Training smarter AND harder!

There is a big move the the US footwear market towards footwear that gives you something for nothing. This sparked a conversation I had with a footwear designer that really got me thinking about the nature of training and a spin on a subject I have been talking about for may years. Like most people in the health and fitness world I talk about exercising smarter NOT harder, I like to think that I am one of the few that actually practices this because I am one of the few that has the skill to measure and evaluate the body before prescribing either strength or endurance exercise, everyone else is just guessing… But my realization was that what I actually want is for my clients to train smarter AND harder, let me elaborate:

By taking an extensive evaluation in terms of interview, postural and biomechanical testing and, if appropriate, blood lactate testing I can help the client avoid many pitfalls. I can help my clients do exercises that are the right exercises for their body, exercises that won’t injure them, exercises that will yield results. This evaluation takes time, and has taken many years of study all around the world. My years of study and years of experience working with the widest range of clients is that doing an evaluation is not enough. To get the results that most clients want the client usually needs to be working harder, that means more hours training usually at a higher intensity, and for endurance athletes many more hours training a lower intensity (trust me this is harder for the client).

To get real results clients need to be doing something nearly every day! I spoke to a noted triathlon coach who believes that doing 20 hours of training per week for an age-group Ironman athlete is a compromise and will only give mediocre results, he expects his athletes to work in the 40 hours per week arena (these are not full-time athletes, and most have normal jobs!). The combination of us doing the blood lactate testing for these athletes and the coaches training program ensure that we are definitely working smarter. The results that this particular coach gets are amazing, it is a matter of training both smarter AND harder.

The best way to improve running form is to run, if you want to get fitter and stronger you need to train hard. If it was as easy as putting on a slimming belt or wearing special weight loss shoes or weight loss clothing then we would all be slim and fit! Buying the latest bare foot running shoes is no substitute for hard work, you still need to put the hours of training in.

Until we find a magic pill, or running shoe, that gives you more willpower then those that train hardest and make the most sacrifices will see the best results. Yes you need to train smart but that alone is not enough, you need to train smarter AND harder.

Alan

Guinea Pig Workout Week 1 - by Carrie Adamson

I have been chosen by the Wolf Studio to be the guinea pig to receive three personal training workouts and recovery therapy each week.  I feel lucky that they chose to work with me and excited to go on this journey with them.  My first time in the studio, I was there for an assessment where my strength, flexibility, and balance were tested.  It was also a chance for Corina and Alan and myself to learn a little bit more about each other. 

Week 1 of training began with a blood lactate test where I ran in four minute intervals and a sample is taken to determine my anaerobic capacity.  I was sweaty and worked hard, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as some of the photos posted from previous tests made it look.  Wednesday morning was my first real workout and it was all about my legs.  After some stretching I did squats, walking lunges, jack knifes, some balancing stuff and a superman move on the balance ball.  My legs were feeling pretty good when I was done and it wasn’t until later in the day that I my quad and glute muscles really started to burn.  I have to say I enjoyed the temporary pain because it meant I had a good workout.  Lifting weights and doing the same routine day in and day out for the last year and half, I hadn’t felt sore in a long time and was really just going through the motions of my routine.  

Friday I went in and we worked on upper body.  I surprised myself with some of the workouts I was able to do.  There was the bent over row with a weighted bar, chest press while laying back on a balance ball, a move that was both bicep curl and over head press all in one, and balancing on a bosu ball while doing lateral and front raises.  Doing a push-up and pulling up a dumb bell in between was where I was surprised.  First I was doing real push-ups, no my toes not on my knees and then in between I had the strength and balance to pull up a barbell.  Who knew?  Because this workout I was able to focus on sides during each exercise I realized that I feel weaker on my right side.  After the upper body workout I felt sore right away.  I joked that I couldn’t lift my arms higher than my shoulders and was sore through the weekend.  Again, I didn’t mind the soreness, knowing that Alan gave my muscles a great, hard workout. 

Saturday I got to end my first week with a soft tissue recovery massage.  Earlier that morning I had just a new PR in a 10k and after some hard runs earlier in the week and my body getting used to the new workouts I needed it.  Alan explained the philosophy of the soft tissue recovery to me; that the massages don’t need to be painful to be beneficial and by coming in for weekly recovery he is treating any issues and pains that are small before they can become chronic.  Even though it is part of the training process helping my body perform it is still a relaxing treat that I will look forward to for all the work from earlier in the week.

I am thrilled I have this chance to be the guinea pig for Wolf Studio working with Corina and Alan to become a stronger, better athlete.  I promise to give this opportunity 100% of my effort and dedication.  See you all next week!

Carrie

Bragging Rights

We do a lot of testing at the Wolf Studio. We do tests to measure your posture, your core stability, your tight muscles, your weak muscles, your injuries and how you respond to exercise both strength and endurance. We have found that there are 3 types of people that come in for testing:

1. Those that really don’t care and are only there because someone told them to
2. Those that are fascinated by the results and really excited about how they can improve
3. And those that are looking for bragging rights.

This third group is an interesting one. You would expect they are looking to get perfect results, to “pass the test” so they can impress their friends. That is often true of endurance athletes getting lactate tests, they get really disheartened if we show them that they have deficits and that maybe their curve is not as good as that of their friends. These people usually don’t want to know that they can improve, they want to be told that they have been doing everything perfectly already. 

The more curious phenomenon we have found is those that want to brag about how messed up they are. They take delight in seeing how many of the postural tests they are outside the norms on and they want to be told that they are the worse we have ever seen. Since we have seen a LOT of bodies it is unlikely you will be the worst we have seen, or even be close to the bottom of the pile, but many people seem to seek this out. It is as if they want some validation of why they are getting the symptoms they are (such as neck or back pain) or why they are not making the performance improvements you would expect. Unfortunately those looking to brag about how messed up they are tend not to want to do anything about it because that would take away their uniqueness. Not the best client for us to have ...

The best clients for us are those that look at the results and get excited about how much they can improve. They can see the potential, they can see what is possible if they work towards it. They look at a bad set of results, compare that to what they have been able to do already and reach for the stars.

We have been lucky enough to have several of these optimist athletes (and their coach) in recently. They have been an absolute pleasure to work with and because of their positive attitude, fairly good (OK, great) results already, willingness to work hard and a coach with the knowledge and experience to guide and push them in the right way we know they will achieve greatness!

Corina