Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Breakfast of Champions
No I'm not talking about wheaties or Dbol. For me, my breakfast of choice has become coffee mixed with two scoops of whey protein and a pinch of instant chocolate pudding. I love coffee and for 5 years or so I have been getting about 30 grams of sugar in every morning coffee. But recently, I switched to protein powder and instant pudding. I replaced 30 grams of sugar with 52 grams of protein and the amount of carbs from the pudding ends up being less than 6 grams per day. This has been a great way for me to start my day and get some extra protein in my diet. Not to mention how much better it tastes. Since I am a chocoholic, mixing chocolate protein with chocolate pudding gives me a nice treat every morning that should make a difference in how I look and feel. Nothing ground breaking but something that should make a difference in the long run. Over the course of a year, my old coffee routine would have me consume 10,950 grams of extra sugar per year. I have now replaced that with 18,980 grams of protein and only 1800 grams of sugar, give or take.
Monday, February 21, 2011
How I Adapted 5/3/1 Periodization To Our Program
When we first started the 5/3/1 protocol, it took some tinkering to get it suited for our program. First off, to get the full take on the 5/3/1 program you have to get Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 book. It is invaluable. You can pick it up at http://www.elitefts.com/. For us, this set/rep scheme seemed perfect. First off, it fit into our 3 weeks of loading with a 1 week of deloading protocol. Second, it allowed us to set a percentage but still allow flexibility to go off the plan if your having a good day. Third it allowed for intra-workout competition between lifters of different abilities.
In a nutshell, the 5/3/1 program has you work up to near a 5 rep max the first week, a 3 rep max the second week, and a 1 rep max the last week. I say near because our percentages are set so on the last set, the lifter can complete more than the minimum required. On the last set, we encourage our lifters to get as many reps as possible without missing or losing technique. These last two points are imperative. We never sacrifice technique and I discourage missing weights almost all of the time. This even works for our in-season lifters or the guy who just stayed up to 4am doing a project. If its a bad day, only complete the reps that are required. If you feel good, get AMRAP. Many times we also do a back down set with a lesser percentage for 8-10 reps for more volume. This program also picks up where linear periodization leaves off. Many of our younger kids gain strength so fast that the percentages can't keep up with them. By having plus sets, we can get around them not doing enough work to continue to make fast progress.
The following is our protocol for squat and it has worked very well. We test a below parallel squat but we train a low box squat. Most of our lifters squat off of a 12 inch box. This puts them well below parallel. You can see my previous post on the box squat for more information. We also drop our percentages for the box squat to account for a pause and a somewhat deeper range of motion. We normally take off about 10% from the training percents. For example, of we were going to start the first week at 80% on squat, we would use 70% like the example below. Since bench press is tested and trained the same, we would use 80% the first week.
Week 1-up to 70% x 5+
Week 2-up to 76% x 3+
Week 3-up to 82% x 1+
Week 4-70% x 5 with no plus sets. Should be easy.
Week 5-up to 73% x 5+
Week 6-up to 79% x 3+
Week 7-up to 85% x 1+
Week 8-70% x 5 with no plus sets. Should be easy.
Week 9- TEST
Week 10-Start over.
This type program insures that most every body is able to complete their daily reps even if they feel bad and allows the lifter to push himself when he feels good. Here is one example of a success story. Very good athlete squatted 365 as an incoming freshman. Squatted 505 at the end of his freshman year. Then squatted 565 at the end of football season. He never trained with more than 435 in the gym but because of our plus sets, he was always able to push himself when he felt good. Our average increase on squat is 56lbs. per semester. We use this protocol on the bench press and squat. We program our clean differently but still maintain a 3/1 load to deload.
In a nutshell, the 5/3/1 program has you work up to near a 5 rep max the first week, a 3 rep max the second week, and a 1 rep max the last week. I say near because our percentages are set so on the last set, the lifter can complete more than the minimum required. On the last set, we encourage our lifters to get as many reps as possible without missing or losing technique. These last two points are imperative. We never sacrifice technique and I discourage missing weights almost all of the time. This even works for our in-season lifters or the guy who just stayed up to 4am doing a project. If its a bad day, only complete the reps that are required. If you feel good, get AMRAP. Many times we also do a back down set with a lesser percentage for 8-10 reps for more volume. This program also picks up where linear periodization leaves off. Many of our younger kids gain strength so fast that the percentages can't keep up with them. By having plus sets, we can get around them not doing enough work to continue to make fast progress.
The following is our protocol for squat and it has worked very well. We test a below parallel squat but we train a low box squat. Most of our lifters squat off of a 12 inch box. This puts them well below parallel. You can see my previous post on the box squat for more information. We also drop our percentages for the box squat to account for a pause and a somewhat deeper range of motion. We normally take off about 10% from the training percents. For example, of we were going to start the first week at 80% on squat, we would use 70% like the example below. Since bench press is tested and trained the same, we would use 80% the first week.
Week 1-up to 70% x 5+
Week 2-up to 76% x 3+
Week 3-up to 82% x 1+
Week 4-70% x 5 with no plus sets. Should be easy.
Week 5-up to 73% x 5+
Week 6-up to 79% x 3+
Week 7-up to 85% x 1+
Week 8-70% x 5 with no plus sets. Should be easy.
Week 9- TEST
Week 10-Start over.
This type program insures that most every body is able to complete their daily reps even if they feel bad and allows the lifter to push himself when he feels good. Here is one example of a success story. Very good athlete squatted 365 as an incoming freshman. Squatted 505 at the end of his freshman year. Then squatted 565 at the end of football season. He never trained with more than 435 in the gym but because of our plus sets, he was always able to push himself when he felt good. Our average increase on squat is 56lbs. per semester. We use this protocol on the bench press and squat. We program our clean differently but still maintain a 3/1 load to deload.
Friday, February 11, 2011
An Interview with Tony Kunczewski, CSCS, Strength and Conditioning Coach LaGrange College
Coach Kunczewski: I have been a strength coach since 2001 all at small colleges including Allegheny College (PA), Bowdoin College (ME) and now at LaGrange College (GA). I’ve been a head strength and conditioning coach for going on six years now. I also train all of the varsity sports here at LaGrange. I have a masters’ degree in exercise science and health promotion. I’ve also been a C.S.C.S. since 2005. I really got heavily interested in strength and conditioning back in college. I was extremely fortunate to have played and trained under Jon Kolb. Coach Kolb was my defensive coordinator and strength coach in college. He was a self-made man who has four super bowl rings with the Pittsburgh Steelers back in the ‘70’s as their starting left tackle. He got me doing the lifts that most people don’t want to do. To quote him, everybody does the “lifts that make you look good for the coin toss.” He had me doing deadlifts, cleans and overhead squats, the fun stuff.
JF: That’s awesome! I remember watching Jon Kolb on the first World’s Strongest Man competitions. He won the sumo wrestling event if I am not mistaken. I love that quote too. That will have to go up on the wall. From what you have already told us, I can get a feel for what your training beliefs are. Can you go into some more detail?
CK: I’ll readily admit that I’ve stolen our basics from others. This quote is from Chris Carlisle from Southern Cal, “How To-How Fast- How Much. It pretty much sums up the basics for our program. We focus on the proper mechanics of the exercise first. For example, when we teach guys how to squat we talk about getting the top of the thigh parallel to the ground. This is the “How To.” Once we have the form down we’ll turn our attention to how fast the bar is traveling. If you want to be fast you must lift fast. We don’t want the bar to move slowly. Only until we get those two figured out will we focus on how much weight we are putting on the bar. We aren’t too fancy as far as our core lifts. We will utilize the clean, snatch and push jerk as our primary Olympic lifts. The bench press, incline and floor press make up our upper body core lifts. The squat, deadlift, front squat and box squat make up our variations of the lower body core lifts. We use a lot of “max effort” lifting where we are finding a weight we can do for a specified amount of reps on the core lifts. We don’t go off of percentages because we feel that they change too frequently to keep up with. Our guys have a weight and rep goal each week to achieve. You must compete each week to achieve your goal. This should be no different than being out on the football field.
JF: Coach, that sounds great. It seems as if we are right in line with our thinking. The weight room should be no different than the football field. This is more the case in college but in high school many coaches are more focused on the “How Much” instead of the “How To”. If the “How To” is taken care of, many times the rest will fall into place. Coach, do you have any unique aspects to your program? What may be different from other programs?
CK: That is a tough question. I try to focus on the methods that have stood the test of time. There are so many things available out there that carry the mystique of being “cutting edge.” The only problem is do they really improve game performance in the long run? We try to spend more time on our guys working hard and competing than being unique. One way we feel helps accomplish those goals is to have a strongman competition every Friday during spring. Our guys compete within different weight classes in everything from tire flips, keg tosses, farmer’s walks, etc. Those events help teach our guys how to compete and finish. Plus, they look forward to the events each week. Making it fun is important.
JF: We added Strongman into our training this year as a finisher after workouts. The level of competition definitely goes up. It has really taught some of our younger guys to really compete. I am sure this had a huge impact at LaGrange College. For those that do not know, LaGrange College didn’t win a game the first 2 years and then won the conference in the 3rd. That is a huge turn around and I know the Strength Program was at the heart of that change. What were some other things that were key to your success? What obstacles did you have to face.
CK: Guys need to see some progress to help motivate them to continue to work hard. We test three times per year, at the start of the spring semester, at the end of the spring semester and at the beginning of camp. There are many reasons as to why we do that, but I believe the biggest is for them to see the success they can have in their personal numbers when they work hard. When you see progress, it can be a great motivator. You’ll always have guys that are resistant for many reasons from the fact that they just hate being in the gym or that we may do things differently than they did in high school. More guys started to “buy in” when we saw those “tangible” results either by their testing numbers or playing numbers. We’ve also had great leadership by example. When you see others busting their butt it hopefully will start to become contagious. That is something you can’t measure.
JF: What are your thoughts on speed and agility training?
CK: We are always careful to train the movement in our specific sport and not to get carried away by doing drills we will never replicate out on the field of play. We love doing any type of cone drill where you’re teaching them to react and not to move in a specific pattern. In most situations in sports, you must be able to change direction on the fly and not in a set pattern. As for speed, the one thing that we try to do is to make sure we are getting full recovery in between sets. If you are tired and trying to train speed than you are no longer training for speed, you are conditioning. At least a 10-12:1 ratio of rest to work is what we use.
JF: Coach I couldn’t agree more. Too many times, coaches think they are training for speed when their guys are over on the side puking. Just working hard isn’t good enough. That leads me to my next question. What are your thoughts on conditioning for football?
CK: Training the correct energy system is vital. Like anything else we want to make it relevant for what they are going to be doing out in the field of play. We won’t run long distances. We won’t run really any further than 110 yards at a time. We will simply cut down on the rest to work ratios. Our conditioning test at the beginning of every camp is the 300 yard shuttle using 25 yard increments.
JF: You have already mentioned a couple of guys who have had an impact on your professionally. Who else as been a good source for you?
CK: As I already mentioned, Jon Kolb got me started in coaching and strength and conditioning specifically. I recently saw a video that he made and he’s doing exercises in his early 60’s that most college age kids couldn’t even imagine being able to perform. Mark Watts, who is the strength coach at Denison University (OH), has been my expert in the field since I started coaching. In small college athletics you have to wear many hats. My primary job is to be the Defensive Coordinator at LaGrange College. It is extremely difficult to attempt to be an expert in two fields. Mark is my “go to” guy in strength and conditioning. Over half of my year is spent working on football. Recruiting takes up a lot of the time as well. I miss some opportunities to expand my knowledge in the strength field. He is a great resource for me personally. I’ve also been fortunate to be located very close to Auburn University and Coach Kevin Yoxall is one of the best in the business. He’s been gracious enough to open up his doors to me on numerous occasions.
JF: What resources do you recommend for strength coaches who are looking to learn more about our profession?
CK: The best book I’ve read by far on the “How To” part of teaching the main lifts is Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore.
Three websites have been very helpful to me and I’d highly recommend them:
Elite Fitness Systems (www.elitefts.com)
DeFranco’s Training (www.defrancostraining.com)
Parisi Speed School (www.parisisquarespace.com)
JF: I am a huge Mark Rippetoe fan. I haven’t read Starting Strength but I have read Practical Programming. His information is top notch. Coach thanks for taking the time to speak with us today. I hope next season goes well for you.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Alleviating Lower Back Pain
Lower back pain is something that many individuals have to deal with on a daily basis whether they train or not. There are many causes and I am of the opinion that the problem is rarely the lower back itself. Instead, the problem lies in the surrounding muscles which can get too tight or too weak. The usual suspects are the hamstrings, glutes, piriformis, and hip flexors. The first thing I always check on an athlete complaining of low back pain or stiffness is the piriformis. The piriformis is an external rotator of the hip and can easily become tight just from daily activities. The best stretch I have found for the piriformis is a stretch which I have no name for. Stand in front of a stable object like a squat rack pin or table that is about waist high. The height of the object will vary depending on flexibility. Take your leg to be stretched and flex the knee at 90 degrees, rotate the hip, and place the outside of the lower leg across your rack or table. The goal is to get the lower leg to lay completely flat. Hold for 20-30 seconds and repeat with the other leg. It is natural for one leg to be tighter than the other so spend more time on the tight leg as that is usually what is causing the pain. The next most popular in my experience is the hamstrings. Almost everyone in America has tight hamstrings from sitting down all day. The best way to stretch the hamstrings is to bring the leg up and not to bend over. I prefer to find something to place the heal on (like your aforementioned stable object) and stretch on there. Be sure to keep the hips square and the toe straight up. Hold the stretch for 20-30 seconds. The last is the hip flexors. For me, the best hip flexor stretch is partner assisted. Lie on a table with your hips hanging off the end of the table. Flex one knee and pull it to your chest while your partner pushes the other knee down. Again hold for 20-30 seconds concentrating most on the tighter leg.
Tips for increasing flexibility...
1. Stretch often, as in, all day long. Every chance you get, stretch. You don't have to hold it forever. Stretching multiple times per day for short durations is much better and will yield far greater results than stretching for a concentrated block of time. I have experienced this with my flexibility and shorter, more often is better.
2. Use PNF techniques if you can. This can lessen the time it takes to stretch. Search for some PNF techniques if you have no idea what I am talking about.
3. Commit to it! I finally commited myself to stretching multiple times per day and it took about a week for my lower back stiffness that I have been dealing with for 10 years to go away. Kinda makes you wonder why I didn't do it sooner.
4. If you feel raditiating or shooting pain, or you have numbness and tingling, chances are that you do have some sort of disc issue and stretching might not be enough. It may help, but probably won't get rid of the pain completely.
Tips for increasing flexibility...
1. Stretch often, as in, all day long. Every chance you get, stretch. You don't have to hold it forever. Stretching multiple times per day for short durations is much better and will yield far greater results than stretching for a concentrated block of time. I have experienced this with my flexibility and shorter, more often is better.
2. Use PNF techniques if you can. This can lessen the time it takes to stretch. Search for some PNF techniques if you have no idea what I am talking about.
3. Commit to it! I finally commited myself to stretching multiple times per day and it took about a week for my lower back stiffness that I have been dealing with for 10 years to go away. Kinda makes you wonder why I didn't do it sooner.
4. If you feel raditiating or shooting pain, or you have numbness and tingling, chances are that you do have some sort of disc issue and stretching might not be enough. It may help, but probably won't get rid of the pain completely.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Posterior Chain Development
The posterior chain has become the go to area over the past ten years or so and it deserves the attention it receives. I also firmly believe that non-contact ACL tears can be nearly eliminated by proper training of the hamstrings. For those that are not familiar, the posterior chain consists of the hamstrings, glutes, and low back muscles. These muscles are responsible for most jumping and sprinting ability. For the reason it is crucial for this area to be attacked if you want to succeed in your chosen sport. It needs to be hit fast, heavy, and for conditioning. I will give a few of my favorite exercises today.
Deadlifts
Nothing quite compares to a deadlift when it comes to posterior chain development. There is not another exercise around that allows you to load the PC with anything amount of weight close to a bent knee deadlift. I also feel deadlifts are superior for gaining over all muscle mass. One of my favorite variations of the deadlift is the deadlift standing on plates or mats. This added range of motion is wonderful for building strength and mass in the PC. I prefer reps in the 3-5 range although more or less can be beneficial. We do the deadlift as an assistance exercise and base our percentages off of our 1RM on the squat and usually stay between 67% and 91% of our squat for 2-3 sets of 3-5 reps.
Romanian Deadlift
The RDL is another wonderful exercise for building strength in the PC. The proper technique is an arched back, shoulder blades together, knees slightly bent, weight on the heels, and bending at the waist and not through the back. Once the back starts to lose the arch, its time to come up. This exercise also has the ability to deliver and intense stretch to the hamstrings if done properly. We base our percentages off of the clean and usually stay between 61% and 76% for 6-10 reps.
Band Good Mornings
I have always loved band good mornings. We do high reps at the end of our training session, usually up to 20-25 reps for multiple sets. During extra workouts, we have guys do a set number like 75-100 in as many sets as it takes. You can do these straight legged, bent legged, squatting, etc. It doesn't really matter and you can change within a set if you like.
Barbell Good Mornings
To this day this is about the only thing that I can count on to make my deadlift go up. For young athletes it can be very frustrating to teach them to keep an arch. The technique is basically the same as the RDL except the bar is on the traps. We keep the reps to 6-10 and base it off of our snatch so lighter weights can be used although I am not against going heavier when proper technique is achieved. To me, this may still be the king of PC exercises when done correctly.
Below Parallel Squats
Whether you do these on a low box or free, low squats are still a great exercise for posterior chain development and to me more so for the low back and glutes although much of that depends on body structure.
Sled Drags
Walking with a weight sled is wonderful for bulding the hamstrings and contributing to recovery. The most absolute awful variation of sled dragging is walking holding the straps between your legs. You will be bent over the entire time, and the hamstrings get destroyed. This is very uncomfortable and makes you look rather ridiculous.
Band Pullthroughs
This is another of my favorites. Take a large jumpstretch band and choke it around something sturdy, preferably a squat rack. Face away from it and place the band around your traps like a band good morning. Walk out a few feet, let the band pull you through your legs for a stretch and then stand up. You will have to lean out to keep from falling back and this usually takes some learning to be able to perform correctly. Reallly squeeze the glutes hard and be sure to achieve full hip extension. We also teach a wide stance but this is more for stability than anything. It probably doesn't matter. We keep reps on this in 8-15 range, also.
These are just a few of the exercises that we use on a weekly basis. Our staples are pullthrough, band good mornings, and of course we squat and clean every week. The other things we rotate in and there are some I didn't mention that are worth while. We use a full body program three days per week and we hit the PC chain at some point on every one of those days.
Deadlifts
Nothing quite compares to a deadlift when it comes to posterior chain development. There is not another exercise around that allows you to load the PC with anything amount of weight close to a bent knee deadlift. I also feel deadlifts are superior for gaining over all muscle mass. One of my favorite variations of the deadlift is the deadlift standing on plates or mats. This added range of motion is wonderful for building strength and mass in the PC. I prefer reps in the 3-5 range although more or less can be beneficial. We do the deadlift as an assistance exercise and base our percentages off of our 1RM on the squat and usually stay between 67% and 91% of our squat for 2-3 sets of 3-5 reps.
Romanian Deadlift
The RDL is another wonderful exercise for building strength in the PC. The proper technique is an arched back, shoulder blades together, knees slightly bent, weight on the heels, and bending at the waist and not through the back. Once the back starts to lose the arch, its time to come up. This exercise also has the ability to deliver and intense stretch to the hamstrings if done properly. We base our percentages off of the clean and usually stay between 61% and 76% for 6-10 reps.
Band Good Mornings
I have always loved band good mornings. We do high reps at the end of our training session, usually up to 20-25 reps for multiple sets. During extra workouts, we have guys do a set number like 75-100 in as many sets as it takes. You can do these straight legged, bent legged, squatting, etc. It doesn't really matter and you can change within a set if you like.
Barbell Good Mornings
To this day this is about the only thing that I can count on to make my deadlift go up. For young athletes it can be very frustrating to teach them to keep an arch. The technique is basically the same as the RDL except the bar is on the traps. We keep the reps to 6-10 and base it off of our snatch so lighter weights can be used although I am not against going heavier when proper technique is achieved. To me, this may still be the king of PC exercises when done correctly.
Below Parallel Squats
Whether you do these on a low box or free, low squats are still a great exercise for posterior chain development and to me more so for the low back and glutes although much of that depends on body structure.
Sled Drags
Walking with a weight sled is wonderful for bulding the hamstrings and contributing to recovery. The most absolute awful variation of sled dragging is walking holding the straps between your legs. You will be bent over the entire time, and the hamstrings get destroyed. This is very uncomfortable and makes you look rather ridiculous.
Band Pullthroughs
This is another of my favorites. Take a large jumpstretch band and choke it around something sturdy, preferably a squat rack. Face away from it and place the band around your traps like a band good morning. Walk out a few feet, let the band pull you through your legs for a stretch and then stand up. You will have to lean out to keep from falling back and this usually takes some learning to be able to perform correctly. Reallly squeeze the glutes hard and be sure to achieve full hip extension. We also teach a wide stance but this is more for stability than anything. It probably doesn't matter. We keep reps on this in 8-15 range, also.
These are just a few of the exercises that we use on a weekly basis. Our staples are pullthrough, band good mornings, and of course we squat and clean every week. The other things we rotate in and there are some I didn't mention that are worth while. We use a full body program three days per week and we hit the PC chain at some point on every one of those days.
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