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Program Design
Speed Sessions: Get Loose and Correct Form
In the first episode of Fast Forward, high school athletes from St. Xavier (Cincinnati, Ohio) build the foundation for speed training by loosening up their muscles.
5 Keys to Boosting Your Metabolism
RESISTANCE TRAIN & BUILD LEAN MASS
What is your metabolism and how does it affect you? Well, metabolism is just a fancy word to describe the rate at which the body carries out chemical processes, which in turn burns calories. Scientific research has shown that commitment to a resistance training program yields significant results to boosting the metabolism. After any resistance training session, the metabolism operates at a significantly higher rate than cardiovascular training alone. While cardiovascular training should be a part of almost any exercise program, more emphasis needs to be placed on building lean muscle mass. In the battle of resistance training versus cardiovascular training in terms of raising the metabolic rate, resistance training wins.
IT’S ALL ABOUT INTENSITY
It goes without saying that pushing it to the limits every time will yield better and faster results. Some ways to increase intensity in a resistance training workout are to increase reps, sets, tempo (rate at which reps are performed), and range of motion. Another way to increase intensity is to decrease rest time between sets.
INTERVAL TRAINING TO FINISH
Performing interval training on a cardio piece after a resistance training workout is a sure way to attack fat stores in the body. Glucose stores are completely depleted after resistance training which means the next line of defense in energy production is fat. Performing intervals is done by completing a 3:1 active rest to work ratio where the work session is done at 80-95% of the maximum heart rate.… [ read more ]
The Best Interval Training Protocols
By: Adam Rankin
20/10 Tabata Protocol: Commonly known as the “Tabata” protocol, the 20 seconds of work, 10 seconds of rest is one of the best and widely used work to rest ratio’s used in interval training. For good reason, this protocol has proved to be more effective than 60 minutes of steady state cardio. In fact, the interval protocol got it’s name from the study that proved maximal gains can be made in minimal time, if the intensity of the training is maximal. In this groundbreaking cycling study, researchers discovered that only four minutes of a 20-10 interval protocol (20 seconds of maximum effort followed by 10 seconds of rest) provided greater fat loss and conditioning than 60 minutes of steady-state cardio.
Now, one of the problems with this study is that in the real world most people aren’t able to perform multiple bouts of max effort for the same exercise with short rest periods (in fact, most of the elite cyclists in the study couldn’t complete all four minutes of the 20-10 protocol because it was too intense). This is exactly why it is important to employ non-competitive exercises (upper body exercise superset with a lower body exercise) so that high intensity work can still be accomplished with very short rest.
8-12 Sprint Protocol: Since we’ve already determined that short bouts of high intensity are better than long, slow steady state cardio, what do you say we ramp up the intensity even more than the Tabata Protocol. With… [ read more ]
5 Innovative Ways to Train without Going to a Gym
You get home from a long day of work and the last thing you want to do is drive to a gym, so you say, “maybe tomorrow”. Well, those days are over because now all you need is your living room and a few cost-effective tools that can be found at any sporting goods store.
In later articles, we will introduce you to the vast world of training that can be done at your bedside when you wake up in the morning, or at night while watching your favorite television show. For now, here is a preview of the cool new ways to train.
Resistance Bands: Resistance bands are quickly becoming one of the best ways to train due to their variable resistance and the fact that literally hundreds of exercises from strength training to flexibility, can be done with them.
Body Weight Training: When you think of using your own body weight for training, the most common preconceived notion is that it doesn’t look very difficult. On the contrary — mastering your own body is a key step on the road to using external forces for resistance such as dumbbell or free weight training.
Plyometric Training: Also known as jump training, plyometrics is a sure way to boost heart rate and metabolism to the max. Once a base strength foundation has been developed, it has been proven that light to moderate jump training can improve tendon, ligament, and muscle strength of the lower leg.
Physioball Training: Also known as… [ read more ]
3 Keys to a Pain Free Low Back
Eighty percent of Americans will eventually suffer from some type of low back pain. Sciatica, spondylosis, strains, sprains, slipped disks, or micro-fractures are some of the more common conditions that contribute to low back pain. With so many ways to aggravate the low back, how can we ever hope to defend against it?
Surgeries are not appropriate for many back conditions and don’t always work to resolve back pain. Medications are expensive and have many possible side effects! But there are effective lifestyle measures that can help you whisk away your pains. Incorporating these 3 simple steps into your daily routine will not only help low back pain go away, but will increase performance in daily tasks that once upon a time caused the pain.
Improve Hydration
Early research indicates that 8 out of 10 sufferers of back pain could be relieved if they drank 96-120 ounces of water a day. (1) You may be asking, “what can improved hydration possibly do for my aching low back”? The answer is simple: water is the main ingredient in synovial fluid, located in every joint in the body. This synovial fluid acts as a lubricant and shock absorber, keeping connective tissues located in and around the joint healthy.
Maintain Low Back Flexibility
Research has proven that there is a direct correlation between good low back tissue elasticity and injury prevention. (2) The piriformis muscle, for example, is an external rotator of the hip that when tight, causes extreme pain in the low… [ read more ]
Building Lean Muscle to Boost Metabolism
You may be asking yourself, how will putting on lean muscle mass help me lose weight? It sounds contradictory, but in reality lean muscle mass is the number one way to boost your metabolism. Metabolism, from our last article is simply the rate at which the body carries out chemical processes, which in turn burns calories.
When a resistance-training program is started, energy stores in the muscle are depleted and muscle tissue is broken down after every workout. To maintain homeostasis, the body naturally rebuilds muscles stronger and restores more energy to the muscle than the previous workout due the increased demands placed on them. When this new energy and muscle is built, the metabolism must work at a more efficient rate, meaning it burns more calories in a shorter amount of time. Another important byproduct of resistance training is that the body burns more calories while at rest. So the good news is that even when the metabolism is at its slowest, during sleep, calories are being shed at higher rate.
To ensure constant gains are being made and the metabolism reaches new heights, make sure that your resistance-training program follows the principles of progressive overload. Progressive overload is simply the means at which the body reaches new levels of higher metabolism and homeostasis. To achieve progressive overload, simply manipulate one of these five areas of your training: you must increase the weight, reps, range of motion (distance the weight is moved), tempo (time it takes to do one rep), and decrease rest time between sets.… [ read more ]
Interval Training Finishers
Say goodbye to the dreaded long hours spent on cardio pieces. Get ready to lean up, and the best part is that it only takes 15 minutes after your resistance workout! The new wave of cardiovascular exercise is interval training, and it is the most economic way to get results fast. Helgerud et al. found that, “High-aerobic intensity endurance interval training is significantly more effective than performing the same total work at either lactate threshold or at 70% HRmax, in improving VO2max.” In the exercise world, VO2max is simply maximum oxygen uptake and HRmax is max heart rate. The key component to any form of interval training is that it should be done after a resistance training workout in a state where glucose stores are nearly depleted and fat is the prime source for energy. When performing intervals, set your elliptical, recumbent bike, or treadmill to a proper seat height/warm-up speed and perform 30 seconds to a minute. Initially, start your interval program at a 3:1 rest to work ratio. A sample beginner’s program would look like this; 30 seconds of 85%-95% of max heart rate and 90 seconds of rest. As experience with the program advances, the work time goes up along with the rest periods. Perform anywhere from 4-6 work/rest sets which should take anywhere from 10-20 minutes at most, efficiency at its best!
HELGERUD, JAN 1,2; HOYDAL, KJETILL 1; WANG, EIVIND 1; KARLSEN, TRINE 1; BERG, PALR 1; BJERKAAS, MARIUS 1; SIMONSEN, THOMAS 1; HELGESEN, CECILIES 1;… [ read more ]