficient.  This means you will be able to use all or most of the muscle fibers that you have instead of a smaller percentage.  This means stronger, faster, and more coordinated athletes.

Now that we’ve dispelled the common myths let’s take a look at what the major points of emphasis should be in a youth’s strength and conditioning program.

Point of Emphasis #1: Mobility and Soft Tissue Work

Mobility and soft tissue work should not just be a corner stone of training programs for youth athletes, but for all trainees regardless of age, sex, or sport/activity.  The fact of the matter is that often times improving one’s mobility through soft tissue techniques will make trainees stronger.  This is because with improved mobility comes less resistance to put the body into postures and through ranges of motion that will lead to athletic success.  I.e. it makes moving easier.  When moving is easier you spend less energy on repetitive motions like running and jumping.

Mobility and soft tissue work is especially important for athletes that are growing.  Bones will often grow faster than the muscles can keep up.  This can lead to tight and weak muscles especially along the long bones such as the hamstring, quadriceps, calf muscles, and biceps brachii.  Using soft tissue techniques such as foam rolling, stretching, and activation drills, one can help the muscles elongate with the bones and keep them strong as they grow in length.

Point of Emphasis #2: Bodyweight Movements

The number of kids I see on a daily basis that start out not being able to do a push up or a proper bodyweight squat, let alone a pull up, is no longer surprising, but still disheartening.  At the same time I hear kids talk about how they either hate gym class or don’t even have to take it.  Needless to say kids need to learn a thing or two about their own bodies and how to handle them.

If a youth athlete is brand new to strength training, regardless of perceived athletic ability, they should first work to master their own body weight and then master free weights.  There is no reason why every kid in America shouldn’t be able to do ten perfect pushups, five perfect chin ups, and an unlimited amount of bodyweight squats.

The ability to do these things is NOT something that is gained as we age.  It is something we lose.  Watch any three year-old horse around for ten minutes and you will see perfect bodyweight technique on squats, pushing themselves off the ground, and if an apparatus is available being able to hold themselves up on a chinning bar.  The other day I saw my girlfriend’s three year-old son put himself into a picture perfect RDL position.  And he was just watching TV!  The hip hinge of an RDL is something that if a kid doesn’t automatically get it can be very frustrating to teach.

At the end of the day body weight movements and lifts should be the cornerstone of any beginning program and should, at a minimum, be kept up to maintenance levels as the trainee ages and progress.

Point of Emphasis #3: Proper Lifting Technique and Selection

Proper lifting technique must always be paid attention to, to ensure safety and proper muscular development.  It is beyond the scope of this article to describe proper technique of different lifts.  The coach in charge of training young athletes should not only know how to perform each lift but should be able to properly teach the lift.

When performing different lifts, whether they are with body weight, free weight, or machines, young athletes should never work with maximal or near maximal weights.  Using repetition ranges from 5-15 will ensure a manageable load and proper technique.  Most weight room injuries in young athletes occur when attempting near maximal loads before the athlete is ready.  Zatsiorsky and Kreamer recommend the three year rule when it comes to attempting maximal lifts.  That is an athlete should have at least three years of proper weight room instruction doing the basic lifts before attempting a maximal or near maximal lift.  This will ensure that the musculature needed to attempt such poundages will be properly developed to handle the load placed upon them.

Young athletes should stick to basic multi-joint exercises such as pushups, pull ups, squats, lunges, dead lifts, and presses.  A good mix of these will in each session will ensure that athletes to not acquire overuse injuries by doing the same things repeatedly for each session.  Single joint exercises (except for possibly hamstring curls) such as bicep curls and calf raises will not lead to any type of athletic enhancement and should be reserved for later in the athletes progression.

Point of Emphasis #4: Muscles to Be Trained

The sooner athletes begin to pay attention to different muscle groups the better.  This musculature includes, from top down, the upper back, the spinal erectors, the abdominal wall and obliques, and the muscles that attach to the hips (gluteals, hip flexors, quadriceps, hamstrings, and adductors).

When athletes attempt to “play themselves into shape” -only participating in sport practices to get ready for competition- certain muscular imbalances will occur.  Many times the muscles of the upper back, the gluteals, and the hamstrings will be underdeveloped, tight, and weak while the muscles of the upper chest and shoulder, the quadriceps, hip flexors, and calf muscles will be overactive and tight.  These imbalances will lead to improper postures and ranges of motion during practice and competition and will ultimately lead to a decrease in performance.

Proper execution of the exercises listed above, along with attention being paid to soft tissue and mobility work will help to decrease the imbalances and bring the body back into proper postural alignment.  Proper postural alignment makes movement much more smooth and efficient and leads to an increase in performance.

Point of Emphasis #5: Being Able To Stop

Many coaches tend to only focus on getting kids to be able to run fast, but few teach the proper way to decelerate and stop once the athlete has started running or is coming down from a jump.  This point of emphasis ties into all of the above points in that without proper mobility, body awareness, and proper muscular development this skill will be severely lacking.

Very few sports happen in a straight line with no deceleration component.  Track and field, cross country and swimming are the only ones that come to mind.  Most sports require athletes to change direction, run at different angles, and stop on a dime.  Being able to properly control your body weight and put it in the proper posture during the deceleration phase and the subsequent acceleration phase will lead to greater efficiency when changing direction and ultimately a fast athlete.  When athletes lack this skill the movements are very inefficient and often times place undue stress on the ankle, knee, hip, and low back.

Summary

The design and implementation of strength and conditioning programs for the youth athlete should be built on the basics.  Basic exercises used to develop proper movement patterns and solid body weight strength are the best way to build a solid foundation for athletic development as the athlete ages.  Do not have youth athletes attempt maximal strength attempts until they have a solid foundation of strength and have shown the ability to maintain correct posture throughout the entire movement.  Always teach and strive for efficiency and proper mechanics during movement training, especially when it comes to changing direction and stopping.  A well thought out plan and progressions are vital to enhancing athletic ability while at the same time ensuring the safety of the athlete.

Sources:

High-intensity and resistance training and elite young athletes.  Ratel S.  Med Sport Sci. 2011;56:84-96. 

Epub 2010 Dec 21.

Science and Practice of Strength Training.  Zatsiorsky, V., Kreamer, W.  Human Kinetics, 2006.

Related Articles:

When ShouldKids Start Strength Training: Part One

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Musings onthe Participation Trophy Generation

When Should Kids Start Strength Training?

As a strength and conditioning coach that works with young athletes I get asked this a lot.  And as a strength and conditioning coach that works with young athletes I’m sometimes put into the position to tell parents who want their kids to start training that they are just too young to begin a structured training regimen.  If you are a parent or a young athlete looking into various training options here are some things to consider before you go out and hire a coach.

THERE HAS TO BE A “WANT TO”. 

This is first on the list for a reason.  If the athlete doesn’t want to be there no amount of encouragement from the coach is going to make a difference.  Strength coaches and personal trainers are not cheap and if the athlete doesn’t want to put in the work to get better it is a waste of time and money.  There always has to be a meeting halfway regarding effort.  I could put together the perfect plan (maybe even years long) for your son or daughter but they still have to do the work.  If not it’s just a piece of paper and I’m just some guy that mom and dad hired to babysit for a few hours every week.  So make sure there is a strong desire from your young athlete to put in the work to get better.

HAS THE ATHLETE GONE THROUGH PUBERTY YET?

While puberty is NOT a limiting factor to begin a strength and conditioning program it is definitely a consideration.  If your child has not yet hit puberty there are some things that must be taken into account.  The first is that they are not hormonally equipped to make big gains in muscular strength and size.  They may have the car but they don’t have the gas to make it run.  Before a child hits puberty most of the strength gains made will be from improving mobility and neural efficiency.  And if your child has not yet hit puberty those two things should be the primary concern of your hired strength coach.

While I’m on the subject improving and maintaining mobility while your child is going through puberty is extremely important.  Bones will grow faster than the muscles and tendons can keep up.  Keeping up lots of soft tissue work (rolling out and stretching) will be a big help once the growth spurt stops.  If it is not kept up you run the risk of having to start over with mobility work and efficiency of movement.  The moral of the story: Rolling out and stretching should be daily activities done throughout everyone’s lifetime.

The second thing to consider if your child is currently in or has not yet gone through puberty is that training, even well thought out and properly coached exercises, can exacerbate the pain that sometimes accompanies growth spurts, namely Osgood-Schlatter disease which is an irritation of the patellar tendon at the tibial tuberosity.  This is brought on by the bones growing faster than the muscles and tendons can keep up.  Again, mobility and soft tissue work should be extremely important components to your child’s training regimen and two things that are done every day.

HOW STRONG IS YOUR CHILD WITH HIS OR HER OWN BODY WEIGHT?

Every time I’m at a commercial gym I cringe when I see young kids lay on a bench and struggle to bench press the bar or a weight that isn’t much heavier.  I also cringe when I see a kid squat half way down with knees diving in, back rounded, and way up on their toes.  I cringe because I know those same kids would probably struggle doing a push up or body weight squat, let alone a similar weighted exercise.

A lot of that comes down to the fact that those kids have horrible mobility.  It also comes down to the fact that they have in their possession the best free weight on earth and have no idea how to use it.  People have gotten fast, strong, and ripped using their own body weight for centuries.  It makes absolutely no sense in my mind to use external loads such as barbells or dumbbells if the athlete can’t reproduce the movement in an unloaded (e.g. bodyweight) situation.

If an athlete can’t do twenty perfect pushups they have no business putting their back on a bench.  And that goes for athletes who CAN bench a lot of weight!  Same thing goes with squatting.  If an athlete can’t hold a bottom bodyweight squat posture and fire out into a jump, there is no way they are going to be able to do the same thing with a bar across their shoulders.

And don’t get me started on movement/sprint training.  If posture can’t be held in a static (standing still) environment forget about it in a dynamic (moving) one.  I could give the same coaching cue a million times until I’m blue in the face but if the athlete isn’t strong enough with their own body weight to actually do it then it’s just a going to lead to a lot of frustration, wasted air, and possibly injury.  And on the other side of that coin, if an athlete isn’t strong enough to consistently apply enough force into the ground to efficiently overcome their own bodyweight they will not be able to run fast or jump high no matter how good of mobility they have.

DOES YOUR CHILD HAVE THE ATTENTION SPAN?

This is going to be a case-by-case determinant that needs to be honestly addressed by the coach.  I’ve trained gymnasts as young as seven who could pay attention, make changes based on coaching cues I gave, and reproduce movement patterns based on the examples I showed them.  And then I’ve also trained teenagers and grown adults who could do none of those. 

Ultimately the coach knows what the minimum cognitive requirements are to begin and be successful in his/or program.  And sometimes a kid is just too young to be able to handle the mental load of the strength and conditioning program.  If your kid is the one picking dandelions in the outfield instead of paying attention to the game you may want to wait a year or two to have them start training.

That does not mean your child will never be able to handle strength and conditioning.  It just means that a year or two more of mental maturity is required.  If that’s the case then in the meantime let your kid be a kid and run around and play.  And if you can trick them into doing some pushups and pulls ups that wouldn’t hurt either.

WHAT ARE YOUR, THE PARENT’S, EXPECTATIONS AND LIMITATIONS?

Before you even consider taking your kid to a prospective strength and conditioning coach you as the parent need to take a hard look in the mirror and ask yourself what you are truly deep-down inside you expecting out of the deal?  Is even the most talented strength coach going to take your 12 year-old son and have him playing varsity basketball in 6 months?  Of course not! 

You the parent need to be extremely realistic about what can be accomplished.  It takes years of consistency and smart training to bring out a kid’s full potential.  It’s not going to happen six weeks out from the beginning of the season. 

That’s the boat that a lot of parents miss.  A lot of progress can be made in a few months in the instant gratification world we live in you, as parents, need to understand that there are no shortcuts and it takes time and a lot of effort to produce great results.  Twelve weeks is the blink of an eye when held up against an athlete’s entire career.  Give us consistent effort from the time they start to the time they finish high school and we’ll get somewhere.  Expect us to deliver a college scholarship in twelve weeks when they are fourteen and it isn’t going to happen.

On the same side of the parent coin here are some things that all trainers will expect from you:

• Bring your kid on time, every time for every scheduled session!  There is no bigger pet peeve than tardiness, especially if your son or daughter works out in small groups and everyone else got there on time.
• Consistency.  This is number one if you want your son or daughter to be successful in the weight room.  Consistently missing or cancelling appointments is a sure-fire way for you to waste your time and money.  All things done well need consistency.  If you can’t commit to bringing them in 2-4 times per week on a consistent basis then save yourself the trouble and wait until you can.
• If there are things that we want your son or daughter to do at home to help them in the weight room, make sure they do it!  It’s just like homework.  If it isn’t done we’ll know about it and we won’t be happy.  More often than not it will just be simple mobility drills and/or bodyweight exercises that will only take a few minutes to complete.

Those are the big things to consider when deciding whether or not your child should begin a strength and conditioning program.  If the “want to” isn’t there then save your time and money.  Strength coaches aren’t cheerleaders.  They will motivate but only the ones who want to be motivated will benefit.  If the kid doesn't want to be there then nothing the coach says or does will change that.

If there is that “want to” then as a parent it is up to you to find and hire a coach that will take the other two factors into account.  Some coaches will have cookie cutter programs that get kids in and out of the door without a real concern for results.  Make sure that the coach is going to factor any special considerations into your young athlete’s program.

And parents I can’t stress this enough, if you can’t get them to their appointments on time and on a consistent basis save your time and money.  Your best bet would be to ask the same strength coach if they would be willing to write up an at-home bodyweight program for your child and then pay the coach to teach them the movements.  I’ve done this a few times and while it isn’t a perfect situation it is better than starting and stopping over and over again.

In the second part I’ll discuss what a training program for youth athletes should look like once the decision has been made for them to begin training.

Training Update and Random Thoughts

Here’s the weekly rundown with some random thoughts at the end.

Monday:

Fat Bar Overhead Press:

155x5

115x8x3

Tuesday:

Sprints

Wednesday:

Clean High Pull:

274x1x5

Jumps and sprints and such

Bear Complex (Clean pull, hang clean, push press, front squat, push press, back squat, push press.  Doi each exercise once in that order equals one rep.  Should have videoed it.  Sorry.)

3x3

Thursday:

Upper back and arm work

Treadmill Sprints:

8.0 incline, 10.5 mph, :15 on, :15 offx4; :10 on, :10 offx2

Friday:

Squat:

385x5, 325x6x3

Good Mornings

My left shoulder right now is feeling kind of junky hence the extra upper back work on Thursday.  I think I got a little overzealous on Monday and did 20 wall walk ups with a press.  I’m going to have to modify that for future use.

There is a definite sports void right now with the end of football.  There will be news all the way up to when the season starts but I’m going to miss the action.  This hole cannot be filled by basketball and hockey.  I’m only a marginal hockey fan and since I don’t have cable I can’t really watch any of the games.  And to me NBA basketball is barely a sport.  I’ve never liked the games (mostly because I’m no good at it) and I really dislike the culture of it.  Seems to be a lot of “me” guys that are only out for themselves.  It’s also hard to like a bunch of guys that make 10 million dollars per year and live paycheck to paycheck because they spend every cent they make.  I’m sure there are guys like that in the NFL but I don’t like them either.  Case in point: Johnny Jolly.  That guy deserves everything he gets.  I was very much hoping that the NBA season was going to be cancelled just for the case study.  I thought it would have been very interesting to see how many guys went bankrupt or turned to illicit means to get by.  And I’m supposed to care about the poverty situation in America?

I had a pretty good post Super Bowl bloat from all the salty meats and treats.  Those brownie-on-top-of-Reese’s-Peanut-Butter-Cups-on-top-of-Tollhouse-Cookie-Dough bars were amazing.  Being the former fat kid that I am I’m already coming up with ways to make them better.  I think stirring in some peanut butter M&M’s would do the trick.  I really need to stop thinking about stuff like that.

Just like I thought was going to happen I pushed too hard on dead lifts.  I still had some soreness in my spinal erectors on Thursday, a full seven days post lift.  Need to start lifting with my head and not my ego.  Speaking of which, I haven’t trained my neck in while…

I’m going to start slowly adding in sprint days.  I did some kind of sprint work Tuesday through Friday.  This gets rid of my Saturday sprint day and gives me two consecutive days to rest.  None of the days are overly taxing and should help me maintain some leanness as I gain weight.

According to recent traffic on this blog the thing most people want to see is…bathroom selfies.  That post literally got 5-10 times the traffic of my other posts.  I post the links to these posts on Facebook and Twitter and I’m sure most of it came from people on Facebook wanting to see all 188 pounds of twisted steel and sex appeal.  Unfortunately that was a one and done thing unless I do another diet coming up.  A note to all male readers: Bathroom selfies are lame as hell.  Ladies, however, keep doing what you’re doing.

Squats are feeling really good.  I started incorporating a stretch from Kelly Starett (if you are having any kind of issues with mobility or flexibility check this guy out.  He's wicked smaht.) into my pre workout routine and I think it has made a huge difference on my IT band pain.  The last time I squatted I was on my first or second work set and realized that it didn’t hurt.  Here’s the stretch:

Whenever I have a client that had issue that was solved with soft tissue work and stretching the one thing that I harp on the most is for them to keep doing what they did to get it to feel better.  For instance, if they had lower back pain and it went away once they incorporated daily quad/hip flexor stretching and rolling out I’m like a nagging mother for them to keep doing it.  It takes time for adaptations to take hold.  You may feel better but once you stop doing what you were doing nine times out of ten the issue comes back.  Long story short, roll out, stretch, and do mobility work every day.

The Bruce Lee Method

“Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way round or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves.” –Bruce Lee

When it comes to quotes on either philosophy or weightlifting or the philosophy of weightlifting Bruce Lee quotes get a lot of play.  Bruce Lee was known as a very wise man and also a devotee to training the body to be able to do and handle uncommon tasks.  The quote above is one that I constantly remind myself of because it is very applicable to the strength training world.  It’s also a quote that advocates trial and error.  Even though I think a lot of people (especially “experts”) would be hesitant to admit it trial and error is a necessary process towards achieving your fitness goals.

Source: Wikipedia

The water quote is the basis of how I set up my training and nutrition programs for myself.  I’m going for maximum results in the shortest amount of time.  I used to be the guy who would read this great routine or diet plan and instantly set it up and run it hoping to get the kinds of results the author(s) promised.  Oftentimes I would see results but would be somewhat disappointed.  Cookie cutter programs yield cookie cutter results.

This is because there is no such thing as a magic bullet program.   A program that works great for me could be a disaster for someone else and vice versa.  So when I’m setting up my training I try to be like water.  If something doesn’t work I change my path instead of continuing to bang my head against the rock trying to force the program to work.  That is never the smart way to go.

Find your own path.

Now there are many programs and courses out there that have yielded awesome results for a lot of beginning lifters.  But that’s the catch.  Beginning and intermediate lifters will make progress on almost any program as long as it has some well thought out progression to it.  Mark Rippetoe’s Starting Strength and Jim Wendler’s 5/3/1 are two of the most popular programs for beginners and intermediates, respectively.  I’ve never tried Starting Strength but have borrowed some of the ideas for some of the beginner lifters that I train.  I used Wendler’s 5/3/1 for about a year and made some awesome progress on it.  It was easy to set up without a lot of thinking and I got stronger but I eventually got to a point where I felt like I was spinning my wheels.  So I went in a new direction.  There is nothing inherently wrong with the programs themselves, they just weren’t right for me at that time.

One thing that I want to make clear is that I’m not advocating a huge change if something isn’t working.  Often it’s the small changes that make the biggest differences.  Maybe if I had modified a few small things when I was doing 5/3/1 it would have continued working for me.  It’s all about knowing who you are and adjusting based on that.

The same goes for nutrition.  You’ve got Atkins, Paleo, Mediterranian, South Beach, Carb Cycling, and all the permutations under the sun.  Where do you start?  Some people feel great, perform awesome, and look good eating high carbs, moderate protein, and low fat.  And some people feel great, perform awesome, and look good doing the exact opposite.   And a lot of people fall somewhere in the middle.

The point I’m trying to make is that no two people are alike.  Two people with the exact same anthropometrics (height, weight, strength, etc.) will respond differently to the same training and nutrition program.  It’s the same reason why a skinny 15 year-old kid should not copy and paste the routine of a 250 pound professional body builder that’s being hyped in the latest edition of FLEX. 

So now, this article begs the question, “What should I do?”  Like I said at the beginning, it’s all about trial and error.  Here are a few guiding principles to help you build a routine that works for you and how to recognize if it doesn’t.

1.      1.  Pick a goal- The more specific you are, the better off you’ll be.  When you decide upon a specific goal everything you do should be done to get you closer to that goal.  An example would be, “I want to get in better shape.”  Great.  So do I.  But better shape to me is probably way different than better shape to you.  If you want to lose weight pick a specific target weight or body fat percentage.  If you want to get stronger pick a few core exercises and work to progress your numbers.  Being specific gives you something almost tangible.  It is a very narrow line that defines success or failure.  All black and white with no grey.

2.      2. Stick to the basics- There are things that have been used for ages to get people strong, lean, and in better health.  And then there is the modern crap that is of little use other than to fleece you of a few bucks.  No matter your goal lifting weights in the core lifts like squats, presses, dead lifts, and weighted carries and eating a diet made up of foods with only one or two ingredients is probably going to be the best way to start.  From there, modify and make small changes to suit your goals.

3.      3.  Keep track of progress- That means keeping training and eating journals, keeping track of body anthropometrics (weight, skin fold measurements, body circumference measurements, etc.).  If you don’t know where you started or where you were the week before you have no real way of knowing if you got better or worse.  On the same token if you do the same thing day in day out and week in week out your body is going to adapt and all you’ll do is stay the same.  Maybe that’s all you want but if you haven’t reached your goal you need to change something up.

4.      4.  Make small changes first- If you feel that you’re stuck as far as progress goes first think critically about what it is that is holding you back.  If you’ve been losing weight a reduction in body mass requires a reduction in caloric intake.  If you’re strength levels have leveled off perhaps your set rep scheme needs to be changed up a bit or perhaps your recovery methods should be looked at.  Whatever the case may be do not completely overhaul what you are doing. Results are never linear and are very hard to predict.  Sometimes all you need to do is to stay the course and let it work itself out.  Either way small changes can lead to big improvements.

5.      5.  If something no longer meshes with your goals drop it- If you do recognize something that is holding back your progress then you need to drop it.  If you want to get stronger or lose weight but you feel that Tuesday night darts with including beer and wings are holding you back then you have a decision you make.  Do you sacrifice progress or you social life?  There is no right or wrong answer as it’s a case by case decision.  Just don’t complain about not losing weight when you keep up with the darts, beer and wings.

Fitness is not an end point. Your goals should not be thought of as end points. They are more check points on your lifelong journey. Reaching goals are great, but once that goal has been reached a new one must be set. And when a new goal has been set then a new path must be taken. Even maintenance can be a difficult task if not done diligently.

In the end always be thinking about where you are, where you want to be, and the best path to get there. If that path is the one you are then stay the course. If it is not, then let yourself flow in a slightly new direction to find your way to the other side.