Rubber Bands and Spit Balls for Strength and Power

This was an interesting study looking at the use of "accommodative resistance", specifically, using bands in addition to weight for barbell training.  I was only kidding about the spit balls.

http://suppversity.blogspot.com/2014/02/power-up-with-bands-inexpensive-rubber.html?m=1

Large rubber bands, literally, when placed so that they are pulled more tight as the lift is completed change the force generation curve the athlete can produce in any given lift.

As an example, in a squat, as the athlete reaches the mid point of the lift, the mechanical levers improve and force generation can increase.  But near the top of the lift, the athlete has to reduce force generation because there's a limit to the amount of velocity one can have near the top of the lift.  Too fast, and the barbell's momentum will be too high.  We instinctively slow down to prevent this.  Making that same lift with a band, however, we can give the barbell maximal effort throughout the lift, while the band provides increasing resistance and neutralizes barbell momentum.

There are many reasons why this series of forces on a barbell creates a different adaptive stimulus.  The take away is that if we wish to keep teasing adaptive demand out of ourselves, we have to avoid the common practice of utilizing a given pattern of sets and reps, and find novel ways to allow different patterns of movement and force.  Bands do this relatively easily and inexpensively.

Kevin Ogar and CrossFit

The following is an article that attempts to summarize the injury CrossFitter Kevin Ogar suffered during a competition in California, as he attempted a moderately heavy (moderately heavy for him - it's about 50 pounds heavier than anything I've ever snatched) snatch.  The article is not as bad as most of what I read on TNation about CrossFit.  

I don't want to write about Kevin's injury.  It is such a grievous injury to consider, and one that I grew u fearing very much.  However, Kevin's injury has become a part of what folks talk about with regard to CrossFit.  I pen the following with the hope that Kevin's injury can be part of learning more about how to be the fittest one can be within the risk constraints one can tolerate for oneself.

http://www.t-nation.com/training/crossfit-kevin-ogar-and-questions

I had never heard the reference to the term "CrossFit stop."  Apparently the author thinks that means there are gyms where they don't mind technique degradation, and encourage folks to push on past the crappy technique and "get it done".  

And there undoubtedly such CrossFit gyms.  But to my knowledge, that not "accepted CrossFit practice".  Rather, that's part and parcel of having an affiliation system vice a command and control style franchise system.  In other words, CrossFit founder Greg Glassman chose to employ an affiliation system that would allow for decentralized learning of how to best run a CrossFit facility.  CrossFit affiliate owners must get a Level I certificate to use CrossFit branding but otherwise have incredible leeway in how they implement CrossFit.  

CrossFit says "mechanics, consistency, then intensity."  In other words, first get the movements down, then be able to do them at speed, then do them in a workout.  

Additionally, most folks cannot complete CrossFit workouts without technique while using heavy (for them) weights.  The idea of using olympic lifts for high reps has always been a lightning rod for controversy.  The workout Grace, for example, is 30 clean and jerks as fast as one can go, with good male CrossFitters cranking out 30 reps in 2-3 minutes using 135 pounds.  What you or any knucklehead off the street can conclude is if someone can do 30 CnJs in 3 minutes, the athlete is using a weight that is "light", as in "light for them."  This brings a finer point to the argument that "high rep olympic lifts are dangerous."  What if Grace were performed with a broom stick?  Still dangerous?  What if it were performed with 90% of the athlete's max CnJ?  Well, then it would be a long, slow WOD of successive heavy clean and jerks performed in 10-30 minutes, and likely done with at least moderately good technique.  No one clean and jerks really heavy weight unless can deliver some technique to the movement.  I trained with a guy who was very strong - reps on the bench press with 300 pounds - but he could not complete 15 clean and jerks with 135 pounds.  Why? He didn't have the ability to express hip extension into a barbell.  He just muscled the bar to his chest and overhead a few times using arms only.  It's only one example, but it was illustrative.

Compared to 2007 when I found it and now, CrossFit has done what Greg Glassman hoped - transformed the industry that is called the "fitness" industry.  There are something like 8000 CrossFit affiliates doing what folks said could not be done, all over the world.  Each one is a lab experiment in how to train folks to get the fitness outcomes they desire.  The one uses versions of the functional human movements that Greg realized can be used to produce the greatest physiological adaptation in the least time, some degree of variance in programming, and some methodology that utilizes intensity to produce desirable adaptation.  These gyms don't spend thousands on clunky cardio machines that allow people to spend hours for very low levels physiological adaptation (cardio is certainly better than nothing, but there's a reason most people don't do it; it doesn't not have a palpable impact on one's life and health).  These gyms, at their best, train humans to execute high skilled humans with high force and the necessary physiological positions.  This skilled force generation transfers to many or all of life's activities - sport, combat, or just plain old good living.  

CrossFit delivers a product that answers all the questions I used to ask about my training - what if I spend my time getting big and strong and need to cover ground quickly, or walk/run all day?  Why is it that I can spend hours in the gym but there's no translation to hitting a baseball or kicking a heavy bag?  What if I spend hours and hours running, and get a little faster, but then need to lift something heavy, or drag a buddy, with no skill in how to stabilize my spine?  

Kevin I wish you a speedy and satisfying recovery.  

Kevin is by all reports a grand fellow and you can donate to his medical fund: 

Another write up in the injury is here:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/news/20140124/crossfit-kevin-ogar/
http://kevinogar.com

The Statin Confusion Continues

Why might low LDL-cholesterol levels be a risk factor for mortality? The authors point out that cholesterol can alter the functioning of certain inflammatory substances (including C-reactive protein and cytokines), and therefore low-cholesterol might lead to a more inflammatory state (which is not healthy).

One very interesting thing about this study was that it found that mortality across the groups was no different in individuals not treated with statins. What this suggests is that statins might be having a direct effect that is harmful to the hearts and health of individuals with heart failure.

http://www.drbriffa.com/2014/01/31/statins-associated-with-increased-risk-of-death-in-those-with-heart-failure/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+drbriffa%2FsOZf+%28Dr+Briffa%27s+Blog+-+A+Good+Look+at+Good+Health%29

Not easy to make a lot from this summary of the study except it flies in the face of the conventional wisdom about what statins are good for.  Be healthy - it sucks less than being sick.  

The Inflammation Puzzle

In July I posted a blog discussing the overuse of cryotherapy. The controversy surrounding the topic made it one of the most popular blogs I’ve written. What is surprising to me is that a controversy exists at all. Why, where, and when did this notion of anti-inflammation start? Ice, compression, elevation and NSAIDs are so commonplace that suggesting otherwise is laughable to most. Enter an Athletic Training Room or Physical Therapy Clinic nearly all clients are receiving some type of anti-inflammatory treatment (ice, compression, massage, NSAIDs, biophysical modalities, etc). I evaluated a client the other day and asked what are you doing currently – “Well, I am taking anti-inflammatories and icing.” Why do you want to get rid of inflammation and swelling? I ask this question for both chronic and acute injury!

The Stigma of Inflammation
Editor in Chief of The Physician and Sports Medicine Journal (Dr. Nick DiNubile) once posed this question: “Seriously, do you honestly believe that your body’s natural inflammatory response is a mistake?” Much like a fever increases body temperature to kill off foreign invaders; inflammation is the first physiological process to the repair and remodeling of tissue. Inflammation, repair, and remodel. You cannot have tissue repair or remodeling without inflammation.  In a healthy healing process, a proliferative phase consisting of a mixture of inflammatory cells and fibroblasts naturally follows the inflammatory phase (1).

http://athleticmedicine.wordpress.com/2013/11/07/why-ice-and-anti-inflammatory-medication-is-not-the-answer/

"Why do you want to get rid of inflammation and swelling?"

I have stopped taking NSAIDs - unless I take one.  An example of when I might take them is if I have too much pain to sleep, or too much pain to enjoy being with my family/friends.  What I have found is that sometimes a dose of NSAIDs just shuts down some inflammation cycle that I'm suffering from.

Overall, though, I think many folks take NSAIDs because the standard american diet leaves us in hyper-inflammatory conditions, so that a normal ache or pain becomes a day after day painfest which we might need an NSAID to turn off.

That said, I think the point above is valid.  I feel healthier now that I don't rely on NSAIDs to turn off pain every day.

POSE Drills

This is just a taste of what you learn to do differently using the POSE Method.  As I watch, now, I wonder - how do we learn so many movements that are detractors for efficient running?  My four year old does none of these things.
http://library.crossfit.com/free/video/CFJ_MacKenzie_PoseRunningDrills_SD.mov

You can find other versions (not just .mov) here:  CrossFit.com 6 Feb 2014

Intensity Trumps Duration, R Cosgrove

What? Yeah, you heard me right. This is exactly how I felt after training for and completing in my first Ironman.

My body was soft, with no definition, and had definitely changed due to spending the majority of my training in the steady-state aerobic zone – the same "fat burning zone" many books and magazine still talk about.

I was in great shape as far as my endurance and cardiovascular system were concerned, but I had less noticeable muscle tone and didn't have the definition I was used to having in my abs and arms.

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/the_final_nail_in_the_cardio_coffin

T Nation and its authors apparently do not understand CrossFit. It is staffed largely by those who would find CrossFit to be a faddish competitor, dishing out unsound training practices to those who are tricked by the trendiness associated with CrossFit. So, when I read even a good article there, I don't expect to find it will be all kosher.

What I like about this article is it reinforces my own experience, and that of many other experienced trainers - working out will not make you lean. Eating crappy stuff makes you accumulate fat, and you can't out train that - for long.

I also like the author's point about the deleterious effects of over-training in aerobic movments. I like to say intensity trumps duration, and it does so for nearly every desirable adaptation you might want from a workout. Strength, speed, power, or work capacity - intensity trumps duration.

What is not so useful is the writer's focus on exercise and fat loss, or exercise and calorie burning. Because if you eat like crap, you'll be hungry no matter what your workouts are, and if you are hungry, in the long term you will easily out-eat your workouts. On the other hand, you can lose fat just fine by eating good food, the food that's right for you. Workouts are not a requirement for fat loss for most folks. Eating the right food is essential, even more so for sustaining your body composition gains.

Lastly, working out to lose fat and build muscle is not as compelling as working out to gain physical capacities you value.  A friend said of CrossFit, "We bring 'em in the door chasing appearance, but we keep them by getting them to chase performance."  Most folks will not give up time to pursue appearance via exercise for long, and for good reason - it does not work well for that purpose.  Exercise to build new work capacity - lift more, lift faster, work harder, do more in less time, be a more awesome version of you - is sustaining because the results keep coming.  You get stronger, you notice the positive impact in your life.  You conquer things in the gym that used to scare you - hell, you face frightening workouts every day - and you notice that also translates to positive impact in your life.  You get so used to facing fear, nothing scares you any longer.  

So, lots of exercise, and a diet, is better than nothing. But long term success in health comes from learning how to stop liking, and therefore stop eating, crappy food. Even more important, you can workout and do hours of cardio and perhaps be lean - and still be sick. Exercise does not nullify crappy food, although it may blunt the damage to an extent.

You may be reading this and think "How can a fitness professional be dissing exercise?" Well, I'm not. I'm just telling you that I think the exercise you do should be intended to give you the physical capacities you need to have a vibrant life, and to feel your best. You were made to move, made to work, and made to strive. Exercise is awesome for each of those pursuits. I don't think very many of us can max out the human experience without exercise.  Any exercise is better than no exercise, but for me, high intensity functional movements delivered via short, intense workouts beats all the other training modalities I've tried - and I've tried many.

If you want a better emotional and physical experience of life, you need to be working hard at something - something with high intensity, relatively short duration, and which demands and develops strength, power, and work capacity.

"But Paul, what about all of the studies she cited showing fat loss or weight loss from interval training?" That's great. I hope it happens that way for you. But did you notice the duration of those studies? To know anything, you'd also want to know the age of those who participated (cause as you know, when you are young you can lose weight in a flash, and as you age, it's a different story). Bottom line - you will not meet many folks who can eat sugar, wheat, polyunsaturated oils, and still be healthy and lean, no matter how much they exercise. You'll also see this in any CrossFit gym - lots of folks who are working hard, and making performance gains, and ... not getting lean. That's not the end of the world but it is a clue - if that's you, you are eating crappy “food" (and/or doing too much "cardio").

If you want vibrant health and the appearance we associate with that, you will need to stop eating that nasty stuff you have called "food" for most of your life, and focus on meat, vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar/wheat.

PS - if you love triathlete or marathon training, please accept my genuine admiration.  Those sports are awesome, and the athletes that do those things are tougher than a bag full of hammers.  I don't disparage your pursuit in any way.  My point is - endurance training is not the best exercise for health or fitness, and the benefits for fat loss are over-rated.
Reposted to www.fireofthegodsfitness.com March 2015

Jakers: The Paleolithic Model

From my good friend Jason "Jakers" Parent:

The Paleolithic Diet is the diet that we humans are genetically adapted to eat. The paleolithic age is the same as the Stone Age – so this is a stone age diet or life style. This has been humanity’s preferred diet for something like 2.5 million years, and humans have only genetically changed 0.005% since the introduction of agriculture (the Neolithic). As a rule, agricultural (and technological) products are not healthy to eat, and we should predominantly try to eat only those whole foods that are healthy in their raw state (though almost all humans, including hunter-gatherers cook their food).

This is not a quick-fix diet but a way of life. You’re not supposed to starve when you eat only paleo foods. Eat when you’re hungry!

http://tribal-fitness.com/start-here-or-how-to-join-the-tribe/nutrition/