Tricks and Treats

Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate! You may think you are treating yourself to some well earned Halloween candy, but it is one of the biggest tricks you may encounter this holiday.

We all know that without a good nutritional game plan, our performance and results will be hindered. Here are some not so tasty facts for the popular candy in town.

In one Snickers bar: 271 Calories, 5.2 Sat Fats, 28.8 grams of sugar
In one Reeses pack: 210 Calories, 4.5 Sat Fats, 21 grams of sugar
In one Starburst pack: 240 Calories, 4.5 Sat Fats, 33 grams of sugar

On average it might take a person 1 hour to burn 500 calories. On the flip side it could only take a person 5 minutes to eat 500 calories. Do not be tricked by the "fun size" candy bars because they will add up very quickly.

On the bright side there are a few treats you can give yourself during the Halloween holiday. For starter  have some good snacks on hand like almonds, carrot sticks, or dried fruit. Whenever you get the desire to eat out of the candy cauldron, choose your pocket snack instead.

Secondly, get in your routine workout early in the day. You know you will be enjoying the night later on by walking your kids around the neighborhood or going to a party. Just because it is a holiday does not mean your body has to take a holiday.

Conclusion:

Find the healthy snack that you will enjoy in place of candy and have it on you for easy access. Also, get your exercise in just as you would on any other day. The later the day goes on the busier the night will get, and the excuses add up. Make this Halloween an accomplishment in your training journal rather than a setback. Will you treat yourself or trick yourself?

The Biggest Reason You Waste Gym Time

When people are ready to achieve a goal such as gaining muscle, losing weight, or increasing some degree of performance they head to the gym. Great start, but just showing up will not get you the results you want.


HERE IS THE PROBLEM!
The biggest mistake I have made and have seen hinder others is not going into the gym with a plan. They go into the gym, look in the mirror for a few minutes and make their decision on the spot of which muscle groups they will work. Sometimes this will lead to the same exercise routine they learned from their high school sport. Other times they are attempting to mimic an exercise they saw on the internet. The lack of intentionality in your exercise program will continue to slow down the time it takes to achieve your goal. This leads to a social adventure with old friends, new friends and complete strangers, which only wastes your time in the gym!

AND NOW THE SOLUTIONS...
What you need is a plan. Start by either creating your own program or seeking a trainer who can create a program tailored towards your goal. This plan or program should be set for at least 4 weeks, maybe longer. This will allow your body to learn the movement patterns and begin to load those movement patterns. Some may argue that you need variety in order to have muscle confusion and rapidly increase muscle growth! Wait, what? No, you will get your variety from your repetition changes and increases in range of motion. Also, you can get variety from your recovery in between exercises, sets and training days. Even if you are not 100% sure your program will work, trust in what you created and stick to it. At the end of the 4 weeks, alter a few things and try it again. If you are completely lost, seek out professional help from a certified trainer or strength coach.

When you create your program be specific. Set out your repetitions, sets, and recovery time. Organize your exercises in an appropriate order (olympic, power, strength, auxiliary, push-pull, muscle groups). Answer the questions of supersets? Trisets? Quadsets? How much load are you lifting during each set of each exercise? Is this specific? Yes, but it will give you the greatest chance to achieve your goals. Write it down on a piece of paper, put it on your phone, memorize it, just do what you need to do so you can follow your program for the entire month.

Of course nutrition will play a role in any type of training. Even if you are just looking to stay in shape! Do not be so naive to think that you can put fast food, fried food or foods high in saturated fats into your body. Treat yourself and take in an adequate amount of carbs, proteins and fats. This can come from vegetables, nuts, fish, lean meats, etc.

CONCLUSION
Create a program before you enter the gym. Don't be embarrassed to bring in a piece of paper with all your exercises, sets and repetitions on it. If you do not know where to start, seek professional help. And do not overlook the role nutrition plays. Being prepared before you train will increase the amount of training you get done while you are in the gym. This will lead you to the results you are looking for.

(If you have any questions leave them in the comment box below.)

3 Training Benefits from Spikeball

Spikeball is a hybrid version of volleyball played with a smaller net and a smaller ball. The game demands players to play in all types of movement planes and have quick reactions to sprinting and hitting in a small radius.

I was introduced to this addicting game last year and have found so many benefits to my training along with my enjoyment of playing. I usually play this game at the beach, but I have also been playing on grass and a hard floor (during the winter). Here are three training benefits I have found from this game.

1. Acceleration
Acceleration is the rate in which a person changes speed in a given time. Usually the first 5 to 10 yards from an initial position before a true sprint speed is reached. Also, deceleration is in this same category which is acceleration in the opposite direction. Acceleration plays a big role in most sports like football, soccer, basketball, baseball, tennis and more. It is those first few steps to beat your opponent to the ball or better positioning that will make the difference in a game.

This aspect is physical and cognitive. The physical aspect comes from the defense play of the game. Just as the game is called, most defensive plays occur when the other team "spikes the ball" into the net, which propels the ball 5 to 10 yards (depending on the deflation of the ball). The defensive player has to accelerate to retrieve the ball and decelerate to return to the net to make an offensive play.

2. Kinesthetic Awareness 
When an athlete is in tune with their body and understands its proprioceptive abilities, we call them a motor genius. Spikeball is difficult to master because most of the time your eyes are not staring at the target, but rather at the ball. The most accurate scorers can hit the target without looking at it. During this game, an individual will be diving and sprinting forwards and backwards, hitting balls over their head and testing their hand-eye coordination to contact a small object on a small target. You might think, "I will not be put in these specific positions during my sport or event." However, learning how to control your body in various positions is invaluable to an athlete. For example, scoring a basket after being fouled in an unstable position or catching a pass after being rerouted by a linebacker. This game will increase your motor skills and kinesthetic awareness.

3. Conditioning
Spikeball is highly anaerobic game mostly working the phosphagen system, but sometimes tapping into the glycolytic as well. Each point usually lasts 3-5 seconds, but sometimes can go for 30-45 seconds and with games ranging from 10 min to an hour, the conditioning benefits are awesome. Lastly, the ground you play on can increase the level of conditioning. If you are playing on a hard surface (gym floor) you can move quicker, but you limit the amount of range your body has to dive. When you play on a soft surface (sand), you have the freedom to dive on the floor to make a play and get back up to do it again. Almost as if you are doing Burpees throughout the game.

Final Thoughts
Spikeball is a competitive and beneficial way to condition yourself or your athletes. Also, it is a fun option for those who hate to condition themselves and need more of an objective rather than a line to cross. With the high intensity of game play and benefits of training, this game will easily become a regular in your training regimen.

Thankful for the Men and Women Who Serve

I am very thankful for the men and women who serve our country across seas. Above is Frankie Larez, a good friend of mine who serves for the Air Force, with a group of children from Afghanistan. Thank you for the hard work you do each and every day.

Sitting is Deathly!

This past month I have been driving a ridiculous amount of miles helping my parents move into a new house. This equates to a whole lot of sitting with very minimal range of motion in my hips for a long duration of time. After each drop off or pick up, I would spend ten to fifteen minutes stretching my legs and trying to get some mobility out of my hips before another hour of tightness could occur. This combined with heavy lifting of furniture and boxes lead to my body screaming at me each night. Imagine not warming up or doing any soft tissue work and then trying to squat 80% of your 1RM over and over again. (I really hope none of you are doing this). Well after a final drive today sitting in the 101S traffic, I have to let the world know that sitting will be the death of us.

Technology has rapidly developed in the past few decades and it has made many things "easier" for people. And although I love playing Angry Birds and being able to check ESPN every second, we have been forced into a chair or desk in order to operate this technology. And if that isn't the case, then you end up at home on your couch back on your butt.  

In most jobs where you are required to work at a desk, people sit in a chair at a 90 degree angle (or less) and reinforce bad movement (or lack of). This angle of sitting is followed by constant flexion of the hips, a kyphotic spinal position and weakened scapular stabilizers. All of which may be the reason for your "low back pain" or "bad posture." To top it off we come home from these jobs, in a car where we are sitting, eat dinner at a table where we are sitting and make a jump right for the couch where we are sitting. It is a brutal cycle that will increase pain or discomfort and sooner or later get you off your butt to a gym or therapy office. So lets figure out some solutions to getting off your butt and opening up those hips earlier rather than later.

First, how about simply moving around? Maybe taking a walk, going for a hike, riding your bike, whatever you enjoy that gets you moving around. You will burn more calories than you do sitting and will increase your mobility from moving.

Or think about this. A friend of mine from Sparta Performance Science, has refused to sit when he is at his desk using his computer! Instead he is in a half kneeling position with a pad under his knee opening up his hips while he is working! Now he is able to continually keep his hips open and decrease his sitting time. What a thought? Getting a light stretch while you do your desk work.

I understand after a long day of work sitting and relaxing, but move around and experience working muscle actually at work! We were created to move and explore the Earth by using our bodies. You are taking advantage of the gift of movement that not everyone has access to. So instead of looking at pictures of the places you want to be, experience it first hand and take yourself there. 

Grip and Forearm Exercises

Each week I want to provide a small set of exercises to assist in certain muscle groups of the body. I truly believe that education of movement is vital for any strength coach and athlete looking to better themselves or their players. Today I want to focus on grip and forearm strength. Now, this does not always have to be about power development because speed work can also be implemented into forearm exercises.

Grip strength plays an important role for many athletes, but it is very commonly overlooked in many sports. Some obvious sports where you could see the importance is in baseball, hockey and tennis because they all have some element of an object in hand. But athletes who are on a strength program (hopefully all of them) will need grip strength in most of their weight room exercises. I have began to notice clients who are unable to perform a lift or consecutively finish a fixed amount of reps because they have little to no grip strength. In the following I offered a few exercises that will improve grip strength and avoid or fix the problem I have seen. These exercises can be used in a circuit or implemented into your own complexes. (This can also be applicable for tactical strength and conditioning).

Here are a few exercises you can perform to increase your grip/forearm strength.

Exercise	Reps	Sets
Tennis Ball Squeeze	20	3
Farmer’s Carry	50 m walk	3
Wrist Curl/Extension	10 each arm	3
Towel Pull/Chin Ups	6-10	3

The Tennis Ball Squeeze can be done 1 hand at a time or both hands depending on what is available to you. I use this exercise for speed work to get all 20 reps done as fast as possible or slowly and squeeze with 2 second contractions.

The Farmer’s Carry can be done 1 hand or both hands at a time. I would recommend starting with 2 hands if you have never done these before in order to have more stability. Dumbbells are a great choice for this exercise, but they can also be done with weight plates.

Wrist Curl/Extension can be done 1 hand at a time or both using a dumbbell. If using both hands, be careful not to let one hand dominate the majority of the load lifted (which is why I go 1 at a time).

Towel Pull/Chin Ups do not solely focus on forearm strength, but I have found it helpful to add this element to pull ups in order to work on your grip strength. If you are efficient in your movements to be able to perform repetitive chin ups or pull ups then this is something you might add to your program. Throw a small towel over each end of the bar and grab the towel like you would a drink.

My First Session

My strength and conditioning journey started when I was in junior high looking to get stronger. I would lift and run as much as I could whenever I could. When I started to create my own programs for myself I would see something on TV or hear about something a famous athlete was doing and mimic their workout. When I began to train with friends and teammates I would want to impress them with a cool exercise or workout that left me gassed at the end. It wasn’t until I took a strength and conditioning class in college that I began to learn more about program design and the variables involving a great program. However, I soon got caught up in trying to create the perfect program for my first clients. I remember thinking it would set the tone for the rest of my life and my career was on the line. First of all, this was a school project in which the clients volunteered; there was no guarantees on either end and it was the perfect setting for a trial program. But of course I stressed myself out and I spent the entire week before my first session changing my first workout a hundred times. I thought “There has to be something that will make my program perfect and I can’t seem to find the exact exercise or the exact order or recovery that I need”. Thankfully I had a few mentors who were able to guide me in the right direction and allow me to trust the knowledge that I had. Once I was able to leave my program untouched and go with what I had, I was able to find some calmness going into my first session with my new clients. I soon found out that my program would be altered from the start. I remember having this elaborate complex of exercises that would surely make my clients stronger on the first day. My first client told me he had rolled his ankle two hours before the session and could not put a whole lot of pressure on it. And there went my program out the door! I had to quickly think of alternative exercises for my client to do while still focusing on coaching the additional exercises for my other client. This was a blessing and a curse.


Many coaches may claim to have the perfect program, but it is more of a template than a permanent design. We are all uniquely created and respond to any set of variables different from the next person. This is why we must be intentional about our coaching and learning as we work in this profession. Being able to recognize and correct movement patterns should be our main focus, rather than making sure our athlete hits all of the repetitions and sets. We are coaches who work with people, and not people who read numbers and words to others.


Remember that even the greatest strength coaches had to start somewhere and the only way to get better is experience. I have learned so much by observing all different types of classes: elite performance, women’s fitness, youth play time, senior core conditioning and many more. Do not be afraid to ask questions because this industry is always growing and adapting. If you are in the beginning of your coaching/training journey start with this idea: create a program with several movements that you understand and can coach well. It is ok not to have the most elaborate training programs with 50 plus exercises on them. You will find better results for your clients and athletes if you stick to what you know. As you ask questions and learn more you will be able to piece together your workouts in a more effective way. I am still learning to do this every day and am thankful for working in a place where my superiors are willing to teach me and help me along the way.

In the end my first session did not go as I had planned. However, when the session had ended my clients were very happy with the way things went. So I semi-camly asked, in what way they thought it went well because in my perspective I had not gone through every single exercise according to my "perfect program!" They told me they appreciated how I was able to give alternative exercises to accommodate the injury, but more so enjoyed my personality and willingness to work with them. There is much more to coaching and training people than a well thought out program. You must show people you care, before they care about what you know.