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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A new competition has arisen alongside the trending buzzword “hybrid athlete”. It’s called Hyrox, and it’s growing rapidly in international popularity. Why? And how can you prepare for a Hyrox competition to make sure you don’t place dead last?

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 is Hyrox?

Hyrox is described as a fitness race for everyone. I’ve also heard it described as ‘CrossFit light’ since the events focus on easier functional movements, but leave out the complex barbell and gymnastic work. (Though personally, I try not to make burpees a functional part of my life wherever possible.)

Success appears to be based largely on aerobic capacity and an ability to push hard across the 8 different stages of the events and the sandwiched 1 km runs. Races can be performed at an open level (open to all), individual pro level (which includes heavier weights), doubles and relay teams.

Where the sport differs from CrossFit most importantly is in the simplicity of the movements. Where a CrossFit event separates groups based on elite skills such as advanced gymnastics, Hyrox events use movements that are more inherently doable. Farmer’s carries and sled drags don’t need hours of practice to perfect.

The beauty of Hyrox, however, is that any time spent in the gym is likely going to have some benefit on how you perform at the events, especially if you’re at a beginner level. Certain movements or attributes are important, namely running (see my article from March 2022) since you’re going to have to complete 8 stretches of running between different movements.

Breaking Down the Hyrox Movements

Some events might demand greater strength, such as farmer’s carries, or sled push/pulls, which will always be improved by increasing your absolute strength in these. Nonetheless, a focus on endurance should take some precedence.

In fact, none of the weights, even at a professional level, appear very difficult at first glance. In particular, note that your body mass will help in moving the sled before you even need to think about exerting yourself really hard.

Let’s Get to Work

The bulk of your time should be spent on “energy system training” as follows:

Aerobic Zone 2

You’ll want to put some solid focus on zone 2 work. This type of training is performed at an easy intensity, one in which you can maintain a conversation, for increasing periods of time. Start with a minimum of 40 minutes and work up to an hour of zone 2 work every few days.
Realistically, you’ll want to rotate between rowing, skierg, and running to help build your aerobic capacity. Be sure not to avoid the one you’re the worst at! This will improve your aerobic capacity (ability to endure long periods of sub-maximal effort) as well as provide a long list of health benefits.

Stroke Volume & Lactate Threshold

Stroke volume training is NASTY. Making your heart pump blood more efficiently should be like something out of a movie montage when you think about it though. Bursts of maximum effort with good rest periods will improve heart rate variability (HRV) and enable you to push hard in each stage of the event, especially those with greater loads over distance.

More importantly, it will improve the ability of your heart to adjust to imposed demands appropriately; which is useful in a race where you might look to conserve some energy while running to push harder through a burpee stretch.

I like hill sprints for this, but rowing machines and similar CV kit will suffice alongside burpees or sled work if you want to keep it competition specific.

Lactate builds up in our muscles when we exercise in the absence of enough oxygen. This is the burn you start to feel when exerting yourself, for example in sprint training. The level at which you need to train to improve your lactate threshold will vary depending on experience. The fitter/more experienced you are, the greater effort you’ll need to reach the threshold where you can feel the lactic acid start to build. That’s when you back off to stay in the “lactate zone”.

Don’t Forget to Fuel Yourself!

You should also focus on nutrition/fueling yourself adequately to support competing and training across different energy systems. This is a great excuse to re-feed depleted glycogen stores after intense anaerobic training sessions! For a better understanding of fueling and refueling with carbohydrates check out my article on carbohydrates here.

As a general rule, carbs and protein post workout (roughly 30g) is a good idea in terms of recovery and roughly 1.6-2g per kg of body weight per day is best for training athletes.

A good balance of fats (up to a considered calorie intake) will also help in preventing fatigue, injuries, burn out and illness.

For help smashing your first Hyrox, check out my 8 week program which includes nutrition guidance to get you on your way!

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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.

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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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Volume vs Time Under Tension for Hypertrophy

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How many reps should you do for muscle growth? How can you get a better pump from a movement that usually doesn’t make you sore? Tweaking your program to include high-volume and tempo sets is sure to get you the kind of size and strength you want from your training. Learn about it!

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.

Meathead Status Doesn’t Just Happen

Strength training has become more popular with the surge of social media. Seeing humans conquer feats that once seemed inconceivable has inspired many to tackle the world of strength one muscle fiber at a time. It’s safe to say that for us strength enthusiasts, we generally want to become bigger, stronger, and faster.

Getting bigger and stronger sounds great. But how do you actually grow muscular density? We need to lift heavy and lift often, right?

Gaining muscle mass isn’t that simple, especially for seasoned lifters. We need to differentiate our training and use other helpful tactics to elicit better muscle-growth results.

Muscular hypertrophy often begins with training volume (high number of reps) and/or time under tension (amount of tempo within a given rep). Both are very beneficial styles of training, but many times are not exclusive to each other.

So what’s the difference between the two, how do they work, and which do I choose for my training?

As with most things in life, it depends — so grab your cup of caffeine and strap in tight for a ride into the mayhem of how to build massive muscle mass!

Why build size?

Embracing muscular hypertrophy comes with many benefits. Whether it has to do with protecting your joints, reducing injury, or enhancing your quality of life, the idea of building more muscle mass has too many benefits that can’t be overlooked.

A sure-fire way to become a stronger, faster athlete is to grow bigger muscle fibers.

How so? It’s all about the growth of your muscle tissues. You won’t elevate your speed if you don’t have enough muscle mass to improve power output for faster contractions. You will also lack gains in strength if you don’t have enough muscle mass to meet the demands of the weight loaded on the bar.

Building size and getting bigger can seem intimidating and undesirable as it could be misconstrued as gaining a “larger” anatomy. But with the right body composition goals, you can gain muscle mass without putting on a ton of weight. Obviously this depends on your frame and biology, but for our purposes, let’s focus on muscle growth.

Volume and Time Under Tension: What’s the Difference? Is One Better?

In order to understand the difference between training volume and time under tension, it’s best to define both styles of training. Although they have their differences, they do share a commonality – both volume and time under tension fatigue the muscle enough to elicit a spike in the body’s anabolic (muscle building) hormones.

This is the process of “muscular hypertrophy” or the growth of muscle tissue in the body. When you resistance train to exhaustion, you are provoking an anabolic response in the body to build bigger and stronger muscles during recovery.

Let’s define both styles of training and understand how they differentiate from each other.

Volume Training

Volume training is characterized by a high workload and an emphasis on the total number of repetitions performed during a training session. Those who advocate for volume training argue that this approach induces significant hypertrophic adaptations. The cumulative fatigue experienced during high volume training leads to metabolic stress and muscle damage, two factors associated with hypertrophic responses.

One of the great reasons to use volume training is that it can be measurable and consistent.

If you did 20 reps of 100 pounds this week, you can tell yourself next week to do 30 reps of 100 pounds to overload the muscle, see how it responds and if you can continue to overload that movement for the following weeks.

Currently, we view volume with a quantitative measurement, using numbers to track performance. But the numbers don’t measure the quality of each movement.

What if I did 100 bicep curls with complete range of motion while my workout partner does 100 half-ass reps? We both did 100 reps! But I put more effort into my working set than my partner, so I’ll likely gain the most benefit. Something to keep in mind for volume training.

For time under tension, we use a more qualitative approach as we are evaluating the quality of each movement.

Embracing a qualitative and quantitative approach to training will net you the best results.

Time Under Tension Training

Time under tension (also abbreviated as “TUT”) focuses on prolonging the duration of each repetition, emphasizing muscle contraction and maximizing the time muscles spend under load. Advocates for TUT argue that it enhances muscle fiber recruitment and promotes significant hypertrophic adaptations. And you know what? They aren’t wrong!

A study by Burd et al. (2012) compared TUT training with traditional resistance training. This study found prolonged muscle TUT affects protein synthesis and recovery, highlighting the importance of not only exercise volume but also manipulating the eccentric loading. This increases muscle fatigue. Elevating fatigue provides an environment for the muscle to grow.

The idea of a prolonged contraction shows many benefits to muscular hypertrophy. Ultimately, using TUT to fatigue your muscles means you won’t have to load as much weight. Using lighter weights can spare the body’s joints and ligaments from injury, and actually make them more resilient over time.

Which Form of Training is Better?

When it comes to choosing volume or TUT, it truly depends on you as an athlete and your goals.

The ideal answer is to use both volume and TUT strategically to elicit the best anabolic response to exercise.

Remember, building muscle requires fatiguing/exhausting the working muscles. When you incorporate both volume and TUT, you’re providing both quantitative and qualitative forms of training that will be far superior than merely focusing on one form over the other.

When to Use Volume or TUT

I generally recommend newer athletes focus on volume instead of TUT, because volume is a measurable approach to training and your progressions can be documented easily.

There are other tactics within volume training to further fatigue the working muscles for better results. One of the best ways to do this is through mega sets for multiple reps and limited rest.

But what about someone who can’t handle high volume due to injury or joint issues? This population might respond better to TUT tactics. TUT training prolongs movement to exaggerate contractions for more exhaustion to the muscle. That exhaustion is the mechanism for triggering growth and development.

An added benefit to TUT is refining your movement patterns and improving your motor control through a lift.

Let’s get into mega sets, drop sets, tempo training and the “mind muscle connection” next.

How to Train Using Volume

Volume training can be done with traditional programming, mega sets, or drop sets for massive exhaustion to the working muscles.

Traditional Volume

Normal high-volume programming might be training that has athletes performing 12-20 reps within a working set. There might be 2-5 working sets.

Over time, you add either more sets or more reps to progressively overload the athlete and make them work harder based on performance and capability. This seems to be an effective progression for most new to intermediate athletes who respond well to normal high-volume training tactics.

Mega Sets

A mega set involves performing a ton of volume consecutively and getting limited rest to keep the muscle fatigued for a prolonged time. You might perform 50,100, 200 reps as quickly as possible. For example:

• Seated Leg Extension Machine: 1×100 reps with 10 second breaks once you hit fatigue

The challenge is to figure out an amount of weight you can perform 20 reps with, then take it to failure. Every time you hit failure, you get a 10 second break for recovery before continuing. This type of training helps keep things measurable and consistent.

Drop Sets

A drop set is a weightlifting technique where you perform an exercise set to failure, then immediately reduce the weight and continue the set without resting. This process involves using a heavy load initially, then decreasing the weight in subsequent sets. The purpose of a drop set is to push muscles to their limits, inducing muscle fatigue and promoting hypertrophy.

You could do a single drop set or multiple drop sets within a working set. Remember, the drop set happens immediately. Don’t perform to failure, walk around the gym and then continue with the same exercise — it needs to be immediate.

• Chest Press Machine: 3×10 reps with a double drop set. Each drop set should be around 30% of the previous working set.

If you were to do 100 pounds on the chest press, that means your first working set is 100 for 10 reps, then dropping to 70 pounds to failure, then dropping to 50 pounds to failure. You don’t need to drop by 30% exactly, but you do need to pick a consistent percentage that allows you to perform a substantial amount of volume for growth.

How to Train Using Time Under Tension

TUT focuses on prolonging the duration of each repetition, emphasizing muscle contraction and maximizing the time muscles spend under load. By extending the duration of each rep, TUT training boosts muscle fiber recruitment and activation. This prolonged muscle engagement stimulates greater mechanical tension and metabolic stress, facilitating muscle growth.

TUT is done with a specific tempo for the start, eccentric, pause, and concentric phases of each movement. TUT is much lighter in volume, but the exaggeration of each phase of movement is what makes it so hard. An example of how to use TUT with an exercise would be:

Tempo Cable Bicep Curls: 3-2-5-0 for 3 x 10 reps

The sequence of numbers 3-2-5-0 corresponds to the time in seconds you count for each phase of the cable bicep curl. The curl starts with your elbows extended and the weight at the bottom. The first number “3” means the weight needs to be curled upward within 3 seconds.

The “2” has to do with the pause at the top, squeezing the biceps at the top of the cable curl to further exhaust the muscle. The “5” is time spent lowering the curl, bringing the weight down in a 5-second count. The final number “0” means there’s no pause at the bottom of the curl before going straight into the next rep.

Each movement will usually have four phases and each exercise can be altered in tempo based on your preference. I would not recommend doing more than 10 consecutive reps, or using a tempo longer than 5-6 seconds.

For more, see Understanding Tempo Training for Maximum Strength Gains.

Mind-Muscle Connection

This seems to be a delicate topic for many, as most will ask… does the mind-muscle connection truly exist?

Well, based on my professional expertise and experience with movement, yes! The mind-muscle connection truly does exist. TUT training emphasizes the mind-muscle connection, requiring conscious control and focus on the targeted muscles during each repetition. This heightened awareness enhances muscle activation, quality of contraction, and ultimately, hypertrophic responses.

A study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research by Schoenfeld et al. (2019) found that participants who focused on the mind-muscle connection during bicep curls exhibited significantly higher muscle activity compared to those who performed the exercise without such focus. These findings highlight the importance of consciously engaging the targeted muscles for optimal muscle fiber recruitment.

So, what does TUT have to do with the mind-muscle connection? During a tempo-based movement, the extra time could allow your mind to participate more in order to correct, adjust, and enhance your mechanics. So if you are performing a tempo based exercise, allow yourself to live in that moment and really focus on the muscles being recruited. The more you focus, the more you can enhance the contraction.

Sample Program

It’s one thing to learn about a concept in movement performance, but it is another thing to put it into action! Below, I have outlined an idea of how to create a workout routine that incorporates both volume and TUT tactics for hypertrophic results.

Back and Bicep Workout

Final Thoughts

Building muscle mass through hypertrophy tactics like volume training and time under tension (TUT) offers numerous benefits. While the common goal is to become bigger, faster, and stronger, muscle growth is the foundation for achieving these goals.

Volume training emphasizes high workloads and the total number of repetitions, promoting significant hypertrophic adaptations through metabolic stress and muscle damage. On the other hand, TUT training prolongs muscle contractions, maximizing muscle fiber recruitment and promoting growth.

Combining both volume and TUT training is ideal, as it provides a quantitative and qualitative approach to training. Understanding these strategies as tools in your arsenal means building impressive muscle mass effectively and efficiently

Sources

1. Burd NA, Andrews RJ, West DW, Little JP, Cochran AJ, Hector AJ, Cashaback JG, Gibala MJ, Potvin JR, Baker SK, Phillips SM. Muscle time under tension during resistance exercise stimulates differential muscle protein sub-fractional synthetic responses in men. J Physiol. 2012 Jan 15;590(2):351-62. doi: 10.1113/jphysiol.2011.221200. Epub 2011 Nov 21. PMID: 22106173; PMCID: PMC3285070.
2. Schoenfeld BJ, Vigotsky A, Contreras B, Golden S, Alto A, Larson R, Winkelman N, Paoli A. Differential effects of attentional focus strategies during long-term resistance training. Eur J Sport Sci. 2018 Jun;18(5):705-712. doi: 10.1080/17461391.2018.1447020. Epub 2018 Mar 13. PMID: 29533715.

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How do you approach training agility in a more holistic way? Agility is an important element of athletic success — being agile means more wins in your sport and fewer injuries on the field. Whether you’re programming for yourself or your competitive athletes, take a closer look at how you do agility training in this blog.

Travis Hansen has been involved in the field of Human Performance Enhancement for nearly a decade. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Fitness and Wellness, and holds 3 different training certifications from the ISSA, NASM, and NCSF. He is currently the Director of The Reno Speed School inside the South Reno Athletic Club. He has worked with hundreds of athletes from almost all sports, ranging from the youth to professional ranks.

Taking a Systematic Approach to Agility Training

The word “system” is what is especially important in the title above.

For as long as I’m sure you can remember agility training has been treated as a method of training involving an endless array of cone drills, with perceived fancy footwork to capture the eyes and imagination of whomever is watching. But at what point do we step back and analyze whether or not our current approach is actually benefiting and improving an athlete’s change of direction ability.

More importantly, are the patterns and drills being practiced actually helping to prepare the athlete, regardless of sport for the demands he or she will face when the time comes, so that they are less likely to get injured and in the best position to excel.

I think the industry, myself included, has failed in the proper physical preparation of an athlete’s agility skill since there hasn’t been an actual progressive training system that has been promoted that covers all elements of agility and one that can accommodate anyone on the athletic training spectrum.

Lets first discuss the two primary types of agility training and then go from there.

Two Types of Agility Training

#1 Rehearsed Agility Training

Also referred to as “Closed Loop” agility training involves predictable patterns of movement that athletes have to follow with the objective of teaching proper cutting and change of direction techniques to help build coordination and awareness of the body in space before more advanced methods are employed (i.e. pro agility 5-10-5 shuttle run).

#2 Reactive Agility Training

Is a more game and sport specific approach to agility training that involves an “Open Loop” and unpredictable training environment where the athlete is expected to perform spur of the moment action through quick decision making much like in sport (i.e. mirror drill).

I imagine most are familiar with the two types of agility training above, and usually the bus stops here.

Coaches and trainers will program various techniques that fall into either one of these two categories. But when you really take a step back to see what is occurring in motion during sport there are an additional three types of agility training that needs to be practiced which can fall into either one of the two categories above.

#1 Attack Based Agility

Involves motion moving forward and different potential angles to attack an object (i.e. endzone, goal, or opponent) and can be either offensive or defensive based.

Sport Examples:

• Soccer or Basketball Player zig sagging back and forth as they dribble the ball up the court
• Lacrosse or Hockey player trying to skate past a retreating defender towards the goal
• A wide receiver or tight end running a skinny post towards the endzone

#2 Retreating Based Agility

Involves motion occurring backwards and at potentially different angles to generally track down an object or an opponent.

Sport Examples:

• An outfielder turning around to track down a fly ball hit towards the wall
• Baseball/soccer/lacrosse/hockey defender trying to stay in front of an opponent in the open field or court
• A football defensive back trying to cover a wide receiver or tight end downfield

#3 Lateral Based Agility

A side to side motion to defend an opponent or draw an opponent out of position to attack and make a play.

Sport Examples:

• A base runner taking a quick directional step and attempting to steal a base
• A basketball player shuffling to get in front of oncoming player to take a charge
• A football lineman trying to over a rushing defensive end
• A tennis player taking lateral steps and loading the body before make a powerful hit

The Next Steps

I’m sure you could conjure up more examples like the ones above, but what’s important here is that you’ll notice a majority if not all of the change of direction and agility moves fall within these three categories in either a rehearsed and scripted environment, or in a more spontaneous and open reactive based training setting.

From here, you can break down the drills above into specific elements or features.

It’s important to note that these sequences happen pretty naturally and the information is more for awareness and appreciation of the specific steps which can then be broken down into other drills.

The checklist is important for drill qualification purposes and to encourage sport movement specificity.

Agility Movement and Step Sequences

Here are a few videos for each type of agility drill that represent the sequences above that you can use with your athletes right away week in and week out to refine and optimize agility training capacity! Keep in mind that oftentimes sport movement situations involve a combination of each of these three in some shape or form.

You’ll see attack-laterals and vice versa, and attack-retreats and so on and so forth.

For more, be sure to check out The Truth About Speed & Agility Training.

Attack:

Lateral:

Retreating:

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3 Killer Kettlebell Mobility Exercises for Your Shoulders

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Let’s face it: sometimes your shoulders feel rickety even on good days. But overhead mobility and good upper body articulation is so important for everyday life — it pays major dividends to dedicate some time to working on your shoulder strength through all ranges of motion.

We love to see healthy, pain-free shoulder joints here at TH. Check out this blog for three kettlebell shoulder exercises to work into your next training session.

Time to Work on That Sticky Shoulder Mobility

Low back pain might be the most prevalent injury among those who train, but shoulder issues are arguably a close second.

Whether it’s an impingement that limits range of motion, hypermobility that makes dislocation more likely, or the dreaded rotator cuff tear that keeps orthopedic surgeons busy to the tune of 250,000 repair procedures each year, shoulder problems are pervasive.

This means that regular shoulder mobility work is a must. But sometimes people are coming at the problem with the goal of removing restrictions and adding greater range, when in fact what’s lacking is stability and strength.

Even when people realize this, their attempted solutions fall short.

Endless variations of “rotator cuff exercises” – see five kinds of shoulder flys, endless scarecrows, and three-pound Granny weights – are the go-to, and yet often produce little more than local soreness.

While a few of these movements have a place you have to understand that there are other “big rock” exercises that do much more to stabilize and strengthen the muscles and other tissues of the shoulder and scapula area.

Three Shoulder-Focused Kettlebell Exercises

Here are three kettlebell exercises focused on shoulders to add to your training repertoire.

1. Single Arm KB Shoulder Press

OK, you could derive a lot of benefits from shoulder pressing a barbell with both hands.

But only using one arm adds an additional stability component and will help you avoid “cheating” with your stronger side while hiding the deficiency of the weaker one.

Making the shoulder press unilateral will also ask more of the inactive side, as it has to counterbalance the force you’re generating with the active arm.

• Stand with your feet shoulder width apart.
• Pick up a kettlebell in one hand and hold it to your collarbone, with your palm facing your chest.
• Bracing your abs and squeezing your glutes, straighten your arm to press the kettlebell overhead.
• Lower the weight down under control, and use the stretch reflex to initiate the next rep.
• Complete the desired number of reps, then switch sides.
  

Form tip: Keep your active wrist straight, and create stabilizing tension by balling the hand of the non-active arm into a fist. Try to keep the path of the kettlebell straight up and down.

2. Overhead Carry to Suitcase Carry

Like the single-arm kettlebell press, you could use a dumbbell for both of these carry variations and/or a short bar for the suitcase one.

However the compact design of the kettlebell and concentration of mass in a smaller area makes it easier to obtain and preserve the proper alignment, particularly with the overhead component in which your shoulder is most vulnerable.

• Repeat the first three steps of the single-arm kettlebell press.
• Walk down your driveway, across your garage (check overhead clearance first!), or between two cones.
• Keep going until you start to feel slight fatigue in your arm, shoulder, or thoracic spine, then slowly lower the weight until it’s down by your side.
• Continue walking until you again fatigue a little, then switch arms and start over in the overhead position, before transitioning to the suitcase carry.
  

Form tip: When the weight is overhead, imagine a straight line running through your hip, wrist, elbow and shoulder. Start with a lighter weight that you think you can handle. When transitioning to the suitcase carry, put the weight further back than you might initially, so your active hand is between your side and back pockets.

3. Turkish Get-Up

Of all the exercises you can do to sort out your dodgy shoulders, the get-up arguably reigns supreme. Why?

Because it requires both a horizontal (when you’re lying on the floor) and overhead press position and tests the integrity of your shoulder complex while static and in motion. Plus, unlike many movements, the get-up involves controlling the path of a kettlebell across the transverse plane, which is why folks like the Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) prescribe it for golfers.

Not to mention that the off-arm has to provide stabilization through the shoulder as you maneuver your body from lying, to a lunge, to a standing position, and then back down. As the get-up is a highly technical exercise, you can follow the directions below and check out the video, but you’ll be best off seeking a coach to make sure you’re getting the finer points down.

• Lie on your back with your left leg straight and left knee bent, with your right leg flat on the floor. Then position a kettlebell next to your left shoulder and grip the handle with your left hand.
• While still gripping the kettlebell with your left hand, use your right hand to help move it toward the center of your body and then extend your left elbow.
• As soon as your arm is locked out, allow your left shoulder to move to the back of the socket. Your left hand and elbow should be in a straight line over your left shoulder. Try to maintain this alignment throughout the rest of the exercise.
• Roll onto your right elbow, keeping your gaze fixed on the kettlebell.
• With your right arm staying straight, push off the ground with your right leg and extend your right elbow with the right palm flat on the ground and positioned in a straight line down from the other arm, which is still gripping the kettlebell overhead.
• Squeeze your butt muscles and drive off the ground with your right foot as you extend your hips toward the ceiling.
• Use your right arm and leg to support you as you pull your left leg under your hips. Then place your right knee underneath your torso, making sure that you keep looking up at the kettlebell.
• Move your bodyweight toward your right side and get your torso upright. As soon as your right hand comes off the ground, pull your shoulder back and turn your arm outward. You should be in a lunge position.
• Use your left leg to push yourself up out of the bottom position of the lunge with your torso remaining upright and weight centered over your hips.
• Bring your right foot forward so it meets the left, and stand up with your feet facing forward and shoulder width apart. Your left arm should be fully extended overhead and your right arm straight out in front of you.
• Reverse the pattern to return to the floor.

Form tip: Don’t ever do an AMRAP-style workout with get-ups, but rather focus on quality and take your time between reps. In some sessions, reduce the weight (again, this should be lighter than you think you can lift to begin with until you nail the correct technique) and pick one segment of the get-up to pause at during each rep (e.g. the lunge with arm overhead, or rolling onto the elbow).

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Are you still trying the endless foam rolling and stretching exercises to get that deep squat position? We know how important mobility is for great, or even GOOD performance. All professional athletes have some comfortability in end ranges of motion. So, what else do they do to improve their mobility?

Brandon Robb is the founder and head coach of HEROIC Athletics @heroic.athletics — he’s worked with athletes for over a decade. First responders (fire, police, military), golfers, Crossfitters, obstacle course racers, and hockey players all turn to him for performance gains, injury prevention, and competition prep.

Is Mobility Work Really That Hard?

As a Canadian kid who grew up playing competitive hockey, I was decently strong out of the gates. I had a strong deadlift, could do strict handstand pushups, and was able to bang out the workout “Angie” strict: 100 pull ups, 100 push ups, 100 sit ups & 100 squats. (To be fair, I’m pretty sure this took well over an hour, but I did it…)

But with all that said, I couldn’t squat below parallel to save my life.

Once I accepted the fact that I needed to work on my squat, I got to work. I stretched daily. I foam rolled regularly. I did everything I was told, and while I did improve my squat depth, it came at a cost — I tore my meniscus in my left knee.

The following two years led me down a path to truly understanding the biomechanics of the body.

Why is working on mobility important?

• Your movement efficiency is better.
• Your range of motion for each exercise is deeper.
• You have better control in those deeper ROM.
• You’re less prone to injuries and chronic pain/old injuries can go away.

Why don’t people work on it more?

• They throw a few stretches and foam rolling together to “fix” the issue, not unlike Phil Swift and his Flex Tape commercial
• It’s often boring as hell, and as a result most people follow it haphazardly and don’t give it enough consistency
• There are always other fitness goals to work toward — getting stronger or faster

Let me start with a disclaimer: assess, don’t guess.

In order to TRULY get a protocol that fits you, you should be working with a professional, like a PT. Template programs and subscriptions are great, but nothing will beat ponying up and investing in some 1:1 coaching.

With that said, I have practiced the following three principles on both myself and my clients with overwhelming success. If you can take these principles and apply them consistently to your training, you’ll be well on your way to improving mobility, reducing your injury risk and performing better than you ever have before.

PRINCIPLE 1: Vary Your Warmups

I see the same thing all the time. Athletes walk into the gym and hit the same warm up they’ve been doing for years.

Doing the same (or similar) warm up for every workout can activate parts of your body and brain to “wake you up” for your workout, but it doesn’t necessarily prep the muscles you’ll be using that day.

Instead, what I get my athletes to do is the following:

• 2-3 minute general warm up: sled, cardio machine, etc
• 2-3 bodyweight movements hitting specific muscles for that day’s training
• 2-3 loaded movements hitting the same muscles at different angles

For example, here’s how I would write the warm up/movement prep for a squat day:

3-5 minutes sled push/pull or Zone 2 cardio machine

2-3 rounds:

• 5 per side hip 90/90 transitions
• 8-10 glute bridge V walkouts
• 0:30-0:40 per side long split pulse

3 sets:

• 6-8 per side seated DB good mornings 
• 6-8 per side goblet kickstand pistol squat

By warming up this way you bias the relevant muscle groups more. EVERYONE has movement discrepancies, and by hitting these more “obscure” movements in your warm up, you can effectively focus on certain muscles more. When these muscles are activated properly, you’re more likely to use them efficiently and have better mobility.

PRINCIPLE 2: Focus On Your Joints

Most of the time we are taught to emulate the movements we see. But the human body is incredibly smart. More often than not, with enough focus and attention, we can mimic any movement we see. However in doing so, we may not be using the same muscles to the same degree as what someone else is demonstrating.

Without a keen coaching eye, there’s a high chance that you may be compensating by using one muscle or group of muscles more than the others.

How do we fix this? Focus on the joints, not the movement. For every movement/exercise in the gym, ask yourself two questions:

1. Does this joint HINGE or ROTATE?
2. Is this joint supposed to be STABLE or MOBILE?

Every joint has a role in every movement. That role is dictated by what the joint is built to do and what the joint is actively trying to contribute to the movement itself.

One good way to practice your mechanics at the end ranges for each joint is CARs, or controlled articular rotations. CARs help you focus on moving a joint independently of the rest of your body. This movement awareness can identify joints that have less mobility or more “sticky” points and help you work on them.

PRINCIPLE 3: Incorporate TEMPO

One of the big issues I ran into early in my career was the mantra of “Go hard, go fast.” There is a time and a place for speed, but if that is the whole make up of a training program, you’re asking for an injury and poor mobility.

Purposely slowing down and even holding movements is extremely beneficial to enhance mobility.

Tempo is the slowing down of any movement through its points of muscle contraction. It can be broken down into 4 numbers, with each number representing the time in seconds to perform a portion of a rep. Ex. tempo 42X1

The first number (4) – ECCENTRIC

• The “DOWN” part of a movement
• Lowering of a back squat, lowering of the body in a pull up, lowering the weight to the ground on a deadlift, lowering the bar to your chest on a bench press
• In this case, 4 seconds down

The second number (2) – ISOMETRIC HOLD

• The “HOLD” part of a movement at maximum tension
• Holding the bottom of a squat, the pause at the bottom of a pull up, the time it takes to reset a deadlift with the bar on the ground, the pause of the bar on your chest in a bench press

The third number/letter (X) – CONCENTRIC

• The “UP” part of a movement
• Standing up a back squat, pulling the body up for a pull up, standing up a deadlift, pressing a bar up for a bench press, etc
• NOTE: ‘X’ means explode, or do so as fast as you can, ‘A’ means assisted, and a number represents completing the movement over the course of a given time in seconds

The Fourth number (2) – ISOMETRIC HOLD

• The “HOLD” part of a movement at the reset point of the movement
• The top of a squat before you go into your next rep, the hold of a pull up at the top over the bar, the pause at the top of a deadlift, the pause at the top of a bench press before you move into your next rep, etc.

Incorporating TEMPO into your workouts can help mobility in 2 ways:

1. It ensures you perform the movement properly and make adjustments as you complete the movement, which allows you to bias and use stabilizers you may not use as much when training at full speed.
2. It creates more “time under tension” which, if movements are being executed at full range, provides more stability in your movement. When you complete similar movements in your job or sport, you are less likely to get injured as you have greater stability through movement.

Keep in mind, I have nothing against stretching and foam rolling. But, if you’ve been doing these things to no avail, changing a few pieces around your workouts may have more impact on improving mobility.

For myself and the athletes I work with, incorporating these elements has significantly improved mobility, reduced injury occurrences, and led to less daily aches and pains. Pick one to try for your next training session.

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Speed is king when it comes to athletic development. Whether you’re a functional fitness warrior or a coach trying to inspire growth in your athletes, most of us can benefit from being faster. What should you be working on in your programming to create better speed and agility?

Ryan is the Director of strength and conditioning at Pro Performance RX In Morgantown, West Virginia. Ryan has been working in the private sector with hundreds of youth athletes for the last 5 years. He is always excited to talk training and dig deep into the Why. Never stop learning, growing and adapting.

Speed Kills!

It’s time to bring to light what is really behind developing speed, and it doesn’t start with any miracle drill or band attached to you while you run.

I want to educate parents, sports coaches, and the general athlete on developing speed and agility.

What I don’t want is our athletes running around cones when all of our time and effort can be better spent elsewhere.

It pains me to see coaches or organizations who should know better than having their athletes do agility sessions where all they do is run cone drills for an hour. To me, they are simply ignoring the truth and science of how the body and its components work. Do I have athletes use ladders and cones? Absolutely, but it is not the main focus, and it certainly is not what we do for an entire hour.

Here are the short answers to building the fastest, most versatile athletes around.

Simple Truths About Developing Speed & Agility

1. Quality is of utmost importance.
2. Increasing ability to apply force into the ground and absorb it
3. Improving stride length and frequency
4. Increasing ability to repeatedly do both of the previous two

Movements That Improve Speed Development

1. Sprinting
2. Resisted Sprinting
3. Plyometric Jumps
4. Olympic Weightlifting
5. Heavy Squats & Deadlifts

Part 1: 5 Questions I Get Asked And Their Truths

Question #1

If we aren’t doing “speed and agility” drills, how are athletes getting faster? (Typically asked when someone doesn’t see us doing a ton of cone drills and sprinting.)

Answer: We need to redefine what speed and agility are.

Speed /spēd/ noun: the rate at which someone is able to move. “We turned onto the runway and began to gather speed.” Synonyms: rate, pace, tempo. Antonyms: momentum.

Agility /əˈjilədē/ noun: ability to move quickly and easily.

Speed and agility drills are not a lot of hard intense sprinting and running with minimal recovery. These equate to conditioning. What they are: drills that have specific work-to-rest times and maximal effort designed to work on one or two elements at a time. Such as:

• Lateral (side-to-side speed) = shuffling
• Linear (straight ahead) = sprinting
• Change of direction (moving in various planes of motion) = changing levels and angle
• Deceleration/acceleration = starting and stopping

For speed and agility, we need to work plane sessions out and hit all the variables of moving in various planes of motion, direction, and sprinting.

Question #2

What is the best drill/exercise for improving speed?

Answer: The ultimate thing for getting faster is to sprint. Realize that to improve your top-end speed, these sprints cannot be done at anything less than 100%. The next thing is to get stronger, build a bigger engine, and build in better breaks.

Question #3

What if I’m fast, but can’t change direction. What do we need to do?

Answer: If you have ever watched Mighty Ducks, you know there is one hockey player who is super fast but can’t stop. He isn’t effective because he has no control. We have to be able to stop to be an effective player and to reduce injury as well as increase agility.

These type of athletes need to focus on 3 things:

• Coordination of their body – practicing changing hip levels and footwork
• Build in better brakes – continue to get stronger and do movements with eccentrics
• Training in other planes and directions besides straight ahead linear speed

Question #4

Why don’t we just have all athletes run track?

Answer: I think track is a great sport to be involved in. I do believe it can help with speed development. However, it is limited. It covers much of the linear speed development (if they’re running sprints) and some power development if they’re a thrower or jumper. But many sports have multiple other components that need to be addressed to fully develop speed and agility in all aspects.

Question #5

My athlete is fast in drills and practices but not in the game. What’s the deal?

Answer: The truth is that not everything can be solved by practicing drills and getting stronger. You need to practice and study the game, know the game inside and out. If you know where to be and place yourself correctly on the field, you will be faster than anyone else on the field. The better your knowledge of the game, the more things will happen and you will be in the right place at the right time. Your brain can be the best thing to help you improve your speed.

Part 2: Putting Together a Program and Applying It

In order to program speed work and actually apply it in a functional context, we break it down into the following components.

1. FORM WORK / RUNNING MECHANICS

Keep these early in the workout as they are technique intensive.

Warmup basics – A March, A Skip, B march, B Skip, Arm Drill. We do these drills typically as part of our general warm-up to improve coordination and practice for the feel of the correct movement.

*Coaching Techniques: There are small nuances in sprint and change of direction techniques that will help. Certain angles, arm actions, and mechanics do make a difference. Athletes learning how to accelerate, keep dorsiflexion of the toes, keep chin down, etc. matters, but diving into the correct techniques and going in depth on that is for another article.

2. LINEAR SPEED

• Sprints – Typical distances we utilize 10, 20, 40, 60 & 100 yards
• Short – 10s and 20s to work on acceleration
• Medium – 40s and 60s to hit top speed
• Long – 100s to work on maintaining top speed/endurance

Typically 40 to 60 yards is when you hit your fastest speed and then you try to maintain it after that.

3. LATERAL SPEED & CHANGE OF DIRECTION

Shuffling. Various steps – Crossover, open step. Accelerate, deceleration, and changing the level of your hips and direction of running.

Mainly we put lateral speed and change of direction together to provide efficiency and because of how well they complement one another.

4. REACTION

Putting all the other components together, we add another element to it. Reaction is how quickly you process the information and react. We use a lot of tennis ball drops for this and change the start position.

For lateral we do 5/10/5s with various commands – colors, numbers – and we layer the elements. I say right is an odd number and left is even. I then go from 1-10 in numbers. To increase the difficulty, we increase the number from 1-100. 56 is hard because you have to process two numbers with one being odd and the second being even and process that 56 is an even number after that. To continue that, the cones on either side are colored and I could say a color or a number.

Thus we continue to improve how quickly they can react and process information to only be concerned with what information is useful.

Creating power is what creates a better first step. The stronger and more powerful an athlete becomes, the faster and more explosive they will be. Simple. The best way to be effective is consistency and time. Time will build the proper foundation.

What does that look like? There are many ways to apply it and put it together, but here’s one way we like to do it:

How do I build the right strength training plan to complement my speed and agility? Refer back to these two previous articles:

The Key To Better Strength Training Workouts

7 Tips for Writing Better Strength Programs

Some Closing Principles:

• Try to keep it simple.
• Sprint and run in all directions.
• Add volume as conditioning and skill of movements improve.
• Get stronger every day.
• Repeat daily.

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Functional Athletes Need Carbohydrates

TOPIC:

The world of carbohydrates can be a difficult one to manage. They can leave you in a sweet spot of proper fuelling and recovery as an athlete, or crashing and burning when it matters most. This simple guide will hopefully give you a better idea of how best to incorporate carbs properly into your nutrition plan.

What Do Carbs Actually Do?

Carbohydrates (carbs) are our main source of energy for creating adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which our muscles run on. Made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, carbs are the fuel in the combustion engine (respiration) that drives us as athletes. Each gram of carbohydrate contains 4 calories. Carbs should make up about 55-60% of a person’s daily calorie intake, but this varies depending on a number of factors, including how active you are.

Carbs can be simple or complex (just like any good relationship) and each form has its uses.

Simple carbs are basic sugars. Complex carbs are chains of sugars strung together. Fiber is a form of complex carb that our body doesn’t digest, but instead acts as roughage in the digestive system.

It’s worth noting that all carbohydrates are broken down into sugars during digestion and the rate of digestion is affected by everything else we eat (not just carbs). Your requirement for energy changes throughout the day and varies a bit by training sessions. Keep in mind that complex carbs, digested slower, might not provide sufficient fuel source for some activities, though in some circles they’re considered “healthier” options.

There is some debate about sugar consumption and insulin secretion, and it’s fair to say that consuming too much sugar over long periods of time can have negative effects when improperly maintained (diabetes, hyperglycemia, mood swings, energy dips etc.).

Loading up on too much sugar immediately before exercise can cause a sudden rise in insulin levels which, combined with the body’s need to utilize sugars during exercise, can lead to hypoglycemia (low blood sugars) and your energy crashing after an intense session. Realistically, so long as your calories are balanced and you’re not binging huge amounts of sugars before and after training, you should be fine.

Carbohydrate Requirements for Athletes

So what, as an athlete, does my body actually need? It’s worth asking yourself a few questions at this point…

1. Do you take part in a sport that is predominantly in an aerobic or anaerobic training zone?
2. Does your current training block require greater aerobic zone training?
3. Do you have body composition considerations to make? Do you want to lose weight, gain weight, etc?

Athletes who train for greater lengths of time in an aerobic zone (roughly 60-75% max heart rate) require large amounts of carbohydrate for fueling training (soccer players, runners etc.). However, given the different properties of carbs, some athletes can benefit from changes in body composition that might be manipulated by changing carb consumption, particularly fiber and sugars.

What About Keto?

Controversially (if you’re a keto warrior), a functional athlete’s requirements for carbohydrates are not really different to anyone else’s. Carbohydrate requirements are largely dictated by time and intensity of an athlete’s training sessions and training week. The more intense or longer the sessions, the more carbs you need to function optimally.

Those who feel like they benefit from a low carb diet, in my experience, are simply benefitting from shorter-lived boosts in energy and performance related to weight loss. They might also feel some benefit because any carbs they do eat are more quickly absorbed due to a lack of sugar in the bloodstream.

Really the best (and most delicious) way to find out what suits you is to experiment. If you’re training hard and regularly and are suffering from being tired, poor performance and chronic delayed onset muscular soreness (DOMS) then increasing your carbs is a good place to start.

Here’s a rough guide of how many grams of carbs you might need relative to your body weight.

Eating Carbs Around Exercise

Eating carbohydrates around exercising is crucial as they serve as the body’s primary energy source, replenish glycogen stores, regulate blood sugar, and enhance endurance.

Before You Train

Athletes are recommended to consume 200-300g of carbs 3-4 hours before training. This can work in fluid form 90 minutes to 2 hours before if you train early in the morning, preferably with some salts. Otherwise compromises will just have to be made. 60-80g of sugars in one liter of water (6% solution is commonly available in the shops) 1 hour before training has also been shown to help performance.

During Workouts

Isotonic drinks are a useful way of consuming carbs during exercise, particularly because they appear to reduce the amount of liquid required to replenish water lost through sweat and urination. >600ml of fluid containing 60g of carbs per hour of exercise is recommended.
It’s worth trying this in training before you go downing loads of drinks during a competition, in case your body doesn’t immediately tolerate this hydration/fuelling protocol.

Post Exercise

Around 1g per kilo of body weight of carbs is a good start immediately post exercise. This will help with recovery, DOMS and glycogen replenishment (this is helped further by adding in 30g of protein post workout).

Some would even suggest repeating this protocol 2 hours after exercise where appropriate (i.e. if you’re not training again), during which time you might eat meals as normal.

By now, if you’ve been doing the math on how much carbohydrate you’ll have consumed just around training, you might be feeling very full. It’s definitely worth keeping an eye on these numbers to make sure they still fall within your macronutrient targets, tailoring meals outside training to suit whatever is left. In an attempt to quickly summarize what can be an over complicated subject, it’s best to start big and work small in many ways.

In order of priority:

• Build your main meals around larger more complex carbohydrate sources, this should include 7-10 portions (roughly 80g) of fruit and vegetables.
• Aim to eat sufficient carbohydrate on a daily basis, relative to your body weight, training goals and requirement (see table).
• Use sugars and isotonic drinks to supplement carb intake before, during and after exercise.

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