The Program Continues...

Today was Day 1 of Week 2 of the Neupert program

Prep - Z 

Neupert Program

Little Z to finish

Got this one in after 7:30 at night - one of the great things about following a program is you just need to get it in.

Two words...

Hill Sprints!

Friday was day 3 of the Neupert Program:

Prep - ASLR, Brettzel

Neupert Program

This morning I decided to try out the alley behind my house for some hill spints in my VFFs

and made it through 3 "sprints" up the hill.  My rest between runs was to walk back to the start of the alley way.  This is a paved alley, probably over a 1/10th of a mile long with a decent grade.  

I will work on adding a sprint every week or so and build up slowly.  Prepared for the hills with a little ALSR and finished with a few minutes of Indian Club work.

Now I have to admit that Jeff O'Connor yelled at me for being on a treadmill and then I read Alwyn Cosgrove's advice in this article:

http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/mythbusters_vol_6

Myth: Sweating on a treadmill is just as good as sweating outside.

Mythbuster: Alwyn Cosgrove

In the past people moved more and their exercise programs were well rounded, but recently more people have switched to doing treadmill-only workouts for their cardio. Whether they think it's better for their joints or because they're closet vampires who can't...stand...the light! and never want to venture outside, I'm not sure.

What I am sure of is that steady-state cardio on the treadmill is just fucking stupid. And, no, I'm not going to rehash the old argument about how intervals burn more calories. You already know that.

Instead I'm going to do some math.

Walking a mile is about two thousand reps in the sagittal plane at about one and a half to two times your bodyweight. Jogging would be around fifteen hundred total reps at about two to three times your bodyweight.

And since the treadmill switches your hamstring and glutes off — your foot hits the belt and the belt pulls you through — it's mainly a quad exercise.

So let's say a client does three miles three times per week for one year (and I'm being conservative).

That's 6000 reps x 3 days per week x 52 weeks, which equals 936,000 reps of knee extension work. Or 468,000 reps per leg.

Let's say the load going through with the knee was a measly 100 pounds. That's 4.6 millionpounds of work for the quad with absolutely no hamstring work.

Think of it this way: if you did 400,000 reps of triceps extensions with 100 pounds you'd get four million pounds of volume. If you didn't balance that out with biceps curls you'd expect the elbow joint to hurt, right? You're damn straight it would!

So long term walking or running on the treadmill is almost guaranteeing knee pain. And that's not even the worst part. Since the hamstring is switched off you're actually burning even less calories than you would if you were to walk on the ground!

This study showed that hip flexion angle increases on the treadmill as opposed to the ground and that stance time was reduced. Basically, the whole hip extensor mechanism is affected; hip and knee flexion angles have to increase to bring the hip through on the stride. So hip flexor fatigue plus substitution patterns equals severe knee pain.

Ten or twenty years ago we'd get away with this because our clients ran outside and did other activities. The contribution of treadmill time to total exercise time was much lower. It's hardly the case today.

One of the problems with low intensity steady-state aerobics for fat loss in the deconditioned population is the sheer amount of reps needed. I can do a bodyweight circuit and spread the "reps" over the whole body and get a similar metabolic effect.

At my gym we've always done interval training as we felt the results were superior, but over time we've moved to a "metabolic resistance training" model.

For example, one mile on the treadmill would be 1500 reps and burn around 100 calories. If you did a circuit of kettlebell swings, undulating ropes, inverted rows, sled pushes, and burpees for four rounds with 10 to 15 reps each, you'd burn 100 calories in less time with less load, and the reps would be spread over the entire body instead of on the ankles, knees, and hips. It's just a superior model.

Alwyn Cosgrove is owner of Results Fitness in California, and coauthor of "The New Rules of Lifting and The New Rules of Lifting for Women."

And I was reminded of my own dislike of the treadmill for a variety of reasons - 1) proprioceptively disturbing - our brain expects us to cover ground and have stuff pass by - being stuck in one place eliminates that and can confuse the body. 2) Inside will never trump outside!  Fresh air (depending on where you live) and being outdoors wins every time. 3) Because Alwyn and Jeff said so!

So from now on I will be hitting the hill/alley in the back of house.

Quick training today...

Up and working out by 5:30 am because it wouldn't have happened otherwise:

Prep - ASLR

Vibram FF Jog x 1 mile @ 6.0mph

Neupert Program Day 2

Ballet Heel Raise x 10 in between sets

ASLR and Brettzel to finish

I like just doing what Geoff said to do - I can relieve myself of that responsibility at the moment and just train.  Not that I prefer to be hitting it at 5:30 in the AM but that was what was required.

VFFs, GPS and Training...

Today we take GPS and exact location for granted. Punch in an address into a GPS unit or Navigation system (cell phone or other) and BAM - your exact location is pinpointed and directions to your destination are quickly calculated.

Now imagine a time when your exact location is determined by the phase of the moon and enough calculation to make a NASA engineer sweat and you have the background for Dava Sobel's book - "Longitude". (amazon.com)

Yes - there was a time where England offered a huge reward for the development of a reliable method of calculating the Longitude for sea travel. The word Chronometer came out of this search as did many of the advancements that we take for granted in our portable time keepers (aka...watches or chronometers as they were once known).
Check it out for a quick but informative and entertaining read.

What does this have to do with training?
Glad you asked...
I am going to be putting my training in the hands of Geoff Neupert for the next six weeks.
At this time in my life I am too distracted by work and other obligations and need to just sit back and "Do what Geoff said to do..." (as Dan John would say - his book btw is excellent and I will be blogging on that soon)
Geoff has calculated the "longitude" and I can sit back and follow directions and end up at my destination. My training will be "underground" for the next few weeks but this will force me to blog on more interesting subjects.

VFFs or Vibram Five Fingers shoes are working very well for me - part of my training today was a 1 mile jog on the treadmill (yes I hate treadmills but decided that was preferable to the concrete at this time) at 6 mph (or 10 minute mile pace). And lo-and-behold my calves were firing and will more than likely be pretty sore tomorrow.

So training today looked like:
Prep- ALSR, Brettzel, the Pump
32 kg Get-up x 2 singles right and left
Geoff's program
Jog one mile in VFFs
Ballet Heel Raise x 20, 20
1/2 hour stretch class

A little Contest...

I am hosting an RKC prep course at Iron Core in San Diego very soon and would like to "Sweeten the pot" by offering an incentive for whomever gets the most people signed up for the course within the next 7 days (starting as of tomorrow):

1st place for the person that gets the most people signed up for the course will be the 

CK-FMS 15 DVD set - that's right - the entire 15 DVD CK-FMS set an over $500 value.

2nd place - will be one each of the Secrets of DVDs - all 4 Secrets of DVDs - an over $250 value.

Now space is limited for this workshop and you must get more than 1 person to sign up under your name in order to be eligible for this contest.  And I would of course recommend getting several more than that in order to win. 

So if you are an RKC prepping people to go to an RKC or you are prepping yourself to attend and know others thinking of taking on the challenge - hop on this contest!

Brett Jones is teaching a total

RKC Prep Course in San Diego, July 11-12th...

http://ironcorekettlebells.com/rkc.html 

Are you ready for the RKC course in San Diego this August?

Want to be sure before you go?

Proper form, snatch test numbers already dialed in and able to soak in every bit of information!

Then come on over to the Prep course I am teaching and I will see you again at the course!

Considered one of the greatest challenges and a life transforming weekend the RKC is the Gold Standard Kettlebell Training Certification and I have been teaching at the Certs since April of 2003.  As a Master Instructor in the RKC I am well suited to prepare you for the rigors of the weekend and have you coming in prepared to optimize your experience.

Whether you are attending the RKC in August or have plans to attend the RKC in the future this is a great opportunity to get dialed in on your technique and learn what it takes to pass the RKC.

Secret Foot and Ankle Exercise...

This is the Ballet Heel Raise...

Using a wall or chair for a balance assist - Perform a mini sumo squat and while at the bottom of the squat perform a heel raise going high on the "balls of the foot" keeping the weight centered or toward the big toe. (don't roll out to the little toe)

Hold the heel raise and stand up out of the squat and push the ground away through your metatarsal heads (ie...balls of your foot) - lower heels while trying to keep your arch "short" and repeat.

You will feel a pretty intense contraction of the soleus and gastroc and your arch will get a great workout.  (the soleus is actually the primary extensor of your knee in weight bearing- weird eh???)

Edit and addition: According to "Gait Analysis" by Jaquelin Perry the soleus contraction during mid and terminal stance creates a stable tibia for knee extension to occur - a weak soleus will result in inadequate knee extension.

and in the Journal of Biomechanics - 

http://www.jbiomech.com/article/S0021-9290(04)00490-7/abstract

Examination of the muscle actions during single limb stance showed that the gluteus maximus, vasti, and soleus make substantial contributions to hip and knee extension during normal gait.

so perhaps I shouldn't say primary extensor - maybe primary stabilizer of the tibia but if you take a step forward into a shallow lunge and then plantarflex your ankle your knee will extend.  Try it...

Vary the foot position so you do narrow and feet straight and various widths of stance etc...

Yes this is a Ballet exercise - one of the very basic barre exercises and it is excellent for your feet, arches and calves.

I consider this essential in the transition into barefoot training and strengthening the feet.

And I have lots of work to put in myself on this exercise. 

Sets of 10 or more as rest between other drills is a great way to make sure this exercise gets done because feet and calves are about the easiest things to ignore.  And be sure to use the balance assist in the beginning - it is tougher than it looks.

This is a very basic Ballet exercise and there will be more for me to introduce as we go along.

Enjoy...

Double KB training today:

Prep - ASLR, Brettzel

Dbl 24 kg  BottomsUp Clean and Press x 3, 3, 3

Dbl 24 kg SLDL x 5+5, 5+5, 5+5

Windmill 24 kg x 5+5

Dan John Clean and Front squat Ladder w/ Dbl 24 kg

1 Clean + 1 FS

2 Cleans + 2 FS

3 Cleans + 3 FS

4 Cleans + 4 FS

5 Cleans + 5 FS

BHR x 40 (ballet heel raise from above)

Just a bit of double KB work - See KBs for Power Athletes for details on the Double BU C+P...

Kettlebell Secrets Interview tonight...

Tonight at 8 pm Geoff Neupert will be grilling me for an hour on your KB and Corrective Questions!

The link for Kettlebell Secrets on the Left will direct you to where to go to sign up if you are interested in listening in - but for now I need to go "prepare".

Combo training today...

Prep work - Z, ASLR, Brettzel

Bodyweight circuit of:

Hindu Push-ups x 10, Jump Squats x 10, Front+Back lunges x 10 r+l

x 5 circuits

32 kg Swings x 5 sets of 20 reps (one arm and or alternating)

ASLR to finish

Good training - the bodyweight circuit is to bring up some local muscular endurance and work on some movement skill etc...

Rest between the bodyweight circuits was sets of 10 heel raises (a special variety to be revealed soon) working on foot/arch and lower leg strength.

Brett Jones is teaching a total

 RKC Prep Course in San Diego, July 11-12th...

http://ironcorekettlebells.com/rkc.html 

Are you ready for the RKC course in San Diego this August?

Want to be sure before you go?

Proper form, snatch test numbers already dialed in and able to soak in every bit of information!

Then come on over to the Prep course I am teaching and I will see you again at the course!

Considered one of the greatest challenges and a life transforming weekend the RKC is the Gold Standard Kettlebell Training Certification and I have been teaching at the Certs since April of 2003.  As a Master Instructor in the RKC I am well suited to prepare you for the rigors of the weekend and have you coming in prepared to optimize your experience.

Whether you are attending the RKC in August or have plans to attend the RKC in the future this is a great opportunity to get dialed in on your technique and learn what it takes to pass the RKC.

Quick Bodyweight Circuit today...

Quick prep and then a 10 minute bodyweight circuit of:

HIndu Push-ups or the Pump x 12-15 reps

Jump Squats x 10

Continuous lunges (step forward and then step back into a reverse lunge) x 8 each leg

Fun and effective!

Good Article from Aaron S's blog...

Running Shoes

Gray and I were talking quite a bit about the Copper Canyon Indians this weekend at CK-FMS and we both got a pair of Vibram Five Fingers to progress on to some barefoot running.

Aaron has a note on his blog to ignore the podiatrist in the article - will comment futher after reading the full article.

Back from CK-FMS...

More later but a couple of pics from the 4 day CK-FMS workshop...

Jeff O'Connor, Me, Gray Cook and Dr. Cheng on the final day.

Me demoing the wall sit and emphasizing tall spine...

Quick training today:

Prep - Z, ASLR, Brettzel

24 kg Get-ups x 5 singles Left and Right

these were slow and focused working on the ASLR and getting balanced out from the weekend.