What FILLS your tank Coach?

This is what happens when I, as a coach, get stressed and overloaded.

- My creativity in program design is decreased.

- My sensitivity for an athlete's situation is compromised.

- My ability to inspire and motivate others is not as great.

In other words my influence in athletes' lives is not as positive as it could be, and they definitely will not get the best Tommi to work with them.

In order to help others, for one way or another, I have to be in a position where I am able to help them. No one wants a stressed Tommi to help them, because a stressed Tommi does not have much to give.

I have to ask myself these questions frequently.

Is my own tank full enough that I can give someone else a drink? Or am I dry and thirsty myself?

What fills my tank and what empties it?

Where do I go, What do I do, Who do I see - to keep my tank filled.

We know that there are plenty of things that drain you... but what fills you back up? What makes you laugh? What relaxes you?

Hey, am I just being little silly now? I think not.

I am responsible for each session, each hour, each training program and each piece of advice that I give.

The last couple of weeks I have been stressed, to the point where my daily output has not been what it should be. Tight schedules, finances, family stuff - we all have stressors in our lives.

I had no inspiration to write anything for a while and that was a little bit alarming because I truly enjoy it.

Well, I am back! My tank is full. Thank you!

Tommi

PS: "Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." Matthew 4:14

What is up with "CARDIO"?

Just these past few weeks, I have tried to answer some questions that my clients have presented to me. Many of them (especially with the beach season upon us) have been about "cardio" workouts. These questions got my wheels turning as I am trying to figure out this "cardio"-phenomenon myself.


What is cardio?

"I'm going to do 45 minutes of cardio." What does that mean?

A lot of people are saying that "cardio" will burn the most fat. Is this true?

Some new researches and experts think "cardio" is pretty much useless. While other give a specific recipe for the perfect cardio program with all kinds of promises.

Alright, what is this mysterious "cardio?" What kind of exercise are you thinking of when someone tells you that they did 45 minutes of "cardio" this morning?

Here is what it sounds like to me: a low to moderate intensity, aerobic activity performed typically on elliptical machine or treadmill, at a constant steady state pace. I know, that is a brutal generalization of what it really could mean but I do not think it is far from the truth.

Ok, is there something wrong with that then?

First of all, I don't think there really are a lot of bad exercises or movements. I DO think there is a great amount of poor exercise applications and inadequate movement assessments in use.

Just like any other form of exercise, cardiovascular exercise needs to be prescribed with a specific goal and adaptation in mind. This is where most of the "cardio" workouts are taking the wrong direction, I think.

Juan Carlos Santana brought up a great point a while ago, when he questioned the need of steady state cardiovascular workouts for combat athletes. You know, the running/jogging sessions at 6am down the streets...

Everyone agrees that a boxer needs to be in great cardiovascular shape to perform his/her sport. But should he/she be training like a runner? Could there be a smarter way of training for those specific demands?

On the other hand, for some reason the whole world thinks that the best way to lose fat is to do "cardio" as often as possible, for a specific amount of time, at a certain intensity, on a specific piece of equipment, etc. Well, it might be a PART of it as long as the tools are used correctly. There probably is a place for steady state low intensity cardio of some kind in everyone's training program, but it certainly should not be the main ingredient for most of us.

Both recretional exercisers as well as professional athletes are still utilizing too much vague and inaccurate goal setting when choosing activities that involve cardiovascular stimulation.

I know, I feel great after a nice run or a bike ride too,....endorphins are flowing and I am drenched in sweat.... and there is certainly nothing wrong with that. I utilize this type of cardiovascular training, just not every time I workout.

What I think is very important is to find out the reason and the goal behind each minute and hour of training. What is the outcome and goal of this specific training stimulation? What kind of adaptation do I need for my sport? Is this training more important than something else?

Thanks for reading and hopefully your wheels are turning too, whether you agree or not. Comments are always welcome!

Tommi

PS:In the absence of clearly-defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it. Robert Heinlein

Vertical Jump Test, Performance & Recovery

I have noticed, by accident of course, that a simple vertical jump test could be used for a quick evaluation of the athlete's state of recovery and as a predictor of sprinting performance. It only takes 2 minutes and the correlation between sprint performance and the height of the jump seems pretty reliable.

I am currently working with a young 400m runner. As you might know, high school track athletes have quite a few meets during the season. Spring track just started and there is a track meet pretty much every week. At some of the meets, she is running other distances as well as even high jumping and long jumping. All in all, the season can be very demanding and the challenge is obviously to peak at the right time for the important meets in the end of May.

So, by the end of winter track, she seemed a little bit fatigued, so I started measuring the vertical twice a week just do some field research. I was surprised to notice that her bilateral counter movement vertical jump had decreased to 17 inches on average, which was on average 4 inches lower than normally.

After a scheduled recovery and less meets the vertical jump went back up to 21+ inches.

The vertical jump result seemed to be a predictor of how well the next meet (the same week) will go and what kind of times she could expect. The higher and more consistent the jump, the better the time.

Now, it seems that tasks that require rapid and total recruitment of the muscle can give information whether the state of performance is optimal or not. Strength measurement does not seem to give a clear enough of an indication in her case, especially since she is not working on 1RM.

The value in this discovery is when she comes in on Monday or Wednesday to train with me, I can make educated choices for exercises, modalities and variables based on how she does on the vertical jump.

So why choose vertical jump as a tool?

1. Easy and fast (f.ex. with vertical jump mat).

2. Gives combined data on different movement systems of the body

(neurological, muscular, mental...)

3. Can be used both bilaterally and unilaterally based on the specific needs.

Single leg jump on the mat gives a little different feedback than the bilateral jump. Sometimes the lower leg is more fatigued compared to the rest of the body and single leg jump result drops even the if the bilateral jump shows no difference.

For a different purpose, the vertical jump can be performed continuously as well. By testing how many times she can jump above 21 inches in a row, can give more information on the qualities required for a 400m sprint.

To sum it up, the vertical jump test can serve for many purposes. In addition to testing power, it could be used to monitor the athlete's state of recovery and preparedness for optimal performance. I am unaware of any scientific evidence on this but the results of my subjective and small test group encourages me to keep playing around with it.

Tap yourself on the back if you read the whole thing!

Tommi

PS: Thoughts, like fleas, jump from man to man, but they don't bite everybody. Stanislaw J. Lec

Volcano -theory

I have this geeky Volcano -theory. I have found this pattern within myself and within most of my clients.

When the pressure builds up inside, it will start looking for an exit to be released. The pressure can be physical, emotional, social or all of them together. The body really doesn't know the difference too well....everything affects everything, right?

I think at least two things can happen when the pressure builds up; either we find a way to decrease the internal pressure (by resting, by better nutrition, by talking to a friend, by massage etc) or the pressure will keep growing and it starts indicating itself outwardly (by nagging pains, by teeth grinding, by lower performance or by fighting with the spouse, etc).

Let's talk about the physical side of the volcano -theory. When the pressure build up, which part will go first? The weakest, right? We all have those parts of our movement system that are our little "weak spots." Mine have been traditionally the right shoulder, L4-L5 in the lumbar spine and the wrists.
Often, especially when my training volume was high, I would start getting the symptoms in those weak areas first.

Anyway, I think there are specific indicators that we can learn from and thus, improve the training adaptation. For some people, the indicators are more emotional than physical. This knowledge helps us often in regulating the training intensity correctly and obviously helps in preventing unintentional overtraining/overreaching.

It is important to IDENTIFY these weak spots, detect the risk and make some adjustments in training, resting, eating or in all of them. For a lot of people nowadays, the pressure builds up greatly due to problems in family life and relatioships. A good quality training stimulation is immediately compromised by too many emotional/social pressure builders.

Most of my clients are very open with sharing their pains, discomforts and other issues. In fact, I try to encourage athletes to tell me everything that is going on with their bodies and also with their minds and emotional state.

A lot of people do not want to complain. The "no pain...no gain" mentality is pretty typical and some of the issues never surface in conversations. In these cases, only after observing the person for a while can I potentially determine that maybe the person is hurting or the mental focus is somewhere else.

The key is to find a way to decrease the pressure before the eruption occurs in one form or another. The concept is clearly not a new one but I have found that it is a another way of explaining it to the client.

Stay cool!

Tommi

PS: A volcano is an opening (or rupture) in the Earth's surface or crust, which allows hot, molten rock, ash and gases to escape from deep below the surface. Volcanic activity involving the extrusion of rock tends to form mountains or features like mountains over a period of time. Wikipedia

3D Adaptation

This topic came up again when we were designing a program for an athlete who needs change of direction -speed and agility as well as a good cardiovascular base for her sport.

Now what could this sport be? Pretty much anything, right? It could be boxing or badminton, or it may be lacrosse or basketball. A lot of sports require those qualities.

We know that by doing quick feet drills, speed ladder, plyometrics etc, we are able to improve the foot speed, deceleration strength and agility and so on. On the other hand, we also know how the get someone's cardiovascular fitness to a higher level. For example, a steady state run could classify as a means to the second goal.

I think the problem occurs when the adaptations from the training are looked at within one dimension only. It is true that 30-60 min running improves your cardiovascular fitness but what does it do to your foot speed and adaptations from the agility training?

Our movement system is not aware that we might have a primary goal for the exercise in mind. It does not know that we would like to gain cardiovascular fitness from the running but exclude the slower foot contacts of distance running.

In order to choose the right exercise for a given goal, we need to analyze ALL the adaptations that the activity will cause in our bodies. We can't underestimate our ability to adapt to a given stimulation.

So, where is this getting at?

My unscientific feeling about this is, that basically if your goal is to be fast in the feet - make as big percentage of foot contacts as possible, FAST. We might be contradicting our goals if we think that the slow steady state run will not affect our foot speed. By running a 3-mile run, the athlete might making more foot contacts than in an actual speed training workout and all of them are slower than desired in the match/game-situation.

Solution suggestions:

What if I chose to analyze all the adaptations of a given training modality before prescribing an exercise program?

Some of the systems related to movement and performance:

1. Cardiovascular system
2. Neuro-muscular system
3. Psycho-Emotional systems (is that a word?)

IF we look at for example the heart rate curve of an intense resistance training circuit, we will notice that it could classify as an high-intensity interval workout. Or we can look at an uphill hiking as a method to create adaptations in the mobility/stability and dynamic flexibility of the ankle complex and "forget" about the heart rate adaptations.

So, just to wrap up, we decided to have the athlete perform speed and agility drills for faster foot contacts and steady state and perform interval bike rides for cardiovascular base. We could choose to use the fast foot drills to create cardiovascular adaptations by changing the recovery time as well but we decided to separate the two goals from each other as much as possible and combine them closer to the competition season.

Anyway, adaptation has different levels and dimensions - 3D Adaptation, if you will.

You are what you eat - Feed the machine!

Tommi

PS: "We are what we love, not what loves us." Charlie Kaufman

A Trainer is a Leader.

This past week I had a priviledge to participate in a great conversation. One of the topics we shared thoughts on was "leadership" and how it applies in our field.

Leadership skills are evidently needed by those are in a position to manage others in one way or another. Rarely do we think that a job or a position of a "trainer" would be a leadership position. But could be it one? And if yes, how important would those skills would be in the field of fitness training?

True leadership is often defined by one word; "influence". How much influence do I, as a trainer, have in my clients' lives and particularly within their health and fitness?

Can I convey my message so well that my clients' actions towards their goals will CHANGE--also when they are not with me?

Our culture and society is confused about the difference between "leading people" and "managing people." The truth is that a leader might not always have a position of a manager and a manager might not always have the influence of a leader.

I think one of the most important practical tasks of a leader is in creating an environment where people can get to their goals the most optimal, effective way. In a corporate or team atmosphere the goal is often common and everyone will benefit from each team member functioning optimally.

A trainer needs to create an environment where the client reaches his/her TRUE POTENTIAL. True leadership is required especially when clear changes in lifestyle are needed in order to get to the goal. Leaders are able to guide people into a process of change that they try to avoid by nature. And bossing someone around rarely is very effective.

Personal Trainer might not have a true position of a leader but potentially much more than that, a great amount of influence in the lives of the clients.

Thank you for making my head spin guys!

Tommi

PS: "Leadership is based on inspiration, not domination; on cooperation, not intimidation." William Arthur Wood.

Don't tell me you have shoulder pain, too!

So many people develop problems with the shoulder joint. I have had my share of shoulder pain myself a few years ago. I know the shoulder is a multidimensional joint and very delicate in many ways, but it should not be THE reason for so many injuries.

Is it just me or are the shoulder issues more and more prevalent nowadays? And if yes, why is that?

I have a few wild guesses that I listed below:

1. Sitting! Sitting in the office, sitting in the car, sitting on the couch, sitting and eating. Honestly, how many hours did you sit today?

When we sit, we tend to slump forward and the whole body rounds into the "human shrimp" posture including the shoulder girdle and neck. As a result, the shoulder joint "learns" to sit anteriorly pulled by the tight muscles in the front of the body, such as pectoralis major and minor.

Now when we ask the shoulder to perform a function, it is not at its optimal position and friction occurs. That could lead into all kind of issues in the shoulder. So, join the revolution against the sitting position!

2. Poor movement nourishment. Heavy weight does not cause shoulder problems, push-ups do not cause shoulder problems, golf does not cause shoulder problems!

The lack of multidirectional movement causes shoulder problems!

Shoulder joint is a pretty mobile joint. In fact it moves pretty much any direction. When we utilize only 2 degrees on its capacity (by only doing chest press and incline chest press) we are underestimating the movement ability of our bodies.

Do you believe that sometimes exercise can actually be harmful? Poorly designed resistance programs might cause some long-term issues and imbalances.

For example, if I decide to perform bench press in different forms several days a week without balancing it out with other joint angles, directions, resistance etc, I could end up doing more harm than good to my body in a very short time. Same goes obviously for any other exercise when it is used in excess on the expense of other movements.

3. Stress!

Really?

Do you ever feel your neck and shoulders tighten up when your schedule gets tight and pressure builds up? I do.

Have you noticed what happens when you embark on a nice vacation somewhere warm? As your stress leaves you, the shoulders automatically relax and the Hunchback of Notre Dame is gone for a while.

A tight neck and upper back can cause your shoulder joint to be more vulnerable for impingements and itis-ending situations.

SOLUTION:

1. Quit your job!

2. Go on a vacation tomorrow.

3. Play every kind of sport and never do the the same exercise routine twice.

Well, you get the idea. Sometimes it is more of a mindset than an actual realistic plan.

;-)

Tommi

PS: "Help others get ahead. You will always stand taller with someone else on your shoulders. Bob Moawad.