Make Your Body Your Machine : strength

Super Fast Running Workout

Fitness Anywhere — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:47:00 GMT

You don't have to hang around a nuclear waste plant hope to transform into a super human speed demon. All it takes is a little effort and you'll be running faster than you ever have before! Now it won't be the super speed of superman, people will still be able to see you running, but you can crank up your speed and have the personal satisfaction in pushing your own limits beyond.

©DC Comics

If you have read the "Strength vs. Endurance" post, you will recognize that adding the hope at the end helps boost your explosiveness when you need those bursts of speed and the regular exercises helps build your endurance as you tear across the terrain.

Now if you do end up breaking the sound barrier, let people know it is because of your TRX workout!

The Run Super Fast Workout

Exercise	Reps
Sprinter's Start	10-20 regular, 5-10 with hops each leg
Single Leg Squat	6-8 each leg
Suspended Lunge	10-15 regular, 5-10 with hops each leg
Hamstring Curls	10-15

Want to put your skill to the test? Take the 30 Day Thanksgiving Challenge and be entered to win a FREE TRX Package!

Sports Training Strength Vs. Endurance: finding the balance

Nathan McGee — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:49:00 GMT

Why don’t marathon runners compete in weightlifting contests and weightlifters compete in marathons? Can you imagine a lean runner trying to dead lift 300lbs or the bulky weightlifter running a 26.2 mile stint? Our bodies are amazing machines and capable of accomplishing tremendous feats of strength, power and endurance. The runner trains for endurance, focusing on aerobic exercise like… um running. The weightlifter trains for strength, focusing on anaerobic exercises energy systems like… um lifting huge amounts of weight.

It’s all in the twitch

Muscles are made up of different types of cells that can be simplified down to two 2 types of fiber characteristics, fast twitch and slow twitch. Fast twitch fiber is used to provide a burst of energy, such as sprinting, weightlifting or hitting a golf ball. Fast twitch fiber reaches its peak very rapidly and their “strength power” is much greater than slow twitch. The problem is the energy bursting nature of fast twitch fiber causes it to fatigue quickly and so it is not able to keep up the activity over a longer period of time.

Slow twitch fiber, as you probably guessed, is most helpful in sports like marathon running, biking, swimming and climbing to name a few. Slow twitch have lower maximum tension, meaning that they won’t bear heavy weight nor will they provide the burst of energy that fast twitch provides. What they do have is a high resistance to fatigue. They will fatigue, it will just take longer. Think energizer bunny here… they keep going… and going… and going.

Now sports athletes try to gain a balance of both. Take a basketball player for instance. He needs those slow twitch fibers to be able to run up and down the court for an entire game for long periods of time dribbling a ball. He will call upon the fast twitch fiber for those sudden sprints down to the hoop and that push of energy as he leaps in the air, shoots towards the basket, stops, changes direction and sprints back to play defense.

Sports athletes need a combination of both aerobic and anaerobic exercises to strengthen both the fast twitch and slow twitch fibers.

So what does it all mean?

Once again, it all depends on what you are training for.

If your goal is to build endurance, think lower intensity longer duration. Ex: 60 - 90 seconds TRX Body Weight Squats.
If your goal is to bulk up, think high intenisity, short, explosive movements. Ex: 2 - 6 reps TRX Body Weight Squats with a hop (with the possible addition of a weighted vest).
If you are looking to gain a little of both, do a combination. Ex: 30 seconds TRX Body Weight Squats followed by 15 seconds (or about 5) TRX Body Weight Squats with a hop.

Next time you are working out, think about how you are working those muscles.

Speed Up Your Workout

Fitness Anywhere — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 21:42:00 GMT

Be quick but don't hurry.

Cross Training Element #2 Functional Strength and Power

Fraser — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 16:33:00 GMT

All strength with no cardio and functional ROM

The results of this type of program can be seen in fitness facilities the all over the world. It is personified by the very muscular person in the weight room who clearly lacks the cardiovascular ability to run to the water fountain. When they do arrive there it seems as they barely have the range of motion to turn it on and drink at the same time! This appalling lack of cardiovascular ability and ROM simply cannot help them on the sports field in all but the most immobile of pass times. “Well my muscles are too big for me to be flexible.” Not so. Being muscle bound is a choice. You need only look as far as the NFL to find some extremely strong and muscular athletes with tremendous conditioning and movement abilities. They worked for them by incorporating the other training elements!

Inappropriate and unbalanced exercise selection
There is a common condition that is evident in most gyms across North America. Mirror-itis is very serious and generally strikes young men between the age of 18 and 40. Its symptoms include well developed musculature of the chest arms and abdominals but underdeveloped musculature of the legs and back coupled with poor cardiovascular ability. It is caused by training only the muscles that can be seen in the mirror.
Following some basic guidelines will ensure that you can avoid “mirror-itis” and other muscle imbalances.
1/ Make sure that in every week training cycle you use at least one exercise that targets every area.
2/ Use as many exercises as possible that are compound movements and not “isolation” exercises.
3/ Do not forget about important joint stabilization muscles such as the rotator cuff and hip stabilizers.

Program Variation
As you go through your workout day to day, it is very easy to slip into a rut. In many cases people will go months and even years without adapting their program. Research has shown that the body begins to accommodate any strength training plan within 3 to 4 weeks! After this point the adaptations will decrease if the program is not varied in some way. We obviously need to add a little spice to change things up… but how?

1/ Vary Exercises:
The most obvious way to re-vitalize a program is to use different exercises. Be careful to keep the program balanced. Adding different movements will require your body to use new motor patterns and muscle firing sequences. This will re-stress the muscles in slightly different ways and keep them in an adaptation state.

2/ Vary Rep Ranges:
Each rep range will stress the muscular system a different way. Using rep ranges in 3 week cycles will help to vary the program and cause the most complete functional development.

Power 1 to 3 reps
Muscular Strength 4 to 7 reps
Strength / Endurance 8 to 12 reps
Muscular Endurance 12 to 20 reps

Note: Be certain that you have spent some time building a muscular endurance or strength endurance base before moving on to strength or power work.

3/ Vary Speed of Motion:
The slower the speed of muscle contraction, the more the training emphasis is on pure muscular strength. As contraction speed increases the emphasis shifts toward the development of power. Make sure to work at slow speeds first to learn proper technique and build the necessary strength base. Once this is complete you can add faster movements that emphasize power. If you have targeted power for a training phase, it is an excellent time to introduce some Olympic lifting movements like the power clean or the clean and press.
The exercise speed is a great way to keep a strength routine fresh and ensure the most complete functional development of the muscular system.
Note: Make sure to get proper instruction on these movements before attempting them in your program

4/ Others:
There are several other ways of creating variation in the strength training by changing set arrangements or by manipulating rest intervals. Either of these will also help to stimulate adaptation of the muscular system.

To maximize the cross training effect of a strength training program there are many variables to consider. Use a balanced program that integrates a variety of exercises. Incorporate different movement speeds as well as target the various elements such as strength, endurance and power training. Most importantly, use a systematic approach of incorporating these elements to maximize the training effect in the quest for peak general functional fitness. To be continued....

Cross Training- Do it right!
Benefits of Cross Training Approach
Cross Training Element #1 Cardiovascular
Cross Training Element #3-Sport/Activity
Cross Training Element #4 Functional Range of Motion