Practical Uses of Variety in Training

A lot of my readers have been asking me about programming. This week, I was luck enough to have my friend Steve write a guest post for me. Steve Bare is a professional strength coach (CSCS, USAW) and competitive weightlifter. His experience includes work in the private industry and an internship at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California. He now coaches at a high school, where he is thankful to work with a huge number of adolescent athletes, and give them all a great start in strength training. You can occasionally catch him writing on his coaching blog, BareStrength.



“Ya gotta switch it up, bro!” 

Variety in training is a very popular, yet polarizing, concept. From P90X marketing as “muscle confusion” to CrossFit purporting to be “constantly varied,” many brands are built by attempting to break the monotony of training. In this article, I’d like to discuss the practical application of variety in training, as well as the extents to which variation can be either be useful or counterproductive.

What qualifies as variety?

Loosely, any meaningful difference in training. This can come from changes in exercise modality (e.g., lifting versus swimming), exercise selection (e.g., lunges versus squats), implement (dumbbells versus barbells), rep range, rep tempo, training frequency, and more additional possibilities than I care to list at this time.

Why should you use variety in training? 

For one, introducing variety can diminish the risk of overuse injury. Athletes who engage in repetitive motions in practice and training tend to wind up with sport-specific injuries: baseball pitchers’ shoulders, rowers’ backs, tennis players’ elbows, runners’ shin splints, et. cetera. The primary recommendation to alleviate such symptoms is to decrease usage and strengthen relevant muscles and movement patterns, typically in an off-season period.

This is also relevant to recreational gym-goers. Your body doesn’t care whether you consider yourself a competitive powerlifter or not; if you’re maxing your bench press every chance you get, you’re likely to rack up some small injuries eventually. These injuries aren’t likely to go away without taking some time off from the movement.

Additionally, if you’ve been doing the same exact weekly schedule for months on end (and aren’t a beginner), chances are you’ve found yourself stagnating eventually. This can be referred to as “adaptive resistance,” when the same repeated exercises no longer disrupt homeostasis enough to drive adaptation. Changing a couple of key variables such as those mentioned above can be a powerful factor to continue to drive adaptation and get stronger.

So how much variation is enough? How much is too much? 

To answer these questions, you have to consider your goals.

If your only goal is to lose weight, for example, then your objectives in training are primarily caloric expenditure. Introducing a great amount of variety is fine, because just about any choice in exercise is sure to expend energy, provided it is performed with sufficient effort and for a sufficient duration. You could jog one day, lift another day, swim next week, fight crime another time, and continue to see results on the scale, provided you net a negative calorie balance. Of course, from a psychosocial perspective, most people enjoy seeing their performance improve, so it’s not a bad idea to stick with something for a while and enjoy the benefits of consistency: your running speeds up, your distances lengthen, your weights and reps increase.

However, if you have athletic performance goals in mind, you’ll need to ensure your training directs adaptation towards these goals. Whether your goal is to beat your old 5k time, or to win gold at the Olympics, your success hinges on specific performance improvements. It isn’t enough just to make sure you “get up and move”. You can run as far as you want, but it won’t ever be enough make you a great weightlifter; you still need sufficient specificity. If you change your exercise regimen each time you work out, you risk never providing sufficient overload. As such, we find some constraints on the limits of variation.

Beginning athletes can usually progress with just about anything, which leads to some polarizing conclusions.

On the one hand, there are proponents of systems capitalizing on very low variety for beginners. The benefit here is that the athlete quickly adapts to the cognitive demands of training, learning the lifts without getting confused by a great amount of variety, and is then able to reap the many benefits of strength training before eventually reaching a point of adaptive resistance.

On the other hand, recognizing that beginners will progress with just about any strength training program, you can also use this time to introduce athletes to a wider range of exercises. You could employ a teaching progression by having the athletes spend a couple weeks perfecting a goblet squat before moving on to a front squat, then a back squat, then a low-bar squat. You could instruct the athlete through different exercises every day of the week. However, you should still use the same exercise from one week to the next for a few weeks, so that the athlete has a chance to repeatedly practice one movement, and also see some progress in weight or total reps performed (overload). See below for a few example blocks:

The benefits here are many. The athlete is excited to train, with a greater variety of exercises. You can emphasize proper movement in a low-risk exercise, and then accumulate a lot of high-quality reps before moving on to a slightly more advanced variation with a greater load. Additionally, with each exercise the athlete knows, it becomes easier to teach additional movements in the future; for example, once an athlete knows how to front squat, lunge, press, and deadlift, it is a lot easier to teach them to clean & jerk.

*One thing to note: unlike many strength coaches, I often teach front squats before back squats. I do this because it gives me the opportunity to teach my athletes to stay upright in the squat, and I find that even beginning athletes are better at squatting deep with a front rack than they are with bars on their backs. I teach close-grip bench before a competition-width bench for similar reasons. On occasion, I have also taught sumo deadlifts before conventional because many non-contact athletes have disproportionately strong legs to a weak back, and they tend to prefer sumo initially for this reason; of course, this is also a great reason to eventually include conventional deadlifts, to ensure their backs grow accordingly!

This is not the kind of variety you need...

For intermediate and advanced athletes, most decent strength & conditioning programs will follow a system of phases emphasizing the adaptation of different physical qualities, such as aerobic conditioning, hypertrophy, strength, power, and peaking for competition (usually in that order). As a whole, this system would be referred to as a macrocycle; each 3-6 week chunk is referred to as a mesocycle; and each week can be referred to as a microcycle. By its very nature, such a system introduces variety in rep ranges, as well as often including variety in modalities, exercise selection, and tempos. Within a macrocycle, each mesocycle should gradually become more specific than the previous mesocycle, culminating in a major meet or a competitive season.

The earliest mesocycles will be the least specific to the goal, often outside the modality of the sport, to increase general fitness and work capacity. A great example of this is Olympic weightlifting champion Ilya Ilyin investing his time and energy swimming in his early mesocycles. This enables him to build up his general work capacity while letting his body heal from the repetitive trauma of his sport-specific movements.

Earlier mesocycles will include a greater number of unique exercises per session, per week, and between mesocycles. One hypertrophy block might have an athlete front squat and Romanian deadlift in one session, and then leg press and sumo deadlift in another session for 3-6 weeks. In the next mesocycle, the athlete might back squat and goodmorning in one session, and then conventional deadlift and step-up in another session for another 3-6 weeks. The goal here is to rack up great volumes without increasing the risk of overuse injury from any one particular movement.

In contrast, later mesocycles will increase specificity, decreasing variety. The final strength block for a weightlifter will include high intensity work on snatches, cleans, jerks, along with front squats and/or back squats, and possibly some additional work to target the athlete’s unique weaknesses, all performed several times per week for several weeks on end. Non-barbell athletes will typically maximize increases in strength, power, and/or speed (depending on sport and position), as well as increasing sport practice in preparation for the competitive season.

Introducing training variety can be a great way to avoid overuse injuries, drive greater physical adaptations, and generally enjoy your training more. However, it can also be tempting to overuse variety and under-apply the principles of specificity and overload. Be sure to use sufficient variety in your training that you avoid stagnation and overuse injuries, but not so much that you don’t make definite progress towards your goals!

Read More

Nate's FREE Beta Squat Program!

When you have more plates on the bar than you have fingers, you know you're strong.

My friend Nate is back for another guest post. You may remember his last post for me about proper breathing for the squat. Now that you know how to breathe on the lift, this program will help you get stupid strong squats. Nate is a competitive 198/220 Powerlifter and trainer under the NSCA who is currently pursuing his CSCS. Nate has been lifting for a little over 2 years and boasts an impressive 535 pounds recently in the gym. He is currently chasing 600+ pounds, weighing 198 himself.


FOREWORD: One of the things I want to accomplish as a trainer/coach is to give back and to help people improve themselves–that’s really it. I’ve tried to commit myself to the processes involved in learning and applying the things that I’ve learned to allow others to push their limits and achieve their goals: that’s the reasoning behind this program.

Over the past year-and-a-half I’ve done a lot of my own programming as well as writing things up for friends to get practice with writing programming for different people. I sat down with some of the things that did and did not work and tried to design a 9 to 11 week Squat Program for beginners or intermediate lifters. I call it a “Beta” program because, let's face it, it’s a first attempt at writing something more serious and distributing it out to a lot of people to see how it works. With a large enough sample size, it gives me an idea of what things will generally work and what things generally won’t.

The added benefit is, I’m hoping, to help lifters hit PRs.

It should be noted that this is a very abridged cycle. I have not included accessories or recommended frequency for the bench press and deadlift. This is 100% squat focused.

THE PROGRAM

PREFACE: As you’ll see, I have days listed as Day 1/2/3 and later as Day 1 and 2. This is because not everyone can run a Mon/Weds/Fri split even though, in my opinion, that’s ideal. I know some people are in school, have work, have lives.

You’ll want at least one day of recovery in between squat sessions, especially for those who add accessories or who have other lifts or training to do other than purely squatting. For Phase 3, the ideal would be Monday and Thursday or Tuesday and Friday as long as 3 days of rest are taken between the days.

PHASE 1: Conditioning Phase 
The reasoning for the conditioning phase is simple: Conditioning. At percentages under 80%, the goal is to condition, practice, and build confidence as stepping stones for later cycles. If your goal is maximum weight, then spending some time to bring up your work capacity is not a bad idea. This will also be beneficial for people who have run extremely long, demanding programs or just need a good starting point instead of jumping into weight over 80%. As with the other phases, I’ve given you ranges on some days (example: 63-65%) because some lifters recover faster than others. You’ll see it in later cycles too. Always err on the side of training hard. However, the goal is to avoid missed reps and to aim for weight that you’ll be able to squat with the best technique.

This is the only phase with variations.

Week 4 in this phase is for lifters who feel they need a sort of break, usually the ones who are not used to conditioning and volume work or those who are just deconditioned to begin with. It is recommended to not take the taper for more experienced lifters.

**FOR LOW BAR SQUATTERS, DAY 2 IS A PAUSED HIGH BAR DAY. FOR HIGH BAR SQUATTERS DAY 2 IS A PAUSED FRONT SQUAT DAY.

PHASE 2: Accumulation/Volume
The point of this phase is to accumulate volume between about 70-85% of a persons 1RM. This will be the meat and potatoes. The goal of this phase is to build, build, build. Build strength, fearlessness under increasing load, and for the lifter to practice their competition (or stronger) squat. Day 2 in this cycle is built in to work on technique, power, and to have a day that is less demanding as the cycle increases without going into ridiculously low intensities that won’t benefit the lifter.

PHASE 3: Intensity
Plain and simple this phase is about putting some weight on your back with the confidence to push your comfort zone and create the confidence to break old PRs! For most lifters, they’ll likely be hitting weight/rep PRs weekly before the big max out. I recommend that the lifter have at least 3 days of rest on their squat between either day, and minimize deadlifting, to maximize recovery. Week 4 can be the taper from Week 4 of the Conditioning phase or for more experienced lifters, can max on the next week.

I hope those of you running this enjoy the program and see some gain from it! Thanks for reading and putting confidence in both myself and Arianna. I’d like to thank her too for allowing me to share on her page and for putting out all the information she does.

Now go crush some heavy squats!

Read More

Training Simple for Maximum Results

There is a seemingly infinite list of exercises to work any given muscle group. With websites like YouTube, it's pretty easy to find new exercises on the internet and feel inclined to add them into your routine. The question, however, is are these circus tricks necessary to take your performance to the next level? When it comes to adding in movements to your routine, I believe less really is more.

Just when I think I've seen it all, I find some crazy new movement on Instagram or some other form of social media. While these exercises range from impressive to asinine, many of them are unnecessary when developing a program for yourself or others.

There's a lovely acronym in the fitness industry that is applicable here:

SAID: Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands

This principle explains simply that our bodies will adapt to the stressors to which are exposed. Therefore, if I want to become a better sprinter, well, adding some more sprinting drills into my regimen is a great starting point.

This may come as a surprise, but these will not make you a better squatter.

Personally, I train to compete in the sport of Olympic weightlifting. In order to get better in my sport, the bulk of my training consists of variations of snatches, cleans, jerks, presses and squats. Every once in a while, I'll add in accessory movements based on any imbalances or weaknesses. I rarely do conditioning, because it isn't really necessary for me to become a better weightlifter.

While you may not be looking to compete in a sport, it's important for you to set out your intentions from the get-go. You want to set realistic, quantifiable goals for yourself, and then select your exercises based on those goals. For example, if you want to bench 400 lbs, set your weekly workout routine around the bench press. Bench more regularly, and maybe include other, similar movements in your routine that will hit the same muscle groups (e.g. dips and strict press).

The more exercises you add into your weekly routine, the more overwhelmed you'll feel, and the less attention you'll pay to each movement! If you do 10+ exercises per day for the same muscle group, you're missing out on your ability to focus on any one of them.

Exercise variety does not determine your results. Doing 20 exercises for a muscle group will not necessarily make your muscles grow any quicker than doing 3 exercises for a muscle group. What does determine hypertrophy (muscular growth) is intensity (or weight used) and volume (number of reps performed). Basically, you only need to do a lot of reps of a few exercises to see results!

To apply this to sports, you must first analyze the demands of your specific sport. If you are a tennis player, which primarily takes place in the frontal plane, you want to make sure that a big part of your program involves lateral movements. Lateral lunges, lateral jumps and shuffling drills are all important exercises for tennis. Sprints on the rowing machine will certainly get your heart rate up, but they won't necessarily improve your forehand. Your exercise choices should mimic the demands of the game.

I'm certainly not telling you that you shouldn't try new exercises, as you may find a fun, creative new movement that helps you improve your weak areas. Instead, I believe you should find a handful of exercises that are directly beneficial to you and that will help you achieve your goals in the gym; everything else is frivolous.

Read More

6 Ways to Overcome a Plateau and Start Getting Stronger Again

In fitness, as in life, we are always looking to move forward. If you're putting in the hard work in the gym, you should only continue to progress, right? Well, ideally, yes. Many, unfortunately hit a plateau somewhere along the way that may leave them feeling unmotivated or discouraged. If you approach your workouts the right way, however, you will only continue to progress and grow.

Here's a really helpful (not) diagram of a plateau for science.

Here are 6 reasons you aren't progressing in the way you want:

1. Intensity- Are you giving your workout your all, or are you texting in between sets? Each week, you should try to add more weight or increase the number of reps you're performing. If you just continually squat 135 lbs week after week, how do you expect to get stronger? If you're not gasping for air at the end of your sprints, you're not pushing yourself hard enough. The only way we can create adaptation is to give our bodies something to which it can adapt! It's important to make sure you enter your sessions in the gym with 100% effort. (Well...most days, anyway. We all have our "off" days...)
2. Variation- It's nice to have a set split or program and follow that week after week, but if you're only doing the same handful of exercises ad nauseum, it can get pretty dull. Every once in a while, add a few new exercises into your routine and get rid of a few of the older ones. Not only will it keep your workouts interesting, your body will find a completely new way to challenge itself with a new task.
3. Muscle imbalances- A weak or underactive muscle might be preventing you from advancing as you'd like. Let's say you have really strong quads, and you can squat 300 pounds for reps. Just imagine how much more you could squat if you actually learned to use your butt! When our muscles work together in force couples as they're supposed to, beautiful things happen.
4. Program- Maybe it's time to either ask a friend for help programming your workouts (preferably one with lots of experience) or do some research online. Unfortunately, strength doesn't progress linearly, so it's important to make sure you account for that when you write out your program. Play with the number of sets, reps and the amount of weight you're using and find out what works best for you.
5. Planning- My father always tells me "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail!" You need to set real, tangible goals for yourself. For example, one of my goals is to deadlift 300 lbs before the end of the year. As you can see, I gave myself a set number and a date by which I want to achieve it. Your goal might be to lose 10 pounds by June. Whatever those goals may be, make sure you've clearly articulated them to yourself and written them down so you can hold yourself accountable.
6. Recovery- Perhaps you're not giving yourself enough time to recover between workouts. Make sure you're eating enough food to sustain your activity level and drink a lot of water. A lot of people I meet have a tendency to deprive themselves of the food their body so desperately needs to rebuild and repair itself. Remember: food and water are fuel!

When you start to see a flatline in your progress, it's time to step back and reassess your approach.

"Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

-Albert Einstein 

Read More

Training for Strength vs. Training for Size

The process of muscle growth is called hypertrophy. However, based on your training, your muscles will adapt accordingly. There are two types of hypertrophy of skeletal muscle: sarcoplasmic hypertrophy and myofibrillar hypertrophy:

Bodybuilder Ronnie Coleman

1. Sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is often coined as being "aesthetic muscle." Without getting too technical, this type of hypertrophy increases the size or the volume of the muscle. Bodybuilders are often known for having this type of muscle. Usually, the training protocol to achieve "size" gains consists of 3-4 sets of 12-15 reps of any given exercise. These sets are performed at a moderately heavy weight, and the athlete rests for less than 3 minutes of rest in between each set.



Powerlifter Scott Lade

2. Myofibrillar hypertrophy is sometimes called "functional muscle." Myofibrillar hypertrophy creates a more compact, dense muscle. Typically this type of hypertrophy indicates significant gains in strength. A training protocol for strength usually calls for lower repetitions (between 1 and 6) and, depending on the goal of the athlete, between 5-10 sets. These sets are performed at the heaviest weight that the athlete can use with good form. The rest time between sets is often longer than 3 minutes. When an athlete is trying to increase strength, he or she typically looks to find a 1 repetition maximum (1 RM). This means that he or she is trying to lift as much weight as is possible with good form for 1 repetition. When developing a strength training program, he or she would likely perform multiple sets of either 3 or 5 repetitions at a percentage of that 1 repetition maximum. The idea behind this is that, in order to experience real gains in strength, you need to put your body under a heavy stimulus. Without using the heaviest loads possible, you are never going to adapt and lift heavier weights.

As you can see, Powerlifter Scott Lade and Bodybuilder Ronnie Coleman weigh nearly the same, but have very different body types. It is important to note, however, that these two types of hypertrophy go hand-in-hand. With size, you will find increased levels of strength, and with strength, you will certainly see the size of your muscles increase. Obviously, this does no mean that bodybuilders are weak, or that strong athletes cannot have big, defined muscles. This is simply meant to guide you when you are developing your own exercise regimen. If you are training more for aesthetics, aim for higher repetitions. If your primary focus is strength, stick with lower repetitions and heavier weight. By sticking to these basic guidelines, you can program a more effective training program for yourself.


Sources:

1. Poliquin, Charles. Modern Trends in Strength Training. Volume 1. QFAC Bodybuilding, 2001.
2. Siff, Mel C. and Yuri V. Verkhoshansky. Supertraining. Colorado: Denver, 1999.
3. Tsatsouline, Pavel. Power to the People. Dragon Door Publications, Inc., 2000.

Read More