The Spot Athletics Blog: October 2013

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Bodybuilding versus Powerlifting

The first day you walk into a gym, most people will know what they want to work towards. Either it's training to get stronger or more muscular/"toned" (I hate the word toned). Now a lot people will tell you that strength and muscularity are two separate paths; you have to pick one and stick with only that or you can never succeed in it. Basically, it's a choice between being strong OR muscular.

But the way I see it, why can't you have both?

I don't think there is a professional bodybuilder alive who wouldn't want to be strong as well, and vice versa, I don't think that any powerlifter wants to be questioned if they even lift. Yes to reach the pinnacle, bodybuilders must rely more heavily on volume work and "feeling" the muscles work, but sometimes they have to strap up and pound out a heavy triple on squats. And powerlifters love to live in the 1-5 rep range, but I see nothing wrong with grinding out 3 sets of 15 on curls.

Now I, being an intern and a bodybuilder, naturally take my fair share of good-hearted trash talk from the guys (and Lily) at The Spot, but I still want to be the strongest person in that weight room. My ultimate goal may be to be lean and muscular, but I take pride in strength as well. What's the point of being 250 pounds and 5% bodyfat if you can't deadlift 5 plates?

So, train hard and heavy no matter what the goal is. Different paths require different approaches, but the one thing that never changes is that moving heavy things = progress.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

The Magic Pill- aka Diet and Exercise

In our day in age, you’re an outlier if you’re healthy. If you’re not rattling off your list of maladies, diseases, and sicknesses by the time you’re in your 40s (and probably earlier), then you’re the exception to the rule. Most times, we don’t think about these problems until it’s too late. Once we’re sick, hurting, and falling apart, then we look to pills and prescriptions to remedy our problems.

A quick internet search of the words “diet, exercise, preventative” will show the obvious results for obesity, heart disease, and diabetes but also for a slew of other illnesses such as Alzheimer's, menopause, and cancer. We put a lot of time and money into fixing these problems, but how about investing some into preventing them in the first place? The focus is little by little starting to shift towards preventative measures of disease control but by and large, the overwhelming amount of time and money is spent on researching and producing cures, not preventing diseases in the first place.

As individuals, we need to understand the importance of investing time and money into maintaining a diet and exercise program that is conducive to a healthy lifestyle and as a society we should put more emphasis on prevention, not responding to problems after the fact. Sometimes we don’t want to acknowledge that we have the responsibility and means to take our health into our own hands and would rather go for the “easy fix”. However, the “side effects” of exercise and eating well far outweigh the side effects (death, blindness, etc) that accompany many commonly prescribed pills.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Integrity

Dear Athletes, parents, and coaches,

Here at The Spot we have worked with kids for awhile. Almost 40 years of combined experience. A common theme I am seeing is that kids aren't tough anymore, especially athletes. And I feel that this is a direct correlation to their coaches as most of you coaches today are soft, weak and have no integrity. What most of these coaches lack, especially the "strength" coaches is actual strength. Coaches, you need to practice what you preach. It's your fault your athletes are the way they are, not theirs. How can you teach others to be strong if you never even taken the time to get strong yourself? I'm not saying you have to be an olympic caliber lifter but if you've never had heavy weight in your hands or on your back then that is a serious issue. You're not a strength coach if you're not strong. That's like saying I'm a doctor because I went to med school but never went to clinicals to actually practice medicine! Would you trust a doctor who never practiced medicine? Then why should athletes trust a coach who learned how to do something off of youtube? Why should parents trust you to get their kid strong if you're weak?

I hear it all the time coaches complaining about how they don't have time in the day to get training in. Well reassess your priorities. If training isn't a priority in your life why should it be in your athletes life? Be a role model. Athletes act in direct correlation to their leaders. You as a coach are a leader. Be honest with your athletes. Train to be the strongest version of yourself. I don't need excuses. I don't care about your excuses. Nobody cares. You need to make do with what you have. Take what you have and use it to your advantage. I see coaches all the time in other gyms and on the internet claiming to be experts. Until you google them or youtube them and actually see that they are all talk. What happened to integrity and being honest? I'm not the strongest, I'm mediocre at best but I work my butt off and so does our staff. We don't miss days. Even when we are hurt we are still training. Everything we write about and preach here at The Spot we truly believe in. We get results. If you want advice and are seeking an expert you need to consider their background. Who have they learned from? What have they done? Who have they produced? If you or your coach are weak and have never helped someone get strong please stay quiet.

Have some honesty and integrity. Practice what you preach.

Coach B.

Monday, October 28, 2013

Speed, Strength & Conditioning, Personal training & Fitness Class Training Video Montage 10/21-10/27

Check out this week's training montage! Another great week at The Spot Athletics, the best training facility in central Ohio! We build champions!

Marathon training, lifting and progress

Marathon runners and long distance runners have long avoided the weight room, but not any more.

There still is a belief among uneducated runners that if they do anything in the weight room then they will gain weight. The funny thing is that people who typically run distance couldn't put on weight if they tried. Putting on weight from lifting comes from not only training in a manner to illicit muscle growth but also eating a surplus of calories to promote that growth. There is literally thousands of these "Ectomorph" people online who don't run and only lift and their whole goal in life is to put on size and they cannot. So I wonder how these uneducated runners think that their genetics are so vastly superior and their DNA makeup is so different than the thousands of other Ectomorphs that they think they will put on weight from just looking at a heavy weight. Well of coarse it isn't and I have encountered many of these athletes over the years and one thing is true for all of them: they stop getting any faster, they get hurt, and they usually give up running.

So what is the truth about lifting and distance running? Lifting the proper way will make you a faster, healthier and stronger runner. Some of the blame is on the running community and some is on the fitness industry. The promotion of "bodybuilding" has lead to that methodology of training to be the primary one that people are exposed to. So it is no wonder that some people look at a fitness magazine and do a bodybuilding program and wonder why they aren't any faster. The running community however hasn't been quick to get the truth out about lifting for the improvement of distance running. This is primarily because a lot of the old coaches who are still in charge have not embraced the science and proof that it will help their runners. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. A lot of distance runners I come across only run as their method of training. Their times haven't moved in 5 years and yet they don't see this as insanity. We also see the "endurance" lifting programs. These are a huge waste of time to distance runners and they might as well just put in more miles than do these workouts. Doing "endurance" lifting for a distance runner is pointless as they get tons of endurance work as they run, what they really need is strength and more specifically power.

Power is the ability to apply force over a period of time. Our goal with our distance runners is to give them more strength and allow them to apply it over the same amount of time. Simply put this makes for a faster runner. Not only that but the increased strength makes them more resistant to injury. No one can completely take away injury because if someone is pushing hard all the time something may break down. But if the runner is stronger then it takes a lot more before they break down. Our marathon and distance runners lift heavy weights, get stronger, more powerful and more durable. I know that this is hard for a lot of "old school" runners to process but I assure you that in 10 years lifting will be as much a part of a distance runners routine as tying their shoes.

If you are a distance runner and you are not including power and strength training in your training routine then you are missing out tremendously. If you don't have any idea on what to do in the weight room to improve your distance and/or Marathon times then let us know and we will be able to set you on the right track. Our latest marathon client, Christina Murphy, just won the Columbus Marathon in a 2:39.15. If you don't think that power and strength training will help your marathon time, you show me that you have run a better time than her and I'll listen to what you are doing. But if you want to increase your time, be healthier and stronger, send us an email and we will get you there.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Listening, Learning, and Shots to the Ego

As I am finishing my third week as an intern at The Spot, I feel like it is time to reflect over a few key "take home" points that I have begun to realize are crucial to any person aspiring to be a coach or an intern:

1. LISTEN

When you are working with coaches and people who really know what they are talking about, you better be a good listener. Every time you are in the gym whether it is to shadow or to train, you need to be focused on your surroundings and closely pay attention to everything being said. There will always be things that you don't know. The best coaches are the ones who were able to listen to everything in the gym when they were just starting out, absorb that knowledge, and apply it later when they have their own clients. It is imperative that you're not day-dreaming and zoning out while in the gym. Ask questions, write down notes, and do whatever you need to do to make sure that you're fully taking advantage of the time you have because when you're on you're own, you won't have the luxury of asking what to do.

2. LEARN

Everyday should be looked at as an opportunity. Not only to better yourself physically (because anybody who is coaching how to lift should look like they themselves lift) but also to better yourself mentally. You should be reading articles (EliteFTS is a great place to start), studying variations of exercises/stretches, and practicing how to perform these movements also. There is only so much you can get out of sitting in a classroom and learning about anatomy or physiology. The true learning happens when you are forced to apply that knowledge. It's cool that you know what latissmus dorsi is, but do you know what exercises are best for strengthening the muscle? Or how about stretches that will effectively improve their mobility? These are the things that any coach should be able to do. Coaching is all about "read and react." You have to read the situation (assess the athlete) and react appropriately (design a program to meet their goals.) The only way you can do this is by taking the time to really learn.

3. FORGET YOUR EGO

I like to think of myself as a pretty experienced lifter. But when I got to The Spot and started training and shadowing with the coaches there, it became obvious pretty fast that I was pretty clueless when it came to being a coach. If you're the type of person that thinks you're always right because you learned how to squat in Men's Fitness and have been doing it that way all your life, I've got some bad news for you. The first day of training I was told I bench, squat, and deadlift wrong. I've been doing these exercises for years...the wrong way. You have to adapt to your surroundings. I'm a bodybuilder, so naturally I train like one. However, some of the things I was doing were also leading to nagging injuries. So, I am working on changing my bad habits lifting-wise. It is always better to do the exercise RIGHT than to go heavy with crappy form.

I am nowhere near where I want to be. I still need to be better about listening, learn more, and stop letting my ego prevail. But, everyday I can say that I am getting closer.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Dear Women: Unfortunately, Strength Training Will Not Make You Huge

As a female trainer, one of the most common concerns I hear from other women (and some men) is that lifting weights will make them “huge”, “bulky” or something equally as false along those lines.

You know what makes you huge? Food and body fat.

You know what will make you look lean and hot? Muscle.

Women don’t have nearly the same level of hormones men have that lead to muscle growth (namely, testosterone). Without artificially enhancing those levels of hormones, your body is not capable of producing the amount of muscle mass required to make you look “huge”. Unless you are genetically gifted in the swole department (which you would have figured out already), it will be very difficult for you to achieve that “bulky” look.

When you lift heavy weights (read: not kickbacks with 5 lbs but squats that are difficult), your body will adapt by producing muscle. Muscles are great because they increase fat loss and burn calories all day long. And give you a ‘toned’ look. I’m still not sure what “toned, lean muscles” means but chances are you want to look like someone with nicely defined arms, legs, and a perky butt. You know what those things are made out of? Muscle. Not floppy skin (ugh skinny fat) and not excess fat. In a nutshell, weightlifting= more lean body mass, a higher metabolic rate, and less unwanted body fat (that’s what we’re going for, right?)

Furthermore, those people who you deem to be “bulky” have made a life out of sculpting their bodies to look like that. Strict diets, hours toiling in the gym, and superior genetics have all contributed to their physiques. If you’re worried about lifting more than a few pounds, chances are you’re not looking to change your lifestyle this very moment. Different types of workouts produce different results so unless your workout, diet, and lifestyle are tailored to making a drastic change in your body composition (aka competing in figure, physique, etc), it won’t just happen “by accident”.

Here’s a real life example. I am a competitive powerlifter. That means my training revolves around lifting heavy weights. I’m 5’4 and depending on how many bacon donuts I eat, I compete in the 114 or 123 lb weight classes and nothing about me looks jacked (except my sweet biceps when I flex) . Believe me, I would love to be “bulky” but it’s just not happening (for the aforementioned reasons).

Aside from the aesthetic benefits, weight training for females leads to greater bone strength, helps prevent injuries, and makes you more functional in your every day activities.

So, women folk, you have nothing to be concerned about except looking great. Go and get your swole on.

-Coach Lily

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

5 Ways To Get Physically STRONG

Getting physically strong is easy. I’m not sure why everybody tries to over complicate it. Anytime a new program comes out people are quick to jump on that bandwagon until the next program comes out. People obsess over every minor detail. Sets, reps, days, rest periods, volume etc. People aren’t willing to be patient and put time in. They don’t want to be consistent and do the work that is required. I like to keep things simple in my life. So if you want to get strong follow these simple steps

1: Lift heavy stuff. Pretty simple. Lift it from the ground. Lift it overhead. Lift it laying down. Lift it standing. Use dumbbells, barbells, odd object like kegs, tires and sand bags.

2: Carry heavy objects. Carry them up hill, down hill, through the sand, straight ahead, backwards, up stairs. Carry stones, kegs, oxygen tanks, heavy bags etc.

3: Do bodyweight exercises. Have you ever seen a gymnast? They are ripped. Your choices are endless. Dips, chin ups, pushups, inverted rows, pistol squats, handstands, L-sits etc. The list goes on.

4: Do some form of awesome conditioning. Sprints, prowler, battle ropes, jump rope, pull a sled, carry something heavy. Long duration cardio isn’t good for you if you’re trying to get big and strong. That’s science.

5: Keep it simple. Pick a variation of a main movement (squat, deadlift, bench or over head press) and in an accessory or two, add some bodyweight movements in and then finish with conditioning. Progressively overload. Stay consistent. Eat right. Sleep. Repeat.

Coach B

Monday, October 21, 2013

Speed, Strength & Conditioning, Personal training & Fitness Class Training Video Montage 10/14-10/20

This was an awesome week at The Spot Athletics here in Columbus! Our athletes all trained hard and took steps to becoming better, whether it was our ten year old baseball player or olympic wrestlers. Our personal training and met con clients all pushed hard to reach their goals. Here at the spot, everyone becomes a champion as they achieve their goals, and that is why our motto is: We Build Champions! Great job to all of our clients!

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Make time now, or be forced to later

When it comes to training the biggest excuse that we get is "I don't have time". While this seems to be valid in some people's minds, it is not valid to us. You have time for what you make time for. When you are saying I don't have time, what you are really saying is that you don't value your health. Sure you can put off working out and maybe nothing will happen for a while, but eventually it catches up. With athletes that we see that think that they are too busy to train for their sport we eventually see one of two things happen to them. One: they end up hurt and at the orthopedic surgeons, or two: they can't compete with the other players and quit the sport. With adults the results are much the same but to a different degree. Either one: they end up with injuries, and end up at a surgeon or two: they don't have a good quality of life and can't do the activities that they really wish they could. In both circumstances, whether you are a young athlete or an adult long removed from competition, if you don't make time for training now, you will be forced to make time for the doctor later.

I really enjoy working out and know that it will keep me healthy and doing the things I want to long term. While some don't share my love of fitness, everyone hates surgery. We see this scenario all too often because athletes and adults alike come to us after they have been to the surgeon. They are now being forced to do the thing that if they had just done in the first, place then they would not of had to have the surgery. It's ironic when you think about it. You either start training before you have a problem or your problems will force you to start training. I know that I would much rather be training healthy than recovering from an injury, and I hope you would too.

People in our society seem to be more interested in spending 20hrs/week watching the housewives of whatever or the football games than they do caring for their bodies. This really perplexes me because once you have ruined your body you don't get a new one. The top priority for any person should be to keep their health because if you don't have that, then you don't have anything. So next time you hear someone say "I don't have time to work out" ask them what could be more important than their health?

Friday, October 18, 2013

Friday technique video 10/18: how to do Romanian deadlifts

This week, JL goes over the Romanian deadlift and why he likes it for building hamstring strength in his athletes, and lock out power in the deadlift.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Why I chose strength and conditioning: an intern's perspective

As the newest intern at The Spot for the fall, it's a pleasure to say I am lucky enough to be in this position. My name is Bryce, and I am just finishing my second week of shadowing, learning, and best of all cleaning. My path to being here has been full of uncertainty about my future. In less than two years, I will be graduating from The Ohio State University with a degree in exercise science and about a million choices to make. Most students in my major will go the physical therapy route. After all, there is good money in it and the profession is on the rise. What's not to love? Well in theory it sounds great; working with injured athletes to recover and get back to training for their sport. Then you realize it's 90% old people complaining the whole time because honestly they don't care if they get better or not.

I realized quickly that whatever career I choose, I am going to have to look forward to getting out of bed everyday and going to work. I can't do cubicles or sitting behind a desk for the rest of my life. Luckily for me, the one thing I truly love to do is to train and be in the gym. So it occurred to me, why not combine something that can be an obligation (work) with something that I love (the gym)? Now there is all sorts of things you can do to be involved in a gym setting from personal training to supervising the facility to being a janitor. However, the only one that sounded appealing to me was training, but I have always told myself that I never want to end up as a personal trainer. You know, the old and out of shape guy at most gyms that always seems to spout nonsense like he knows everything because he has a certification. In all honesty, that has been the extent of my experience with personal trainers since I had always trained at commercial gyms and rec centers. I truly just needed more.

Strength and Conditioning seemed like the perfect middle ground for me. I would get to train athletes and program their training, but it would give me more than your typical gym employee. I feel that being an intern at The Spot is one of the best opportunities that I could ever have to prepare myself to be a strength and conditioning coach. The chance to learn under some of the best coaches around is one that not too many people get, so I'm going to definitely make the most of it. I have no doubts in my mind that after my internship here I will be well on my way to succeeding as a coach wherever it may take me.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

New Trainer... Lots of New Knowledge

For those who don’t know me, I’m Lily, the newest trainer at The Spot. I’ve been a trainer at gyms and independently and moved to Columbus 2 weeks ago to learn from some of the best strength and conditioning coaches. I’d like to share with you what I’ve learned thus far about what differentiates great coaching from the rest.

Programming should be very sport specific

Sport specific does not just mean getting stronger or faster for your sport. Yes, squatting will make you stronger and has a large carryover into various sports but understanding the nuances of different athletes’ needs is what takes programming from average to producing real results.

Here are a few examples: In combat sports, are athletes always standing and fighting with ideal posture? Is their spine neutral? No, they are usually in a rounded back position. So why not strengthen them in that position? For example, moderate weight good mornings with a slightly rounded back will help them perform better in the position that they are in for their sport.

Do combat athletes need to run? No. Before you start typing away angrily at me, read on. Of course they need to be well conditioned. But do they spend time running in their sport? No. Do they spend long durations of time pushing weight around? Yes. So they would benefit more from pushing prowlers for a moderate amount of time than going on a nice treadmill jog. Understanding the needs of different athletes can help those athletes reach their full potential.

Step back to move forward

It’s easy to do drills that make your athletes look cool while performing them. Sure, setting up a bunch of cones and having kids run through them and jump over hurdles involves “speed” and “agility”. But what if your athlete can’t decelerate or land properly? Sometimes you have to step back and address more basic skills and motor patterns in order to make lasting changes and better athletes. Building a solid foundation is more important than making small gains that will lead to poor patterns, injury, and no real long term results.

Creating healthy, functioning athletes

The role of strength and conditioning coaches is not only to make athletes better at what they do, but to keep them functioning. One of their most important jobs is to prevent injuries before they happen. I’ve seen many coaches who like to drill their athletes with the patterns they use in their sport assuming that repeating those patterns will make them better on the court/turf/etc. But what about all the muscles and movement patterns that are being ignored? For example, if a volleyball player spends the majority of their time spiking the ball, are they training those same movement patterns in the weight room? Why? Instead, are they doing a lot of external rotation and back exercises to even it out? If not, they are being set up for injuries, not long term success. In a more individualized sense, we put all of our clients through a thorough assessment that identifies strength, mobility, and other problem areas to ensure that their programs are tailored to their specific weaknesses and problems to make them a better, healthier athlete. Those are just a few of the things that have struck me during my first few weeks at The Spot. I’m proud of the expertise and attention to detail that we bring to our clients and I look forward to sharing more insights with you.

Weekly top 10 articles for 10/16/13

What is your approach to working out?

http://www.bornfitness.com/the-most-common-workout-mistake/

Sometimes it is not "letting go" that is holding you back from being stronger.

http://tinybuddha.com/blog/stop-pushing-the-art-of-relaxed-achievement/

Seriously folks, be mindful of the choices you make when you eat crap.

http://www.drfranklipman.com/the-13-grossest-processed-foods-people-actually-pay-money-to-eat/

Missed your workout? Here are some awesome bodyweight exercises you can do at home, and they all can be modified.

http://www.girlsgonestrong.com/bodyweight-strength-six-exercises-to-help-you-get-strong-without-weights/

Paleo diet party rules.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/top-10-paleo-party-rules/#axzz2hp6f6dBy

Watch that the words you speak are powerful words that benefit your life.

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2013/10/08/are-you-dragonborn-the-dangerous-power-of-words/

How lifting heavy can assist in getting you lean.

http://www.tonygentilcore.com/blog/value-lifting-heavy-someones-goal-get-lean/

So life can be tough, but you don't quit. You don't stop training. You move forward.

http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/the-rough-patch-needs-formatted/

How lifting applies to life.

http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/the-executive-meathead-training-to-choose/

What is "being driven?"

http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/are-you-driven/

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Don't be normal, be you

While we focus a lot on nutrition and strength here at The Spot. One aspect that is commonly overlooked is the mental aspect of life. How do you deal with negativity in life? Negative people and negative situations. People that don’t believe in you or your dreams. Situations that conflict with morals and beliefs. Those that want to bring you down. How do you handle it? How do you deal with the day to day grind? Most people are common. Most people don’t even have goals. They wake up they go to work they collect a pay check they pay bills and they sleep. They take this equation and simply repeat it. They call this life. But that’s what makes you and I different. That’s what sets us apart. We are uncommon. There is negativity everywhere. All you have to do is turn on the news or read the paper. When you try to move forward and do something with your life you will have doubters. You will have those that will want to drag you down. Those that will laugh at you for going after what you want. What you’re trying to do isn’t practical. Well who cares. Be uncommon. Don’t be practical. Don’t be normal. Being normal is like being everybody else. BE YOU.

You need to believe in yourself. Believe in what you’re doing even when nobody else doesn’t. Set goals and go after them. Don’t let anything stop you until you reach those goals. You will have negativity in your life. That negativity is to push you to see how bad you actually want it. It weeds out the talkers. It weeds the people out who talk about their goals but don’t actually go after them. Be an action taker. You need to believe in yourself and your vision. Some days, that will be all you have. You can achieve anything you want but you have to be willing to give up the belief that you can’t have it. You have one life to do everything you’ll ever do so please act accordingly. If you are content being normal and common just like everybody else then by all means continue to live you’re normal life going to your 9-5 that you dread going to. Everything you’re about to say as to why you can’t go after what you want is an excuse. It’s preventing you from getting what you want and what you deserve. And that’s fine. If you want to make excuses as to why you can’t achieve what it is you are looking to achieve then that is on you. Nobody else. You create your circumstances. Life is over quickly. So, While you’re here do some awesome things. Leave your mark. Forget the naysayers, the doubters and the negativity. Go after what you want and don’t let anything stop you until you get it. It’s not over until you win.

Coach B

Monday, October 14, 2013

Speed, Strength & Conditioning, Personal training & Fitness Class Training Video Montage 10/7-10/13

Well here is a glimpse of another great week at The Spot Athletics! Our Olympic hopeful wrestlers and Jiu Jitsu black belt continued to work hard and get better. All of our Personal Training clients continue to work hard on their way to accomplishing their goals and becoming champions, and our Met Con Clients are loving their classes! The Spot Athletics Coaches are even getting after it with their own training as well. Great Job to all of our clients!

Hardest workout ever!

It seems lately that people want to equate a really hard workout with a good workout. If this were true then the best workout ever was the Bataan Death March. I mean, a workout so hard that thousands die - Awesome! Obviously that is not awesome and neither is working out so hard that you feel like you are going to die. But for whatever reason this seems to be the new trend in training at a lot of places. Since The Spot Athletics is a leader in the industry and not a follower, we do not need to join in on this senseless type of training. We train to get results and to do this you must have a long term, properly periodized program that is aimed at the goals of the person. Simply working out until exhaustion every time takes no planning, no knowledge and no experience. I would hope that a lazy, uneducated and inexperienced trainer is not what people are looking for but it seems that in today's "if it's hard, it's good" type of mentality, that is what people are looking for.

If you sat there and wrote down everything hard you can do in a workout and then put some random high reps by it I bet you would come up with a really hard workout. Does this make you a trainer? I certainly hope you do not think so, but why is it that people listen to "trainers" who just do that exact same thing. Well in our society of instant gratification I think that people feel a sense of accomplishment when they finish a hard workout. The problem is that just like instant gratification, there is no long term benefits. At The Spot Athletics we design our programs so that you can become stronger, healthier and look better all while training in a manner that will be sustainable for a long period of time. For some reason people never think about the future and only want a hard workout today. While some of our workouts are extremely tough, they aren't just random in their appearance. They are part of a long term plan that will yield maximal results over time. We are not interested in killing someone in one workout, any idiot can do that, we are interested in creating clients that can get better and better as time goes on. You cannot do this if you are injured or burnt out from always killing yourself every workout.

So how do you determine if a workout is good? The best answer is if the workout achieves the goal for that training day then it was a good workout. If you ask your trainer what the goal for the day is and they say "I don't know, what do you want to do", then maybe it's time you find a better trainer. We hold ourselves to a much higher standard at The Spot Athletics and are amazed that more people don't want great training and instead just want a Bataan Death March workout.

Friday, October 11, 2013

Weekly strength and conditioning movement: How to do a pull through

This week, JL goes over the pull through. This movement is very effective at increasing performance on the deadlift, as well as increasing overall posterior chain strength.

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Weekly top 10 articles for 10/9/13

An article about training rehabilitation and staying alive when the doctors give you bad news.

http://articles.elitefts.com/training-articles/what-is-hardcore-2/

How to look awesome.

http://the-strength.com/how-to-look-awesome/

Understanding the growth hormone.

http://breakingmuscle.com/health-medicine/growth-hormone-how-does-it-work-and-why-do-women-have-more

Sitting all day long will take its toll on your body.

http://bretcontreras.com/puppies-in-vices/

How to be motivated - how to stop making excuses - and not be afraid to make mistakes.

http://www.bornfitness.com/mindset-motivation-and-mistakes-an-interview-with-martin-rooney/

Do you want to get stronger...better at lifting? Then learn what you suck at.

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/expose_your_weaknesses_to_get_strong

So you want to start sprinting?

http://www.ericcressey.com/2013/03

Do women need to train differently than men?

http://www.tonygentilcore.com/blog/myth-female-specific-training/

Why ‘the squat’ is so good.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/556240-the-worlds-greatest-exercise/

Pursuing the art of living - how to let go and move forward.

http://zenhabits.net/

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Do Athletes Need the Olympic Lifts?

The other day I got into a discussion about olympic lifting and athletes. I was asked my opinion on whether they should be used with athletes or not. My answer was that it depends. First off if you don’t know the movement, don’t understand the movement, have never done the movement, have never been taught how to do the movement by a professional then my answer is do not have anybody you train do them. When taught properly the risk for injury is extremely low. If you don’t know what you are doing then don’t do it. It’s simple. Just because you watched a youtube video doesn’t make you a master of the lifts. You wouldn’t watch a video on brain surgery and then be like hey I can go perform brain surgery because I watched a video on youtube. Sorry doesn’t work that way. You are doing a disservice to your athletes by having them do something you ave no idea about.

I feel that the argument that only olympic lifters need olympic lifts is a terrible argument. Many of the top athletes, high school to professional utilize olympic movements. Now that doesn’t mean that they are an end all be all and should be used because so and so uses them in their program. Just because it works for one athlete doesn’t mean they will work for you.

Then the next argument comes in that they take too long to teach. No, they don’t, you’re just not a good coach and you don’t understand the movement. The systems you have aren’t advantageous to teaching the movements. If athletes don’t get something it is not the athletes fault it’s your fault as a coach.

The next argument is that there is a high risk involved. That is wrong and if you would like to argue that please provide the statistics to back it up. Now, is there risk involved? Sure, when coaches who don’t know what they are doing have their kids performing these movements.

That is where my job comes in as a coach. Do we utilize the olympic movements here at The Spot? Yes we do. Does every athlete do them? No they do not. Are there other ways to achieve similar effects that the olympic movements produce? Yes there are. You can use sprints, jumps, med ball throws etc. But you can also do various pulls and jumps with the olympic lifts like the power snatch, hang power snatch, OH squat, snatch pulls, snatch grip RDLs and DB snatch. The lifts are also fun for athletes, it breaks up the monotony of doing jumps and med ball all the time. There are a lot of variables that go into developing a sound program for our athletes and weather or not to include the olympic movements.

The application is also important. There is never a need to max any athlete on the olympic lifts because there is too much risk vs. reward involved. But I don’t see a problem using variations of the lifts with your athletes... that is, if you know what you’re doing. We have developed a system here at The Spot. We teach the various positions with a med ball that way they learn the positions but we can still work on explosiveness. We also incorporate the positions into a warm up with a light bar. You have to build a foundation. You can’t expect your athlete to be able to catch a clean the first 30 minutes you’re with them. You need to be an awesome coach and understand the lifts. Don’t be in a hurry to add weight to the bar because you need to make sure the athlete is proficient. Olympic lifts have great carry over into any sport. Speed along with good technique with a barbell does the body good.

Coach B

Monday, October 7, 2013

Speed, Strength & Conditioning, Personal training & Fitness Class Training Video Montage 10/1-10/6

Another great week at The Spot! All of our clients are working hard. We have two Olympic hopefuls and one of the best Jiu Jitsu fighters in the world all training together. Their intensity is unreal! Great job to all of our athletes, personal training and metcon clients!

Friday, October 4, 2013

Strength and conditioning: Good Mornings

This week, JL goes over how to properly do good mornings and how to implement them into a program.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Get Back to The Basics

Going Functional Crazy

The word functional gets tossed around a lot these days without anyone knowing what it really means. Functional movements don’t just mean throwing yourself on a bosu ball with your limbs attached to a plethora of pulleys. Trainer’s like to get crazy with these movements because it gets attention and makes them look smarter than they are. If you are looking to do “functional” movements try not to out think the room. Whats more functional than a squat or a deadlift. Chances are you can’t think of one, because its doesn’t get much more functional than these two basic lifts. These two lifts incorporate the entire body and require strength, coordination, and stability all of which have a carry over to athletic performance and everyday life.

You also hear the phrase “functional core movement” a lot. That phrase has a lot of really cool words in it but doesn’t really explain much. If you want to get all of the muscles in your “core” stronger and more stable put down the bosu ball and try to do a basic elbow plank. Plank for 2 minutes the right way and I guarantee all of the muscles in your core will start functioning the way you want them too. If planking for 2 minutes is easy for you then throw a plate on your back and watch how strong you get. If you can’t plank for 2 minutes, you have no business doing any of those other crazy exercises they show you in the magazines. Check out the video to learn how to plank the right way.

Bottom line is stop worrying whether something is labeled as functional or not and get back to the basics. You will be surprised how much stronger and "functional" you become.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

21 Day Challenge

This week I am going to take a little break from the Nutrition learning series as there is something that is bugging me. Everybody is talking about this diet or that diet. If it fits your macros this, intermittent fasting that and hey what about paleo. Then carb back loading, carb night, carb front loading and carb all day loading. Most of you need to stop worrying about all these different diets. Most of you need a new relationship with food. You can’t seriously tell me that you don’t know the difference between whats good for you and whats not good for you. If you would just make small changes over time you will see results. You just need to be consistent with what you are doing and any of those previous diets would work for you. But most of you get up in arms if you don’t have ABs within a week of a diet and are quick to dismiss the diet and give up. 21 days. 21 days is how long it takes to form a habit. Can you commit yourself to that? 21 days. I am going to give you guidelines to follow for 21 days. Comment below or on our facebook page to let us know you started it and then contact us 21 days later to follow up. 21 days is a short amount of time in the grand scheme of things and if you can’t dedicate yourself to 21 days of eating healthy then you don’t want it bad enough. So if you fall off the bandwagon start over.

Guidelines

1: Eliminate sugar
2: Drink more water. And when you think you’ve had enough. Drink more.
3: Cut out the booze
4: Do some form of exercise 5 days a week 30-60 minutes
5: Replace sugar with healthy fats
6: Eliminate gluten
7: Remove grains, grain derived oils and vegetable oils.
8: Eliminate all synthetic additives, colorings and flavorings
9: Eat significant amounts of lean protein (beef, chicken, lamb, turkey, fish, eggs)
10: Remove all dairy
11: Eat more fruits and veggies. Organic is good with these foods but it isn't always important for some food. Use this site to figure out whats good and whats not http://www.whatsonmyfood.org/
12: Add spices and herbs
13: Enjoy your food. Do not count calories. Eat until satiety and then stop.
14: Nourishing your mind and body is not optional
15: Change your mindset. All a diet is, is the way you eat. Don’t look at it as a bad thing.

Leave your comments. Share with the world.

Coach B