I uploaded all the pictures from today’s clinic. If you have any questions or comments feel free to email me. Hope this is helpful.
Train Hard-Train Smart,
www.asap-pt.com
Archive for the ‘Exercise Demonstrations’ Category
Canyon Country Little League Coaches Clinic
Saturday, February 14th, 2009The (Anti-Sit Up) Core Workout
Thursday, February 5th, 2009Many people think the only the way to get a quality ab work out is to lay on their back and do sit up variations. First, sit-ups are not a functional exercise. Second, there are many good exercises you can do on the ground that does not cause as much pressure on the spine as a sit up. The majority of core training that my athletes do are standing rotational, overhead, or unilateral exercises that transfer to sport (check out this previous blog post and this post). When I incorporate core exercises (never labeled as an ab work out) on the floor, they are always bridging variations. These positions can be performed on your back, stomach, or side and they engage the muscles of midline of the body. They are not isolated movements such as a sit up, so there is not that same “burning” feeling in one particular muscle group as with the sit up. On that note – just because the exercise “burns” or you feel it does not mean it is effective. Your stomach will also burn if I stab you with a broomstick, but that is not effective either is it. Back to bridges, try to maintain torso stability while moving the distal limbs (arms and legs) in different movement patterns. If you are performing a front bridge (on your forearms and toes), you can reach your arms out straight, to the side, or rotate and reach toward the sky. You can also hold bridges for time and increase the time under tension as you begin to get stronger. Remember kids – just say no to sit ups!
Train Hard-Train Smart
www.asap-pt.com
Dynamic Warm Up
Tuesday, January 27th, 2009Here is a clip from the Baseball Performance Camp. Both baseball and softball athletes are incorporating a dynamic warm up into their practice routine. These are the type of warm up stretches I was referring to in yesterdays post.
Train Hard-Train Smart,
www.asap-pt.com
When Do I Stretch?
Monday, January 26th, 2009I was talking with someone in the gym today and they asked me when is the best time to stretch – before or after a workout? Stretching is a highly debated fitness topic and there are a lot of opinions about it’s effectiveness and when to incorporate it into your workout routine. At the beginning of any workout (strength training or speed/agility session) I have every single one of my clients/athletes go through a dynamic warm up. During these warm ups I have my clients actively “stretch” through a full range of motion. Here’s the thing, there are different types of stretching (which I will cover in another post). My warm up routines actively elongate the muscle during movements that are similar to their sport or activity in multiple planes of motion. Here are a couple examples of lower body warm ups that can be done in place – Post I and Post II. I also use moving warm up exercises to prepare the body for activity – check tomorrows post for video of moving warm up exercises. One thing you will never see my clients doing is static stretching before a workout. Static stretching is when you hold a stretch for a given period of time, usually 10-30 seconds. Performing these stretches before a workout will inhibit muscle activation, therefore, decreasing your strength and power out. This would not make sense before any kind of fitness training session.
On the other hand, I do allow my clients to incorporate static stretching at the end of the workout. After a workout, static stretching will help to relax the entire body (mind and body) and restore length to muscle tissue that has been trained during the workout session. However, I still believe the most effective stretching to incorporate after a workout is multi-plane active stretches (just as I stated for the warm up).
If you truly want to work on flexibility then you must devote time to it. This means taking an entire workout and going through different stretches – like a yoga workout. To answer the stretching question – I incorporate stretching at the beginning and end of every work, and I devote entire workouts to flexibility work.
Train Hard-Train Smart
www.asap-pt.com
Deadlift Variations
Thursday, January 22nd, 2009After posting my most recent blog, I had someone ask me how many different deadlift variations are there that I incorporate into my programs. Well, I use different deadlift variations depending on the training goal and time period in the training cycle. Here are a few variations.
- Traditional Barbbell Deadlift
- 1 Arm Barbell Deadlift
- 1 Arm Barbell Deadlift – holding the bar with one arm on the side of your body (I will make a video clip and post it so you can visually see this)
- 1 Leg Barbbell Deadlift (in this clip he should start the bar on the ground and finish the rep with the bar on the ground)
- Any of these variations can be done with dumbbells or kettlebells – you can also combine single leg and single arm movements (I will also make a video of these exercises and post them soon)
- Then you have RDLs – which is a variation of a deadlift. RDLs can also be performed with a barbbell, dumbbell and kettlebell.
Bottom line is there are a lot of deadlift variations to incorporate in your training routines.
Train Hard- Train Smart
www.asap-pt.comi
Deadlifts vs. Squats
Monday, January 19th, 2009When you look at primitive movement patterns (this idea was first introduced to me by Gray Cook who is a well-known physical therapist) man began deadlifting well before he was doing traditional squats with weight on his upper back. Cavemen would bend over to pick up a large stone off the ground and move it another location – deadlifts. They would not find a large stone on a rack at shoulder height, walk over to it, place it on their shoulders, and then squat down to lower the heavy stone. Deadlifting (using your legs and back to pick up an object off the ground) is still a very common movement pattern in every day life. Whether you are moving boxes or lifting groceries out of your car, the same movement pattern is necessary to complete the task. When you begin to load your spine with external resistance and do squats (such as traditional barbell squat), compensations and deficiencies begin to arise. Of course I implement squatting (bilateral and unilateral) exercises in my program, but I like to introduce squatting with body weight or dumbbells to perfect the movement pattern before moving on to barbell squats. I have begun to add more deadlifting variations (single leg, single dumbbell, etc.) into my programs in the last year and I have seen a difference in squatting mechanics and lower body strength. Take home message – don’t forget to include deadlifts into your strength training program.
Train Hard – Train Smart
www.asap-pt.com
Agility Drills
Wednesday, January 14th, 2009Here are a few examples of agility drills that be incorporated into a sports performance program. Cones can also be used instead of mini hurdles. These drills will enhance foot speed, lateral speed, and overall quickness.
Train Hard-Train Smart
www.asap-pt.com
Lower Body Dynamic Warm Up
Monday, December 22nd, 2008This video shows dynamic flexibility exercises that can be incorporated into any workout or training routine. These exercises are great because it takes the muscle through the full range of motion in all three planes of motion. It’s not adequate to simply reach for your toes and pull on your leg to stretch your quad before you do any physical activity. In fact, those type of stretches I just mentioned may be counter-productive before you do physical activity. From athletes to weekend warriors, everyone needs to incorporate these movements into their routine.
Train Hard-Train Smart
www.asap-pt.com
Designing A Workout Routine
Thursday, December 18th, 2008I was talking to a client of mine and she was telling how it is difficult to workout on her own because she does not know what exercises to do. I told her not to over think things and let us start by creating a general workout template to help design your workouts. This is what I suggested for a full body workout.
· Choose a Pulling Movement
o Rows – bent over, standing with cables
· Choose a Pressing Movement
o Shoulder Press – dumbbell/kettlebells
o Chest Press – push ups, standing with cables
· Choose a Squatting or Lunging Movement
o Squats – bar, dumbbells, single leg squat variations
o Lunges - multi-directional, walking lunges
· Choose a Rotational Movement
o Chops – cables, plates
o Medicine ball Exercises – chops, twists, rotational slams
· Incorporate Interval Training (part I and part II)
o Treadmill
o Bike
o Eliptical
o Jump Rope
This gives you a basic template to start with when designing a workout routine to do on your own. I would suggest picking one or two exercises from each category and circuiting three exercises together. After that choose three more exercises and circuit those together. Those two circuits along with an adequate warm up and intervals thrown in will make a great workout.
Train Hard-Train Smart
www.asap-pt.com
Insane Workouts
Thursday, December 11th, 2008If you are looking for some crazy high intensity/make you vomit type of workouts Crossfit may help satisfy your needs. This website has a workout of the day that is insane most days of the week. These type of high intensity circuits are great for fat loss and building muscle mass. I usually incorporate variations of these circuits with most of my cliental to bring about positive changes in their body composition. There are a few aspects about Crossfit that I do not agree with 100%, but if you are looking for a way to structure your workout so you feel sick after you complete it then you should check out this site.
Here’s an example of a Crossfit workout (it is today’s “workout of the day”):
Three rounds for time of:
24″ Box jump, 50 reps
185 pound Deadlift, 21 reps
30 Pull-ups
