PROTECT THIS HOUSE. I WILL.

Monday, August 31, 2009

Consuming Protein/Carb Pre Workout Aids Recovery

Recent work performed at the University of Texas Medical School in Galveston found that consuming a small preworkout protein-carb meal may help with recovery and muscle building.

The study focused on a small liquid meal taken before weight training. The researchers found that consuming a protein/carb drink before a workout can significantly increase the amount of muscle-building amino acids your muscles suck up during the workout and over the next few hours. The increase in amino retention amounted to roughly 150% more than when the same drink was consumed immediately after a severe one-hour leg thrashing. This is significant because amino acid retention is a major step in creating or enhancing the anabolic environment in muscle and in promoting better and faster recovery and growth.

The researchers used a drink composed of 6 g of essential amino acids and 35 g of sucrose, plus a small amount of artificial sweetener (containing aspartame), dissolved in a half-liter of distilled water. The same scientists had used this drink formulation in previous studies that demonstrated its significant anabolic effects on muscle protein synthesis when consumed one or even three hours after a hard training session.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Love it Love it Love it

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This is a just a reminder we go heavy tomorrow children........

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Spinning Wheels

I was talking to one of my clients this morning, and he was recounting a story about how he used to go to a big open gym here in town, and "spin his wheels?" 

I asked what he meant, and I was told that he would get dressed drive to the gym, and basically wander around the expanse of shiny chrome machines, occasionally sitting and doing a few reps at a random weight that "sounded doable"

I think more often than not, most people with gym memberships buy them with the intent to use them to their full potential, but then life gets in the way and allows for excuses.  Then, you keep paying the membership, telling yourself you will EVENTUALLY get back to your routine, that just happened to suck even when you were doing it.

Learn from someone who is passionate about the subject that you seek to be better at.  Open gyms aren't for searchers, those looking for the best way to get fit, and maintain it, push its limits, those who look outside the box.  Open gyms teach us that if you are a mother of two, all you can do is stroll on a treadmill, or ride a bike while you watch the jumbo-tron TV or lift little pink dumbbells.  Our mothers, female executives, we all, train in as athletic a way as possible, jumping lifting, twisting, exploding, trying to produce the best "you" that you can.

Consider what you are trying to accomplish, just showing up, or improving everytime you show up?

Firefighter workout

Dayton fireman Mike Overman preparing for combat challenge competitions wit some snatches in gear. His metabolic set was in full gear




Combat challenge metcon

Sprint 200 m
6 95# clean grip snatches
6 95# squat + push press
6 pullups
Rest 2 min
6 rounds

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Cover girl



Our own Claire Falknor featured on a Centerville Elks girl's soccer website, in the game she had an assist
on the first goal and scored the second one. Congrats Claire!





Technique for Show or Technique for Functionality

Over the last few months, teaching the Olympic lifts to executives, soccer moms and teen age athletes alike, it has come to my attention that the necessity of a full squat clean, or snatch, is mostly unnecessary.  In fact, I will go one step further, a traditional grip snatch, with a wide hand spacing, is also more of a hazard than a necessity. 

With the athletes we train, we are looking to enhance physical and psychological performance, while minimizing the chance of injury.

I don't agree with the non-Olympic training crowd, that says you can get the same effect with just plyometrics, or weighted jump squats.  The Olympic lifts are great, because as a coach, they have a finite end point to show success with the lift.  A jump squat can be 1 inch off the floor or 8 inches off the floor according to intensity of the athlete, but there is no finite end point.

Secondly, I have issues with the squat clean, and in some cases the power/hang clean in general, because of the racking or catching of the weight.  Even with talented athletes, this position can be a challenge, and thus takes away from the effort or intensity that the individual is putting into the explosive elements of the lift because of fear of the catch.

Are these lifts impressive and complex, teaching massive amounts of power, coordination and athleticism?  Absolutely, are there other ways to do the same thing?  Absolutely.  Dodging someone shoot arrows at you will teach you the same coordination, speed and athleticism, but should you do that just because that's one way to accomplish your goals?

Introducing the clean or narrow grip hang snatch.  Grip width is safer on the shoulder girdle, hang position allows for maximum power output from the hips and lower body.  Catch is in a natural and safe position.   It can be taught in 15 min to a novice, and has a finite end point.  Problem solved

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Congrats to our own Eric Limekmann



Eric Limekmann had a great race finish this weekend and qualified for world championships, more info and pictures to follow

Friday, August 14, 2009

Heart disease and cholesterol, no connection!

From a poorly structured study came the famous, mythical connection between cholesterol and heart disease mortality….

 

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Training athletes according to energy system needs

Power Enterprises trains may different athletes in the area, all with different needs when it comes to their training.  We attempt with every athlete, to train them for the specific needs of their sport.  Because of this I thought it would be a good idea to go over the 3 energy systems used in the body.
 
[energy_systems.gif]
 
The graph above shows the different energy systems:
  • ATP/PC - The immediate energy system responsible for providing energy for activities lasting 1-12 seconds.
  • Glycolytic (Lactic Acid) - The short-term energy system responsible for providing energy for activities lasting 12 seconds - 2 to 3 minutes.
  • Oxidative (Aerobic) - The long-term energy system responsible for providing energy for activities lasting longer than 2 to 3 minutes.
  • From the chart above we can accurately predict the energy needs of athletes from many different sports, and train them according to those needs.  The goal of training within a target energy system is to make the athlete's body more efficient at using the fuel, and more efficient at getting rid of waste products left behind from burning that fuel, namely the H+ (hydrogen) that increase acidity in the muscles, that decrease performance.

    For example a 50m freestyle swimmer should train a majority of his or her time within the ATP/PC and Glycolysis energy systems to make themselves as effiencent as possible in using these fuels.  That would mean a majority of the training would be work sets of between 0-2 min at high intensity, with low intensity work in between to flush acid out of the muscles, and allow the respitory system (lungs) to exhale as much of the acid as possible.  If these energy systems are not trained, when the athlete tries to engage them in a race, their inability to process acid out of the muscles impairs muscular performance, as well as causing breathing issues due to accumulation of acid in the lungs, which is the burning athletes feel in their chest when working at high intensity.

    As the ability to flush the acid out of the body improves, rest periods can be decreased in order to continue to improve the body's ability to speed the waste products (acid) out of the body.

    I hope this basic overview allows the athlete a glimpse in to how their body's energy is used .

     
     
     

    Stronger Legs, Bigger Jumps-Jumping out of a Pool

     

    Someone sent me the first video, and then I found the other video of the same athlete lifting very heavy squats and deadlifts.  As I preach constantly, you have to have a base of strength before speed or jumping ability improves.   This athlete has massive jumping ability, because he is extremely strong compared to his bodyweight, we call this power to weight ratio.

    Build strength first, then worry about sprint/jumping technique.  Without the strength it is like a hybrid car racing a nascar, all the driving technique in the world isn't going to make up for the lack of engine power output.

    Tuesday, August 11, 2009

    If your in an exercise rut, your doing it wrong….

    An exercise rut is like any other phase of your life that become monotonous.

    The same distance and pace on the treadmill, the same walking route, the same routine of weight machines at the same weights.

    The instant fix to an exercise rut is to change how you look at exercise.  If your view of the time in which you sweat everyday is that it is your sport, not just an activity, your perspective changes immediately.

    A sport by definition is a competition of skills, that’s how you need to look at your exercise program.  Are there any skilled movements in your program that could use tweaking?  Are you just going through the steps of the workout blindly, or are you trying to perfect every aspect of every skilled movement?

    Athletics

    We at Crossfit Powerathlete teach many skill based exercises, the Olympic lifts are a great example.  These movements are highly skilled, and never really mastered, much like a golf swing.

    If you are in a rut, take down the intensity at which you are working at for 1-2 days, and spend some time working to improve your squat technique, your power clean or even your technique on the rower ergometer.  All of these skill practices will show positive results on future workouts, and remind you why you enjoy your sport so much.

    Sunday, August 09, 2009

    French frys


    At one time French fries where a special occasion food, there was no where you could buy them, so you made them at home. This undertaking meant prep time, mess, and generally a pain in the butt.

    Ice cream had to be churned by hand at home, and was a multiple hour process.

    Fast forward to today, and all these special occasion foods are readily avaliable 24/7. If you can't get behind a dietary system like the zone or paleo, at the very least try to minimize special occasion foods, cakes, pies, fried foods, ice cream to special occasions


    Monday, August 03, 2009

    Sunday, August 02, 2009

    First Responders and Physical Preparedness

     Parent sent home

    5'8 300#, unbelievable that this guy is going to protect anyone.  The original CNN video shows him unable to get up from a kneeling position, or exit the driver's side of the car with any kind of dexterity.  I don't think that all first responders should be supermen or women, but I do think they should be physically able to do the jobs the tax payers are paying them to do.  Prepare for the worse case scenario, so you don't become a casualty of that situation.

    "Use only that which works, and take it from any place you can find it." Bruce Lee