How To Zercher Squat: One Exercise To Rule Them All

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We all want that golden ticket. The one-size-fits-all exercise and perfect program. You know – the one that makes us look like the Hulk as long as we follow that program to the T.

Well folks, that all sounds great. But in reality, we know there is no one-size-fits-all exercise, program, food, or supplement… PERIOD.

However, I have a secret weapon exercise that will get us really close; it has a lot of bang for its buck. It builds massive quads, big glutes, a wide back, and some awesome biceps. Exactly what every athlete needs.

Meet the Zercher Squat

What an exercise! It almost sounds mythical. I would say that outside of most strength and conditioning coaches and the athletes we implemented it with, very few people have heard of a Zercher Squat or know what is.

The Zercher Squat is a heck of an exercise: you hold a barbell in the crease of your arms and squat up and down. What makes it so great? This movement has a lot of details hidden in it for athletes to make major gains:

1. Tension: It creates and teaches you to generate a lot of tension throughout your body. We need to learn how to brace and squeeze. Due to the bar’s placement, we subconsciously, or naturally, must contract all the right places.

2. Toughness/Grit: I’m not going to lie – this movement doesn’t always feel great. Many athletes may need to wrap some form of padding around the bar for a while. That’s just the cost of admission though. The mental fortitude you need to perform the exercise will pay off.

3. Safety: It is very hard to load this exercise to the point of increasing an athlete’s risk of injury. Also, if the athlete gets in trouble, they can just bail by dumping the bar out in front of them. No spotters needed.

4. Mobility: We struggle with many lifting movements due to not being mobile enough to access the correct positions. The Zercher doesn’t require much mobility, and mimics natural movement, making it a good fit for the majority of the athletic population.

Any drawbacks? It can be awkward, but it’s well worth it.

How to Perform a Zercher Squat

1. Set the rack up just below your elbow

2. Put the bar in the crease of your elbows and keep them tight to your sides

4. Squeeze your hands together or have palms facing the ceiling

5. Get your hips under the bar, grab a big belly breath and stand it up from the rack

6. Take a couple steps back, settle the bar, and grab more air if you can to brace

7. Squat down until your elbows touch your thighs or fall in between

8. Stand up. Repeat and get massively athletic.

No Rack? No problem. You can perform a Zercher deadlift with the bar resting on the floor. You can also do a conventional deadlift it, then let the bar rest on your knees, scoop it up at the elbow crease, and go right into your squats. Don’t forget to try Zercher carries for some serious core work.

Zercher Squat From Rack

Deadlift to Zercher Squat

Zercher Deadlift to Zercher Squat

When to Program the Zercher Squat

Add Zerchers as an alternative to any of your current main squat movements. They’re relatively interchangeable for volume and intensity as well. Try changing your program’s back squat to Zercher squats for the next block and see what kind of weight you can handle.

Train strong!

– Ryan

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What Does Paralympic Strength Training Look Like?

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Paralympians undergo rigorous training when preparing for the Paralympic Games. While the Paralympics only last about two weeks, getting ready takes place all year, as these athletes are among the most dedicated in the world. Here’s how people with disabilities prepare for their events.

How Paralympic Athletes Strength Train

Strength training is integral for success as a Paralympian. These athletes overcome obstacles and demonstrate grit and determination with their workouts. Here’s what some Paralympians endure when strength training.

Incorporating Targeted Exercises

Paralympic athletes prioritize workouts that target their niche. While they can benefit from whole-body exercises, these competitors often focus on specific parts.

For example, a wheelchair basketball player will focus most of their attention on upper-body exercises. These athletes could do Russian twists, seated rows, pullups, and other movements concentrating on their arms and core.

Another example would be a Paralympic athlete prepping for swimming competitions. The training depends on what type of competition they’ve entered — breaststroke, butterfly or freestyle. You can expect swimmers to focus on their flexibility and range of motion. These athletes may also do resistance workouts like tethered swimming.

Differentiating the Workouts

Consistency and repetition are crucial to improving a Paralympian’s performance. Practicing the same exercises aids their muscle memory and enhances their skills. However, these workouts can become stale, so occasionally switching up their routines is important to remain engaged and balance their muscles.

While switching up their routine is crucial, Paralympians should still focus on relevant workouts to boost their performance. They also might adjust the intensity of their regimen based on their training phase.

An older study from The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research examined how 16 Paralympic swimmers trained for the world championships. The researchers found the swimmers increased their training in the late phase but reduced it substantially in the taper phase to avoid taxing their bodies too much.

Paralympians know this strategy as periodization. You adjust the training throughout the time leading up to your competition to prepare your mind and body. Periodization is critical for Paralympians to avoid injury by overtraining. A 2019 Frontiers in Physiology study says inadequate periodization can lead to chronic damage in muscle tissue.

Using Adaptive Equipment

Paralympians need special tools to assist their training, depending on their physical disabilities. Adaptive equipment helps these athletes get stronger and faster without risking injuries. You can see examples of adaptive equipment across the Paralympic Games.

For example, running blades help track and field athletes by making their strides more efficient. Manufacturers produce them with carbon fiber, making them resilient to hard use. The devices release energy while running, making it easier for Paralympians to navigate the tracks. Some athletes prefer curved blades to increase their range of motion and implement a more natural run during their performance.

Racing chairs are another example of adaptive equipment. Companies develop these seats to fit each Paralympian and their unique body shape. A few years ago, BMW designed a minimalist racing chair to enhance aerodynamics and stability for competitors.

Working With a Coach

The first step for Paralympians is to find the right coach. People with disabilities need unique coaching that is different from that of any other world-class athlete. Someone who understands them and their disability is crucial for proper training, safety and success in their sport.

The relationship between a coach and their Paralympic athletes is crucial. The coach is responsible for setting a strength training regimen and safely pushing athletes to their limits. They must also instill confidence in their athletes so they can perform at higher levels.

For example, volleyball coach Heidi Peters has been instrumental in Canada’s Paralympic team growth. While they narrowly missed a medal at the 2021 Tokyo Paralympic Games, Peters’ athletes have lauded her coaching and motivational skills. Danielle Ellis, the team’s captain,
said Peters creates individual relationships and finds a way to motivate each player when training for the Paralympic games.

“She’s not stuck with ‘OK, we’re gonna run this because this is what other top teams do,’” Ellis tells the Canadian Paralympic Committee. “She says, ‘This is how our team moves. This is how we move. We’re going to do this instead because this is
going to make us better in the future.’”

Leveraging Technology to Improve Performance

Technology has become more integral to Paralympians with every Paralympic Games. Artificial intelligence (AI) advancements have made training easier by letting athletes visualize their venue during practice.

For example, cyclists employed augmented reality (AR) at the 2020 Paralympics to simulate their tracks while watching vital rates during training. The Paralympians also used wearable sensors to prevent heatstroke, considering the Tokyo Games were among the hottest on record.

More examples of improving performance come from using advanced technology to mitigate the risk of injury. A 2023 Journal of Sport Rehabilitation study examines what Paralympians and their trainers use to assess external training load and maintain high performance levels. Some examples include:

• Internal radiofrequency-based tracking system for wheelchair rugby
• GPS devices for wheelchair tennis
• Heart rate monitors to monitor external load for paracycling and swimming
• Miniaturized data loggers for wheelchair tennis, basketball and rugby

Other Ways Paralympians Train

Strength training is only one element of Paralympic preparation. Here are other critical pieces of the puzzle for Paralympians.

Preparing Psychologically

While physicality separates competitors, Paralympians must also psychologically prepare for the games. Training occupies a significant portion of your day, but the remaining days and hours leave athletes to wonder about their performance. Some may have anxiety or uneasy feelings heading into competition. These feelings emphasize the importance of coaches and their influence on athletes. A 2019 Cognition Brain Behavior study finds that Paralympians have psychological disadvantages in contrast to other athletes at the Olympic Games.

Combating these anxieties means visualizing their success, maintaining positive thoughts, and relying on support from their coaches and teammates. Some Paralympians find motivation by
reminding themselves of those looking up to them. Kadeena Cox, a cyclist representing Britain, uses her platform to inspire future athletes and wants them to outperform her.

“I totally expect there to be a young boy or girl seeing me and going on to be better than me, and that’s what I want to see,” Cox tells the British Paralympic Association.

Balancing Work, Life and Training

Paralympians focus much of their time on training for the Paralympic Games, but they have other duties to worry about in their daily lives. Most athletes have day jobs and families to support as they prepare. They’ll find time throughout the day to incorporate workouts — even if it means waking up earlier.

Finding Time for Rest

Training occupies many days and weeks for Paralympians, but they, like all athletes, must find time for rest. Most train at least five days a week, leaving just enough time for rest. During downtime, Paralympians use numerous tactics for recovery like massage therapy, which increases acute circulation.

Paralympic Preparation

Gearing up for athletic competitions heavily emphasizes strength training and muscle-building exercises. Paralympians use this same approach, but in a different way. Adaptive equipment, targeted workouts and advanced technologies have become excellent tools for Paralympic strength training in the 21st century.

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Top 6 Exercises for Managing Shoulder Injuries

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What to Do for an Injured Shoulder

After 6 years of coaching at the highest levels across multiple disciplines, the most common issues I see in my sports therapy clinic have to do with the shoulder. Statistics show us that shoulders are the most commonly injured area in many sports including CrossFit, weightlifting and rugby.

I give my athletes, from beginners to Olympians, 6 common exercises to help them prevent nagging injuries around life and training. Most of these exercises look at one of these key principles:

Strengthening the Lower Traps

Often neck and shoulder pain comes from an imbalance between upper and lower trapezius The lower trapezius should be the primary agonist once the arm is raised above 60° but is often neglected in favor of the upper traps.

Building the Infraspinatus

This muscle should be responsible for the first stage of raising the arm, but in athletes with poor mobility it is often trapped, and doesn’t properly generate force when lifting the arm overhead. This is the muscle that is often ‘pinched’ in the shoulders due to being weak and having an overzealous upper trap. Simply strengthening it can help avoid trapped nerves and numbing sensations down the arm.

“Functional redundancy” of the upper traps without weakening them

”Overactive” upper traps can cause all sorts of issues, pathologically as well as in terms of performance, even leading to increased concussion risks and migraines. Effective training of deep cervical tissues can help prevent and fix this.

1) Supinated Grip Cable Machine Rows

This is a great exercise for focussing on shoulder blade retraction under constant load and is easier to mitigate for grip strength than a chin up (which are also excellent)

Check out this demo video of IRONMAN athlete Kloe Gibson as we incorporated the exercise into her program to help with postural efficiency for her sport.

• Palms facing upwards.
• Lean forward to allow for shoulder blades to slide forward, pull them down and back as you row. Push your elbows backwards like you’re ‘trying to unhook your bra’, for those of us that know about such things.

2) Modified Cobra Pose / Diamond Push Ups

An interesting study looking at the electrical muscular stimulation of the lower trapezius found that these positions were some of the best body weight only movements to do so.

• Focus on a squeeze in between the bottom of your shoulder blades and allowing them to move as you press.
• Holding hands further back on either exercise will help here.
• Try holding a cobra pose with your hands by your side, palms facing upwards for time as well.

3) Dead Hangs

Dead hangs allow for space in joints at the shoulder girdle. There is some reasonable research that links benefits experienced by our monkey ancestors and a relief in pain from modern human lives.

For an extra bit of fun try out a gibbon grip dead hang by turning your wrists out so your palms face backwards.

• Play around with pulling into your lats, mid back and shoulders while you perform these.
• Use straps if you need to hang for longer.

4) Low ROM Lateral Raises

Keeping the range of motion limited on these (around 60°) will help in building the infraspinatus, preventing the levator scapula from pulling against the shoulder blade as much.

• The first 60° of raising the arm should be primarily performed by the infraspinatus
• Turn pinkie fingers up to the ceiling to help and keep tension off traps and in the deltoids and rotator cuff

5) Lu Raises

These are an extension of the lateral raises and the shoulder should be trained through a full ROM in general. If they’re good enough for the Chinese Olympic lifting team they should work wonders for you, provided you start light and focus on good scapula movement.

• Focus on keeping a neutral rib cage by bracing into core, think about keeping your sternum and pelvis in the same place throughout.

6) Neck Flexion and Extension

Going very light with these has been shown to cause what’s known as functional redundancy of the upper traps. This means that instead of using your traps to turn your head (when they should just be for lifting your shoulder blade and hyper extending your neck) the deeper muscles of your neck will do it, allowing for proper positioning and usage of the other muscles in your neck and shoulder.

• The same focus should be made in keeping the rib cage and shoulders still
  Move through a range of motion that is comfortable to you with a very light weight (see my article about neck training for further details).
• You could also try doing these while biting onto a towel which can help in activating the scalene muscles in the neck. This can cause what is called reciprocal inhibition of the muscles at the back of the neck (like how your triceps relax as you perform a bicep curl).

This list is certainly not exhaustive and you should seek medical advice if you’re struggling with chronic pain. Feel free to check out my neck training program if you’re having issues around your neck or shoulders. It can be dropped into most training regimes and is an extremely cost effective way of helping your ailments.

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Ballistic vs. Plyometric: Understanding Dynamic Movements

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Fred Ormerod is a freelance coach, army reserve medic, nurse, master’s student, and massage therapist. He’s spent a decade working in healthcare and five years coaching in one of Edinburgh’s leading training facilities.

What Are Plyometrics?

Plyometrics are exercises that stimulate the stretch-shortening cycle (SSC). There are two elements to this:

1. Elastic elements (fascia and tendons)
2. Contractile (muscle) element

Imagine the human body is a mattress spring (or Hookian spring if you’re into physics) — if you compress it or stretch it, the spring will recoil back, just like when we perform a jump. During this jump we have three phases which you might have heard of:

1. The eccentric phase – where the spring stretches (think EE-longate), this is the downward motion of a jump as we load or ‘pre-stretch’ the muscles
2. The amortization phase – the brief period between phases, don’t worry about this one, I never do.
3. The concentric phase – where the spring CON-tracts, or we jump.

The two elements combine in these three phases to produce a force at a certain speed. The harder the muscles pull on the elastic elements the greater the force, they can also contract faster or slower, and this is influenced by how elastic or stiff the other elements are.

Why Should You Jump?

As athletes it is important to improve upon this elastic recoil in our training. Running faster, jumping further and hitting harder are all good enough reasons for this.

As you’d expect, improvements can be found by increasing the size of muscles (contractile), tendons (elastic) and absolute contractile force through simple strength training. However, we want to get really explosive and fast in our training/sport and doing so can help reduce the risk of many common injuries as well.

The Strength-Speed Curve

There is a spectrum of stimuli you can glean from training movements under different loads and at different speeds. Depending on your needs as an athlete, it’s wise to train specifically for that need. For instance, if you’re a powerlifter, you might want to focus primarily on the strength, maybe strength-speed portion of the curve. If you’re a ballet dancer or a fancy, flying, foot-working footballer, the speed-strength end of the curve might be more prominent in your training.

Photo Credit

The strength-speed curve above details what zones you might want to train in for your specific purposes, once you’re sure you need to. A lot of athletes should aim to live in the middle unless you are sport-specified.

It is worth bearing in mind that your power output will always be limited by your maximum strength output. As such, you might be better spending your time simply getting stronger. As a rough guide, if you’re unable to squat or deadlift your body weight and bench press at least 75% of your bodyweight, then it’s a good idea to improve upon that before you spend too many hours of your training week on any of the ballistic/plyometric movements detailed here.

In fact, if you don’t see improvements in your ballistic outputs after training with these movements for an extended period (i.e. you can’t throw or jump further or faster than before) it’s likely because you’re limited by strength rather than the ability to perform movements quickly.

Assuming you’re strong enough to warrant including ballistic or plyometric training (and it’s worth getting help in continually assessing this) let’s have a look at what this training can do for you.

What is Ballistic Training?

Dynamic jumping movements are divided into two categories to avoid confusion and put each to their proper use. These are long (ballistic) and short (plyometric) response exercises.
Ballistic training is high velocity (fast moving) often with maximum (or close to) intent. The purpose of which is to build strength-speed in athletes.
There are multiple benefits in sports for training ballistic movements:

1. Muscle hypertrophy (mostly in people new to training)
2. Increased muscle fiber contraction force
3. Improved muscle contraction speed

All of which tend to lead to improved performance in training tests, strength tests and competition performance.

What is Plyometric Training?

Plyo work involves high velocity training with typically lower loads. They’re usually programmed to help improve speed-strength and reactive strength in athletes. The key element is fast contraction speed. What you’re looking for is a fast change from eccentric to concentric movements. Some scientists go so far as to classify plyometric contraction as anything below 0.25 seconds and the stimuli you gain from performing them regularly differ slightly to ballistic movements:

1. Increased tendon elasticity
2. Increased tendon stiffness
3. Reduced time for eccentric loading in jumping movements and in change of direction (you can jump and change direction faster without having to ‘pre-stretch’ muscles as much)
4. Reduced risk of injury due to increased tendon strength and stiffness

You might find that some jumps you do are ballistic in nature; you dip into them slower and jump further. Others are plyometric; you dip down as fast as possible so the muscles and tendons don’t have the same elastic recoil and you don’t jump as far (but you might change direction quicker).

How Do I Program Plyometrics & Ballistics?

Proper periodization is very important. Below you’ll find a table highlighting how much plyometric work to include in your training at different stages of a training plan:

It’s generally suggested that you should have 48-72 hours between intense plyometric training sessions, meaning about 2-3 times per week depending on your schedule.

It’s worth considering how many contacts you absorb per training week since introducing high volume can lead to severe delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and even tendonitis. Starting out at 80-100 contacts per week and building to 120-140 as you progress is advised. You’d do well to include any sport specific training into this count as well. I’ve learned this from experience in coaching elite fencers who absorb hundreds of contacts through their lead leg and do not need extra intense training sessions during which they absorb more force.

If you’d like to learn more about a plyometric training plan specific to your needs feel free to drop me a message on instagram @fred.strengthcoach or check out my max power BJJ plan — a full 12-week training program designed to increase athletes’ speed, strength and power.

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Winter Warfare: How to Bulk Up This Season

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It’s that time of the year to wreak havoc and prepare for a massive winter bulk! But wait, what is a winter bulk? What does it take, and how do we achieve it?

Joseph Lucero (CSCS), owner of Harvesting Strength, is a powerlifter and strongman coach with years of practical S&C experience in high school, collegiate, and professional settings. His programs have produced several PL and strongman championships. In this article, he talks about the winter bulk, what it is, and all the top tips for building a dominant presence that will overwhelm the dinner table discussion this holiday season. Check out his sample workout at the end of this article!

What is a Winter Bulk?

A “winter bulk” typically refers to a time of the year when athletes, especially those involved in strength training, aim to increase muscle mass during the winter months. This concept is rooted in the idea that cold winter weather contributes to a better bulk.

During the winter months, we begin to embrace the holiday season with many holiday traditions. Many holiday traditions involve two things — excess calories and a surplus of rest. When you merge these two concepts, you create an anabolic opportunity that lifters dream of!

This opportunity for growth is proven scientifically as well. A study by Harvard University found a 0.5% increase in body weight 10 days after Christmas. This proves the holiday season to be the right time for you to leverage growth for a better bulk.

But why would someone want to perform a winter bulk? Well, with the conditions above proving to be true, this is a time of the year when you’re in a caloric surplus allowing you to lift with more intensity and build a bigger physique. A bigger physique isn’t a bad thing either. The more muscle tissue you grow, the better your metabolism becomes and hormone regulation stays on track.

With that being said, it would be foolish to pass up this opportunity! Why not give yourself a priceless gift this holiday season — the gift of better health and a massive physique?

So while you’re sipping your eggnog and baking treats to get on Santa’s nice list, grab your notebook and prepare to take some notes!

How to Do A Winter Bulk

The recipe for a successful winter bulk consists of extra calories, rest, and a ton of lifting. Getting calories and rest is the easy part! During the winter, don’t completely limit yourself from all the enjoyable foods that come with holiday traditions. I’m not saying you need to eat everything in sight! I’m saying that if you do plan to indulge in some tasty treats, strategically use those additional calories to fuel your next workout session.

When it comes to calories, especially those from carbohydrates, it’s proven to have a positive effect on bouts of heavy resistance training. This study about carbs shows that when a lifter prioritizes carbohydrate consumption, they perform better with their resistance training. In the presence of carbohydrates, a lifter can take on a tough workout that could be the catalyst for muscular growth and development.

This is one of the big reasons why it’s important to embrace a bulk during the winter months. Taking on excessive calories, in particular carbohydrates, is a key determinant of resistance exercise and intensity. Think about it like this:

The harder we can train, the more we can grow. 

But to build dense muscle, it’s not always about lifting heavy weights. If you want to build the most size, you need to lift heavy, and lift hard. What’s the difference between the two?

Lift Heavy

Lifting heavy means performing high-intensity compound movements that take immediate priority in your program. These types of movements consist of the squat, bench, deadlift, and overhead press. The benefit of lifting heavy compound movements is the amount of muscular recruitment within each exercise. The more muscle groups incorporated, the more metabolically exhausting your routine becomes.

The level of exhaustion in your routine is what helps build more muscle. It’s been countlessly documented in research that exhausting the muscle tissue is the spark needed to naturally raise testosterone and growth hormone levels for increasing muscular density. You can also train towards exhaustion with isolation exercises.

Using compound movements incorporates multiple joints and multiple muscle groups to help you feel tired quickly. This is what you want, though. Exhaust the body, then move into isolation exercises to focus development within certain muscle groups.

Lift Hard

After you lift heavy weight, you need to start making exercises harder using different tempos, variations, and volumes for exhaustion. Lifting heavy puts metabolic stress on the body, but you can’t maintain this intensity from the start of the workout to the end. Once you have completed your first few compound exercises, it’s important to use isolation movements (and some compound movements sparingly) and integrate different tempos, variations, and volumes to create stronger contractions on specific muscle groups you want to grow.

One of my favorite ways to make lifts harder is to use isolation exercises that require more “time under tension”. This time under tension puts a ton of stress on the working muscle by working it for a prolonged amount of time. An example of this would be doing chest flies for a specific tempo, such as “5-2-3-0”. These 4 values have to do with the 4 phases of movement:

• 5-second stretch of the chest
• 2-second pause at the bottom of the chest
• 3-second contraction to the top of the chest
• 0-second hold at the top of the chest

Manipulating the tempo of movement makes an exercise harder. Because the tempo makes the lift so hard, you might not need to lift as much weight. This is a great way to make sure you continue to exhaust the muscle without using too heavy of weight.

How to Train Both Hard & Heavy for Anabolic Success

When it comes to lifting heavy or lifting hard, neither is best. Merging both heavy and hard lifting is best for providing a better stimulus for growth. When considering these two concepts, try the following format:

• Heavy Compound Movement: 2-3 sets (primary focus is “strength”)
• Heavy Compound Variation: 3-5 sets (primary focus is “exhaustion”)
• Isolation Exercise: 3 sets
• Isolation Exercise: 3 sets
• Isolation Exercise: 3 sets

Starting with a heavy compound exercise recruits multiple muscle groups for a better level of exhaustion. The first compound lift should be with a focus on raw strength, then the second compound movement should be done with more volume to exhaust the anatomy. Then, isolating the muscle groups you want to grow the most afterward will help you target the exact area of the body you want to be the focus of your training session.

Benefits of a Winter Bulk

The benefits of a winter bulk are increasing your resting metabolic rate, improving strength, and providing hormone regulation for more normalcy within the holiday season. You learned earlier that the winter weather causes individuals to naturally gain weight.

Why not leverage this weight gain into something that can be beneficial? Why not use these additional holiday calories to add mass instead? Doing a bulking phase during the colder season makes a lot of sense.

Increased Metabolic Rate

One study found that increases in muscle mass contribute to an increase in resting metabolic rate. With a higher resting metabolism, you can expend more calories at rest. This could be helpful for those who are fearful of unhealthy weight gain during the winter season.

Improved Strength

One of my favorite quotes comes from a previous coach of mine. He told me “mass moves mass”, meaning that the more muscle you pack on, the more likely your strength increases. There could be some exceptions to this. However, I like my odds to bench press more if my body weight goes up. Who wouldn’t want a better bench!

Hormone Regulation

One study found that winter weight gain causes testosterone levels to decrease and estrogen levels to increase. Resistance training helps stabilize your hormones. This is a huge benefit for not just athletes, but anyone! Everyone should embrace their fitness this holiday season, especially resistance training.

Top Tips for a Winter Bulk

When working on your winter bulk, keep these top tips in mind!

Prioritize Compound Movements

Putting an emphasis on compound movements is crucial for a successful winter bulk. Compound movements are also termed “multi-joint” movements, meaning there are two or more joints being used. You are probably familiar with the main compound movements of the squat, bench, deadlift and overhead press. These tend to be popular movements in many programs, and rightfully so.

Compound movements provide an overloading stimulus — the more joints used, the more muscles used. The more muscle we can recruit, the more exhausting your effort becomes. Providing an exhaustive stimulus to the working muscle is the catalyst for growth. This is why compound movements need to take priority, especially at the beginning of your winter bulk workouts.

Embrace Carbohydrates (Within Reason)

Carbohydrates are the number one source of fuel for high intensity resistance training. Interestingly enough, carbohydrates tend to be the most accessible macronutrient in the holiday season. Take advantage of those holiday treats!

This study showed that restrictions of carbohydrates could cause a reduction in performance. Make sure you’re hitting your macronutrient goals, and perhaps exceeding them. Try not to go too far over for multiple days in a row. Work with a nutrition coach to get accurate macro numbers.

Lift More Often

During a winter bulk, you should aim to lift at least 3-5 times a week. I understand that is a big range of days, but those 3-5 days of lifting could be approached differently.

• If you are a busy person who can’t go to the gym often, perhaps you go 3 days a week but those sessions last longer.
• If you are someone who can go to the gym most days, perhaps you go 4-5 days a week but for shorter sessions.

Either way, you need to prioritize your strength training. Watch out for too much high intensity cardiovascular training, that could put you in a caloric deficit that would impact your bulking phase.

For those who want to continue cardiovascular training during a bulk, I would recommend low intensity cardiovascular training that is within 60-65% of their max heart rate.

How do you find your max HR? Generally:

• 220 – Age = Max Heart Rate

So this means if you are 30 years old, your max heart rate is 190 beats per minute, and 60-65% of this heart rate is 114-123 beats per minute. Anything higher than this would put your workout at an intensity that expends precious calories you could use for adding mass. This long, low intensity training prioritizes fat as a source of fuel. We want to spare all those extra carbohydrates for your heavy resistance training.

Hit Failure More Often

You need to hit failure in training to promote growth. Failure doesn’t need to happen in all aspects of your training, though. For compound movements, you want to work towards max effort by the third to fourth week of training. With your isolation movements, this is where you can hit failure more often and try to exhaust your muscle groups.

No one wants to be a failure this holiday season! However, being a failure in your workout is ideal. Fail in reps this holiday season, stud. But don’t fail and buy your spouse the wrong gift. Been there, done that!

Prioritize Rest

Rest is one of the most crucial parts to any training program. If you do not rest, you do not allow the body to repair itself from all the physical torment you put yourself through. During the holiday season, resting should be easier than ever. As noted in this study, due to the limited amount of sunlight, you’re more likely to rest more during the winter season.

This is the perfect condition, yet again, to embrace a bulk during the winter season.

A Sample Winter Bulking Plan

The following is a 4-day split to use this winter season to make gains and have a successful bulk! These workouts follow the guidelines discussed earlier with merging compound movements, isolation movements, and other characteristics of a successful bulking workout. Don’t forget to eat!

Day 1

For this leg workout, we are prioritizing the glutes, hamstrings and quadriceps to build some massive lower body muscles.

Day 2

This upper body workout focuses on the pecs, triceps, and front shoulders for sculpting a thicker upper body. Nothing is more intense than big bodacious pecs that spark conversation at the dinner table!

Day 3

This pull day will challenge your back, rear shoulders and glutes as well. We use the farmer walks to amplify the intensity of this workout to prepare you for all the bags you’ll carry with your winter shopping!

Day 4

This secondary press day will challenge your shoulders and biceps, giving you an armor of  muscle to protect you from the shoulder-to-shoulder traffic you’ll experience while shopping.

Final Thoughts

A winter bulk offers a strategic opportunity for strength training enthusiasts to optimize muscle growth. The holiday season’s excess calories and opportunities for rest create an ideal environment for a better bulk, supported by scientific evidence. If you’re scared of the winter bulk, you need to consider the multiple benefits that come with it.

Performing a winter bulk allows for an improved resting metabolic rate, increased strength, and valuable hormone regulation. A winter bulk also gives you a reason to embrace the additional calories this holiday season. So, this winter, give yourself the gift of massive strength and a more robust physique.

Sources

Effects of Carbohydrate Restriction on Strength Performance

The Effect of Carbohydrate Supplementation on Multiple Sessions and Bouts of Resistance Exercise

Holiday weight gain is a worldwide phenomenon, study suggests

Increasing muscle mass to improve metabolism

The effect of seasonal variation on sexual behaviors in males and its correlation with hormone levels: a prospective clinical trial

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Top 5 Exercises for a Better Deadlift

TOPIC:

Joseph Lucero, owner of Harvesting Strength, is a powerlifter and strongman coach with years of practical S&C experience in high school, collegiate, and professional settings. Check out his guide on the incline bench and its variations.

Deadlifting Is For Everyone

For anyone dedicated to building strength, a top belief is that incorporating compound movements like the squat, bench, and deadlift are essential. Among these exercises, aka the “big three”, the deadlift emerges as one of the most challenging lifts of all. The deadlift demands you to pull a motionless bar (“dead” weight) to a locked-out upright position. This action finds its roots in Newton’s First Law of Motion:

“An object at rest remains at rest, and an object in motion remains in motion unless acted upon by an external force.”

In this case, that external force is you. If you lack the strength to defy these fundamental laws of physics, you’re left stranded on Schitt’s Creek (great show, by the way) without a paddle. And, a very heavy barbell.

Mastery of the deadlift holds immense significance, whether you’re a sprinter propelling from the blocks or a powerlifter engaging in competition. The art of mastering the deadlift parallels to several domains of life, too. Let’s dive into the anatomy of the deadlift, its distinctive attributes, and the top five exercises that contribute to a superior deadlifting performance!

The Anatomy of the Deadlift

The deadlift is a compound exercise that engages multiple muscle groups throughout your body. Here’s an overview of the key muscle groups involved in the deadlift, along with their locations and functions:

Hamstrings:

The hamstrings are located at the back of the thigh. Your hamstrings play a crucial role in extending and flexing your hips, aiding in the upward phase of the deadlift. They contribute to the initial pull off the ground.

Glutes:

The glutes are the butt muscles, the biggest and strongest muscles of the body. Glutes are known as the powerful hip extensors of the body. They are heavily engaged during the deadlift to help you lift your torso and hips from a bent position to an upright position.

Erector Spinae:

These muscles run vertically on either side of your spine. The erector spinae muscles help you maintain an upright posture by extending your spine. They work to keep your back straight and stable during the deadlift.

Quadriceps:

The quadriceps are on the fronts of your thighs. The quads straighten your knees during the lifting phase. They play a role in pushing your hips forward and locking out your deadlift.

Latissimus Dorsi (Lats):

The lats are the large muscles that span from your upper shoulder blade to your mid-back. The lats keep the barbell close to your body as you lift, providing stability and preventing the bar from drifting away from your center of gravity.

Trapezius (Traps):

The traps are the muscles in your upper back and neck. Your traps help stabilize the shoulder girdle and upper back, especially during the initial pull off the ground.

Top Five Exercises for a Better Deadlift

Below are the top five exercises for growing your deadlift! Not all exercises are a deadlift variation. However, these lifts have been proven to aid your performance in pulling bigger weights off the floor.

Trap Bar Deadlift

I absolutely love the trap bar deadlift. Think about this, if you are to do a traditional barbell deadlift, the weight is displaced in front of you 100% of the time. Biomechanically, the lift puts a ton of engagement on your postural muscles. In competition there is no escaping this characteristic of the deadlift, but for those who are struggling to maintain proper posture and better leg drive, using the trap bar deadlift helps put 100% of the resistance in the middle of your body.

This helps you learn better pulling mechanics. With the trap bar deadlift, you learn to stack your shoulders, knees, and ankles in order to lift with more leg drive.

It might not be ideal to do trap bar deadlifts RIGHT before a deadlift maxout, but plan to do the trap bar deadlift for the first 4-6 weeks of an offseason program to improve your mechanics for a vicious lift.

Farmer’s Walks

Most people who powerlift believe the farmer’s walk is ideal for training grip. However, farmers work way more than just simply grip. With the farmer walk, you need to have grip, back, and glute strength to take on the demands of carrying something heavy. Although you’re carrying a weight and not performing multiple reps as you would with a traditional deadlift, you do have to have the strength to maintain and support heavier loads. This is a great stimulus to change the pace of programming and break up the monotony.

For programming purposes, the farmer’s walk might not be necessary for the later stages of a peak, but this could be a secondary or a primary movement in your early offseason programming. Imagine using a trap bar for the farmer’s walk as well. Early in the offseason you could choose one week to do a heavy walk and speed trap bar deadlift, then the next week go heavy trap bar deadlift and do trap farmer walk for speed and endurance as well. So if you want to become a dangerous deadlifter, start doing some farmer’s walks!

Speed Deadlifts

I am more than sure that every person reading this article at some point has trained their deadlift with massive volume. I bet you have followed rep schemes of 3×6, 4×8, or something in that range. But instead of 3×6, why not 6×3? In this case, you hit the same volume, but redistribute the reps to help focus more on “fresh reps” and less on fatiguing movement.

Let’s face it, deadlift is an intense movement and very exhausting on the body. Many people who deadlift heavily begin to discuss their friend CNS and needing to go get IV therapy and some kinesiology tape before their next training session. Sometimes it’s not an exhausted nervous system, though. Sometimes you might just be physically exhausted, period. But have no fear! Let’s make this easier on you.

I believe to have a massive deadlift, try focusing on more sets and less reps. So instead of 4 sets of 8 reps, go 8 sets of 4 reps. And even better, why not drop the intensity. Instead of using the normal percentages that would go with a 4-rep scheme, go lighter in percentage. Now for your 8 sets of 4 reps, you can focus on submaximal weight for massive power, speed, and rate of force development. When I began deadlifting, I could barely squeeze out a 515 pound deadlift. After 12 weeks of only doing speed deficit deadlifts for 6×3…my deadlift jumped from 515 to 575, and I was only using 315 pounds for training!

It’s true what they say, y’all. Speed kills.

Isometric Deadlifts (No, Not Pause Deadlifts!)

I am not against pause deadlifts. However, I do think there are some other variations of the deadlift that should be explored and recognized. One of those is the isometric deadlift, a high-intensity variation that strengthens a specific range of motion that could very well be your sticking point.

To do the isometric deadlift, you need to be in a power rack. Set up the safety pins or J-hooks so that when you grab a barbell from the floor, you pull the bar up and hook it under the safety pins. Once you set up the isometric deadlift, you pull against the pins and try to move the entire power rack off the floor. Warning! This only works if you have a power rack or rig setup that is heavy enough or is bolted to the floor.

The idea is that the isometric deadlift is a strong, motionless contraction against the pins. You should aim to hold it as hard as you can for about 8 seconds. Set the hooks/pins in a position where you are the weakest for your deadlift. The idea is that because the barbell is motionless, you focus your strength in the part of your deadlift that needs the most work.

I would recommend doing the isometric deadlift the last 4-6 weeks of a peak, for about 5 sets of 8 seconds. Do it before your speed sets. That way, the isometrics provide a max effort stimulus and the speed sets provide a chance to practice your mechanics and break through that sticking point.

Sandbag and or Stone Training

Whether it’s a sandbag and atlas stone, we are basically looking for the same end result — improving hip strength. The sandbag and stone require a more flexed spine, which might make some people nervous. But when you deadlift heavy, there are times you lose your technique and begin to lift with a flexed spine. Either way, the idea of implementing strongman event training with a stone or a sandbag helps us prepare for potential breakdowns in technique that would occur in a max effort deadlift.

Some movements I like are sandbag or atlas stone box squats where the athlete sits, weight in lap, then stands up and pushes their hips through to finish. Another lift that could be more rigorous is the “sandbag over bar” in which you pick up the sandbag, hold it in your lap, then drive your hips through completely to get the load over a tall bar or onto a tall platform. Whatever the lift may be, using the sandbag and stone in these instances requires hip strength, hip mobility, and the courage to try loading your spine in a flexed position.

Give some of these movements a try in your next pulling session and see how they translate to a stronger, more stable deadlift!

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The most wonderful time of the year—when everything is on sale and your inbox is flooded with promos and each time you click “purchase”, you can feel your bank account groan. 

But man, there is some cool stuff out there. And who doesn’t love giving a unique gift to someone important in their life? 

It’s time to #treatyoself (or actually shop for others)

Honestly, most gift guides kind of suck. They include silly stuff that doesn’t make sense, gifts that are too expensive or utterly useless. For the kind of Type-A personalities that train in Crossfit, powerlifting, bodybuilding, and Olympic weightlifting, you want to make your gift count.

Gifting Tip: When it comes to finding the right gift (especially for the bros), it’s a good idea to replace something old/used that your giftee already has, or give them something to enhance an activity they already do every day, like training. 

We hunted down some of the top-gifted gear, apparel, equipment, and accessories for the athlete who has it all. We also tried to keep things realistic here. You won’t find any $5k investments (you already know if you’re looking to commit to a big gift anyway) or random dumb stuff. Enjoy!

We’re all wishing for a visit from Lift-o Claus this Holiday season. But even the big guy might need some help with gift ideas. 

Jump to Any Section:

Fitness Gift Guide for the home gym warrior

Fitness Gift Guide for the mobility-challenged

Fitness Gift Guide for the strong ladies in your life

Gift Guide for the crossfitter in your life

Nutrition and Supplements

Bonus badass gymwear

Ever heard of the “mind-muscle connection” and thought, it’s gotta be bogus, right? But some of the top competitive bodybuilders (Arnold included) have used this method in their training and swear by it. Is it real? Are you doing it right? Learn up. 

Jack Shaw’s passion for all things sports and fitness shines through in his writing, as seen in his work on Modded, SportsEdTV, Undiscovered Mountains, and Better Triathlete. In this blog, he uncovers the mystery behind the mind-muscle connection associated with hypertrophy gains.

What Is the Mind-Muscle Connection?

Gaining muscle is sometimes as psychological as it is physical. It takes a strong mind to spend so much time in the gym and achieve feats of strength. You know there’s a link between your body and brain, but did you know it’s more than sheer willpower?

If the mind-muscle connection sounds foreign to you, there may be a disconnect between your exercises and how you do them. Deepen your knowledge of this concept to keep your mind in tune with your muscles.

The mind-muscle connection is all about concentrating on muscle contraction and stretching when working out. It aims to boost activation through intentional focus. This training principle emphasizes internal focus — what’s inside the body — and not external focus — the surrounding environment.

Is This a Real Thing?

The mind-muscle connection is science-backed. An ever-growing body of research proves that tapping the brain’s power to direct attention to specific body areas during exercises helps increase muscle activity. For example, a 2017-published study recorded a 9% jump in pectoralis activity while focusing on the pectoralis major during push-ups.

What Does it Feel Like?

The sensation of muscle contraction characterizes the mind-muscle connection. You know you’re doing it right when the specific muscle or muscle group you home in on tightens when performing a movement. If you’re working with enough volume, you’ll also feel the muscle group(s) fill with blood — known as “the pump”.

All fitness enthusiasts can leverage the mind-muscle connection’s magic to achieve different goals, but the biggest beneficiaries are bodybuilders and powerlifters. Weightlifters and functional fitness athletes interested in bigging up should adopt this training approach, too.

5 Benefits of Using the Mind-Muscle Connection

1. Increasing Muscle Mass

The mind-muscle connection promotes hypertrophy — muscle cell growth. A 2018 study about resistance training revealed that internally focused participants registered a 12.4% increase in elbow flexors and quadriceps thickness vs. the 6.9% improvement observed among externally focused ones.

2. Targeting the Correct Muscles

Putting your thoughts on the muscle groups you want to build is the key to stimulating them enough to grow more quickly. Mindlessly going through the motions can be counterproductive, for the less relevant muscles may take on more load.

3. Maximizing Workouts

Focusing on the right things will make your reps more effective. In contrast, you’ll miss out on the opportunity to increase hypertrophy with every movement if you’re psychologically all over the place.

4. Recording Rapid Gains Fast

The mind-muscle connection may offer the shortest route to training success. This concept teaches you the cues to spend your mental resources on to accomplish more in less time. You can be buff with or without it, but it helps make your journey to fitness more meaningful and attain new milestones more quickly.

5. Staying Motivated

Seeing your gains fast while grinding less can keep you optimistic about your training. Noticeable progress is an important incentive for goal-setters to keep going.

Debunking the Misconceptions

The mind-muscle connection is often misunderstood. Let’s dispel some erroneous beliefs and set more realistic expectations. While it’s crucial for single-joint moves, its application to compound exercises — activities engaging multiple body parts (squats, deadlifts) — requires a balance between internal and external cues. For compound movements, prioritize completing the movement with good form over fixating solely on specific muscle contractions.

The belief that the mind-muscle connection works uniformly for everyone is inaccurate. Although beneficial for all, individuals respond at varying rates, and what works for one athlete may not work for another. Trial and error becomes key in finding the personalized approach that suits you, considering factors like muscle mass and training methods.

Contrary to the misconception that it’s a shortcut for beginners, the mind-muscle connection is more likely to maximize its efficacy for experienced lifters. Research shows that the ability to focus on triceps contractions selectively correlates to years of training. Newbies may have to spend more time in the weight room to develop a sharper sense of muscle activation.

Make no mistake — you can benefit from the mind-muscle connection during strength training exercises. It can be a game changer when doing isolation movements like leg extensions, hamstring exercises and bicep curls. However, this training approach tends to be less effective for raw power or explosive movements.

Understanding these nuances allows for a more effective incorporation of the mind-muscle connection into your training regimen.

6 Mind-Muscle Connection Tips

Using the mind-muscle connection is a skill. Heed these seven pieces of advice to control your muscle contractions better and accelerate hypertrophy.

1. Do Ramp-Up Sets

In addition to your general warm-up, flex and relax the muscles you want to focus on. These ramp-up sets for isolation exercises can get your blood flowing, send more oxygen to your specific muscle groups and help prevent cramps/tightness. Get used to greasing the groove before doing single-joint movements.

2. Perform Reps Slowly

Take your time when your exercise permits it. Intentionally performing your reps at a slower pace increases your time under tension and strains your muscle fibers longer. Stopping after every prolonged rep is one way to feel your muscles working.

3. Heavier Isn’t Always Better

Why is it better to zero in on muscle contraction with lighter weight instead of going heavy? A 2012 paper discovered that the mind-muscle connection’s effect diminishes between 50%-80% 1-repetition maximum. Lifting heavier weights may require compound lifts, rendering the connection technique less effective.

4. Ignore Your Reflection

Opinions clash regarding whether you should work out in front of a mirror. Seeing yourself exercise has its merits, but the beauty of looking away from your reflection is less distraction.

Keep your mind on how your muscle contracts as you perform a range of movements instead of being mindful of your appearance. Watching what others are doing will affect your concentration and contribute nothing to your exercise.

5. Listen to Verbal Cues

Paying attention to verbal instruction to help your mind and muscles communicate may be counterintuitive, but it works. In the same 2012 study, resistance-trained men saw their pectoralis major’s activity rise by 22% while bench-pressing at 50% 1-rep max after being told to concentrate on their chest muscles.

6. Touch Your Muscles

Feeling how your muscles contract with your hands is an effective way to understand how your body moves so your mind can remember it. Do it while training if you can — during your first two reps — to know whether you’re having a productive workout. Ask a training partner to touch your muscles if they’re out of reach for you.

Try This Training Approach With an Open Mind

The mind-muscle connection may go against your tried-and-true methods, but it’s worth trying if your goals include good body control and solid hypertrophy. Countless studies can attest to its effectiveness, so why no give it a chance?

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It pays to know about your body’s energy systems, whether you’re a coach or an athlete. 

Jonathan Mike, PhD, CSCS*D, NSCA-CPT*D, USAW, NKT-1 is a currently a faculty member the Exercise Science department at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, AZ. He is also a strength coach, author and speaker, and has competed in the sports of strongman and jujitsu. In this blog, he outlines the energy systems of the body and their relevance for coaches and athletes.

The Truth About Energy Systems

Energy systems within the framework of coaching and athletic development is always a heated topic, and there has been this very unsettling trend within social media and online articles discussing the best methods to incorporate these systems into programs. While this topic is critical to the improvement of athletic performance, implementation, and program design, the use of specific terms and application have been misinterpreted.

As times goes on, the staggering amount of self-proclaimed training and nutrition “experts” within the industry become more obvious. Many are discussing and even advocating basic programming ideas based on these systems without ever really thinking about how they actually work. There are way too many people who speak and write as though these energy systems are completely independent of each other.

Here’s the truth – and I know it may be shocking – but all these energy systems are not independent of each other. They never have been and never will be.

This article will help set the record straight and examine the truth about energy systems, what they are, how they work, and what you really need to know. Let’s get started!

Energy Systems 101

The essential terminology governing energy systems is called bioenergetics. It’s the conversion of chemical energy to mechanical energy. In other words, the conversion of carbs, proteins, and fats (chemical energy) into biological energy (mechanical), or what you use during training sessions.

Our bodies are in a constant state of anabolism and catabolism (called metabolism), which is the sum of all the anabolic and catabolic reactions in the body.

Energy from catabolic reactions is used to drive anabolic reactions through, you guessed it, adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Without ATP, muscle activity and growth wouldn’t occur, plain and simple.

What is ATP?

ATP is made up adenosine (nitrogen base), ribose (five-carbon sugar), and three phosphate groups. Essentially, if you remove a phosphate group, ATP becomes diphosphate (ADP). Remove another and ADP becomes monophosphate (AMP).

Here’s the scoop—your cells can’t generate ATP from scratch.

If we think back to the first law of thermodynamics, the total amount of energy in the universe remains constant. Therefore, from the foods we eat, potential energy exists within cells in the chemical bonds such as glucose, glycogen (composed of hundreds or thousands of glucose molecules stored in the muscles, liver, and brain), and fatty acids. When these compounds enter energy pathways, some become rearranged with energy released and captured in the formation of ATP. This “new energy” is then used for cell functions such as supplying the energy for muscle contraction (like heavy ass lifting).

The energy for all these processes is liberated from ATP by removing the terminal inorganic phosphate (Pi) group from the molecule, leaving adenosine diphosphate (ADP) plus one proton (H+). This ADP is readily recycled in the mitochondria (power source organelle in cells) where it is renewed again to ATP.

ATP is broken down (hydrolysis) because water is the splitting molecule. ATP is not much of a storage fuel. Muscle cells store ATP only in limited amounts, and activity requires a regular supply, which provides energy needed for muscular work.

Anaerobic vs. Aerobic

Now, this is where things start to get misinterpreted and perhaps a little confusing. We have to briefly touch on this because this sets the stage for the actual terms for true energy systems discussed later.

Most people would say, “Aerobic metabolism is an energy generating reaction that ‘uses’ oxygen.” While this statement isn’t totally wrong, it does leave out some keys aspects. Oxygen actually serves as the final electron acceptor in the chain (electron transport chain) and combines with hydrogen to form water (13).

Now, the term “aerobic” may seem misleading because oxygen does not actually participate directly in ATP synthesis. Instead, it is present at the “end stage” and significantly determines the ability for aerobic ATP production and sustained exercise, particularly during endurance exercise (13) and throughout heavy strength training as well.

As we’ll see more in the next section for energy systems, research suggests that the oxidative system also works hard to help you recover after a high intensity anaerobic effort like a set of squats or hill sprints (4).

With anaerobic, the generation of high energy via quick, intense exercise bouts is facilitated through the immediate anaerobic system, which has no reliance placed on oxygen due to the nature of the stimulus and combined efforts of the other two high energy systems.

Some metabolic pathways require oxygen. They are said to be aerobic and will not proceed unless oxygen is present in sufficient concentrations.
Other processes don’t require oxygen to proceed to completion and are said to be anaerobic.
The important underlying message is that oxygen can play a pivotal role in some pathways and have little effect on others. However, this variation in cells is actually ideal so they can adapt to cellular energy needs (at least temporarily) independent of oxygen.

Energy Systems: The Correct Terms

The Phosphagen System

During short-term, intense activities, a large amount of power needs to be produced by the muscles, creating a high demand for ATP. The phosphagen system is the quickest way to resynthesize ATP and is active at the start of all types of training regardless of intensity (6). The creatine kinase (enzyme) reaction regulates the breakdown in creatine phosphate.

Here’s the scoop—at the start of training, ATP is broken down into ADP, releasing energy for muscle contractions. The increase in ADP activates the creatine kinease (enzyme) reaction to promote the formation of ATP from the breakdown of creatine phosphate.

If training continues at high intensities, this enzyme reaction (CK) remains elevated. Once training is over or continues at a low enough intensity, it will allow glycolysis or the oxidative (mitochondrial respiration) system to supply adequate ATP for muscle energy demand.

Because ATP and creatine phosphate are stored in the muscle in small quantities, the phosphagen system can’t supply enough energy for continuous, long duration training. Overall, type II (fast twitch) motor units contain greater concentration of phosphagens compared to type 1 (slow twitch) motor units (10). Creatine phosphate (CP) is stored in skeletal muscles and donates a phosphate to ADP to produce ATP. No carbohydrate or fat is used in this process. However, the regeneration of ATP exclusively comes from stored CP. This process does not require oxygen to resynthesize ATP because it is anaerobic or oxygen independent.

The phosphagen system is the predominant energy system used for all-out exercise lasting up to about ten seconds and sometimes fifteen seconds, although there is currently not an exact time frame. However, because there is a limited amount of stored CP and ATP in skeletal muscles, the onset of fatigue occurs quickly.

This is the primary energy pathway that creatine monohydrate supplementation is built upon. It’s highly effective in the rapid regeneration of ADP to ATP from the creatine kinase reaction during andfollowing intense exercise, primarily from resistance training. It is undoubtedly the most studied performance supplement in the last twenty years, as the body of evidence clearly supports that creatine enhances exercise capacity and performance (1, 2, 7, 9, 11).

Glycolysis

Glycolysis helps to supplement the phosphagen system initially and then becomes the primary ATP source during high intensity muscular work that lasts from thirty seconds to about 2–3 minutes. It is the second fastest way to resynthesize ATP. Glycolysis, which is the breakdown of glucose, is one of the most studied metabolic pathways in the exercise sciences.

During glycolysis, carbohydrates in the form of either blood glucose or muscle glycogen (the stored form of glucose) are broken down through a series of chemical reactions to form pyruvate (glycogen is first broken down into glucose through a process called glycogenolysis).

Now, at the end stage of glycolysis via the breakdown of glucose, you get two pyruvate and two ATP. Once pyruvate is formed, it can go two directions: conversion to lactate or conversion to acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA), which enters the mitochondria for oxidation and the production of more ATP (10).

Simply put, the conversion to lactate occurs when the demand for oxygen is greater than the supply (e.g., during anaerobic exercise via sprinting or high intensity resistance training). In contrast, when there is enough oxygen available to meet the muscular and metabolic demands (e.g., during aerobic exercise), pyruvate (via acetyl-CoA) enters the mitochondria and goes through aerobic metabolism.

When oxygen is not supplied fast enough to meet the demands of muscular effort, an increase in hydrogen ions occurs, causing muscle pH to decrease (called acidosis) and other metabolites. Acidosis and the accumulation of these other metabolites cause a number of issues that can significantly lower your performance and interfere with everything inside and outside of the muscle. Due to the loss of performance, muscles lose their ability to contract effectively, and muscle force production and exercise intensity are ultimately ceased.

Mitochondrial RespirationI (Aerobic System)

From these three energy systems, the aerobic system, which is dependent on oxygen, is the most complex (3, 16). The metabolic reactions that take place in the presence of oxygen are responsible for most of the cellular energy produced by the body. As most people know, aerobic metabolism is the slowest way to resynthesize ATP. It provides a large magnitude of ATP, but the tradeoff is that you have to wait for it.

This system includes the citric acid/Krebs cycle, or the better term TCA cycle. I like TCA because it sounds better and should be used more often.

This system also involves the electron transport chain, which simply uses blood glucose, glycogen, and fat as fuels to resynthesize ATP in the mitochondria of muscle cells. When using carbohydrates, glucose and glycogen are first metabolized through glycolysis, with the resulting pyruvate used to form acetyl-CoA, which enters the TCA. The electrons produced in the TCA are then transported through the electron transport chain where ATP and water are produced. This is technically termed oxidative phosphorylation (6, 10).

Thus, the aerobic system produces eighteen times more ATP than does anaerobic glycolysis from each glucose molecule.

What About Fat?

This is nearly another topic and probably a future article in itself, but essentially intramuscular triglyceride is the other major fuel for the aerobic system.

Fat oxidation also requires oxygen. Because fats are long carbon chains, they are transported to the muscle mitochondria where the carbon atoms are used to produce acetyl-CoA (a process called beta-oxidation). When using fat, triglycerides are first broken down into free fatty acids and glycerol (a process called lipolysis). The breakdown of fatty acid compounds goes directly into the mitochondrion to produce ATP, as the oxidation of free fatty acids generate considerable more ATP molecules than the oxidation of glucose or glycogen.

A Quick Recap

There are way too many people who speak and write as though these energy systems are completely independent of each other. All these energy systems are not independent of each other.

• Phosphagen system: Forming ATP by using creatine phosphate or two ADP molecules; this pathway yields the highest ATP turnover rate
• Glycolysis: From blood glucose or muscle glycogen; can activate very early on in muscle contraction
• Mitochondrial respiration: The use of oxygen in the mitochondria

Intense, sustained movements, such as a 400-meter race, are dependent on not only the phosphagen system, but also largely on a slower pathway of ATP production, glycolysis, and to a much smaller extent, the slowest pathway of producing ATP, mitochondrial respiration.

As the duration of maximal effort work is sustained, the absolute power output will decline, as there is a shift in the energy system that is most dominant in resynthesizing ATP. In this sense, energy systems represent a continuum that ranges from rapid energy production to slow energy production.

It is important to note that at any given time, all energy systems are in operation. While we often like to classify activities as anaerobic or aerobic, each energy system is making a contribution to the total energy production.

For example, if a person is performing a max effort squat, the majority of energy used to supply the contracting muscles is being derived from the phosphagen system and anaerobic glycolysis. However, what energy system would the arms be using? How about the heart? Perhaps the only time in which an animal would be in a true anaerobic state is during the final moment of life.

Intense, sustained movements, such as a 400-meter race, are dependent on not only the phosphagen system, but also largely on a slower pathway of ATP production, glycolysis, and to a much smaller extent, the slowest pathway of producing ATP, mitochondrial respiration.

As the duration of maximal effort work is sustained, the absolute power output will decline, as there is a shift in the energy system that is most dominant in resynthesizing ATP. In this sense, energy systems represent a continuum that ranges from rapid energy production to slow energy production.

It is important to note that at any given time, all energy systems are in operation. While we often like to classify activities as anaerobic or aerobic, each energy system is making a contribution to the total energy production.

For example, if a person is performing a max effort squat, the majority of energy used to supply the contracting muscles is being derived from the phosphagen system and anaerobic glycolysis. However, what energy system would the arms be using? How about the heart? Perhaps the only time in which an animal would be in a true anaerobic state is during the final moment of life.

Practical Applications for the Energy Systems

Since all three of your energy systems ultimately run on ATP, let’s break it down by each energy system.

Phosphagen

Let’s say you’re doing a max effort squat, as you move the weight via the concentric phase, posterior chain musculature immediately burn through their ATP stores. Once the ATP has been used, it’s either further broken down or recycled via creatine phosphate (see above sections), so it can provide additional energy for the working muscles.

It’s the fuel source for all your physical functions, from eating to breathing to pushing the Prowler®.

Most people don’t realize how quickly the phosphagen system is activated; it simply takes thousandths of a second. Like many things, there is a benefit to risk ratio, or in the case of energy systems, a speed and efficiency cost.

The phosphagen system can only supply enough ATP and CP lasting for a minimum of 6 seconds, and up to 15 seconds of serious effort.

Despite the fact that the phosphagen system will enhance and provide explosive speed and power (e.g., shot put throw, Olympic weightlifting, max deadlift, vertical jump, 100m sprint, yoke walk, etc.), it does not afford the ability to operate at full throttle beyond the time frame (6-15 seconds). Further, the majority of trained athletes require three to five minutes of rest before their ATP is resynthesized and they can continue to perform near the level of their previous effort. (15)

Glycolysis

As the phosphagen system dwindles down (although it becomes re-synthesized), the glycolytic system becomes more activated for another several minutes before it begins to diminish too. As discussed above in more detail, glycolysis converts carbohydrates (glucose) into ATP. Although less sensitive compared to the phosphagen system, your glycolytic system continues to provide as much as half the energy in the first several seconds of intense training.

The best example of all-out glycolysis are 200-meter and 400-meter sprints. Usain Bolt ran a 400 in 46.74 seconds and recently won the world championships in the 200 in 19.66 seconds. That wasn’t even a true max run for him.

Despite what ignorant gurus and online coaches and trainers might tell you, the “burning sensation,” for lack of a better term, that you get when the exercise intensity is very high is not caused by lactic acid. In fact, there isn’t any such thing as lactic acid.

There is only lactate.

This is due to the buildup of hydrogen ions, a byproduct of glycolysis. In fact, accumulation of muscle and blood lactate after exercise can be oxidized back to pyruvate for gluconeogenic conversion of glucose in the liver or be converted back to pyruvate in the muscle for mitochondrial ATP production. It’s a fuel source. If the muscle did not produce or could not produce lactate, there would be no means to rely on additional ATP from glycolysis and no reaction would take place to regenerate energy.

Lactate is a good thing.

Further, the more you train your glycolytic system, the better you’re able to buffer these ions and the faster you can recover between sets of moderate to high intensity training. Of course, this is really the foundation for at least one factor of high intensity interval training (HIIT) that fitness professionals continue to recommend and incorporate into their programs for people who want to gain muscle, lose fat, and maximize results in their training, depending on their goals.

A study published this year showed that high intensity interval training (HIIT) performed in an “all-out” manner (e.g. repeated Wingate tests) is a time-efficient strategy to induce skeletal muscle remodeling toward more oxidative aspects of muscle. The training, which lasted less than ten minutes per session including the warm up and was performed three times a week for six weeks, improved chronic muscle adaptations (V02) in young healthy subjects (8).

In addition, glycolysis does very well in fat loss due to its metabolic stress. Recovering from it actually requires work from all three energy systems. Specifically, glycolytic training develops not only the operation of each individual system, but also the capability to transition efficiently between them. The primary methods to train your glycolytic system are through repeated high effort activities with less than full recovery between efforts via 20- to 30-second sprints with a minute of rest between them or strength training sets lasting thirty seconds to one minute (6, 10, 13).

Mitochondrial Respiration

Mitochondrial respiration, or your aerobic system, operates continuously and is probably the most important both at rest and during training. It is fueled primarily on fat and glucose. As previously mentioned in the first sections of this article, it’s the only system that directly requires oxygen in order to function.

Now, despite the fact that this energy system is ongoing, generally speaking, it’s the last system to kick in. However, highly trained athletes, particularly endurance athletes, have such a dominate oxidative system that it actually activates much sooner compared to normal individuals. These athletes are able to reach a steady state much quicker compared to less trained individuals. The majority of long distance events and sports (marathon, cycling) require exceptional aerobic capacity, as do athletes in all continuous action field and team sports (soccer, basketball).

Traditionally, the belief was that the best way to develop the oxidative system was through long, slow cardio exercise. Times have changed. Although many still do believe this and even though the aerobic system certainly responds well to that type of training, recent research suggests the oxidative system also works extremely hard to help you recover after high intensity anaerobic efforts (14).

Due to the intermittent nature of heavy strength training, the energy expenditure contributions of weight training are almost always in a non-steady state compared to aerobic type exercise, which is usually defined as being steady state.

What does this mean? Well, a resistance training session corresponds to a series of intermittent/non-steady state waves of intensity and effort for the oxidative system (mitochondrial respiration). Many times, individuals feel “gassed” after high intensity bouts of strength training or conditioning even though these specific bouts themselves are technically anaerobic.

What is happening is that mitochondrial respiration (oxidative system) moves into hyper-drive in order to replenish the depleted ATP stores and remove the buildup of metabolic byproducts that were produced from the other energy systems (phosphagen and glycolysis).

Upon the cessation of intense lifting or interval work, mitochondrial respiration (oxidative) continues activity for a few days. This is where the concept and application of excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) comes in. This occurrence can burn additional fat and calories for up to 72 hours post-training when intensity and duration (especially intensity) are the presiding factors (5, 12).

Here’s the deal—unless you compete in endurance events, performing lots of long, slow cardio isn’t the best way to train or enhance your aerobic system. You are better off engaging in higher intensity training as a more effective and efficient means to develop your oxidative system and drive fat burning.

Lastly, because low intensity aerobic activity enhances recovery from other forms of training, perhaps the best use of oxidative training is a recovery tool used on non-training days.

References

Bemben MG, Lamont HS (2005) Creatine supplementation and exercise performance: recent findings. Sports Med 35:107–25.
Bemben MG, Witten MS, Carter JM, Eliot KA, Knehans AW, Bemben DA (2010) The effects of supplementation with creatine and protein on muscle strength following a traditional resistance training program in middle-aged and older men. The Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging 14:155–59.
Bishop DJ, Granata C, Eynon N (2013) Can we optimize the exercise training prescription to maximize improvements in mitochondria function and content? Biochim Biophys Acta.
Bishop PA, Jones E, Woods AK (2008) Recovery from training: a brief review: brief review. J Strength Cond Res 22:1015–1024.
Borsheim E, Bahr R (2003) Effect of exercise intensity, duration and mode on post-exercise oxygen consumption. Sports Med 33:1037–1060.
Brooks G, Fahey Baldwin (2005) Exercise Physiology: Human Bioenergetics and Its Application.
Buford TW, Kreider RB, Stout JR, Greenwood M, Campbell B, Spano M, Ziegenfuss T, Lopez H, Landis J, Antonio J (2007) International Society of Sports Nutrition position stand: creatine supplementation and exercise. J Int Soc Sports Nutr 4:6.
Cochran AJ, Percival ME, Tricarico S, Little JP, Cermak N, Gillen JB, Tarnopolsky MA, Gibala MJ (2014) Intermittent and continuous high-intensity exercise induce similar acute but different chronic muscle training adaptations. Exp Physiol.
Jones AM, Atter T, Georg KP (1999) Oral creatine supplementation improves multiple sprint performance in elite ice-hockey players. J Sports Med Phys Fitness39:189–96.
Kraemer WJ, Fleck, SJ, Deschenes MR (2012) Exercise Physiology: Integrating Theory and Application. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
Kreider RB (2003) Effects of creatine supplementation on performance and training adaptations. Mol Cell Biochem 244:89–94.
LaForgia J, Withers RT, Gore CJ (2006) Effects of exercise intensity and duration on the excess post-exercise oxygen consumption. J Sports Sci 24:1247–64.
McArdle K, Katch (2009) Exercise Physiology: Energy, Nutrition, and Human Performance.
Scott CB (2011) Quantifying the immediate recovery energy expenditure of resistance training. J Strength Cond Res 25:1159–63.
Weiss L (1991) The obtuse nature of muscular strength: The contribution of rest to its development and expression. Journal of Applied Sports Science Research5:219–27.
Yan Z, Lira VA, Greene NP (2012) Exercise training-induced regulation of mitochondrial quality. Exerc Sport Sci Rev 40:159–64.

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How are you navigating the world of fitness after years of being coached? Are you just winging it in the gym? Are you making any progress, or just spinning your wheels?

It’s easy to fall into fitness overwhelm without having a coach. In this blog, Jason Sayler outlines the basics for creating your own workout program based on your needs.

Creating a Basic Workout Plan

It happens every year — athletes that have been in my program for 4-5 years graduate. They have been told what to do for their entire athletic career and suddenly they’re thrown out into the world on their own with have no idea what to do concerning their fitness. They are lost, confused, terrified of getting fat, and looking for guidance.

I politely think to myself, “You’ve got to be freaking kidding me! You have spent the past half-decade immersed in a solid (if I do say so myself) strength and conditioning program and you still don’t know what to do?” I think, “Maybe it is my fault. Maybe I didn’t give them the necessary tools required to venture out on their own into the terrifying world of personal fitness.”

Well, I plan to rectify my mistake today and give all of you athletes out there struggling to find their way, the necessary tools required to survive and stay healthy, happy and fit for the rest of your lives. I’m going to break down very simply how I design a strength and conditioning program.

Step 1: Determine Your Goals

Is your plan to just stay in shape as a retired athlete or are you in the offseason looking to come back stronger than ever and crush the competition? You’ll need to build you program around that. However, keep in mind that most athletes need basically the same things.

All athletes from swimmers to football players, from soccer moms to pro golfers will benefit from becoming more explosive, increasing their strength, improving their mobility, etc. Where they differ may be the intensities and volumes at which they train. So, match your training to your sport or goals as closely as possible. If your sport requires you to maximally exert yourself once and rest 5 minutes before you go again, you’ll want to match your training to those demands.

If your goal is to just stay fit, then you will probably want to spend most of your time somewhere in the middle of the volume and intensity spectrum. For general fitness I love incorporating circuit-style training or metabolic conditioning. These types of workouts aim to get as much work done as possible in the shortest amount of time. So if you’re pressed for time and want to kill an endless amount of birds with one stone, check out some programs in the TrainHeroic marketplace geared toward functional fitness.

Programs like this hit every element of your fitness and usually get you in and out of the gym in an hour.

Step 2: Select Your Movements

For the most part, fast/dynamic lifts or movements such as power cleans should be at the beginning of your training because they require the most technical focus and coordination. They also tend to recruit the most number of motor units and tax your system heavily.

If you are looking to get the most bang for your buck, it’s hard to beat the Olympic lifts. They can cover every single aspect of fitness you can think of. All you would need to do is change the volume or intensity to match your goals.

Full range of motion squats are a necessary part of any training regimen — back squats, front squats, split squats, using dumbbells, kettlebells, or any variation therein. Strong legs are the foundation of any athlete.

A lot of athletes depending on their sport can become quad dominant. This imbalance can lead to knee, hip and ankle injuries. So for your owns sake, include hamstring dominant exercises such as RDL’s or Glute-hams.

Do push and pull together — any pushing exercise such as bench press should be done with a pulling exercise such as a bent-over row. They do not necessarily have to be done on the same day, but just make sure you don’t overdo the bench press and create an imbalance that could lead to postural issues or injuries.

A strong core is very important if you want the power from your legs to translate into hitting a ball harder or jumping further. It doesn’t matter how strong my legs are if the muscles used to stabilize my spine are too week to transfer that energy to the upper body. I like static holds like planks. Check out this article for more excellent ideas: 4 Core Exercises for Noticeably Stronger Abs 

Step 3: Decide On Your Training Volume 

Training frequency is going to depend entirely on how much time you have to dedicate to working out. If you’ve got a family and a full-time job, you might not have two hours every day to train. 

Full body lifting sessions 2-3 times per week are the most effective. You can combine your conditioning work with the lifting or do it on separate days. That’s up to you and how much energy/time you have.

Always warmup properly. Do some machine or cardio work to raise your core temperature and prepare you for the work to come. Prime your movements. The more specific you can make it to what you will be doing during the training session, the better. This will improve your performance during the workout and prevent you from getting injured.

Running and endurance work is based on your needs. If the sport you play requires quite a bit of endurance, that might be something you want to focus on. If you’re playing your sport a lot, then your need for extra conditioning work will decrease. In general 2-4 days of conditioning per week should get it done.

There are some really great resources out there for programming assistance such as Mike’s Gym or Westside Barbell or CrossFit. With all of this said, if you still don’t know what to do because your strength coach in college didn’t prepare you correctly, or you just don’t feel like doing it all on your own, check out TrainHeroic’s marketplace for a program that fits you.

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