Friday, May 23, 2008

5/23/08 - Light Training and Research from Eric Cressey

1st - The research from Eric Cressey
http://experiencelifemag.com/blogs/survival-of-the-fittest/2008/05/21/eric-cressey-is-unbalanced/

Eric goes into detail about his findings researching UST - unstable surface training - and most of you will be very surprised by what you see...I've been quoting this for some time as I had spoken with Eric about this some time ago.

"Our research showed that replacing as little as 2 to 3 percent of overall training volume with unstable-surface training (UST) in healthy, trained athletes impaired the development of sprinting speed and vertical jump height — and there was a trend toward significance on the agility front, as well. There are a ton of reasons for the decrease in power output and performance. In a broad sense, all of these explanations can be considered fundamentally related to the fact that UST does not adhere to the principle of specificity of training."

And the training...
Prep work:
16kg Halo x 6+6
16kg Goblet squat x 6
Thoracic Rotation
ASLR

16kg Bottoms up Get-up x 5+5
16kg {SLDL 5+5 + Goblet Squat x 5} x 2 sets
16kg VO2 Max (15sec./15sec.) x 50 sets of 7 reps each set
16kg Windmill x 5+5

Just needed a light day of training and this was partially inspired by the "think you've outgrown your KB" thread on forum.dragondoor.com
Reps of the bottoms-up get-up works the grip and wrist very nicely
The 7+7 VO2 Max with the 16kg is too light and easy but it was a great way to spend 25 minutes and my conditioning has come up quite a bit since my early ventures into this protocol. I will go with the 20kg next time for 6+6 and see how it goes.

Overall - feeling very good and getting ready for a very busy June.

5 comments:

Iron Tamer said...

So doing pistols on a BOSU ball won't make me stronger?????

Brett Jones said...

For you I highly recommend it ;)
Rehab tools should be rehab tools.

Frankie Faires said...

Brett,

Before Zach was into Z, he turned me on to a study which showed wobble boards actually decreased proprioception...basically the body became less sensitive which made them more stable on unstable surfaces. Interesting adaptation.

Unknown said...

Its also funny that I was standing there in Boston when Cobb taught Cressey that unstable training made non-rehab athletes weaker. But I have seen Eric C. market it like the research is his discovery. Oh well...

Brett Jones said...

Frankie - thanks for the info - I have heard some people talk about "down regulating" the bodies righting reflex etc... not a good thing IMO.

Z - I think Cressey took the info and did his doctoral thesis and research on it - so he did take the idea and run it through the academic and reseach process - would be nice to see a statement of where the idea came...

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