|
"FIGHT TO SLEEP"
Obj: Endurance, Sport Specific Endurance
Training:
(1) Trail Run 1.0 hours, 80-85% MHR
**** Switch Mode to Climbing Gym ****
(2) 5x Pull ups (strict) every 30 seconds for 10 Rounds (5 minutes Total)
(3) Tag Team Effort (2 Players per Team)
T1 - 10x combined V1 Bouldering problems
T2 - Laps on Traverse Wall until T1 Finished
Repeat 4 times
(4) 5 Rounds
4 Minutes up and down climbing Carrying 25# Back Pack
1:1 Work/Rest Ratio
Comments:
I received a thank-you phone call yesterday from an EMT/Firefighter in California who had found the website, tried one
of the workouts, and was "crushed." Over the past several months I've received several similar calls, emails and
comments about the difficulty of our workouts.
And, honestly, I'm not to sure this is a good thing.
Any goon of a strength coach can put together a crushing, killer workout. Making people sore for days or throw up is easy.
But as a gym rat myself, and now as a still-learning strength and conditioning coach, I've realized that judging a workout
or training program based on its difficulty is a dead end.
Heck, I could use bodyweight exercises and sprints everyday and "crush" my athletes. But they wouldn't get any
stronger. Eventually what gains they did achieve would plateau, and begin to degrade. Some would over train. More would simply
become bored.
There's a difference between "hard" and "crushing" - and sometimes that difference can be a fine line.
By design, I want our training sessions to be hard. Difficulty does set an atmosphere of hard work and professionalism in
the gym. Our stuff is no joke, and "tourists" don't last here.
But "crushing" after a while just becomes a little silly. As a gym rat, I discovered that after a while I quit
learning anything and the part of my ego which was propped up by completing the hardest workout in the gym that day seemed
to lose interest.
And then there's the whole idea of transferability. From my own Roughman Contest experience, I learned that first hand.
Prior to my 1 and only boxing match I hammered 5 rounds of "Fight Gone Bad" weekly, and thought I was prepared.
Then after about 90 seconds of all out swinging with 16-oz gloves, I could barely stand up. Somewhere, all those rounds of
"Fight Gone Bad" hit a point of diminishing returns, and after a while, they stopped helping me prepare for my actual
fight, and I spent time just getting better at that individual workout. This lack of proper preparation, combined with my
total lack of boxing skill, went a long way to the TKO the other guy inflicted on me.
This stuff isn't rocket science, but it's not easy either. And the more I learn, it seems the less I know ....
Here are some interesting study results from the July 2008 "Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research"
ENDURANCE TRAINING NEGATIVELY IMPACTS STRENGTH GAINS DESPITE SEQUENCING
It's long been proven that endurance training hampers strength gains from resistance training, but there has been some
question as to how best to combine the two modes in the same session. Should the athlete train endurance before lifting, or
lift first, then train endurance? Researchers in Australia found there was no significant difference between the two when
it came to overall strength and power gains. They used 41 college phys-ed students as subjects and divided them into four
groups: Endurance only, Lifting only, Endurance before Lifting in the same session, and Lifting before Endurance in the same
session. The study found that all the groups with the exception of the endurance only group, increased 1RM squat strength
and jumping power, but that there was no significant difference between the Lifting before Endurance and Endurance before
Lifting groups. However, the Lifting alone group saw strength and power improvements which were significantly greater than
when lifting and endurance were combined, irrespective of the intrasession sequencing.
STRENGTH TRAINING MAKES ENDURANCE RUNNERS STRONGER LONGER
Fatigue in endurance runners results in decreased stride length, which means they slow down. Researchers in Spain, Arizona
and Colorado collaborated a study to research the effects of resistance training on stride length during fatiguing running
bouts. Eighteen wall-trained middle distance runners (1500-5000m events) participated and were divided three groups: (1) Periodized
strength training; (2) non-periodized strength training; (3) control-no strength training. The strength training exercises
used were running specific, and included cleans, snatches, but also consisted of high rep (15-20) exercises using light weights
focused on the hamstrings, calves, and hip flexors. In the end, the group performing the periodized weight training experienced
no decrease in stride length during interval running sessions, whereas the control group and the group performing a non-periodized
strength program did experience decreased stride length.
- Rob Shaul
|
| Kevin & Ben contemplete another round of Thrusters half way through "Shawn's Favorite." |
|
| Andy |
|
