My blog is now at StrengthCoachConcepts.com There is a ton of valuable information on the site. Articles, podcast, videos, services and more! I hope you make your way over and check out the new and improved site. I am extremely excited about it and be sure to expect big things in the future.
Also, be sure to subscribe to the newsletter. Thanks for the continued support and positive feedback.
Matt
You just completed another workout and its time for you to feed your hungry muscles. Instead of reaching for your shaker and turning on the facet, wouldn’t it be nice to enjoy a great tasting protein packed post workout smoothie? A week ago I was walking down the frozen food aisle in my local supermarket and I came across these Yoplait Smoothie bags. After checking them out, I threw a few in my cart and continued to the check out.
During my commute home, I realized that these packs would make great protein shakes. Over the past decade I have tried many concoctions to provide my body with the essential macro and micronutrients it needs after a workout. Chop up 4 mangos, 1 cup of milk, granola, berries, and yogurt …the preparation time was tedious and too long. When nutrient timing is a concern, you need to feed your muscles within a 40-minute window to allow for optimal protein absorption. In other words, you can’t waste your time prepping post workout nutrition when all you want to do is spice things up a bit.
The Yoplait Smoothie packs solve all of our problems. In only 4 steps and in less than 2 minutes, you could be sipping on the best shake you have ever tasted.
1. Pour 1 cup skim/2%/Whole milk in blender cup.
2. Scoop in your protein (In my case, Nature’s Best Isopure)
3. Empty the contents of the Yoplait bag into the blender.
4. Blend for 1 minute 30 seconds
Here is the link for the smoothie packs http://www.yoplait.com/products_smoothie.aspx
Enjoy!
Matthew
“Imagine a car that can go 150 miles per hour; but the brakes only stop up to 50 miles per hour. On the court, your body is like the car. If you have strong muscles and the ability to move fast but you don’t have good brakes, you will always perform less than your best. The Stabilizing muscles are your brakes” - Dr. Mike Clark NASM OPT
What a great quote! Only a few sentences but a world of meaning. Stability muscles are the foundation of every movement we perform in sport. Without an adequate amount of stabilization structures (synergist and GTO’s) in our bodies, it is nearly impossible to perform any sport based strength or power movement. Similar to the foundation of a house, stabilization is the foundation to your athleticism along with joint health. The beautiful thing about stability training is that it improves injury prevention and creates a clean slate for our bodies to build on.
As a strength coach, two aspects that should be focused upon is injury prevention and improved function (athleticism). Stability training helps carry out these goals. In any sport, the ankle, knee, hips and occasionally the shoulders have to overcome the impact from force driven movements such as changing directions, landing and jumping. To protect against injury, stabilization muscles or “deep muscles” are recruited to give protection and support. This is an important factor that should not be overlooked. Nearly every sport task relies upon the hips, knees and ankles (triple extension) to compete. Ironically, these joints are typically the injuries found walking through the AT room door.
For those of you who think stability training is a waste of time, here are a few facts. According to Mike Clark, by implementing a 4 week stabilization progression (the same duration as strength and power training in his OPT model) a 30 percent speed increase was found along with a 55 percent decrease in ankle, knee and back injuries.
I agree with the “Bosu Hater’s”. Bosu squats are just a way to show off to your buddies at the gym. It negatively affects force production and it stresses the knee and ankle in terms of improper alignment, intense flexibility demands and confused neuromuscular function. I believe that any strength coach is in agreement with me. Your goal is to keep your athletes on the playing field. Period! This means preventing injuries by implementing safe strength and power movements. A bosu squat is a tremendous liability as well as a credibility buster. A perfect example of the dangers of innovation.
Here are a few stability based movements I highly suggest implementing into your athletes programs.
- Monster Walks – Lunge Medley -Single leg squat -Bilateral/Unilateral hops – Airex series – Hop Stabilization – Core stabilization exercises (planks, bridges, bear crawls, bird dogs, mountain climbers w/ leg elevated or leg curl)
Base Transfer
SL Chop & Row
Mini Band Bunny Hops
Three Pt. Stabilization
These exercises are a few ways to train your muscles to contract at the right time. Neuromuscular coordination is a term that involves the muscular balance (activation) of your body during movement. Efficient movement relies upon the relay of electrical impulses to the correct muscles at the proper frequency and time, an action I like to call “Activation Athleticism”.
I hope you enjoy the content.
Matthew
For the last couple months, I have been featured in Mike Scott’s “One Question: Many Answers”. Mike has done a great job capturing the thoughts of physical therapists, strength coaches and personal trainers to many commonly asked questions surrounding our field today. If you have not had an opportunity to check out these posts, click the links below. Both posts feature professionals I highly respect and admire, I highly suggest taking a look!
“One Question: Many Answers” Episode 1
Question: In two sentences or less, what is one tip to help people maintain/start a healthy lifestyle?
http://mikescottdpt.wordpress.com/2009/12/07/one-question-many-answers/
“One Question: Many Answers” Episode 2
Question: In your opinion, why are childhood overuse injuries becoming so prevalent in our society?
http://mikescottdpt.wordpress.com/2010/01/11/one-question-many-answers-2/
Enjoy!
Matthew
If you have read any of my earlier posts, you understand how critical nutrition is in the optimal performance spectrum. If you want to reap the benefits of your training, you must fuel your body with the correct amount of calories. Parents, athletes and coaches always ask me, “how much food should my son or daughter be eating?”. In short, your daily caloric expenditure is the amount of calories you burn performing life’s daily tasks (workouts, games, work, school, etc). For such an important number, the steps couldn’t be any easier. You will need to do some basic math to find your resting caloric expenditure (RCE), daily activities expenditure (DAE) and workout caloric expenditures (WCE). Once you find these numbers, add them together. It’s that simple!
If you are serious about training, be serious about your nutrition especially your caloric intake. Below is a step by step process to find your daily caloric expenditure (DCE). It is important to remember that you must recalculate your expenditure if your workouts, work schedule or game schedule change. As your activity level and workouts change so does your caloric needs! Only adhering to the following steps once a year is like training with the same workout every session.
1. First find your Resting Caloric Expenditure (RCE)-
Men: Body Weight (Lbs.) x 11 calories per pound Women: Body Weight (Lbs.) x 10 calories per poundExample: RCE for 25o pound man equals 2,750 calories (250 lbs. x 11 calories per lb.)
2. Second, calculate your Daily Activity Expenditure (DAE). Use the table below and the above RCE figure to find your DAE.
* DAE has to do with your activity (work) NOT your workouts.
RCE (Above Step 1) x % of RCE (Table Below)= Daily Activity Expenditure (DAE)
Example: 2,750 x .75 (75 % -Very Active) = 2,062 (DCE)
| Daily Activity Level | % RCE Men | % RCE Women |
| Sedentary
(Sit most of day) |
15 % | 15 % |
| Lightly Active
(Walk/Stand most of day) |
35 % | 30 % |
| Mod. Active
(Walks & performs some physical work) |
45 % | 40 % |
| Very Active
(Physically Active Job) |
75 % | 70 % |
| Exceptionally Active
(Very Physically Active Job) |
100 % | 90 % |
3. Third, calculate your Workout Caloric Expenditure (WCE).
WCE = caloric expenditure (table below) x body weight (lbs.) x workout time (see description below)
Workout Time: To find your workout time, multiply the total number of sets completed (total sets= number of exercises x sets per exercise) by 1.25 minutes (30 second set + 45 second rest). The follow table is based on 30 second sets with a 45 second rest period between sets.
| Exercise Intensity | Men | Women |
| Circuit Training
(15 reps per exercise) |
.053 | .045 |
| Low (60%) 1 RM
(10 reps set) |
.048 | .042 |
| Moderate (70%) 1 RM
(10 reps set) |
.055 | .048 |
| High (75%) 1 RM
(8 reps per set) |
.058 | .055 |
| Intense (80 %) 1 RM
(5 reps per set) |
.061 | .058 |
4. Daily Caloric Expenditure (DCE)- Remember this Number!!
DCE= RCE (Step 1)+ DAE (Step 2) + WCE (Step 3)
This is your caloric minimum. As an athlete you must consume at least your DCE to perform at an ideal level. If weight gain or weight loss is a concern you will need to add or subtract calories from this value.
“Finding your DCE is easy as 1, 2 , 3″!
Matthew
Today I received an interesting email from a friend of mine. The title was: Have You Already Failed? The email was referring to New Year Resolutions and our attempts to change. As I read, I discovered that every year roughly half (45 %) of the adult population is likely to make an attempt to change in the upcoming year. This didn’t alarm me because I’ve always labeled New Year’s as a time of “New Beginning”. Ironically, I found myself intrigued by this email. I was surprised to learn about the number of resolutions kept after the ball drops. The week after New Year’s, 75 percent of those who made a promise have already failed. Two weeks, 71 %. One month, 64% . After six months 46 %. Yikes!
To avoid becoming a “statistic” I decided to share my 2010 resolutions with you. Here are my Top 10 resolutions pertaining to the field of strength and conditioning.
1. Read a S&C related book for 1 hour each day.
2. Continue to motivate, educate and improve every athlete I meet.
3. Improve the “State of Strength and Conditioning” through research and practical application.
4. Continue to believe that there is not a perfect philosophy, program or methodology. Evolution is what got us here. We must keep improving.
5. Never underestimate the power of joint mobility work and neuromuscular facilitation.
6. Improvement is reliant upon 70 % Nutrition, 20 % motivation and 10 % cognition.
7. Implement multi-plane exercise to expose the body to various imposed demands.
8. Diagnose neuromuscular deficiencies to treat asymmetric areas in the body.
9. Stick to the Basics. Innovation provides variation but may not provide results.
10. Develop a relationship with fellow strength and conditioning coaches, physical therapists and athletic trainers. We all hold a piece of the puzzle that is optimal performance.
Happy New Year!
Matthew
Reference: www.proactivechange.com/resolutions/statistics
In this final episode of my “top-secret” study, I will give meaning to the results. If you have not had an opportunity to read Part 1 and Part 2 here are the links for each episode. I recommend reading them before going any further. Part 1 Part 2
As the data shows, every athlete increased their multi directional and linear speed during the study. Keep in mind, this occurred without any speed or agility training. Why did this occur? Well, I believe the following video gives us a bit of insight on the results.
Yes, I am relating strength and conditioning to formula 1 racing. I could have never imagined I would be doing so but the idea hit me! In formula 1 racing, some of the most technologically advanced race cars are used to maneuver at high speeds around a designated course. It struck me that with speed and mobility our bodies are our race cars. Our hamstrings the brakes, quads/glutes the engine and our core the shocks/stabilizers. Briefly, when skill and understanding are set aside, what occurs when a driver improves their engine, brakes and shocks( I often refer to this as one’s functional system)? Simple, they have the ability to move faster! When you watch the video make sure you have your sound turned up. When you hear a downshift think hamstrings, a upshift think quads/glutes and a tire screech think core!
Answers to the Research
1. Hamstring Strength- Improved hamstring strength will allow your athletes to change directions efficiently. The primary component of multi directional speed is “change of direction” ability. I have trained a number of athletes who ran 4.4-4.7 40 yard dashes but they suffered in drills such as the 5-10-5, nebraska and L.E.F.T test due to inadequate hamstring strength and core stability. To fall back on our formula 1 reference, these athletes had the engines but lacked the brakes. If you want to become an athlete with excellent mobility and lightening fast MD speed, train the hamstrings! In addition, increased hamstring strength will improve your stride frequency which increases your pulling power in linear situations. Transitional and top end velocities rely on the hamstrings for support. As you can see, a muscle group that tends to be poorly trained but yields a ton of worth when focused upon.
2. Quad & Glute- Improved quad and glute strength will provide your athlete’s with the ability to produce force which means improved linear speed. During linear movements, the hamstrings provide pulling power and the quads/glutes provide the pushing power. Training these muscle groups by the practice of single leg movements will increase your athletes speed because they contain a high amount of transfer specificity to sprinting. One method I use is adding an explosive knee drive during lunges and step ups which activates the hip flexors and lower abdominals. If you want to be fast, you have to build a powerful engine (Another Formula 1 reference). Turbo charge your lower body by performing single leg movements (SL Squat, Lunge, Step Up, Bulgarian Spilt) and bilateral squats for muscle balance, strength and dynamic flexibility. I recommend a 2: 1 ratio, Single Leg to Bilateral squat movements when designing a program for any athlete with average lower body strength, flexibility and stabilization. For athletes who lack skill in these areas, I keep the ratio but reverse the modalities to a 2:1 Bilateral to Single leg until improvement is noticed in the aforementioned areas.
3. Core- In linear and multi-directional speed, the core is an integral component for speed improvement. I tend to avoid implementing Russian twists, sit ups and especially crunches. I recommend using functional-dynamic movements such as chops, swings, throws and slams that train the mid section in 360 degrees. These movements will produce power and torque in the core as well as recruit synergist muscle fibers for stabilization. Speed mechanics rely heavily on posture, without an adequate amount of core stabilization your posture will collapse along will your speed. Stabilization exercises such as planks, atomic push ups, supermans, bird dogs and opposite prones will give you the structural support you need to maintain your acceleration lean in linear movements and an athletic base in MD movements.
Remember, this was a research study. The purpose of the study was to investigate the responses on speed when engaged in a full time strength training program. The results display that strength is one of the pillars for athletic ability. To optimize your strength and conditioning program, combine both training modalities. In the offseason I implement, 70 percent strength/explosiveness and 30 percent speed. In later offseason microcyles and pre season training my percentages will shift to a 60 % (Strength) 40 % (Speed).
As always, I hope you enjoy the content. I would love to hear your feedback!
Matthew
Next week I will be defending my thesis for publication. I am extremely proud and excited for this occasion because it allows me the opportunity to share what I have learned with all of you. My projects title is “Acute Strength Responses to Variable Resistance Training: A Muscular Strength comparison between plate loaded and chain variable resistance squats. I know…long title. Believe me, the title goes along with the length of the content!
As you can imagine, I will be very busy next week! For the week of the 14th you can look forward to an update on my defense and a Part 3 post on my “Top-Secret” research.
Enjoy next week!
Matthew
Well, winter is here. I can’t say I’m excited because I hate the cold but I am looking forward to seeing my basketball athletes excel this season. As a collegiate player, ankle injuries plagued my teammates season after season. Why was this? Prior to the start of every season, our team would perform a program using resistance bands, ankle weights and marbles to improve the overall strength of our ankles. After completing this program why were my teammates still spraining their ankles in non contact situations? Were we missing the boat in regards to prevention and overall ankle health?
Typically, with prevention you find yourself looking beyond the affected area to solve the problem. In regards to ankle trauma, the missing link is the glute medius not the ankle. During various movement patterns, the primary function of the glute medius is to initiate external rotation and to provide an adequate amount of stabilization toward the lumbo-pelvic region along with the femur. How does glute medius strength and ankle sprains relate? To start, ankle sprains and shin angles go hand in hand. When changing directions, a positive shin angle must exist in order to avoid any ankle trauma. In high-speed/high-force environments, glute medius strength is needed to provide optimal control over the femur which will translate into correct shin angles and osteo-alignment.
An assessment I have been implementing with my basketball athletes for a number of years is the Trendelenburg Test. Since introducing this test, the number of ankle injuries in my basketball players has decreased significantly. The Trendelenburg Test is simple yet very effective method for diagnosing glute medius strength/activation in any of your athletes not just basketball players. To perform the test, have your athlete stand facing away from you (preferably a wall or body grid) so you have an unobstructed view of the individuals lumbo-pelvic region. At your cue, have them slightly flex their knee and pick up their foot about 4-5 inches off the floor. Hold this position for 2 seconds and then alternate. The focal points you should be looking for is pelvic alignment and body stabilization. A weak glute medius can be confirmed if your athletes pelvic alignment drops below neutral to the uninvolved side or if they seem to be having a difficult time balancing on the involved leg while performing the test (placing the foot down abruptly or moderate/intense instability). For advanced or elite athletes a modified test can be administered which requires the individual to lift their leg higher (femur parallel/high knee position).
One method I love to use is to create what i like to term “Prevention Equations”. Similar to mathematical equations, it is impossible to obtain a solution without taking the proper steps and methods.
Poor Glute Medius Strength + Poor Femur Control+ Poor Shin Angle = Increased Ankle Trauma
Excellent Glute Medius Strength + Good Femur Control + Optimal Shin Angle = Decreased Ankle Trauma
The first two videos demonstrate both variations of the Trendelenburg’s Test. The third video demonstrates the pelvic drooping which accompanies a weak glute medius.
Exercises you can introduce to strengthen the glute medius are hip hikes, bucks, bridges, peg legs, monster walks and lateral wall slides.
Take a few seconds to administer the Trendelenburg Test. Not only will it improve your program design but it will improve upon the overall health of your athletes.
Matthew
Recently, a topic of discussion that has created a lot of buzz in the field of strength and conditioning is “Early Specialization”. I’m sure you are familiar with this theory if you read any of Mike Boyle’s blogs (www.strengthcoachblog.com). Mike does a great job of “painting the big picture” through his teachings. In his blog, he states that the concept of “Early Specialization” used to be thought of essential for the development of today’s youth. In his blog titled “So Much for Early Specialization” he explains how early specialization can deter long term development. If you view athleticism as a recipe, late specialization is the main ingredient.
My question is, What happens when an athlete enters the high school rank? Is it beneficial or harmful for our adolescent athletes to play numerous sports? First, let me clarify what I mean by “Late Specialization”. Early Specialization is when the focus is placed on numerous sports at an early age such as youth or middle school. Late specialization is when the focus is placed on a single sport or activity later on in an athletes career such as high school. I have been training high school athletes for a number of years. During each Pre-Training assessment, I tell my athletes to write down the top 3 reasons why they want to begin training. You know what reason always tops the list? Collegiate Athletics. If your goal is to play at the next level, late specialization is what you need in order to get there.
Here’s why:
1. When the focus is placed on a single sport, a well designed strength and conditioning program will compliment the sport performed. This is where the concept of “sport specific” training falls into place.
2. To decrease the incidence of sport related injuries, sport specific preventative exercise will be able to be implemented. For example, shoulder health in baseball players, knee health in basketball players and ankle health in soccer athletes.
3. Collegiate coaches love athletes who specialize in one sport during high school. The percentage of dual sport athletes at the collegiate level is very low. If you want to increase your recruiting potential, show coaches you are worth the investment by making a statement. This is typically the case with collegiate baseball. Southern colleges and universities are dominant season after season because they recruit athletes who eat, sleep and breath baseball.
4. When an athlete plays a single sport, it allows time to focus on the “essentials”. High school athletes and nutrition don’t mesh well. This is a big deal when improvement is reliant upon 80 % nutrition and 20% training. One thing I found, athletes who play numerous sports simply just don’t eat like they should. Why? Because they are busy. Many times leaving from an after school practice to a training session then to another sport practice/game. With school added into the mix, overtraining is likely.
5. We all know that the greatest improvements are made during offseason programming. When an athlete plays multiple sports (Fall, Winter and Spring) the offseason training occurs during the summer. When an athlete plays a single sport, the offseason period is significantly longer which makes for bigger gains in strength, explosiveness and flexibility. What would you choose, a 6 month or 3 month offseason? A 50 percent chance of becoming a better athlete! I think we know the answer.
Matthew
