Strength and Conditioning questions? Ask a pro

[Brütal]

Hey all,

Not sure if there is a larger thread for this already but I figured I would help out the community by offering advice on programming, technique, and whatever other questions people might have about strength and conditioning.

A little about me:
I'm an NSCA certified strength and conditioning trainer, with both USA olympic lifting certification and over 4 years working with athletics and individuals in multiple sports as a college prep strength coach. My mentor and boss worked for the raiders, and other pro sports teams and has been a huge help in growing my own business. I currently own my own strength and conditioning business, coach at one of the nicest college preps in the bay area, and coach competitive club soccer in SF. Some other certifications and techniques I use are FMS, Muscle activations, TRX, and Speed and Agility training.

Prior to pursuing strength and conditioning I went to school studying kinesiology, and played professional Soccer both in the US and Germany. All of which had integrated strength and conditioning programs. While not a licensed nutritionist I am qualified to help you with patterns and guidelines for eating and hydration etc especially how they relate to athletes.

What this thread is here for:

• If you want to post up your workout routines and have me evaluate them
• If you need help with technique on lifts, power/olympic, or form in general, post it up and I will help critique
• If you have a question on the science behind things
• If you have postural alignment issues and are seeking some correctives

There will be some things I will not answer online simply because it may be too indepth and or a risk in liability for me to "advise" you on something but feel free to post it and I can try and direct you in the right direction.

If you want to hire me as a strength trainer regardless of your own experience/goals feel free to PM me. I do have 1-2 timeslots open a couple days a week at the moment. I may even give a little discount for BARF members. All of the people I have met from BARF are pretty chill, and all of my brother's experiences are positive so here is my contribution to paying it forward. Ask away!

P.S. I am insanely busy 99% of the time but I will do my best to track this thread daily and respond to any questions.
P.S.S The terms: Gains, crossfit, bro, broscience, Supplements, creatine, hgh, pain is weakness leaving the body, fitfam etc will most likely illicit a knee jerk response of "you might be an idiot". I train athletes with intelligent and well calculate programs. Aesthetics is always a supplementary goal but it should never be your only one. Same with weight/max metrics.

 

[Brütal]

Plateus occur due to a number of factors.

1)Overload
2)Improper Periodization
3)Not creating Mesocycles and Microcycles
4) Variation
5)Not taking advantage of Supercompensation.

I'll define and try and explain each of these so that you can apply them, however things like periodization and cycles, as well as supercompensation take years to fully grasp and apply correctly. That is why I get paid to program for athletes.

Overload: As an athletes body adapts to the greater physiological challenges to the neuromuscular system you must increase the training stress or loads placed on the muscles in order for gains in strength or performance to continue. A few ways of doing this are increasing weight, increasing over all volume, increasing the amounts of workouts in a week (total volume), or increasing sets of excercises that specifically overload muscle groups.

An explanation on volue can be seen as follows. I could do 2x4 reps @ 250lbs (2000lb total volume) or I could do 2x10@ 125lbs. These will give me completely different metabolic reactions and adaptaions while maintaining the same volume. Many people will change reps and set limits without addressing the total volume, as such, when they change cycles they are not correctly overloading or creating the right types of muscles fibers.

Cycles.


Hypertrophy: Increasing muscular cross sectional area and metabolic base for more intense future training (amount of muscle fibers able to be recruited and glycogen/use/storage. This preps for power or high volume low intensity micro cycles.)

Endurance: Increases the metabolic efficiency and endurance of the body but does not develop large amounts of cross sectional area.It does this by creating and recuiting more oxidative than glycolytic muscle fibers. This is a great reboot after active rest or used to train the neuromuscular circuits and increase the metabolic base of new athlets in order to allow the body to handle the larger volume loads of a strength/power or hypertrophy cycle a couple of micro cycles later.

Strength: The good stuff. Increase maximal muscle FORCE. Moderate volume and intensity. Depending on the client's needs for either sports, general population, or strength training/Olympic Lifting, maximal volume can be adjusted as well as rep sets and rest period. During a strength phase where you are using between 85-95% of your 1RM it is imperative that you allow proper rest between sets to allow for your glycogen stores to completely restore. It is also important to consume enough carbohdrate and protein BEFORE your workout to maintain glycogen stores via carbohydrate breakdown.

Overall volume can be achieved here by not only focusing on increasing sets while maintaining low rep limits but also by overloading muscle groups on multiple days in the week or multiple sessions per day. It is important however to note that you should not be going over 6 reps as a rule of thumb (with some exceptions) on strength lifts, as the maximal strength will deplete your glycogen stores within 2-3 lifts. The body needs roughly 3minutes to fully come back after both strength and power lifts. Remeber if you can do 10 reps at a weight it means you could be more effective at generating the correct metabolic response by doing 5 reps at a higher weight.

Strength/Power: If strength is lifting more, Power is accellerating that same weight from point a-b FASTER. This is done by not only focusing on power lifts (squat, bench, Deadlift) but with the mentality that it will also help your olympic lifts or sport specific goals. Here, you focus on LOW volume and high intensity. This is often where I will also mix plyometric and eccentric loading into a clients program on top of using explosive sets of 3x3s for power lifts. Olympic lifts will also take more of the training volume in order to allow for the appropriate metabolic reactions and neuromuscular developments to sequence movement. (For example on a hang clean: Hinge, iso hinge brings the bar to 1/4 quad, second hinge extends through hips, knees, ankles to create speed, Shrug, drop catch, stand) All of these motions must be perfectly sequenced to create maximal power throughout the range of motion. (Many times athletes will sacrifice performance due to poor sequencing where reciprocal inhibition will restrict maximal power throughout a range of motion).

(Competition or peak) - self explanatory, if you have a competition you try and line your cycles up to peak at this point before doing a mesocycle taper. we can spike athletes with large gains during the preseason but once the season begins the combined stress and timing of games and trainings means that limited performance gains can be achieved and it is more of a slow step by step buildup along with maintenance and rest management.

ACTIVE REST - This is perhaps the most important and overlooked aspect of periodization from an amateur perspective. This is the idea that you MUST allow physiological and mental recovery through limited low-volume and low-intensity resistance training or performance of activities unrelated to ones sport. These can be incorporated by including tapers between microcycles (3 weeks hypertrophy 1 week taper) or between mesocycles (3 weeks endurance 3 weeks hypertrophy 3 weeks strength 3 weeks power PEAK followed by active rest before beginning the next meso or macrocycle.

Variation:
Some people have touched on it but I'll tell you a way you can achieve it.
There are a couple different views on variation, one is to vary the muscles recuited to assist in a movement, either by changing position or overloading one group and then doing a complex multijoint movement to subsequently overload the other assisting muscles. Second is to vary the intensity at which you use them (therefore recruiting different types of muscle fibers and creating more of that type of fiber).

ex. Changing position: Doing a Sumo Deadlift or Snatch grip deadlift will change which muscles are recuited at the heaviest point in the range of motion or "hole" to initiate the pull.
Doing a wide arm push upwill allow for more outer pectoral recruitment and activation while doing a narrow grip one will increase the amount of tricep extension and inner pectoral recruitment.
Ex. Burn out triceps before bench pressing to force the pectorals to overcompensate rather than recruiting the triceps in the middle range of motion. This can be done in a drop set as maximal volume after the tricep fatigue sets in will limit volume in subsequent sets.
ex. Varrying intensity doing a plyo push up or explosive benchpress in which you do a pause followed by a maximal acceleration of the bar off the chest. Or using chains to normalize the resistance at every point in the range of motion (effectively eliminating the sticking point or point of least mechanical advantage) and doing a slow steady rep.


ex. Intensity can also be viewed as the amount of proprioceptive stability required to do a lift, for example changing a bilateral movement (Squat) into a unilateral movement (Split Squat) Or using a Trx to do a 1 legged lunge as opposed to having both feet on the ground



Varrying how you do these excercices as well as how you cycle your focus will yield a net gain in development of fast glycolytic muscles needed for heavier lifting.

Type1: Slow oxidative have high oxidative capacity and are fatigue resistant but contract and relax slowly (endurance/active rest)
Type II a :Fast oxidative Glycolytic have some oxidative capacity but are larger and more powerfule with moderate to high anaerobic metabolic capability (Some Hypertrophy/strength/plyometric)
Type IIx: Fast glycolytic Fast/Powerful but easily fatigued (Strength/power/explosive plyometrics)

All types will adapt regardless of resistance training however, by creating microscycles you can piggy back off of focusing on the growth of specific types and cycling through them. Think increases in the types of fibers as follows

+ 3 + 1 -1 Endurance
+1 +3 -1 Hypertrophy
-1 +1 +3, Stength
+1 -1 +3 Power/plyo
you will see a net gain of +5 +5 +4 from that cycle

Lastly and perhaps the most hard to actually take advantage of for normal people with busy schedules is the Idea of Super compensation.

Basically supercompensation is as follows.

Training - Drop in perforamance/recovery - followed by the body jacking up glycogen and muscles stores in preperation for the next harder workout known as the supercompensation phase

If your next training happens in the window of your supercompensation, performance will increase, if the next training happens outside of that window, then performance will remain the same. Glycogen stores will often replenish faster which allows for two workouts in a day (which elite athletes and bodybuilders will take advantage of) After ~a 10 hour rest period your body enters its metabolic supercompensation of glycogen production and usage. However, if you workout too quickly, symptoms of overtraining may occur, resulting in a loss in performance or damage to the mitochondrial process.

If you look at the graph below you will notice that while glycogen stores will have been restored your complex parameter of fitness level will not have reached its supercompensation arc yet. It is important to balance the glycogen window with the neuromuscular stress and overall fatigue of a second training in a day. Often it is used as an auxilary overload of low intensity and low volume simply to increase maximal volume before the next supercompensation for your overall fitness which will allow for your next lifting session.

 

[Agent Orange]

Here's my weekly routine:

I do jiu jitsu from 3 days of the week (usually m-w) and then strength and conditioning on Thursdays. I'll jog on the treadmill for 2 miles as a warmup then hit the weights.

I do about 6 exercises (3 sets each) if I'm focusing on chest and shoulders then alternate with legs and arms a few days later or the following week if I'm busy.

Chest and shoulders: flat bench, dumbbell rows, shoulder press, shrugs, dips, and flys.
Legs and arms: pull ups, squats, dead lifts, bicep curls, (leg curls / extensions, box jumps -depends how I feel) triceps.

I'm trying to shred down to possibly 145 but be able to maintain my strength. My sport requires alot of explosiveness but being one of the smaller guys in class I need to build up my strength too.

 

[Bay Arean]

Cool ad, bro.

 

[teg916]

I prefer my spam in a can.

 

[westie]

I do 16 oz. curls 3 times a week.

 

[Cycle61]

Pix or STFU

 

[auntiebling]

this thread is going approximately as anticipated, i'm sure.

Pix or STFU

for someone that claims to be pete's sexier brother, yep...

 

[MikeGyver]

I've never heard of this before: supercompensation

That lead to a 3 hour detour of my day

 

[Dubbington]

I got great form

 

[Dubbington]

I've never heard of this before: supercompensation

example of 'supercompensation'

 

[Ogier le Danois]

My advice for new lifters or even intermediate?

Do one of the Reg Park routines.

I like the 5x5 golden six one.

Eat enough food to gain or lose weight depending on goal.

I added 60lbs to my bench and 90 to my squat and deadlift in 3 months.

 

[catch2otwo]

Here's my weekly routine:

I do jiu jitsu from 3 days of the week (usually m-w) and then strength and conditioning on Thursdays. I'll jog on the treadmill for 2 miles as a warmup then hit the weights.

I do about 6 exercises (3 sets each) if I'm focusing on chest and shoulders then alternate with legs and arms a few days later or the following week if I'm busy.

Chest and shoulders: flat bench, dumbbell rows, shoulder press, shrugs, dips, and flys.
Legs and arms: pull ups, squats, dead lifts, bicep curls, (leg curls / extensions, box jumps -depends how I feel) triceps.

I'm trying to shred down to possibly 145 but be able to maintain my strength. My sport requires alot of explosiveness but being one of the smaller guys in class I need to build up my strength too.

Im sure op will chime in a bit more in detail, but to me it looks like your strength program lacks in compound movements as well as dynamic effort work.

 

[Dubbington]

^^ Wish I could bench. My shoulder and AC joint is so trashed. I can do dips for days, no bench though. Makes it feel like my collarbone is gonna pop out of my chest.

I've been using The Rock's shoulder and back workout he used for Hercules. It's brutal and making gains.

 

[catch2otwo]

^^ Wish I could bench. My shoulder and AC joint is so trashed. I can do dips for days, no bench though. Makes it feel like my collarbone is gonna pop out of my chest.

I've been using The Rock's shoulder and back workout he used for Hercules. It's brutal and making gains.

What does your bench for look like? Video? If you can "dip for days" but can't bench something doesn't correlate.

 

[Dubbington]

What does your bench for look like? Video? If you can "dip for days" but can't bench something doesn't correlate.

Best I ever did was a 45 and 25 on each side for a rep, years ago. Not gonna happen these days. I'm actually going to test my chest today, see what I can do, been 6 months.

Position of my shoulders I guess. All I can determine. I lightly separated my AC joint in college and from then had to stop incline flat bar bench. For awhile I could do dumbell incline as long as I tilted them inwards. I stopped bench in the summer after my shoulder/ac joint area were giving me pain.

I don't want/need a big chest anyway, dont want to outgrow my shirts ha! . Pushups, dips, and flys are good for me. I'm focusing on my back, shoulders, legs.

 

[afm199]

:spam

 

[stangmx13]

Endurance: Increases the metabolic efficiency and endurance of the body but does not develop large amounts of cross sectional area.It does this by creating and recuiting more oxidative than glycolytic muscle fibers. This is a great reboot after active rest or used to train the neuromuscular circuits and increase the metabolic base of new athlets in order to allow the body to handle the larger volume loads of a strength/power or hypertrophy cycle a couple of micro cycles later.

Strength/Power: If strength is lifting more, Power is accellerating that same weight from point a-b FASTER. This is done by not only focusing on power lifts (squat, bench, Deadlift) but with the mentality that it will also help your olympic lifts or sport specific goals. Here, you focus on LOW volume and high intensity. This is often where I will also mix plyometric and eccentric loading into a clients program on top of using explosive sets of 3x3s for power lifts. Olympic lifts will also take more of the training volume in order to allow for the appropriate metabolic reactions and neuromuscular developments to sequence movement. (For example on a hang clean: Hinge, iso hinge brings the bar to 1/4 quad, second hinge extends through hips, knees, ankles to create speed, Shrug, drop catch, stand) All of these motions must be perfectly sequenced to create maximal power throughout the range of motion. (Many times athletes will sacrifice performance due to poor sequencing where reciprocal inhibition will restrict maximal power throughout a range of motion).

id be very interested to hear how these two areas can be combined. personally, my goals for training are very focused on power endurance. i need to be able to do 90% effort in short bursts w/ 20% effort in between for as long as possible. does an athlete get better at power endurance by training power or by training endurance more?

i feel like when i train for power, my endurance only benefits because those 90% effort bursts are now 80%. on the other side, when i train endurance, the 20% effort feels like 10%. but its very difficult to feel gains in both.

 

[catch2otwo]

I don't want/need a big chest anyway, dont want to outgrow my shirts ha! . Pushups, dips, and flys are good for me. I'm focusing on my back, shoulders, legs.

Thats how imbalances occur causing more injury. Id suggest taking a video of you benching what you can bench without pain. Its most likely a form issue. If you can do push ups, dips etc, you should have enough shoulder strength and stability to bench. Im not saying you will be a world class bencher by any means and I don't doubt you have some shoulder issues, but benching may be beneficial to your recovery in building strength in the right places.

Im no coach by any means, but being a powerlifter has taught me the subtlest change in form has big impacts on pain or no pain.

 

[catch2otwo]

id be very interested to hear how these two areas can be combined. personally, my goals for training are very focused on power endurance. i need to be able to do 90% effort in short bursts w/ 20% effort in between for as long as possible. does an athlete get better at power endurance by training power or by training endurance more?

i feel like when i train for power, my endurance only benefits because those 90% effort bursts are now 80%. on the other side, when i train endurance, the 20% effort feels like 10%. but its very difficult to feel gains in both.

For me personally, my strongman training is very specifically tied to correct programming. I don't know what sport you are training for, but from my experience, many of my events call for moving maximal loads for extended periods of time. It all comes down to my programming. It is not as black and white as you describe. Maybe if you are a beginner, you may need to train in a split fashion to bring up one or the other, but as you progress, it becomes a blurred concoction of maximal effort combined with endurance.

Im sure op can explain more, but it was put to me this way. If you want to be good at the squat, you need to squat, if you want to be good at golf, you play golf. If moving lots of weight over long time or distance, thats what you need to do.


Where the hell is op, started a cool thread... would like to hear more on what his answers would be.