Athletic

The Truth About Long Duration Extreme Isometrics

Although the mystique of Jay Schroeder’s Evosport is all but gone, some legend still remains.

After all, Adam Archuleta was quite the physical specimen.

Most discussions that pop-up are centered on long duration extreme isometrics, as they were at the forefront of Evosport after Jay said that the five minute holds were all anyone needed.

It’s a shame, really. One outlandish claim dismissed the entire method.

Even though I disagree with some of the smoke around LDISOs, they do have great uses. Maybe not to the extent of the hype. But definitely worthy for a space in the ol’ toolbox.

1. THE ULTIMATE MOTOR REPROGRAMMING TOOL?

After having done extreme isometrics, I can honestly say that most modern activation theories, concepts, and exercises suck. Like Deadly Towers kind of suck. (If you’ve never played Deadly Towers, conceive the worst video game with your imagination. Got it? Good. That’s Deadly Towers.)

Let’s take the glutes for instance. Everyone wants to activate their glutes these days anyway. Hearing the activation hogwash, most people do glute bridges. But during a bridge, the glutes only get a strong contraction for *maybe* a half-second. Three sets and ten repetitions later, and your glutes were only “on” for twenty seconds.

But a one minute LDISO lunge has the glute “maximally” contracted for sixty seconds. (By the way, speaking of glutes, by virtue of “pulling” into position, LDISOs are all about deactivating the quads and getting the posterior chain and hips up to snuff.)

Alex Vasquez also notes that in some positions, like the lunge, there are other movement specific goodies to learn, like how to drive weight from the big toe. But even with something like the bench press, the LDISO push-up solidifies the concept of keeping a tight back.

Most of the concepts, specifically with activation, in An Athlete’s Guide to Chronic Knee Pain are adaptations of lessons learned during my Evosport stint. At some point, you have to learn how to use the hips from an upright position by learning how to drive vertically driven movement with the posterior chain. Or, as I like to call it, turning up and down movements into back and forth movements. This, in my opinion, is the holy grail of eliminating chronic knee pain.

2. THE FOUNDATION FOR EXPLOSIVE MOVEMENT?

Activation is at the foundation of Evosport because explosive moments happen so fast that there’s no time to think about turning on and off certain muscles. So to repattern movements, the new patterns have to first be learned in slower movements to the point of unconscious activation.

Since extreme isometrics involve little-no movement, they are the ideal candidate — especially because they are specific to upright movement. So you learn how to activate the muscles from an upright position, then learn how to absorb force holding the same recruitment patterns, then lean how to output the same way.

But there’s also the nature of isometric contractions themselves. An often underappreciated part of explosion is the isometric contraction that happens during the amortization phase of movement. Even during the most explosive of explosive things, there’s an isometric contraction.

Building up eccentric strength ensures a safe transition into shock training. Again, this is the foundational theory behind An Athlete’s Guide to Chronic Knee Pain, which follows the same motor reprogramming ladder as Evosport. Drive movement with the right muscles, and then incorporate it into explosiveness.

3. THE ULTIMATE STRETCHING METHOD?

Each position is an active pull into a range of motion, making LDISOs great for flexibility.

There’s an offshoot theory that the active-ness and duration of the holds also adjusts soft tissue, delivering a benefit similar to self myofascial release (foam rolling.)

Kelly Starrett of Mobility WOD often says that tissues need two minutes of mobilization for meaningful change, so this might actually have some street cred.

4. THE GATEWAY TO INSANE MUSCLE AND PERFORMANCE?

LDISOs prime for explosive movement and “teach” force absorption. This can means more potential for force output. More force output means more strength. More strength means more muscle. (And while purely anecdotal: Archuleta was one strong mofo for his weight and height.)

A few years ago, Christian Thibaudeau’s launched a program called, “I, Bodybuilder.” The jist of the program was teaching bodybuilders how to exploit maximum force potential. Coincidence?

For performance, Jay once said that LDISOs improve nervous system function via increased parasympathetic dominance. This is a concept I talk about in many articles, including my recently released “The Myth of HIIT.” Having a parasympathetic dominant nervous system allows for relaxation in times of stress, which delivers better performance. Alex Vasquez said his golfers noticed this phenomenon.

I’m not quite sure I believe this one though. Gymnasts hold intense isometric contractions too, and we don’t hear much about this from them. But I will say that trying to hold a position of any sort for five minutes requires you to go to a happy place and become “numb” to feeling.

5. THE ANSWER TO RECOVERY AND INJURIES?

Active recovery methods are commonly used to circulate blood flow through damaged tissues because blood flow promotes healing. By nature of the isometric contraction, LDISOs shut off the blood pumps to the muscle. When the contraction is released, however, the muscle becomes engorged with blood that built up during the occlusion.

Lactic environments also strengthen tendons better than other forms of training. As I’m sure you can guess, the longer a LDISO is held, the more lactic the exercise becomes.

6. THE ULTIMATE WARM-UP AND COOL-DOWN?

From personal experience, I’ve noticed that holding a LDISO for a short time early in the day greatly reduces the time needed to warm-up and negates overall stiffness prior to exercise later in the day.

They’re also a great cool-down tool as they do wonders for flexibility.

====>WHAT TO TAKE HOME <====

I don’t hold LDISOs for five minutes, nor do I recommend it. Likewise, I don’t — or recommend to — hold all seven positions. You can say that I simply use the term “LDISO” to mean “pulling” into a position for a certain amount of time.

Truthfully, my perception and implementation of Jay’s method aren’t die-hard Evosport. I simply took what I found useful and adapted it within my belief system. Here’s a summary of that usefulness.

The two LDISOs everyone should do are the lunge and the push-up. They deliver the greatest bang for your buck and also are great for posture and learning how to move correctly.
I don’t think LDISOs need held longer than one minute per set. Two minutes max if you think they adjust soft tissue. If you wanted to hit five minutes and adhere to the mystique, that’s fine. I don’t think it’s a negative thing. But I’d break it down into smaller sets through out the day. When it comes to reprogramming, frequency is your friend.
LDISOs are nothing more than a motor reprogramming tool.
Any time you’re trying to reprogram the body, start with an isometric contraction of some sorts. They give you time to think.
The ultimate reward of LDISOs isn’t necessarily in the duration of the hold, it’s in the action of the hold. Once you understand how to “pull” into position, you’re 90% of the way there.
There is power in eccentrics.
If you want to learn how to get explosive, follow these steps. First, activate the right muscles. Second, integrate that activation into motor patterns. Third, develop endurance with the activation within the motor pattern. Fourth, teach those muscles in that motor pattern how to absorb force. Fifth, teach those muscles how to output force.

I’m not denying that Jay Schroeder is a little over-the-top with his claims. But Evosport is constructed around old soviet sports training. There are some good things about it. But I wouldn’t see it as an all-or-nothing venture. Experiment with pieces, and integrate the useful ones into your belief system.

But overall — and ironically enough — Archuleta himself closed the book on Evosport.

“You could jump and you could exercise all day long, but that doesn’t mean you are going to get any better. Everyone squats and everybody runs and everybody jumps and everybody benches, but it’s the way that you do it. There’s no secret exercise. It’s the way it’s applied.”

When it comes to everything fitness and athletics there’s one huge secret. The only real secret is that there is no secret.

CONFUZZLED? MAYBE THE 242 METHOD WILL HELP

It’s not really my style to throw out a training method that makes you question the foundation of your current program. When I first stumbled upon Evosport, I got started with isometrics and slowly abandoned my normal lifts. While I don’t regret it, I wish I had a way that let me experiment with new things and still somehow progress on the lifts that were going to have the biggest impact on my success.

Luckily, with the 242 Method, you can do just that. Experiment away and still make progress. If you want to get the eBook for free, enter your name an e-mail address at the top of the screen and sign-up for my newsletter. This eBook will be blasted off tomorrow for free to everyone on my list. That’s two free eBooks in one week. It’s like the treasure chest shop. Only you didn’t have to pay me any rupees.

But in all seriousness, I put a lot of time and effort into both of these eBooks. I’m truly a shitty writer, so I revised these things a million times over and they are likely still filled with errors. They are culmination of years of my own failure and what I learned from top notch coaches. Thanks to everyone that piloted both books and to those that have given me great feedback.

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Read Part One of this series here: Evosport and Extreme Long Duration Isometrics.

….lastly….shoot me your questions about either the 242 method or Evosport below. I’d love to hear from you. (And don’t forget. Sign-up for the free eBook, The 242 Method.)

Evosport and Extreme Long Duration Isometrics

Back in 2000, there existed a training method so compelling it was featured on ESPN.

The performance world was in a tizz.

Coaches clammed about it all just making “sense.”

Even Elite FTS buzzed.

It was “in.”

But, now, it’s “out.”

Way out.

Few know of the coach. Less know of the method.

But both Jay Schroeder and Evosport live on.

WHAT STARTED EVOSPORT

Adam Archuleta captivated the world with a 2001 NFL combine performance so impressive, he was later featured on ESPN. But unlike most athletic phenoms, Archuleta was a long shot to go pro. He wasn’t even recruited out of high school.

When it came time to conquer the combine, however, Archuleta was stacked. At a body weight of 211 and a height of 6’1”, he was about as muscular as a guy his size could have been. (Even though he was listed as high as 223 during his career.) He posted a 4.42 forty yard dash, a 39” vertical jump, and 31 reps in the 225 bench press test — a record for defensive backs at the time. This performance propelled him a first round pick in the NFL Draft.

Yet Archuleta’s on-field performance never hit the hype–even after he signed the most lucrative contract for a safety (at the time) with the Washington Redskins–and is known as one of the biggest NFL busts in history. Well, that and marrying Playboy Playmate Jennifer Walcott.

He was the poster boy for Evosport, a training system designed by Jay Schroeder. So when Archuleta flew, Evosport flew. But whether it was his buster career, or Schroeder’s outrageous claims, Evosport crashed as fast as it climbed.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT EVOSPORT

Before moving on, here’s my disclaimer: I’m no Evosport expert. Jay is secretive with his methods, so it’s hazy. Everything known is passed down ten times from different sources. It’s a frankenstein game of telephone. What I know is a combination of listening to Alex Vasquez and digging through forums since 2008ish. So this is as far as I could motivate myself to shove the spade in the soil.

From the exterior, Evosport is a training method that exploits the explosive potential of an athlete. (I remember Jay once saying that the specific sport doesn’t matter and that all athletes should be treated the same.) All things considered, Jay’s way of doing this is bit erratic and extreme. After all, Archeluta admits being dropped from head height with intent of “catching” himself in a push-up position.

But these shock methods are the ending of the Evosport infrastructure, and aren’t where panties get twisted. That happens on the walls of the ground floor, which are decorated with extreme, long duration isometrics.

ACTIVATION AND EXTREME, LONG DURATION ISOMETRICS

The relationship here, and skeleton of Evosport, is this: the ultimate goal is exploiting explosiveness for sport. Ninety percent of people rush into shock training and plyometrics. But Evosport first builds a foundation with the philosophy being that before you can rapidly produce force, you have to know how to rapidly absorbing force. And before absorption even, you have to use the right muscles for the job.

So a crude look at the framework is this:

activation
absorption
propulsion

Although not explicitly stated, skipping the preliminary stages limits absolute potential. So jumping right into plyometrics (note to self: good pun) isn’t advised. Yaddah yaddah yaddah, bad engine in a fancy car, yaddah yaddah yaddah.

IT STARTS WITH EXTREME LONG DURATION ISOMETRICS

The concept of muscle activation is nothing new. (Although it very well could have been in 2001, as I was nothing but a young buck that watched anime and snacked on frozen pizzas.) But, basically, if the “wrong” muscles are turning on in a given movement, gains will be sub-par. So the first step is getting the “right” muscles to turn on.

But Evosport’s method of activation is a little “more” than today’s idea of doing a few low intensity bodyweight exercises during a warm-up. Evosport focuses on mastering something called extreme isometrics, also known as long duration isometrics (LDISOs).

LDISOs are positions held “isometrically” (and I use quotes because they technically aren’t isometric) with an emphasis on select maximal muscular activation. While there are many facets to Evosport, LDISOs are the most discussed and disputed.

WHAT THE HELL ARE EXTREME LONG DURATION ISOMETRICS?

Jay had seven extreme isometric positions:

Push-up
Scapular Pull-up
Dip
Lunge
1-Legged Squat
Standing Hamstring
Curl

As legend goes, Jay’s athletes master all seven positions before advancing to any other training. “Mastering” in this case means holding the extreme isometrics for five consecutive minutes. But whether or not this is fact or faked, no one really knows. People that have seen Jay’s programs report no mention of five minute holds. Just another part of the Evosport mystique.

Despite being described as “isometrics,” these exercises weren’t fully isometric (without movement) because they involve maximally “pulling” into position. (A concept so difficult to grasp, typing this is likely all for naught.)

For instance, in a push-up or dip, the focus isn’t on the chest. It’s on the back because in order to “pull” into a deep push-up position, the shoulder blades need squeezed together. So it’s not about resisting gravity. It’s about pulling into position. Maximally. For five minutes. (Although, doing something for five continuous minutes is hardly maximal, and one of the reasons for panty plica.)

And, let me tell you, five minutes is a long time. Holding a position for thirty seconds is a long time. But five? That’s longer than I spend fixing my hair for weddings.

Here’s an another example of this “pulling,” using the the lunge as an example. The rear leg actively extends into maximal hip extension, while the front leg actively pursues hip flexion. The key word in all of this being active. Extreme isometrics are active exercises that involve maximally pulling into a position.

THE STRUCTURE OF EVOSPORT

Both body position and muscle activation are “learned” through extreme long duration isometrics. LDISOs change how the body functions and how the muscles activate during movement.

Because they are performed “slowly” (little movement), they are ideal for reprogramming activation because your mind can be 100% in the muscles.

Once you can hold the position and muscle recruitment pattern in slow movements, you can then transition them into dynamic contractions, followed by absorption, and finishing with propulsion. This is the structure of Evosport. So even though the crazy shock methods seem erratic, they aren’t haphazard. Instead, they are but one piece in a program with ample progressive elements.

EXTREME ISOMETRICS…OR GARBAGE?

Although Evosport sounds all well and good, the storm cloud hovers above extreme long duration isometrics. Zealots say that LDISOs have zero benefit unless held for a continuous five minutes. (Sorry Mr. Four Minutes And Fifty Nine Seconds. You didn’t quite make it.) Others say that total duration matters most, making five total one minute sets just as effective.

But outside of the minutae, Jay made outrageous claims about extreme isometrics which didn’t help his reputation. For instance, he said he was able to take people weighing 365 pounds down to 160 pounds in less than one year, with no special diet or training outside of the extreme isometrics. This, in addition to listing himself as a ”drug free world champion powerlifter” and “elite sprinter” with no evidence to back up it up, turns people off to Jay and Evosport.

Even with the dust clouds surrounding Jay, I think the overarching methodology of Evosport is rather sound. Jay had some crazy ideas. But he also had some good ones. And while I’m not married to extreme isometrics, but I think they can be beneficial.

OTHER EVOSPORT THEORIES

Jay’s other ideas include:

Training near daily, to teach the body how to always be “on.” (With a set-up similar to concentrated loading.) He felt that the body should be prepared for anything at anytime — similar to former Bulgarian Olympic weightlifting coach, Ivan Abadajiev. Although Archuleta’s injury laden career might be evidence against this particular ideology.
Only doing squats as low as proper position and activation could be maintained.
Training to a 3-7% drop off in performance in attempt predict the resultant supercompensation period. Different repetition ranges were associated with different fatigue levels. This can get complex, but suffice to say, each set was maximal to seek performance drops.

THE TAKE HOME

Before you cream in your jeans about Evosport, know that the world has already survived the isometric explosion. It came. It went. But part of the reason why I think it’s “gone” is because Jay got so much attention and he saw dolla-dolla bills ‘yall. So he kept his methods secret and mystified the hell out of them. Although he lives on today and blabbers on about something he calls the ARPwave (which is once again full of outlandish claims), Jay killed himself.

It’s a shame. Evosport — or what I perceive as Evosport — has more structure than a lot of the methods out there. But it has to be approached with care. Despite crazy assertions with extreme, long duration isometrics, they are nothing more than motor reprogramming tools. And damn good ones at that. Don’t fall trap to the five minute babble, either. The isometric, absorption, and propulsion progression is another gem that shouldn’t be lost.

An Athlete’s Guide to Chronic Knee Pain is a shell of Evosport theories. In fact, diving into LDISOs was how I began to fix my chronic knee pain and develop the infrastructure to the book. But to better apply it to the world, I went about reprogramming in a friendlier way.

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Read Part Two of this series: The Truth About Long Duration Extreme Isometrics.

YOU TELL ME WHAT THE NEXT STEP IS

I’m already started on the second article in this series that will be posted Thursday. It reviews some of the claims and benefits associated specifically with extreme, long duration isometrics.

But I want to know what you think? What do you want to know about Evosport? What do you want to know about LDISOs?

Let me know, and I’ll try to dig up some dirt.

Intermittent Fasting for Athletes

The evidence for intermittent fasting being useful, or at the very least effective, for physique competitors is compelling.

But what if you aren’t a physique competitor?

After all, physique is different than performance.

And the reality is that most everyone high on fasting is a fitness professional, most of which are only concerned about looking good.

But what about those of us that are…a little more?

What about someone like myself, that lifts, tricks, and plays recreational sports? What about the days when I lift early and play late?

In other words, what if your life isn’t optimized solely for weight-training workouts? And what about life beyond the barbell?

Fasting for weight-training is all well and good, but we’re talking about performance here. Can fasters still perform at a high level?

A QUICK NOTE ON THE SCHEMES

Before diving into any research or practical experience, know that the word “fast” is being generalized here. There are many fasting schemes, like Martin Berkhan’s, Brad Pilon’s, and Ori Hofmekler’s.

To do my best at generalizing, I focused on the extremes. For instance, seeing no performance impairment after a 3.5 day fast makes it easier to predict shorter duration fast effects.

RAMADAN TO THE RESCUE

When it comes to performance and intermittent fasting, we lucked out. There’s a host of athlete specific fasting research thanks to the religious observance of Ramadan.

During Ramadan, participants fast from both food and drink from sun-up to sun-down. So it’s tremendously hellish compared to most of our comfy fasting experiments that have us sipping on coffee and chugging water.

Keep that mind: these athletes are going without food and drink. It’s safe to say that they would undoubtedly perform better with some kind of hydration.

YOUR INITIAL PREDICTIONS ARE WRONG

No food or drink for hours upon hours? Performance has to drop. Right?

I would think so too.

But this just isn’t the case.

Many studies (see end of post) and stories show athletes of all shapes and sizes doing just fine without both food and drink. But there are also some downsides.

Here’s a quick rundown:

Performance, for the most part, is maintained.
Performance never increased as a result of fasting.
During Ramadan, few athletes eat enough to match caloric demands.
But when body weight is lost, it’s mostly fat, not muscle mass.
Huge feasts before bedtime can negatively affect sleep.
Experienced Ramadan athletes handle the fast better and have performances to show for it.
Anticipatory feelings towards a meal can disturb performance.

OVERALL FEELINGS

It’s safe to say that performance—for the most part—can be maintained on an empty stomach.

Overall, it seems athletes with stable mindsets do the best. So craving food and obsessing over hunger is foregone failure.

Anyone that ventures into intermittent fasting knows that it takes time to get used to new eating patterns. And yet these athletes are suddenly thrown into a situation without both food and drink for 12-or-so hours. So their maintenance of performance markers is impressive. The big take home here is that hunger is apparently what you make of it.

HANG UPS WITH FASTING FOR PERFORMANCE

More so than specific nutritional demands, the main consideration for an athlete and fasting is living at the extremes.

What I mean by this is that you’re either hungry, or you’re full. A hungry athlete isn’t going to perform well unless they are mentally conditioned to accept hunger as an arbitrary feeling. Most people, however, associate hunger with depletion.

But the other side might even be worse—performing on a full stomach. Big meals increase parasympathetic nervous system activation. Think of the Thanksgiving sleepy effect. Not good.

WALKING THE LINE

The ironic part about intermittent fasting and performance is that if you’re considering it (or even experimenting with it), you likely have a better diet than most professional athletes. (Who usually eat garbage. To the left is Michael Phelps’s “diet.”)

To decide whether or not fasting is for you, and to see how to arrange it around your activities, first ask yourself if you thrive or dive on hunger?

If you can manage hunger fine, the Ramadan studies show that most performance markers can be maintained.

Here are some suggestions:

Have your biggest meal later in the day, after any strenuous activity. Don’t worry about eating late, it might even benefit you. But don’t overly jam calories down your throat before hitting the pillow, as it can funk up sleep.
Don’t eat any big meals 6-8 hours before activity.
Follow a general template of scheduled meal times, but don’t be overly anal about it. Late games might mean eating a larger meal at 10-11PM. That’s OK, even if your last meal should be at 8ish.
If you’re doing anything strenuous for over an hour, think about getting something small in your stomach beforehand. Not so close to the activity, but not so far either. Just make sure it’s small enough to feel “neutral.” Don’t be starved. Don’t be stuffed.
This is more of a personal anecdote, but a heavy dose of carbohydrates prior to activity never ends well. On almost every experimental trial, carbohydrates (outside of something small like fruit), resulted in a crash and burn. So if you lift early and play late, save the big carbohydrate meal for later (not post-workout).
If you’re having trouble fitting in the calories, be sure to optimize your “off days” when nothing is planned. So maybe a few hectic days can’t be as “structured” as you prefer, and you can’t eat enough and adhere to fasting principles. Just take the hit. But fill up on the days that allow for more structure.
If you want to carb cycle, be mindful of what kind of athlete you are and what your macro demands are.

BIG CONCLUSIONS

The big takeaway here is that hunger isn’t going to kill your performance. Every day, collegiate and professional athlete’s train at 6AM. The vast majority don’t eat anything before their training. Most of them are still half asleep, actually.

When your feeding period starts, eat or or two smaller meals. Don’t get full. Don’t be starved. (Unless you can mentally tame hunger because, really, performance won’t take much of a hit.) Save your big meal for after any practice, games, or activity.

Do you have any experience with fasting and activity outside of weight-training? I’d love to hear your opinion, so post it in the comments. I’ll see you there.

LITERATURE REVIEW

1. The effect of time-of-day and Ramadan fasting on anaerobic performances.

Findings: Before Ramadan, athlete’s had better night performances. During Ramadan, peak power dropped at night, but still matched morning performances. Perceived feeling of fatigue increased at night.

2. Subjective Perception of Sports Performance, Training, Sleep and Dietary Patterns of Malaysian Junior Muslim Athletes during Ramadan Intermittent Fasting.

Findings: Opinions all over the place. Half of participants said Ramadan had no effect. Over half said they were tired during the day. Only 40% were able to maintain caloric intake.

Thoughts: Maybe ones that reported fatigue couldn’t maintain intake?

3. Effect of ramadan fasting on body composition and physical performance in female athletes.

Findings: Most athlete’s couldn’t consume enough calories, bodyweight dropped. But there minimal to no drop in performance. Average deficit around 500 calories.

4. Effects of fasting during ramadan month on cognitive function in muslim athletes.

Findings: Performances requiring sustained rapid responses decreased in evening. Performances not dependant on speed stayed the same.

5. Ramadan and Its Effect on Fuel Selection during Exercise and Following Exercise Training.

Findings: “Separately, a single bout of endurance exercise places similar metabolic stress on the body as fasting since the exercising muscle must reduce its use of carbohydrate and utilize lipid more readily as exercise progresses. Not surprisingly therefore, adaptations in muscle to repeated bouts of endurance exercise (endurance training) are similar to those seen with repeated fasting/refeeding.”

6. Temporal Patterns of Subjective Experiences and Self-Regulation during Ramadan Fasting among Elite Archers: A Qualitative Analysis.

Findings: “Overall patterns revealed that experiences associated with physical, emotional, behavioral, and spiritual dimensions dominated in the first phase of fasting, while the mental dimension surfaced increasingly in the latter phase of fasting.”

7. Investigating Two Different Training Time Frames during Ramadan Fasting.

Findings: No difference in performance. But bodyweight dropped.

8. Effect of Ramadan intermittent fasting on aerobic and anaerobic performance and perception of fatigue in male elite judo athletes.

Findings: Fasting didn’t affect aerobic and alactic anaerobic performance. Anaerobic lactic suffered a bit.

9. Effects of Ramadan fasting on 60 min of endurance running performance in moderately trained men.

Findings: Didn’t affect performance.

10. Effects of Ramadan intermittent fasting on sports performance and training: a review.

Findings: “Whereas subjective feelings of fatigue and other mood indicators are often cited as implying additional stress on the athlete throughout Ramadan, most studies show these measures may not be reflected in decreases in performance. The development and early implementation of sensible eating and sleeping strategies can greatly alleviate the disruptions to training and competitiveness, thus allowing the athlete to perform at a high level while undertaking the religious intermittent fast.”

11. Intermittent fasting improves functional recovery after rat thoracic contusion spinal cord injury.

Findings: Perhaps intermittent fasting can enhance recovery?

12. Effects of Ramadan intermittent fasting on middle-distance running performance in well-trained runners.

Findings: “At the end of Ramadan fasting, a decrease in MVC was observed (-3.2%; P < 0.00001; η, 0.80), associated with an increase in the time constant of oxygen kinetics (+51%; P < 0.00007; η, 0.72) and a decrease in performance (-5%; P < 0.0007; η, 0.51). No effect was observed on running efficiency or maximal aerobic power.”

13. Effects of Ramadan fasting on physical performance and metabolic, hormonal, and inflammatory parameters in middle-distance runners.

Findings: Hormones mostly stayed the same through Ramadan, but there were some sleep disturbances and increased adrenaline overall.

14. The influence of Ramadan on physical performance measures in young Muslim footballers.

Findings: Zero performance effects.

15. Precompetition taper and nutritional strategies: special reference to training during Ramadan intermittent fast.

Findings: Experienced athletes are able to maintain performance.

16. Effect of Ramadan fasting on some biochemical and haematological parameters in Tunisian youth soccer players undertaking their usual training and competition schedule.

Findings: Zero effects.

17. Effect of Ramadan fasting on fuel oxidation during exercise in trained male rugby players.

Findings: Caloric intake reduced. There was more fat used as a fuel substrate and lower body fat levels found after Ramadan.

18. Impact of Ramadan on physical performance in professional soccer players.

Findings: Decreased performance. But what’s interesting is that players thought there would be.

19. Lipid Profiles of Judo Athletes during Ramadan.

Findings: Reduced body fat levels and able to maintain training load.

How to Sketch Strength and Performance [Free Stuff Inside]

When I was a youngling, I wanted to be a concept artist. I was never really good at drawing, but I held high ambitions after falling in love with Joe Mad’s Dragonkind pieces. (And if he does a Zelda comic, I might just pass out.)

Like most wannabe artists, I expected every drawing to be a masterpiece. But I quickly learned that becoming a better artist meant becoming a better sketcher. And becoming a better sketcher meant dealing with dissatisfaction.

Sketching is unlike drawing in that it’s an unrefined adventure of loose lines that somehow flow harmoniously.

Most training sessions are sketches—learning processes with a lot of “feel” and “flow.” Just like an artist can’t expect continuous masterpieces, athletes can’t expect continuous personal records and doing everything “right” the first time around.

Show up and put in the work, no matter how dissatisfied you are with the results.

Don’t be the person that sketches for one minute, gets frustrated, and starts over. (Or even worse, stops.)

Sketch consistently no matter how bad you perceive the short-term result. You will get better.

KEEP SKETCHES SKETCHY

Don’t try turning sketches into masterpieces. Masterpieces require time, detail, and preparation. They are predetermined greatness.

Sketches are different. There are no expectations. They are open to the feel, composition, mood, flow, and attitude at the time of work.

Sketches provide a way to practice and improve your craft without insane emotional investment.

A FINE BALANCE

Sketching is important. But completely foregoing masterpieces in favor of sketches is a smooth path to mediocrity.

From personal experience, I sketched my way through tricking. And to this day, I continue sketching. Training is a standardized process to retain and (hopefully) regain skills slowly. This is why I never realized my tricking potential.

Masterpieces require standing up and saying, “I’m going to do something great,” and then blocking off time to follow through with the idea. This can be an eight week hypertrophy stint. Or an eight week fat-loss crush. The main idea is that you’re increasing expectations, effort, and attention to detail.

But be careful. Taking this mindset too frequently does two things. First, it abandons the subtle benefits of sketching. Second, not all masterpieces pan out. And when they don’t, it’s frustrating.

The wrong way—albeit common way—of dealing with these frustrations is to immediately try creating more masterpieces. The right way is to go back to sketching for a while to refocus.

LOVE YOUR SKETCHES

A sad truth is that few appreciate their sketches. They’re crumbled and tucked away in the garbage.

It’s normal to think your sketches suck. But don’t undervalue them. Your sketchbook is the coolest and most interesting thing about you. It shows your progression and maturation over time. It caps your unique style.

Sketches are personality.

So while the masterpieces are nice, the sketchbook is even nicer. So keep at it because sketching strength and performance separate the good from the great.

You’re not going to be very good at first. You will program hop, even though I tell you that it’s worse than clubbing baby seals. But that’s OK. It took me six years catch on. It would have been easy to quit after year three. But I didn’t. And now I not only get to live the stuff, but also write about it to the world. So stay consistent. Produce work, no matter how great. Try for a bigger production here and there. And over time, you will find yourself.

242 Program Update & FREE Stuff

I just wanted to thank everyone that took the time to read and critique my upcoming eBook, The 242 Method. It’s still being edited and I’m deciding its ultimate direction. But thank you for picking out spelling errors and offering feedback. (For those of you lost, this all went down on Facebook. Should have either been following or been paying closer attention to my feed, fools.)

If you want to be added to the VIP List to get early access to the 242 Method (which should be released within the next month), make sure you sign-up for my newsletter. My friends always get first priority, and I love every single last one of them. So if you aren’t signed up, you can either scroll to the top of the page and put your name and e-mail into the cool graphic or you can just use the form below.

BUT ABOUT THE FREE STUFF…

Here’s the deal: my web designer funked out on me. This is good because I get to contemplate my redesign further. This is bad because, well, I have no designer. So since I have the time, I’m asking for your help (once again). If you answer the following six questions, I’ll e-mail you an advanced copy of The Death of H.I.I.T – Fatal Fitness Myths, and How They Shortcut Your Body’s Potential. But you have to follow the two rules: 1) you must reply to this post, 2) your answer must contain more than 1,000 words. So don’t get all upset if you don’t hear from me after giving baby answers. There isn’t room for stupid people here. So don’t be stupid.

1) What are your biggest programming hang ups? (You can copy this from Facebook if you already answered over there.)

2) What are your biggest reasons for set-backs?

3) What, personally, gets in your way of satisfactory progress?

4) What “brand” do you think I occupy in the fitness world?

5) What kind of name would you give said “brand?”

6) What’s your opinion this website from both a design and content standpoint?

What am I lacking?
What do I have that you enjoy?
What do you want to see more of?

BONUS

7) Know any designers on the cheap? Drop their name. If it works out, I’ll send you a free copy of An Athlete’s Guide to Chronic Knee Pain. If you create an awesome branding position for me that I fall mega in love with, you will also get a free copy of An Athlete’s Guide to Chronic Knee Pain.

The Philosophy of the 242 Method (And How to Conquer Writers Block)

On Sunday, I wrote The Origins of the 242 Method. When all is said and done, I wanted the 242 Method to be an eBook about my “go-to” program. And after I wrote the first part Sunday, my mind was whirling with ideas. But when I opened up the Word document Wednesday morning, I was blank. Completely. Blank.

After whining and throwing temper tantrums for an hour, I did something I should have done from the get-go: I breathed, I read Rework, and I simplified.

Rework is my baby because it reminds me that compelling need not be complex. And that there’s no harm in breaking down individual thoughts into individual sections. And that one sentence in itself can be one small idea, not necessarily conjoined to its surroundings. And that starting a sentence with “and,” even if three in a row, is quite alright.

So instead of trying to architect a grand piece of prose, I simply broke each of my thoughts down and said what needed to be said.

The organization is a bit skewed. Some ideas are repeated. But I kind of like how it turned out.

The Philosophy of the 242 Method

The downfalls of choice

Every week, I try a different coffee because I can. Because the selection is available.

When it comes to training and hopping from program to program and exercise to exercise, even the littlest bit of equipment gives multitudes of choice.

This past year alone I program hopped. Yeah, me. The same guy that once compared program hopping to clubbing baby seals.

We can’t run from choice, or our desire to try different things, without causing problems. Instead, embrace it.

The fitness industry’s problem

The fitness industry has a problem. Not an information problem, but a direction problem. There are so many paths; the paths themselves are overwhelming—even though they all lead to the same place.

Popular set exercise programs

Most programs out there are three or four day per week training routines centered around the squat, bench press, overhead press, and deadlift.

They are popular because they are safe, reliable, and generally decent programs. For an average person, they are almost fool proof.

If I recommend one to you—a popular practice—and you don’t see results, you’re at fault. Not me. So they are always recommended to people looking for programs.

It’s just like any recommendation. It better be reliable. No one recommends a crapshoot. No one refers a friend to a new restaurant unless they visited it themselves and have verified its worthiness.

Program hopping

People hate choice. But they love thinking they have the ability to choose. So even if a program has choice built in, no one really wants it.

They want to know what rowing variation to use. They want to know the best bench press assistance exercise. They want to know how many sets and reps to do.

They want to do what’s best. And since they trust the program maker, it’s the maker’s job to take decisions out of their hands.

People want reliability. They want their chocolate chip cookies to be the same as everyone else’s. They want to fit in with the masses.

But this is short lived.

Initially, no one really wants choice. They just want the feeling of having choice. But eventually, everyone wants the actual choice. Safe and reliable programs are only appealing for a little while. And when that little while ends, riskier “new age” becomes appealing.

The same thing that attracts eventually repels.

Traditional scheming

The classic four day per week template—regardless of the specifics—is usually an upper and lower body split with one main focus daily. Assistance work and other shenanigans are thrown in to enhance the main exercise. So all four days end up being rather exhaustive.

Take an overhead press day, for example. After doing overhead presses, assistance exercises like upright rows, lateral raises, dips, and skull crushers fill in the rest of the workout. But because they are designated as “assistance,” they are usually taken to failure.

But assistance work is assistance for a reason. Does it make sense to expel so much muscular and nervous energy performing it?

Rethinking traditional scheming

On most four day templates, each day has some mentally stressful or boundary pushing exercise, whether it’s repping out a main lift or taking an assistance lift to failure.

There’s also exercise overlap. Rows and chins intertwine with front squats and deadlifts. Just because something is “upper” and something is “lower” doesn’t mean they are mutually exclusive.

So there’s mental recovery and physical recovery issues on most four day programs.

Rethinking assistance work

If assistance work is nothing more than assistance, should it be taken to failure? Or is going through the motions with some intensity and meaning “enough?”

Wouldn’t training it exhaustively turn it into a main exercise?

From a mental and energy expenditure perspective, most people put more stock into assistance lifts because they aren’t as physically demanding. Is it sensible?

If turkey is the main attraction on Thanksgiving, shouldn’t it get the most prep attention?

What if the turkey was left to burn in favor of concocting a slew of mashed potatoes? And the mashed potatoes were awesomely presented in massive proportions? (I’m not sure I would complain about this.) Wouldn’t the potatoes—a usual side dish—now be the main attraction?

Shouldn’t the side dishes compliment, and not exhaust, the main dish?

The concept of main lifts

I think the concept of main lifts is a bit dysfunctional because everyone associates “main lift” with barbells. Why can’t a chin-up be a main lift? A dip?

The popular answer to this is: they can’t be loaded or progressed as easily, readily, or tangibly.

So?

Does that automatically bump them down to a second tier of care?

By the same logic, using front squats as a main lift over back squats freaks some people out. But does it matter if the back squat can be loaded more?

The front squat can be overloaded by the same mechanism (barbell and plates) and it’s still a squat.

Isn’t that what matters?

All about the weird

The fitness industry is in a mass rut. Go to any beginner forum and see how many people recommend either Starting Strength or 5/3/1.

Hint: it’s a lot because they are safe, reliable, and easy choices.

If you can’t progress on these program, well then that’s your problem. After all, everyone else progresses.

But do they?

And what did people do before these programs existed?

Sadly, I’ve even fielded questions like, “is it possible to get strong without Starting Strength?”

Of course it is. But everyone (or so I’m told), in today’s world, does Starting Strength.

But I’m not interested in everyone anymore. I’m interested in those that are willing to de-conceptualize the idea of main and assistance lifts.

I want to talk to those that have weighted muscle-ups as their “main lift,” because they’re bold enough to break away from the pact and create new methods.

Rescheming

Even assuming a traditional four day split centered around the bench press, overhead press, squat, and deadlift, why are each separated on their own day? Can’t they be tiered?

For instance:

Day One – Squat, Bench, Best Squat Assistance, Best Bench Assistance

Day Two – Deadlift, Overhead Press, Best Deadlift Assistance, Best Overhead Press Assistance

That way there’s only two big mentally and physically taxing days per week.
Of course, the question then becomes, “What do I do the other days of the week?”

My response: “Does it matter?”

High level athletes

Go heavy or go home.

That’s the modus operandi of most lifters. But perhaps it’s why Pavel and Mark Reifkind can joke about something they call the “tough guy cycle”: Heavy, heavier, even heavier, injury, light…(this originally appeared on Tim Ferriss’s blog).

Some people are adverse to “light” days.

But nearly all high level athletes have “light” days. Sprinters jog and do aerobic work when they aren’t sprinting at max speed.

“Light” days promote blood flow and recovery to tissues stressed the day prior. Even though the same muscles are trained, the lower intensity work becomes somewhat stimulating, meaning they feel better after having done it.

Rethinking recovery

The 48 hour rule states a muscle needs 48 hours to recover.

The 48 hour rule needs to die.

What if I do one set of squats at 60% of my max weight for 50% of my max reps? How much recovery do I need?

How do I walk up steps after a heavy squatting session if my muscles need 48 hours to recover?

Lighter workouts

Lighter workouts are side dishes to the main course. Sometimes, they just need to be there. And most times, the meal is never ruined by their presence, but rather enhanced.

The big problem

People want cookie cutter. They want to fit in with the masses. That is, until they see someone with a gigantic unique cookie and get jealous.

It’s like learning how to drive. When you first learn, you can’t look anywhere but the immediate road in front of you. One year later, you’re texting and mooning school busses.

Set programs only work as long as we’re comfortable with the settings. The fact that the program works is secondary.

Although contradictory, people rarely want something that works. They want immediate progress.

How many people abandon ship after realizing that doing 5/3/1 and starting at a 10% drop off means it will be months before any sign of progress is had? A lot. And one of the many reasons people don’t start at the 10% drop.

And since no program, unless you’re a beginner, yields immediate results, long term results are irrelevant.

Any set program, no matter how well constructed, gets boring.

This quest for immediate progress fuels program hopping. New exercises lend themselves to immediate results and instant gratification, so everyone wants to incorporate them into previously set programs.

“When should I do “x” exercise in “y” program.”

In nearly every case, however, progress isn’t a result of assistance exercise. The assistance work is there only because it’s expected to be there and it gives a semblance of choice.

You can’t have a hotdog stand without hotdogs. But most hotdog stands have condiments. Are condiments necessary? No. But they’re there.

New designations

Instead of having “main lifts” and “assistance lifts,” it’s better to have three categories:

Best – A select “forever” lifts—the one’s you never want to stop doing. It could be as little as two or as many as four.

Better – A pool of useful lifts that interest you that you wouldn’t mind regularly doing without as much focus as the Best category.

Good – Where most things are, especially those things that don’t readily interest you.

A better program

Consistency is one the most important aspects of any program. So the best program is one that promotes consistent training with the Best lifts.

Having four mind blowing days is a tough operation because four days of the week you have to be “on.” What if you slept bad? Had to stay up late? Had bad eating patterns?

And you have to show up. What if you can’t make it to the gym one day? Bye bye consistency.

So on most programs, four days consume your week. Hair cuts are rescheduled. Doctors appointments, cancelled. And before you know it your entire week is shot because your schedule revolves around four days that have to be perfectly planned to maximize results on each day.

A note on frequency

I’m looking at hockey schedules right now—one of the most grueling sports, schedule-wise—and more often than not, there aren’t more than three games per week.

Yet we choose to have four heavy, mind blowing sessions per week. We’re afraid of training the entire body in one session and we’re afraid of foregoing our wonderful assistance exercises. And the only way to accommodate both is to spread the workload over four days.

Power of two

Sticking to just two “heavy” days per week—not to be confused with two total training days per week—does a few things.

It means we only have to be “on” and “in the game” half the time.
It promotes consistency. Bring it twice, that’s all.
It’s easy to work around schedule conflicts.
It makes recovery easier.
It promotes experimentation.
It keeps the focus where it should be.
It gives you time to have fun and experiment with other things.
It means you only have to have two perfectly planned days instead of three or four.

The other days

What about the other one, two, or three days of training? What should be done on those days?

Whatever you want.

CONCLUSION AND THANKS

The finalized 242 Method will be rolled out within — fingers crossed — the next month (with a new website). And I wanted to say thanks.

I take each comment to this blog seriously, and I respect everyone’s opinion. Rarely does a comment go by that doesn’t get my reply, holding true to Facebook, Twitter, and even email. I can’t thank you enough for participating and sharing your opinions. It’s an honor to get to know all of you more and more simply from your participation.

I’m going to release the 242 Method for free if enough interest is sparked. Is there anything that YOU would want in a book about a specific training method? What areas of programming are lacking coverage in the fitness world?

Enjoy this article? See the first one in the series -> The Origins of the 242 Method (Why Cheese is Like Exercise).

The Origins of the 242 Method (Why Cheese is Like Exercise)

Every Sunday— my “cheat day”—I enjoy a cup of flavored coffee. Drinking coffee in itself isn’t anything out of the ordinary, as I drink it daily. But the flavoring adds a twist, and it’s a decision not taken lightly.

Like a pig being roasted, the K-Cup tower is slowly rotated. My eyes scan the packaging. I’m a sucker for good branding and design. Whatever catches my fancy is thrown in the Keurig, is brewed, and is mine to savor.

But there’s something that always prevents a fairy tale ending: 97% of the time, I hate the flavoring.

I like my coffee, or, even better, my Americano, just like my metal: black. (Mindless Self Indulgence, anyone? No? Fine.)

So if I’m continually disappointed by the failure of artificial flavoring’s ability to massage my taste buds, why do I return every week?

I have no idea.

Because it’s kind of fun? Kind of adventurous? (Great life I live, right? Getting a kick from drinking flavored coffee.)

And I can’t help but think this is how the majority of people construct training programs. They already have something solid—their black coffee—yet they’re compelled to extend their tentacles into different areas.

SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE, NOTHING FOR ALL

Unless my coffee adventuring gives me cancer (from the plastics or artificial flavoring), being dissatisfied every week isn’t a big deal. But when it comes to exercises and programs, getting caught up in mass selection leads to failure.

There’s something out there for everyone. But everything isn’t for everyone. Exercises, exercise methods, and programs are personal.

THE STRIP DISTRICT

Here in Pittsburgh there is a part of town called the Strip District. It’s a bunch of vendors, shops, and stores located on a centralized street.

About a year ago, I was on a quest for cheese. So I went to the Strip District, and went into this big Italian shop that sells over one-hundred varieties of cheese. One. Hundred. Different. Cheeses.

When my number was called, I was lost in a sea of choice. The monger asked me to name three cheeses I liked.

Mozzarella, provolone, and muenster.

Within thirty seconds I was out of the store, cheese in hand.

One cheese out of over one-hundred. (It was Alta Badia, by the way. And it was fantastic.)

It’s easy to see a big selection and want samples of everything.

“Ooh, hip thrusts.”
“Ooh, good mornings.”
“Ooh, incline flies.”
“Ooh, squeeze presses.”

Oohs and ahhs can last a long time. A lonnng time.

The reason why the selection is so vast is because everyone has different tastes. The backing behind the 242 Method and Program is to find what you enjoy most and narrow exercise selection into, at maximum, two lower body lifts and two upper body lifts.

FINDING YOURS

Finding your own Alta Badia is tough. It’s why the majority of people can’t write a program for themselves.

I couldn’t pick out a cheese myself. The monger did it for me based on what I liked. Without him, I would have been lost. But he delivered and that was it. I didn’t question him. I didn’t wonder about the other cheeses.

This all, of course, has relevance, and the 242 Method never “fully” hit me until I took a long look back at both my own training and my coaching client’s training.

THE ORIGIN OF THE 242 METHOD

A few months ago, I evaluated my training evolution across the six-and-change years that I’ve dabbled in this space. And, although embarrassing, I’m not afraid to spill the beans.

In 9^th grade, a girl told me I had boobs. And that hits a self conscious kid hard. So over my training career, I obsessed over my chest because my lower pecs have always dominated my upper pecs.

At first, I listened to powerlifters and benched. My lower chest grew further out of proportion, leading me to more unhappiness. So I switched to a different angle press. Then after feeling weak, I hopped back to benching. And then benching did the same thing it did before, so I searched for another exercise. After that, another. Another. Another.

To this day, my pressing strength is awful—one of the reasons you never see me write much about pressing. (Outside of my dumbbell floor press article, which was my Alta Badia last year during softball and frisbee season as my shoulder was a wreck.)

In six years, I’ve gotten nowhere with my pressing exercises. Yet, from a muscular standpoint, I’ve surely gotten somewhere. So I looked back at the exercises I have progressed on, strength wise. To my surprise, there’s really only two: the deadlift and the chin-up.

Sure, when I first started I could only squat 95 pounds and have since squatted 405 (even though, both times, I hurt my back). But outside of the mileage put on my body with the sheer volume of exercise, the two primary drivers behind where I am today have been the chin-up and the deadlift.

The sad part is, lately, my deadlift is down because of the 20 Rep Squat Journey I went on. (For those that are unaware, it came to a halt because the nerve pain in my foot returned.) But the very fact that I went on the 20 Rep Squat Journey illustrates my dysfunctional in-search-of-cheese mind.

THE BIG QUESTION

If two exercises were the primary drivers of my own personal physical gains—from a strength standpoint—why are we worried about finding, testing, and using something that likely won’t work as well as what’s been shown to work for years?

So while I finish the second article in the series, I have some important questions for you:

1) What two exercises have been the primary drivers of your success?

2) What’s your favorite cheese?

3) What’s your favorite coffee?

4) What are your four money exercises?

Enjoy this article? See the next one in the series -> The Philosophy of the 242 Method.

Become Superhuman – Learn How to Kip-Up

You consider yourself an athlete. I get it. Regularly showing up at the gym and moving some heavy things isn’t exactly easy. I know, I know.

But, really, how athletic is a squat? A deadlift? Now a clean and jerk or a snatch is a different story. Mark Rippetoe once said that a snatch is gymnastics with a barbell, and for good reason. But with the traditional lifts, how athletic do you need to be?

Anyone from a neighborhood computer programmer to a professional athlete can learn the basic barbell exercises. A cartwheel, though? Different story.

Hitting the gym isn’t making you athletic if you’re all about squatting, deadlifting, and benching. What’s that doing for your movement capacity? Your coordination?

By all means, keep getting bigger and stronger. There’s something to be said about a big guy that can move well. And if you want to be that guy—that superhuman feeling kind of guy—start here.

A BIT OF TRICKING HISTORY

In 2001, I came across “tricking,” which is a mesh between martial arts and gymnastics. Back then, it was a small group of teenagers jumping, kicking, and flipping in their backyards. No equipment. No shoes. No formal training. No safety precautions.

Not exactly parentally advised stuff.

Although tricking seems chaotic, there are foundational movements from gymnastics and martial arts. Things like cartwheels, kip-ups, handstands, and rolls are gateway drugs for tricksters.

Call me crazy, but I incorporate some of these movements into my “regular” training routine, as discussed in The Jackedthlete. You never really forget where you came from, right?

It’s amazing what a cartwheel reveals about someone. Are they coordinated? Are they confident? Are they mobile?

We are on the dawn of a new training age. Nothing is static anymore. It’s about movement patterns that intertwine flexibility, mobility, and coordination.

Of the skills mentioned above, the kip-up is the flashiest to the Average Joe. It’s a total body explosive movement that uses the arms, abs, and legs, requiring flexibility, mobility, and coordination. If that doesn’t catch your attention, perhaps being on par with Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee will.

HOW TO KIP-UP

The kip-up is the quintessential way for a martial artist to rise after being knocked down. Generally, it’s done lying face up on the ground with the hands next to the head. The legs kick in the air and hook underneath of the body to land in a standing or squatting position.

Before trying your luck with these, understand a few things. First, expect sore abs. Second, warm-up. A few rollovers, wrist rotations, fingers pulls, and neck work do the trick (see video). Third, crashing is expected. Especially on your back. Land gently. Fourth, you won’t land this on your first try. Many won’t land it within the first week. Or month. Or months. (It took me five months, I think.) Don’t get discouraged. Fifth, have fun.

Step #1: Initial Position

Lay flat on the ground with the palms of your hands next to your head. Knees can be straight or bent at 90°. If lacking wrist mobility, tilt your body to the side to position your palms flatter.

Step #2: The Chamber

The next step is the chamber. Bring your legs off of the ground and towards your head so that your weight is on your mid-upper thoracic area. Don’t shortchange the chamber; it’s what provides the recoil and explosion. Think of it as the dip right before a vertical jump.

Step #3: The Kick

Welcome complication. Once chambered, kick your legs straight in the air towards the sky. Pick a spot that’s directly above your eyes so that you have a target. The harder and faster you kick at the target, the easier it will be.

People go wrong because they kick out and not up. This is the only chance you have to get height. Everything goes up.

Step #4: The Push

The kick is the powerhouse, but the arms are important too. The timing is what makes the move difficult. The arm push happens after the momentum from the kick propels you in the air. Press off after the kick in one small explosive burst.

Step #5: The Hook

To this point, everything was vertical. The hook, however, brings the body around so that you land on your feet.

Immediately after the arm push, hook the legs underneath your body and violently raise your torso upright. At first, your hook will be out of sync and you’ll land on your back. As you get better, your feet will hit first, but you won’t have enough momentum to stand. Eventually, you’ll land in a deep squat.

Hello mobility work.

Step #6: Stand Up

Well, stand up.

MAKING IT EASIER

Before you spam the comments with questions about prerequisite strength and power numbers, know this: there are none. When I learned this, I was an out of shape teenager.

Coordinating the movements is key. More is never better, so I’m apprehensive with this tip. But if you’re struggling, try rolling into the chamber from a standing position to give yourself extra momentum.

MAKING IT CLEANER

Tricking is an aesthetic blend of flips, kicks, and twists. Looks matter. Making a trick flawless is known as making it clean. To make your kip-up clean, land as upright as possible—preferably standing.

To land standing, abandon the hook. Instead, hollow after the kick. Squeeze the glutes and arch the lower back. When the feet hit the ground, use your abs to stabilize the torso and keep the body upright.

LOOK MA, NO HANDS

The next progression is learning the no handed kip-up. It’s much more difficult, however, because the timing changes. Everything needs more speed and precision to cover for the decreased air time.

Since the hands are taken out of the movement, the head is responsible for the last push off the ground. So beware: your neck will take a beating. Warm-up and expect soreness. Here are the adjustments when going to no hands:

#1: Synchronize the arms and legs. They mimic each other through the entire motion. They rise together, chamber together, and push together.

#2: Your neck becomes your arms. In the regular kip-up, the hands push right after the kick. In the no hand kip-up, the neck pushes after the arms and legs fly in the air.

#3: Aim for the tip toes. Forget about landing straight up. Height is scarce, so plan to land in a deep squat position on your tip toes. Hook extra hard.

KIP-UP CONCLUSION

The kip-up is a great athletic move that can be used in any training program. Mesh it with other skills to form badass combinations. How about a clapping pushup, to groiner, to kip-up, to vertical jump? Or a kip-up to the knees followed by a forward rolling kip up?

It’s not only a gateway to tricking, but also a gateway to both training and fun. It’s not totally superhuman. But it’s a damn good start.

Photo Credit: Nanna Ward

The Best Tricking Inspired Warm-Up

Being a trickster, flexibility is kind of a big deal. Before foam rolling’s conception, us tricksters used a sensible warm-up that increased dynamic flexibility and, quite simply, did the trick. Get it? Trick? …Well? Yeah, I kill myself. (The beauty of the blog—informal writing lulz.)

Since then, new age warm-up tactics like soft tissue work have taken center stage. And it seems like some sort of activation drill is needed for every muscle the body because apparently they’re napping at all hours of the day. Whatever. Nothing, nothing, beats the warm-up routine that I’ve cultivated over the past ten years. But be warned: no foam rolling allowed.

A NOTE ON FOAM ROLLING AND SELF MYOFASCIAL RELEASE

In the grand scheme of fitness, foam rolling is a baby. And a misunderstood one at that. While I think it can be useful, there are issues with using it as a warm-up tool.

Foam rolling doubles as a massage by sliding around soft tissue. Pressure is added on “hot spots” to break up supposed adhesions, freeing junky tissue to physiological paradise. This all sounds great in theory. But the mechanism behind meaningful massages lies in how touch and pressure mingle with the pain receptors in the body.

There are two main pain receptors: a dull one and a sharp one. The dull one is responsible for most chronic pain. Your aching knee is sent signals from these dull receptors and, what do you know, your knee ends up hurting. Most massage, by contrast, activates the sharp pain receptors by virtue of pressure. Activation of sharp pain receptors inhibits the dull pain receptors. So the momentary intense pain bullies the chronic dull pain, forcing a retreat.

There are a few issues here:

Dulling much of anything before a workout isn’t a good idea. Didn’t static stretching get the ax because of this?
It’s masking pain by creating pain. So it’s not really fixing much, it’s just blanketing the problem.
It’s ignoring the fact that you’re in pain. Pain rarely blossoms for the fun of it. So by inhibiting it, you might be doing harm during your workout without knowing it.

So foam roll if you want to. But not during a warm-up.

TRICK SPECIFIC WARM-UP

Although the origin of this warm-up is rooted in tricking (martial arts, gymnastics, tumbling), it’s adapted into a generalized total body mobility routine. But beware: you may develop Chuck Norris-like kicking ability.

If your dynamic flexibility sucks, I recommend doing a “mini” routine every morning. Do both the first and second tier before breakfast (or while coffee brews). Not only will it wake you up and skyrocket your flexibility, but in just ten minutes you prime your body for an entire day of activity, greatly reducing warm-up time before scheduled trainings.

FIRST TIER WARM-UP

The first tier of the warm-up is a total body fun fest of joint rotations. Work from head to toe, moving each joint about its range of motion. This can be back and forth, side to side, in circles, whatever. Just move them all a few times each direction through their range of motion so they loosen up and lubricate. This shouldn’t take more than two minutes.

Neck in all directions
Shoulder rolls
Flex and extend elbow
Rotate the wrists
Circle the hips
Circle the trunk
March
Butt kick
Ankle rotations

SECOND TIER WARM-UP

Working from head to toe again, the second tier tests total body dynamic flexibility. It need not be exhaustive. In fact, stopping at max stretch is an important facet of the warm-up. Stimulate. Don’t fatigue.

Beginners will need more sets and more reps. Start at two to three sets of eight to twelve reps. But once you develop the flexibility, only one will be needed to maintain.

Arm swings in every direction
Arm circles
Light trunk twists
Standing side bends
Side arm throws
Front leg raises
Back leg raises
Side leg raises (pending good form)

If you aren’t a martial artist in any capacity, side leg raises will be funky. It’s OK to omit them and substitute them with active side split reaches, but if you’re feeling ambitious, give the side leg raises a try. Just remember two things: the base leg points in the opposite direction of the leg lift and the edge of the lifting foot should be parallel to the ground.

Now, if I were tricking, I’d do more kick-specific drills, but this suffices for most everyone not risking their joints in an orgasm of acrobatics.

THIRD TIER WARM-UP

The third tier, if used, consists of light activation exercises. So hit a set of scap pushups, bird dogs, and maybe cossack squats to further wake things up if you feel so compelled.

For those that are doing some intense athletic activity, I highly recommend an ankle specific warm-up be done here.

Think of the third tier as bridging the gap between a general warm up and a specific warm up.

FOURTH TIER WARM-UP

The fourth tier brings the specificity. So if you’re lifting weights, hitting some calisthenics and then moving into the barbell is perfect. But if you’re about to leap over a building in a single bound, things get a little tricky. Yes, I used “trick” as a pun again. Winning.

Start with bunny hops or jumping jacks, working primarily at the ankle. Transition into tuck jumps for a few reps. Again, don’t fatigue yourself. And now is also a good time to use any off the wall nervous system wake up tactics like seizure hops.

Finish off with a James-Smith-The-Thinker inspired skipping sequence: butt kicks, a-skips, high knees, b-skips. Do each skip for 5-10 yards, once or twice.

FIFTH TIER WARM-UP

The fifth tier warm-up is for those going on to practice a high intensity event seriously. In this case, the warm-up needs to be very specific to the event. So if you’re sprinting, do some build-ups. If you’re throwing, do some low intensity throws. If you’re tricking, do some basic tricks.

There aren’t many guidelines for this tier. Just go until you feel great.

VIDEO COMPASS

CONCLUSION

While this warm-up may not be revolutionary, it sure is damn efficient. To create the best scenario for flexibility, do tier one and two every morning when you’re starving for caffeine. You will be rusty and tight at first. Just keep with it. Also be sure to stop any warm-up drill before fatigue sets in. The last thing we need is to be tired before doing anything meaningful.

YOU?

You know how I do it here, drop your suggestions, love, and hatred below. Additions? Subtractions? How would you structure it differently? Do you like hot sauce? Does it give you as much gas as it gives me?

5 Proposed Tweaks to the Strength and Conditioning Industry

A sad part of the human psyche, largely ingrained from public schooling, is failing to take initiative. Not to go all Seth Godin, but look at the newspaper clipping sitting to the left. There’s a good chance that someone noticed this misprint. But it wasn’t corrected. Printers print. Editors edit. It’s not a Printers job to be an Editor. So the problem remains a problem.

When it comes to the strength and conditioning industry, there are a lot of problems. Most of them are because of how underpaid and overworked coaches are, as Mike Guadango explained in Give Your Strength Coach a Break. But for the sake of conversation, I’m rolling with the idea of the institution being broken.

Take most combines, for example. Who thought of putting athletes through a battery of tests that have little bearing on in-game-performance? Yet combines remain because coaches aren’t paid to question the system. They are paid to prepare athletes for the system, no matter how deranged it may be.

I’m pretty active on my Facebook page and I enjoy discussions. So I posted a video of a college strength program, questioning what I saw. Of course, it took off. Now, I’m far from knowing everything. (In the grand scheme of things, I’m actually rather ignorant.) But I’m willing to stand up for what I believe in.

I questioned the power cleans, which led to a discussion on just how backwards the entire “strength and conditioning” system is. As a whole, it puts too much emphasis on training athletes like powerlifters and weightlifters, and not enough emphasis on training athletes like athletes. Strength, while not to be avoided, doesn’t make an athlete. So it needs to be developed in a way that allows athletes to remain healthy and continually get better at their sport.

Here’s the bench press class of 2007 from the NFL Combine:

42 (defensive lineman Tank Tyler of N.C. State), 40 (offensive lineman Manny Ramirez of Texas Tech, Justin Blalock of Texas), 34 (offensive lineman Cameron Stephenson of Rutgers, offensive lineman Enoka Lucas of Oregon, offensive lineman Ryan Kalil of USC, offensive lineman Brandon Frye of Virginia Tech, defensive lineman Joe Cohen of Florida, tight end Daniel Coats of BYU, offensive lineman Nathan Bennett of Clemson). Another notable performance from the 2007 combine came from quarterback Brady Quinn, who did 24 reps.

Now, for you folks that watch the NFL, you know the Giants won the Super Bowl. Jason Pierre-Paul was an important part of the Giants’s defense and got mucho press as the season progressed because of his on-field performance. How many reps did he get on the bench press at the combine? 19. Yes, a bench warming quarterback — Brady Quinn — is stronger than Pierre-Paul, who is now considered one of the best defensive players in the league.

My point has always been this: strength, while important, doesn’t make an athlete. And power cleans, while potentially having benefit, shouldn’t be done in a way that compromises health. And when feet splay on the catch, health is compromised.

Before going on, I’m apologizing for past behavior. I’m sorry. Really, I am. There was a time when I had no hope for the strength and conditioning injury. I was coaching athletes myself and growing into a Grinch. Must have been the seclusion. But now that my career path has turned, I’m adopting a new mentality. If Eric Cressey sees the industry in a positive light, as written about 5 Reasons to Be Excited About the Future of the Fitness Industry, I sure as hell should too. So below are five things I think I think. Five things that, if implemented, would keep pushing things in the right direction.

1) Death to Strength Record Boards

Great, you can squat 600 pounds. But can you play? I get that they are fun and create a competitive environment, fostering motivation in a place where most athlete’s don’t care to be. But how useful is an athlete with no skill chasing an arbitrary strength level on a general exercise that has little bearing on their success as an athlete. Ask Pierre-Paul how much better he would be if he cranked out 21 repetitions. Not much, I would think.

Some strength is good. Benching 225 for 19 isn’t cupcakes. But more isn’t always better.

2) Death to Strength Standards

I had to squat 225 and bench 185 to be a running back on my high school football team. If I couldnt do it I didnt make the team, that simple.

Above is aquote from the aforementioned Facebook conversation. What if athletes had to get 20 reps on the bench press test at the combine to play in the NFL? Pierre-Paul would be a bench warmer.

Now, contact athlete need body armor. Hypertrophy and strength should never be exluded from the cards. But holding an athlete out based on strength standards is a little whack. I don’t care how much Kobe squats. I’m sorry, but I don’t. And if I made Kobe chase a 500 pound squat, I’d probably cut a few years off of his playing career, costing him millions of dollars.

That’s not to say I wouldn’t have Kobe squat. I would. Would it be maximal? No. Would I take him close to failure? No. Would I slow cook his strength work and do more to keep him healthy than to keep him strong? Absolutely.

3) Death to Drawing Lines in the Sand

Can power cleans be beneficial to an athlete? Sure. Would I use them in most situations? No. Do athlete’s need to back squat? No. Would I use them in most situations? Sure. Should aerobic work be vilified? No. Can it be overdone? Sure. Is HIIT overhyped? Yes. Can it be used with some athletes? Yes.

Overnight, eating frequent meals throughout the day became a garbage philosophy for obsessive bodybuilding losers. But in ten years, I bet we’re eating frequent meals again. And doing aerobic work. And chastising coffee. And avoiding eggs.

Fitness fads are cyclical. And nothing is absolute. NOTHING. I was lucky enough to learn from smart coaches. These smart coaches didn’t force athletes into specific types of squats. In fact, one athlete didn’t back squat, front squat, or do any other “manly” squat. He did split squats with a moderate dumbbell, never coming remotely close to strain or failure. He’s in the NFL now, and was on Sports Center’s Top Ten Plays once or twice this past year.

Just this past weekend, I talked for hours with John Romaniello. We both share a hatred for dogma, which is something that I have a difficult time talking about as I used to be dogmatic. (Sorry, again.) But as Roman said, it’s amazing how two people can share similar ground on 99% of issues and yet still find a way to embrace and foster hatred in a relationship.

4) Death to Treating Athletes like Powerlifters or Weightlifters

Unless you’re a powerlifter, what’s the point of doing Westside? The system includes special exercises and special methods specifically to increase the big three. The very nature of Westside rooted in being a powerlifter. The same can be said for Olympic Weightlifting methods and routine. Sure, Weightlifters are strong and explosive. But they train for a different sport.

You don’t see Olympic Weightlifters and Powerlifters playing other sports to get better at their sport. Borrow principles, by all means, but athletes of all sports need their own unique touch.

5) Death to Training Certain Athletes Maximally

Everyone loves maximal effort, eye gouging intensity training. It’s hard work, it busts adrenal glands, and it’s hardcore. What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger, right? But the sad truth is that you can get stronger using lower percentages and not undergoing so much strain.

The Max Effort method is vindicated by the success of Bulgaria, as stated on Westside’s website:

The majority of the Soviet training was centered around 75-85% of a one-rep max for about 50% of all lifts, and 20% are done at 90-100%. The Bulgarians trained mostly at 90-100% max. Circa-max weights are 90-97%. The Bulgarian system produced the highest results in weightlifting. Why? They handled the highest average weights most often. It’s that simple.

And I agree with this. To lift a maximal weight, you have to specifically train and “learn” how to strain under a maximal load. But an athlete’s goal isn’t to break a weightlifting world record. So what that quote says to me is this: the Soviets trained with less intensity and at a smaller percentage of their one rep max and were still able to get really really really strong. Certainly strong enough for most sports.

YOUR TAKE

Like I said, I don’t know everything. But if I had ultimate reign those five ideas, at least, would be more known. Questions? Have changes you would want to make?

Shoot some comments below, reply to me on Facebook, or shoot me an e-mail. I look forward to hearing from you.

The Jackedthlete – Aerobic Work That Doesn’t Suck

When I was twelve, I wanted to be Goku from Dragonball Z. Too much to ask? I didn’t think so either. But higher powers had other intentions.

Something more than the fantasy of being a jacked anime guy drew my interest to the character. I wanted to do incredible things. After coming to terms with the impossibility of flying and creating balls of energy (despite what the internet told me), my sights were set on random feats of atheticism and, of course, saving the world from unforseeable disasters and villians. So when I found tricking, my heart oozed into lava.

In a sense, I’m lucky. Although I let myself turn into a pile of slop, I was always athletic. And I never doubted my ability in sports.

Athleticism was my survival skill. And survival skills often become strengths. My case was no exception. Being picked first in Phys Ed class and being recruited to play basketball, baseball, football, and track kept me away from swirlies. After all, I did like Dragonball Z so I had to cling onto something that made me “cool.”

When I started in fitness, aesthetics weren’t enough for me — a fact that showed through on the title of both my first and second blog — Simply Strong: The Age of Athleticism, and More than Muscle: Bridging the Gap Between Athletics and Aesthetics.

For a long time, tricking filled my performance void. Being long removed from competitive sports, it was my reason for training. In my heart, I was a trickster first (albeit a bad one), and a lifter second. Eventually, I adopted a die hard athlete mentality. Like, “if you’re not a professional athlete I don’t want to talk to you,” die hard.

But now I realize few “serious” athlete peruse blogs for training tips. Most people are average guys interested in looking good. Also dear to me, however, is feeling good and moving good. Some people call this mesh between athletics and aesthetics, “athletic bodybuilding.” Initially, I referenced it as Beast Mode Training. In an effort to claim new ground (it makes me feel special), I’m calling this breed Jackedthletes.

JACKEDTHLETES

Jackedthletes, of course, want to be jacked. But they also want to be incredibly athletic. So here are the adapted rules of Beast Mode Training to suit the Jackedthlete, which are principles that I currently abide by.

The warm up is the workout.
Strength is developed using a few basic movements.
The focus is on steady progress over time.
Tricking, gymnastics, and tumbling isn’t optional.
The lower body is trained for strength and explosiveness.
Selected compound lifts are arbitrary. Front squat instead of back squat? I’m not complaining.
The “X” look is the ideal physique.
If it’s important, do it every day.

Right, I know none of this makes sense to you. Over the next few weeks, however, I’m going to be rolling out some recommendations for the Jackedthletes at heart. Today’s information is about hitting aerobic work that isn’t the same old mind-numbing treadmill hoofing junk you’re used to.

JACKEDTHLETIC AEROBIC WORK

The aerobic system is grossly underrated. (This is especially true with tricking.) As explosive bouts are repeated over time, the aerobic system becomes more important with each successive go. (A trickster with good aerobic capacity can trick longer and with better mental clarity, lessening the chance of injury. The same goes for athletes of similar sports.)

But distance running sucks. Not only does it take forever, but it also zaps the legs of energy that is otherwise used to gain strength and explosiveness. So I’m all about creating upper body circuits that incorporate lifting weights, gymnastics, and tumbling. It sounds hectic, I know, but here’s an example to bring some clarity.

A1) Planche Work :20
A2) Dips
A3) Handstands :20
A4) Right Shoulder Rolls x 5
A5) Left Shoulder Rolls x 5
A6) Forward and Backward Rolls to Handstand x 5

Note: If you haven’t done rolls before, start with the kneeling version and keep the volume low. If you don’t, you’re apt to get headaches. Also, using incorrect rolling mechanics can put you at risk to hurt your shoulder blade. You’ve been warned.

And please, don’t knock my gymnastics form. I’m a trickster at heart so I’m used to watching, then doing, then tweaking. I don’t claim to be a gymnast expert.

Repeat this sequence three or four times with little to no rest between exercises. If you want more add inch worm walks, bear walks, crab walks, cartwheels, or any other unconventional locomotor movement. If you’re a sciency person that tracks hear rate, stay within 120-150 beats per minute.

YOUR THOUGHTS?

Aerobic work that’s actually fun? Is it too good to be true? What the hell is a Jackedthlete? Have any other principles that you think a Jackedthlete would follow?

Drop your questions and comments below.

Give the circuit a try and let me know how it goes. What would you change? Any additions? Subtractions?

I’d love to hear your opinion.