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 8 - by Carrie Adamson

I just finished my last build week before my race on April 18th. What I am lifting now I don’t think I would have even considered I could have seven weeks ago. Don’t get me wrong, my workouts are tough and by no means easy but the weights feel natural and like I am getting a good workout, but I am still able to walk and lift my arms while getting results. Each day had a music theme to match the days I worked out: Metallica, White Snake, Freddy Mercury. Is it possible Alan loves his job too much? Nah, don’t think so. I am still hoping I have enough time to learn my party trick before my training ends. Both my weight lifting and running program Corina developed have me in a recovery/taper phase from here on out to stay strong and fresh for Boston, but not leave me exhausted. 

I have recovered from my minor niggles and sore bits of the last couple weeks and was able to run my long run of 24.4 injury free. After my long runs I have gotten soft tissue work to work out the trouble spots, but this time it went by too fast because I wasn’t hurt. I almost want to hurt myself so I can get more massage. No, I am just kidding I don’t want to be hurt before my biggest race. This was the first time I had Corina work on me and she didn’t have to be the mean one. In a couple of my past massages Alan has called her in to work on the sore areas making me grimace while he continued with the general muscle therapy. During my massage Corina did tell me they were working on changing up my last couple weeks to add some bounce to my runs. Both are excellent masseurs so booking with either would do your body good.

Less pain more brain… sports massage doesn’t have to hurt

Corina and I have taught sports massage for many years. We have taught classes to groups of massage therapists and physical therapists, we have had doctors and nurses in our classes, we have taught reiki practitioners and housewives. Our clients have included Olympic athletes and professional triathletes, we have soigneured for cycling teams and have advised professional athletes, our students have built successful businesses and have traveled the world. One of the most important lessons that we hope our students learn is that a good therapist will be able to achieve the desired outcome from a treatment without hurting the client, this is in stark contrast to the perceived wisdom that sports massage should hurt. We need to question the assumption that a good sports massage should hurt.

Many therapists believe that their treatment is not effective unless their client is flinching and is on the edge of crying with pain. We have heard many stories of therapists who will continue to treat while the client is in floods of tears because of the excruciating pain. There are therapists out there that wear their ability to hurt clients as a badge of honor and openly boast about how much pain they can inflict. THIS IS STUPID AND UNETHICAL.

Any idiot can cause a client to be in pain (offense very much intended). Just because it is painful doesn’t mean that it is therapeutic, in fact quite the opposite. Yes sticking your elbow into spasming muscle will hurt, but that doesn’t mean that it will do the client any good or relax the muscle. Sticking a finger in my eye would hurt but that doesn’t mean it will help my short-sightedness.

Why is it that with sports massage: pain = good?

Would you go to a dentist who prided himself on hurting his patients?

We need to educate ourselves and the public about what is good massage and what is bad massage. It is my belief that therapists too often pride themselves on causing discomfort to build their own ego and to disguise a lack of understanding about how the body actually works and how it responds to the treatment we provide. I taught some of the therapists with this attitude so I accept that some of the traditional teaching styles are to blame for this, but this is a problem with sports massage world-wide.

We have taught courses where we know that some of the students think that once graduated they will be able to go out and work so deeply that they will routinely bruise clients. One time we taught a group of students in Aberdeen, the students were part way through their training, and the students all thought that bruising clients was normal and was even desirable, nonsense. By bruising a client you are causing more damage to the tissue, I am not saying that occasionally bruising a client is the end of the world, but regularly breaking capillaries is not clever or therapeutic.

An experienced, qualified therapist will be able to achieve the desired outcome without traumatizing either the tissue or the client.

There is a very big difference between being in slight discomfort and in pain. Therapeutic discomfort is sometimes unavoidable, just as you would expect your legs to be aching slightly whilst running hard intervals. Pain is different and is a signal to your body that something is wrong. If you feel pain during training you need to stop so you don’t injure yourself more. It is exactly the same in massage, if it hurts STOP. Sports Massage is there to help you recover faster and feel better after training or competition. If it makes you feel worse and it causes you to have to take a few days off training until you have recovered from the massage then it is not doing it’s job. Find another therapist who is capable of providing an effective treatment that makes you feel better and not worse, one size does not fit all.

The days of no pain no gain are gone in the gym, it is time that we as therapists used our brains a little more and our elbows a little less!

Alan

The Joy of New Beginnings

Last night I went to the monthly beginners meeting at the Tri Club of San Diego. Ok, so I’m not a beginner triathlete but I am a beginner San Diegan, so I thought it may be useful to find out more about the club. What I found surprised me and got me thinking.

The talk aimed to address all the big questions beginners had. I already knew the different race distances, I was familiar with what to wear and I even knew the difference between a road and a tri bike. In fact I learned nothing new about the mechanics of triathlon. Then why did I come away from the meeting REALLY wanting to take up triathlon???? I even feel a little disappointed that I am experienced in this sport because seeing all the newbies around me gaining confidence and enthusiasm with every word was so infectious. It reminded me what it was like to start triathlon, or any other new activity that I have taken up over my life. You start out with loads of doubts. You ask yourself: Will I be able to complete the distance? ….. Will I fall off my bike? …. Will my bum look big in lycra? …. And then you realize that the answer to all those questions is “probably”, but more importantly you don’t care because you want to try it anyway. And it is at that point that you turn into a triathlete (or soccer player, or surfer, or golf player, or musician, or anything else) without having attended a single race or even dusted off your old running shoes.

In this business I feel far too much time is spent aimed at those rare people who consist only of lungs and legs. Don’t get me wrong, as a therapist, trainer and coach I love the ego boost of rattling off the elite athletes I have worked with as much as the next girl, but the people I actually identify with most are the normal people that have doubts about their ability (usually unfounded) and are intimidated by all those that go flying by on really expensive bikes. It is those people, and I include myself in that list, who get such a sense of achievement from completing a tough new workout, managing to slip their feet into their bike shoes whilst on the move without falling off (most of the time) and realizing that the big scary monster of a new activity has turned into something you can’t wait to get back to. We will never win races, we will probably not finish in the top half, we won’t get sponsorship deals or be featured on the front pages of a magazine for our amazing athletic ability. But that doesn’t matter because we are having way more fun than those for whom the sport is a job.

A few years ago I was working as massage support at the Loch Ness Marathon in Scotland. We provided 20min massages to any finisher who wanted it, starting with the people who took less than 2 1/2 hours all the way through to those taking over 7 hours. As a therapist you have the unique opportunity of getting people’s stories immediately after the race, when they are still covered with sweat and mud, and when they have not yet recovered from the emotions thrown up by the event. What you would expect is that the mood of the athletes would deteriorate as the day went on. After all, it stands to reason that the woman who took 7 hours would not be as happy as the guy who came 3rd. Let me tell you, that is completely wrong. The guy who came third was in a foul mood because he was 30s slower than last year and “only” came third. The lady who took 7 hours had just completed her first ever marathon, something she couldn’t even have imagined doing some years ago. It took her several years to get herself ready to tackle it physically and emotionally. During that time she made some amazing friends, raised money for charities close to her heart, improved her health and fitness a great deal and was enjoying life more than ever. She was buzzing so much it was difficult to persuade her to get off the massage table after her 20 minutes were up, not because she wanted more massage, but because she hadn’t shared her whole story with me yet. If you ask me which one of those two people I want to be, without a doubt I’ll go for the back of the pack runner who loves every step she takes.

Here’s to setting new challenges, overcoming fears, realizing what an amazing person you are inside, and yes, here’s to taking up triathlon … again.

Corina

Back in White

In 1980 AC/DC released ‘Back in Black’ their first album since the death of Bon Scott and the first with my fellow Geordie, Brian Johnson, as the lead singer. Formed in 1973 (a year before I was born, that makes me… woh) AC/DC have stuck to their own brand of heavy rock through times when they were unfashionable, politically incorrect and socially unacceptable. Throughout this time they have stayed true to their roots, delighting fans and now rocking another generation of teenagers who snigger at their provocative lyrics. The point is they know what they are and they don’t want or need to change.

Growing up I was the smallest in my class at school and in Newcastle where I was brought up, you either played soccer or you learned to fight, at the age of 7 I started at a local judo club. I have been involved in martial arts ever since, I gained a black belt, I taught, I was captain of my University Judo Club, I taught at my own club, I gained black belts in various weapon systems, I was senior student at Kobudo Scotland… and then I stopped, two years ago… No time, no energy, no enthusiasm, too many injuries.

This is a story we hear all too often in the studio. “I was an athlete in college but now I am out of shape.” Life simply gets in the way, jobs, relationships, kids, family and other commitments take up time and energy, but does it change the athlete within?

One of the things that our injured clients are most afraid of is us telling them to stop doing their sport. It is part of who they are, their sport is a crucial part of their identity, it is their friend and family.

I cringe when I hear about therapists, even some of my own students, telling people to take up another sport. For the athlete this is like telling them to support another football team because their own team isn’t doing quite as well. Getting a runner to turn into a cyclist is like telling a leopard to change its spots to stripes… Obviously there are times when a runner needs to back off the running if they are injured, but even on the bike they are an injured runner, not a cyclist.

One of the first things I did when I arrived in San Diego was to find a traditional martial arts dojo and start practicing again. There are a lot of reasons why I chose the art of Iaido and there are a lot of reasons I chose the dojo I did, but the biggest reason is that I am a martial artist and that is what I do. I can dabble in triathlon, I can attend yoga classes and lift weights but I am sure that if you look under my skin I will still be wearing white pajamas and trying to remember which foot is left and which is right.

Alan

PS. AC/DC Back in Black is the second biggest selling album of all time having sold over 49million records!

He said, she said : Sport Specific Training

This weekend saw my first Sunday of NFL, and I loved it! Since planning our new business in the USA I have immersed myself into the world of American Football, because of all the big American sports this is the one I feel most drawn to. I have read ‘The Blind Side’, ‘Friday Night Lights’, both autobiographies of Lawrence Taylor, and a ton of other books, I even got Corina to buy me ‘The Idiots Guide to Football’ because I was too embarrassed to admit I didn’t have a clue about the game! I have watched all the films I could get my hands on, TV series, you name it. As someone brought up on soccer and rugby, which I also love, I think the NFL is fantastic. I love watching the All Blacks play rugby, I love watching the majesty of the magnificent Newcastle United and I love the NFL.

As an exercise professional I love watching the athleticism of guys the size of houses pirouette and then charge down the field at breakneck speed. The contact between these giants is unbelievable, it is like being hit by a truck who’s job it is to hurt you. So it came as a bit of a shock when a commentator on one game noted that the new strength and conditioning coach for the team had switched their emphasis to free weights and olympic lifting… what were they using before? Machines?

In the NFL the players need to be big and strong, they need to be able to move fast, change direction, take a hit and deliver big hits, they need to be agile, nimble and mean. I cannot imagine many more unpredictable and hostile environments in sport. One minute you are sitting on the bench and the next you need to run, evade, doge, throw or smash, and the whole world is watching. The last thing a strength and conditioning coach should be doing with this type of athlete is resistance training mainly using machines.

When you first come into the world of fitness/athletic training you are taught about the SAID principle. Simply this means that the body makes:

Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands.

Simple right? This means that if you give the body the right stimulus it will adapt, and specific stimulus yields specific adaptations. The basis of all training is built upon this principle, train and you get stronger. There are a lot of variables controlling the outcome, there are many ways of training, but if you know what adaptation you are looking for you can find the right training stimulus to achieve your desired outcome.

In endurance sports if you train at a low intensity for a longer duration your body will adapt by becoming more efficient at metabolizing fat as an energy source and increasing the density of mitochondria. If the intensity is not low enough these adaptations will not take place and your body will adapt in another way by becoming more tolerant to higher levels of lactate. This is why we do blood lactate testing, in order to tell you how slow you need to go in order to get the adaptation you need. Conversely if you want to become more tolerant to lactate and strengthen your anaerobic system then you need to exercise at a much higher intensity. The adaptation is specific to the stimulus, and the stimulus must be there long enough to allow the body to adapt. Training once a week is not enough! Don’t get me wrong you will burn off some calories but it highly unlikely that you will get any hypertrophy or other desirable changes through this type of training. If your training stimulus is not consistent over time the body will not be given the chance to adapt. So doing kettlebell training one week and ropes the next, followed by a yoga class or pilates session will just confuse the body; it won’t know whether you want it to become stronger, build muscle, develop muscular endurance, develop stability, or relax and make the muscles longer. In other words you can work hard and get nothing from your training. Sound familiar?

When you train for a specific sport or activity the exercises that you must perform should be similar to that which you need for your sport. This is in order for there to be an increase in performance due to your training. We call this ‘functional carry over’ and it means that your training should benefit your performance. You can train the body in the gym all you want, you can make the body look beautiful like a bodybuilder but it doesn’t mean that it is functional. Doing muscle isolation exercises in the gym using traditional machines makes you stronger in the gym but no where else. In the real world there is  never a situation where you use just one joint, the seated adductor machine (for ladies) and the pec dec (for men) are fantastic examples of exercises that have no functional carry over.

Players in the NFL regardless of position need to be strong, nimble, resilient and be able to adapt to changing circumstances in a split second. This is actually the case for most sports though the specific needs will obviously differ. So the training should mimic the conditions on the field of play. In Scotland the guys at the Institute of Sport calculated the angle at which the forwards needed to push during a scrum, the players then squatted through this range of motion in the gym, building very specific strength to help this aspect of the game, this is a fantastic example of sport specific training. Training NFL players on machines is dumb, they need to be working in a dynamic environment where their bodied need to adapt to changing circumstances, they need to be explosive and destructive, and they need to do this while on their feet, or even in the air, rather than sitting on some machine and doing bodybuilding exercises.

“This is the way we have always done it.” This is the response I often get when I ask coaches why they are doing a particular type of training. Don’t get me wrong some of the ‘old school’ methods are still as valuable as ever, yoga for instance has been around for many hundreds of years and is still one of the best forms of exercise you can do. But you must think about the outcome of your training before embarking upon a training regime that is wasteful of your time and effort. If you want to do a weekly exercise class to have fun with your friends and burn off a few calories excellent, but don’t kid yourself that it will make your muscles bigger! In the rugby preseason I treated a forward who had knee pain, he told me that the coach had made them all run a weekly 5km cross-country… This guy was nearly 250lbs and built like a truck, his job on the field was to pick up the ball and run into the nearest player on the opposing team. The training for some of the players on the team should have included this type of training, but for tis guy it was the equivalent of getting a 100m sprinter to do mile repeats; just dumb and it lead to injury.

In my opinion it is a lack of intensity that leads to most exercise programs failing to get the required results. The training is not hard or easy enough to get the right adaptation, this is true for both gym based strength training and endurance training. You need the right stimulus applied regularly enough for your body to adapt and change. If the exercise is wrong or the intensity is wrong you will not get optimal adaptation.

It takes 6-12 weeks for the body to build muscle, the nervous system adapts much faster. It takes time and the right stimulus to make the body more efficient at burning fat or tolerating lactate. But whatever adaptation you are looking for you need the right stimulus. Variables such as intensity, sets, rest, and exercise selection are crucial in determining how successful your training will be. I am always amazed at the lack of understanding of these simple concepts when it comes to designing exercise, it is not rocket science.

The Chargers play tonight and after my soccer team got beat at the weekend I am looking forward to a victory away to Kansas. Remember what I SAID!

Alan