Strength and Performance, Part 2

I think I may be at risk of turning this into a specific training blog about my day to day moving weights around a gym. On reflection, I shall write updates as and when, if something significant happens, when I change types of training and other such pertinent things.

At the end of last week, the end of a 4 week introduction session I felt very tired indeed. I had also been racing on the Wednesday and that had contributed to the knackeredness. As of Thursday I indended to have a very good rest over the weekend, to be ready for a new session on Monday.
I did pretty well in terms of managing to actually have a rest, but I did succumb to the temptation of going climbing on Saturday. Nothing too strenuous, just a few route in a quarry for some friends to second up, getting some precious time in my SPA logbook.

So monday came along and I was feeling pretty good actually. Rested, relaxed and ready. I spent the first couple of hours at S&P treating Sean and Z. Tending their various ailments, and while that was happening, Lynne was out in the Gym going through her new session. It looked brutal. I was not looking forward to my go, but it had to be done.

However, it would appear that there is a fair amount of difference between our new programmes. Lynne, afterall is still more concerned with the losing weight and metabolic work, where as I'm not all that concerned about it. (Sean in fact asked me if I was ok with my weight and if I wanted to put it ON?!- not a chance matey, its all about speed, not looks).
My programme is based around a series of adequacies that I set out 4 weeks ago, leading up to now has been balancing out imbalances in my body and getting me ready to actually be able to work properly. Interestingly enough, my lower body is apparently much more developed than my upper body, and so we are going to work on that.

However, first up was the Deadlift. I thought I had this pretty much nailed after a session with Chet Morita down in London a good 8 months ago. It seems that if I did have the makings of a good DL, its all gone now, and I am back to square one. Not a bad thing, to be fair. Each lift makes me think about something new, and each time I do it, it ingrains the engram just a little bit more. We are starting very light indeed, and I suspect we will be staying that way for a while. Not a problem. I'd rather be doing this properly and progressing slowly, than going in all guns blazing and then screwing my back up after 5 months. Intelligence is the way forward.
DLs are interspersed with Hip stretching, and today was not about weight. It was about technique.

The superset also involves push ups on a swiss ball, which is quite amusing. Up until I started with S&P I hadn't really been able to do anything with a pressing action because of my shoulder and imbalances there. It tended to ride up and impinge itself- the biceps brachii long tendon being inflammed and trapping under the acromion process. Well. The rehab/prehab that we have been doing for the past 4 weeks appears to be doing the job. When asked "does it hurt"? I replied, yes.... everywhere but the shoulder.

3 Chains, Top of the sternum to the bar.

The stabilisation is pretty hard, but possible. I look forward to getting better at it.

The second superset included more weighted Pull ups. Only 3 in a set this time. I got to 3 chains on the last set, so I think 5, maybe 6 chains will be possible. Maybe 7? we'll see.
There are also a couple of Tricep press exercises which are horrible. I'm very weak in that area, and I can barely even lift the "minimum standard" weight for the requisite amount of reps. So, thats somewhere to improve upon then.

The third superset also includes biceps rows, which aren't too bad.

The final one is Turkish Get ups, which I do enjoy. Just 3 sets of 3. I opted to go with 12kg KB, and it seems that was the right decision. By the end I was nigh on all over the place. We also started the Get Up from standing, which is something I've never done before, and threw me for a short while as well. However, I just got on with it.

This is very much where Lynne and I deviate. I think she has a much shorter "technical" session, and then spends the rest of the time on a "metabolic blaster" which looks horrendous. I have a lot more to do with technique and specific strength, and as a finisher, more leg work.
This time it was 100kg on a sled, pull 30 metres on the minute 4 times, then 120kg twice.
As a final one, I started at 100kg, front pulled down, and back pulled up, had 20kg taken off, (no rest) down and back, and then 20kg off again and down and back. That was pretty tough, and the lactic effort of going straight from a back pull to a front pull is really quite harsh.
It would be good to do that all the way down to 20kg and then back up to 100. Though not on the same week as a race.

We'll see how the next couple of weeks go and I'll post again. (actually, I'll write a quick something on Thurs to talk about the 2nd of the 2 sessions, but after that, we'll just see).

Strength and Performance 9

Final session of the 4 week pre-load as it were.
After the race yesterday I am properly knackered. I didn't sleep well, things were going around my head, whether I could have done better, how I could have run differently, should I have run my own race, etc. (but I'll write about them in a race post mortem later on.
All I knew when I got up this morning was that I felt knackered. I probably looked it as well, but that didn't matter. I have work today. S&P from 7am, training, massage, then over to Rockover in the afternoon and then massage clients until 7pm, then a drive home. No time to be tired.

After a coffee and the drive to S&P I'm feeling a little revived, but I know that todays session, even though its the same as the previous weeks is not going to be a fun one. Rolling out and doing stretches and mobilisations I'm feeling weak, but I shall still do the training.
Reverse lunges I do with the 10kg, like last week, and then for the final set ramp it up to 12.5 kg. Wide grip pull ups I manage 2 sets of 5 and then a final pull of another 2, and then 1 at the end.
By the end of the pronated rows, the plank and glute lifts I am fit to drop, and I must look it as Sean comes over and tells me there is no "finisher" today as I look "finished". He mentions that I looked pretty tired on Monday as well... I didn't realise that, I thought I was doing ok... maybe the weekend of climbing had taken more out of me than I thought.
I'm partially happy about that, and partially annoyed that there won't be a finisher- I should be able to carry on. Mentally, and physically though, I'm ready to fall over and sleep.

The next 3 days are going to be made up mostly of relaxing, massage (as a client and as a therapist), a bit of light walking, and nothing more than recovery.
Next week is the start of something new. I'm very much looking forward to it, but with not a little trepidation. Should be good. I just have to concentrate on some proper rest now. Harder than it sounds!

Strength and Performance 8

Last week of the Foundation stage.
Not much to tell on this one to be honest.

I continued on with 2 sets of 2chain pull ups, and again just missed out on the final pull up. So after the final set I went back and got 2 more out of my arms, a little bit of progress, which is good.
Romanian Dead Lifts I am FINALLY getting the gist of. I ramped up to the next KB up for these this week, and certainly felt it on my hamstrings. Although they still feel a little awkward, the actual exercise no longer feels totally alien to me.

I think I'm beginning to build/re-educate the lower traps, as I'm no longer getting debilitating muscle pain there after each session as I was in the first 2 weeks. Body adaptation has certain begun, though I haven't upped the weights on the more "rehabilitative" aspects of the programme- keeping it more about making sure that I don't break something- and ensure that all aspects of the body are becoming stronger, not weaker through stupid and un-necessary injury.
As a finisher I did lengths of the Prowler on the minute every minute for 6, and I think Lynne took some photos. No idea where they are though, so I'll have a look through and see if I can upload them later.

found one

Felt pretty ok after todays session. Looking forward to next week and a new challenge.
Its true that after 4 weeks of doing the same thing you do look for a bit of variety, which is why setting out on a training regime and not changing anything is just going to get stale and boring, but changing things too much and too often mean that you don't actually get the benefit of continuous practice.

Strength and Performance 7

Back to the gym for more of the same. This is the end of the 3rd week of the "foundation/preparation" stage of the game. Im continuing to increase weight on most of the things I'm repping, but there are a couple which I am obviously too weak on to even consider doing that yet- evidence of some interesting imbalances that continue to be in my system.

This week has been a week away from running and general cardio, which has been interesting. There have been times when literally all I have wanted to do was get out there and run in the hills or crank it up a big hill on a bike. However, with the osteo saying that I would have to be crazy to go on long impactful runs or long term rides etc, I thought that staying off them for a week or so would be a good thing. It can't do any harm in the long term anyway. As a fellow health professional I get sick of people not listening to advice, so I figured listening to his advice would be a good thing.

The upshot of it all was that I got to S&P nice and relaxed and ready for some training without the residual effects of a race in my legs from the night before.

I ripped through the exercises, though its interesting just how much sweat you can squeeze out of your body just by doing isometric contractions...
4 rounds of
8x reverse lunges ( with 10 and then 12.5kg)
5x wide grip pull ups with 1 chain, then 2 (ouch)
8x lower trap activations

then
3 rounds of
15x glute raises on a bench
15x pronated rows (5kg)
15x KB swing (20kg)
30s hold side plank (both sides)

The main thing that is annoying is that the pronated rows are still on exactly the same weight as when I started, and I'm still feeling totally done in by about rep 9 of each set. It just goes to show how weak the muscles in my back were in comparison to the rest of my shoulder complex, and the result of that was my shoulder riding up and impinging in various ways in a number of different movements.

As a finisher I did 10m prowler lengths on astro, with 20kg on, low push up and low pull back (which REALLY gets the hamstrings, then 10 sledgehammer reps on either side with a minutes rest between each one.
5 reps, but the 5th one, Z decided to "suicide" me.
3 cones along the way, push to the first, pull back, then the second, pull back, then the third, pull back and finally the last, pull back.
On the final pull back I had to stop twice because of the lactic build up in the legs (particularly the Biceps Femoris and Semi-mem and tend), never had to actually physically stop before, so thats something that I know I can definitely work on.
Still finished it and finished with the sledgehammer as well.
Jogged the length of the mill twice afterward to get metabolic waste out of the legs, and to check I could still actually move and run as well... the worst thing you can do after a workout like that is stop moving straight away- ie. go and sit in your car for 30 mins, like I have seen some people do.
Then foam rollering, and a post workout feed.
Feeling it today though... a bit tired (though that may also be because of the hours of treatment I gave yesterday as well)

Showing a friend the ropes tomorrow, taking him climbing outdoors for the first time. Hope the weather clears/stays dry.

Strength and Performance Session 6

Back to the Monday session today. I don't know why, but I wasn't really feeling up for the session. (maybe because I was chilled out after just treating someone...) however, I got down to it and spend a decent amount of timt warming up, making sure that everything was thoroughly working before going into the training session.

Everything went up by a notch, pretty much, and I had a first instance of not finishing a set- pull ups with 2 chains, on the final set I managed 5 and 7/8ths.... which only counts as 5. I just couldnt get the chains to touch the bar... ah well. Failure this time means working harder next time and making it stick.

Romanian Deadlifts still feel mighty wierd, but the more I do them, the more natural they will become. It seems to be easier with a heavier weight. (but that only works to a point)!

The final part of the training was row-pulls with a sled. I managed 5 sets at 70kg, rowing down and running back with the sled, with 1 min rests- during which I jogged to the end of the building and back. I think that 80kg would have been a better weight, but as we are still very much in the beginning phase at the moment, a little less is better than completely and utterly destroying myself.

pulling the sled. it wasn't all that bad actually.

Strength and Performance Gym- Thoughts on training

Sean, or Z, sent out a message today asking this.  

"What do you think of when you think of Strength & Performance? I keep hearing the phrase 'Hardcore' all too often. What people tend to forget is that we probably train equal amounts of fat-loss clients to semi-professional/pro athletes! We are not a place where folks just come to bleed and vomit.. we get results for everyone! Your thoughts?..."

Now, I tried to answer this very briefly as a return post and said 
"Intelligent training. Hardcore when it needs to be." 

Which I think sums it up pretty well. However, it is more than that, but I think the succinctness works for itself. 
I have only been going there for a couple of weeks, and I may have a bit of an "angle" in that I also help out with Soft Tissue Therapy there as well, but this is my take on the "underground gym" in Stockport. 


Hardcore is such an overused word in terms of gyms. If a gym has cardio machines and pretty weights, bouncy balls and personal trainers who look pretty and are employed to polish chrome, its going to be a gym with a certain clientele- generally one that likes to read the paper while working out. If a gym has about 20 tonnes of metalwork inside and huge blokes going through the door, its more likely to be a "lifters" gym, focusing very much on lifting very very heavy stuff. If a gym has sledgehammers, ropes, rings, tyres and stuff that needs to be pushed around the floor it tends to get lumped into a "hardcore" category. Most people would associate this with MMA fighters with no teeth, training with maximum aggression and god help anyone who gets in their way. 


Recently there has been a rise in the Crossfit brand. An excellent concept which appeals to many, and has got a large number of people into functional training. If you haven't done this kind of thing- hitting a tyre with a sledgehammer minute on minute off, then throwing kettlebells around and then something else, chances are, you are going to be puking blood by the end of it. Unless you are used to it, its going to hurt, and this is the only thing that people actually see. 
Its not really the point, and gyms of this ilk should not all be lumped together. 


Yes, there are a few places out there that focus on making people physically ill. But what is the point in that? If you aren't used to an exercise, and you do it hard enough for long enough, of course its going to make you feel like you want to die. Take a long distance runner and make them do tabata, or 30/30 push presses, its not going to be pretty. But on the same level, take a guy that can do all that and make him run 10 miles at a proper decent race pace, and by the end, he'll be in much the same position. 


Just because your trainer is making you feel ill at the end of your workout does not mean he is a good trainer. Chances are, unless he can explain to you WHY he is making you feel like this, he doesn't really know what he is doing. Crossfit doesn't tend to be like this, though there are some that are. As I say, don't lump them all together, there are good trainers and bad trainers, but this blog isn't about that. It's about S&P.
So.
How does this relate to S&P as a gym?


Well, when you look at the gear they have in there, and the people who work out there, you will see all kinds of weird and wonderful bits and bobs being used. All of it in a functional and intelligent way. There are ropes, chains, weights, tyres, rings, hurdles and all that stuff. The people that train there are working hard. They are sweating, they may be shouting with effort, the music is pumping, and overall, good, honest hard work is being done.
Some of them may be feeling ill at the end of the session, some may be ill because they aren't used to that type of work at that high-an-intensity, but the difference is, there is a reason for it. 
Let me show you what I mean. 

A few weeks ago I started at the Gym. I gave Sean a list of adequecies that I want to progress to and beyond in the future. He showed me the place, and gave a general work out for the first session, as much to see what I could do, and what I couldn't do in terms of movement. I have an imbalance in my right shoulder and find it hard to do presses of any kind without eliciting pain. This was tested, noted, and we moved on. By the end of the session I was sore, yes, but I was not throwing up, I was not bleeding through my eyeballs, and I wasn't calling for an ambulance. 
When I came back next time a 4 week introduction programme was given to me with specific exercises to rebuild muscle and firing patterns into my shoulder. Movements I have difficulty with work worked around so that I can still do intensive work while my shoulders rebalance, and extra warm ups and movement patterns were added to re-educate the muscles. 

Going through my warm up and training with Sean I asked why I was doing various exercises and the point of particular things. He had an answer for everything- including the order in which the exercises were put. This is what proper, intelligent training is about. 
 
It's not a case of "heres a hammer, hit that tyre until you feel like you're going to die". Its knowing your client, knowing what each individual is about, what they need, and how to go about getting it out of them. Its intelligent training. Building each individual up, addressing their weaknesses, pushing their boundaries, and encouraging them to go beyond their comfort zones. 
Yes, it may be uncomfortable. Yes, it may be loud. Yes, there are times when you might feel ill. But the difference is that here, people like me, Joe Public, are training next to professional athletes. Olympians, Fighters and Lifters. Their work ethic rubs off on us, and our hard work and sweat encourages them to reach new heights. 


S&P is not a place to read a magazine while you "workout". It is not a place where one size fits all. It is not a place to slack, or to say "I've had enough". 
It is a place of energy, hardwork and community, where you can come to train, and feel free to sweat, scream and shout without fear of someone looking at you as if you're a nutter. Its a place of hardwork, suffering and redemption, each person committed to their own performance be it to increase sporting ability, or simply to feel better in their own skin. 


At least, thats what it is to me. 

Intelligent training, and hardcore when it needs to be.

Strength and Performance Session 5

Today is a rest day. Thank goodness for that.
I had S&P on Monday, a race on Tuesday, a race on Wednesday, S&P yesterday, followed by work for the rest of the day. Rest and recovery are on the cards today. All day.

After getting to the gym, Z knew that I'd been racing for the past 2 nights and asked if I wanted to have a reduced session, some kind of body weight circuit in lieu of the workout that had already been written. Had I been really totalled, or had the session been a ridiculously hard Strength session I would have taken him up on the offer. However, This is only the second week of rehab work, and not much of it is going through my legs which were going to be the parts of me that were tired. I thanked him, but said I'd just get on with what was written down. No issues.

The warm up quite rightly took ages. It is a key part of the workout and warms up each part of the body thoroughly. In my case there are a number of extra exercises and stretches to do, each focussing on a particular movement, and bringing it all together at the end of the warm up to make the shoulder girdle work together as a cohesive unit in the correct way as opposed to with muscles pulling in the wrong direction/ being lazy/ not quite doing what they are meant to be doing.
From there it was the same as last Thursday, increasing weight where I felt I could, but making sure all the movements were deliberate, intelligent, focused, and that each rep was a rep and not being cheated on.

4 sets of
8 step backs (7.5kg in each hand)
5 wide grip pullups (1 chain)
8 lower trap extensions (still working on lower trapezius activation, even in the workout)
1 min rest between each superset

3 sets of
15 Glute bridges (feet on bench)
15 prone, pronated rows- (5kg on each)- that was HORRIBLE toward the end.
1min rest between each superset

3 sets of
15 KB swings- (20kg)
30 seconf plank - on each side
1min rest between each set.

No prowler this week, but we did the ropes. 20secs of double arm wave, single arm wave, internal and external rotations and finally starjumps.
even with a minute rest between each one, it was exhausting. Different to the prowler, and more difficult in the last 5 seconds of each exercise.
Feels good though.

And now, back to some serious recovery. Had a new foam roller arrive today, a more solid one than the current model... this could be amusing. Painful, but amusing.

Strength and Performance Session 4

Back on it today. Much the same as last Monday, but heavier.

The warm up and Lower trap activations seem to take a long time. I guess thats the point. I need to make the muscles work in the correct order, and educate them in the right way before I start working out. That way, the muscles fire correctly, instead of trying to do the wrong thing in the wrong order and end up straining themselves.

All good fun.
The Goblet squat was done with 12.5kg (12)
Pull ups- neutral grip, with chain round me (6)
Pull aparts (12)
4 sets

Then

RDL at 14kg on each hand (12)
Neutral prone pronated rows 7.5kg each (12)- the hardest thing of the whole work out
1m plank
3 sets

Then

Scapula push ups (12)
KB swings 16kg, then 20kg. (15)
2 sets

then 5 there and back on the prowler with 20kg on, All high except one which was low, but no grip- so went back to high. 1m rest between each run.
That was a bit of a jelly leg finale, but I reckon give me a week, and that will be fine again, and we'll have to up the weight.

Bradwell fell race tomorrow, then Cracken edge on Wed. All go this week!

Strength and Performance session 3

Started out with a long warm up, including all the lower trap activation exercises. I have noticed that my shoulder is hurting less now, (however, my neck is hurting a lot more- on the lev scap kind of area. Thats probably because its being used more than ever now, and taking up the slack that it should have been doing all along...)

The general gist of today was that is was the second of 2 sessions for the week. These sessions are going to be repeated for the next 4 weeks with various changes in weight and position in order to make them more challenging.
The first superset was repeated 4 times and included pull ups prone rows and lower trap activations.
Second superset was repeated 3 times and included KB swings and side planks, and, surprise surprise, more trap activations.

As a bit of a surprise at the end of the session (was fully expecting a prowler session) was the sled pull. 80kg on a sled, front pull, then a back pull.
I figured it couldn't be all that bad... but how wrong I could be.
Running forward with it was fine, not an issue really. After the turn around, pulling it back (running backward instead of fowards), was horrendous. Burning through the hamstrings and glutes, I could barely keep any speed going at all, but got through to the end.
5 sets, with a minute between each set. The final pull back was really really hard, but I managed to get through it. It felt like when I did the prowler the first time. However, I didn't collapse, I didn't sit down, I didn't lie down. Keep standing and keep breathing

It was a little difficult to walk down the steps back into the gym- jelly legs etc.
But. I'll be ready for the next session. Can't wait.

Strength and Performance Gym Session 2

Headed to S&P today for our second session- first full one after the "testing" session.
We warmed up in much the same way, foam rollering, static and active mobilisations. I had a few extra stretches and mobilisations to work on because of my pretty terrible range of movement around the shoulder and hips.

The warm ups were an excellent chance to get more blood circulating in areas where there isn't normally good circulation - That means more nutrients are getting to places that aren't used to being used. A very good thing. Muscles and tissues should not be stagnant, but should be flushed through with good stuff as much as possible to keep them healthy and in good working order.

Because of my shoulder issue my training consisted largely of rehabilitation movements, but in some cases with weight. Basically we are looking at getting a few muscles which aren't used to being worked, into the idea that they actually need to be recruited for more movements than they are being used for at the moment. The reason my shoulder hurts is because the main prime movers are doing ALL of the work, and the smaller stabilising muscles just aren't doing any of the work. Thus, a lot of the movements that I'm doing are aimed at getting the smaller muscles working again.

This generally means that for the next 5 weeks or so, I'm going to be going through a foundation workout. It's not something that is going to knacker me out like a "home workout" would. Nor will it look particularly good on paper. It's not meant to.
These foundation weeks will help attain a good all round fitness and a musculature that is functional and able to be built upon in a number of different ways. It will hopefully iron out any imbalances I have, and enable me to be more biomechanically efficent.

Having said that, Sean tried to wear me out with a few turns on the Prowler at the end. 3 laps was easy, the 4th was a little harder, but I think I got used to it since last session.
I suspect that next session its going to be a whole lot harder at the end. We'll just have to wait and see.

Today
4x
    8x Goblet squat (10kg)
    6x Pull up
    12x elastic band Lower Trap contraction
   
then

3x
    12x Romanian Deadlift (with 2x12kg)
    10x Prone Lower trap row (7.5kg)
    Plank (1min)

then

2x
   10x KB swing (12kg)
   10x scapula pushups

then 4 rounds on the Prowler with 1 min rest between each
  

Strength and Performance Gym session 1

Over at S&P for a first session yesterday, it was going to be a short one, with a few exercises to workout various imbalances in the way I move and train in order to see what needs to be worked on, what doesn't, and how my movement patterns can be adjusted to make me more efficient. (in terms of movement, that is).

The warm up consisted of a lot of specific foam rollering on large and small muscle groups, stretches, holds, and movements, like reverse split squats etc. All good stuff for getting the body ready for action- going straight into a decent training session really isn't going to cut it in a gym like this.
Serious preparation for serious work done by motivated people.

We went through a number of movements, including Bear crawls, squats (unweighted and goblet), press-ups, pull ups, kettlebell swings, plank and a moving plank. Nothing too bad or strenuous, but it showed up a fair few chinks in my armour. Most of which I knew about anyway, but wasn't sure how to correct them.

My squatting isn't anywhere as near as it could be- collapsing on the way down- mainly caused by stiff hip flexors, press-ups cause impingement issues with my shoulder- that has been bugging me for a year. I think that we can sort this out in a couple of weeks, because it seems that my lower traps just aren't engaging- and my rhomboids also seem a bit lazy when put under strain.
The problem I've been having is the bigger muscles- like the deltoid- just take up the strain because my body knows they can, and this is impinging the joint and making the movement pattern sub-optimal for the rest of the body.
My general cross-core is not all that strong- rec abs, transverse abs, and serratus ant. and my glutes don't really fire under strain either. This is all probably down to tigh hip flexors again- as they are over firing, the reciprocal inhibition means that glutes and general abdominal muscles don't fire.

As a final FY, I did 3 lengths on the prowler- a steel sled which can be weighted. It really didn't need to be. After the third time I was so close to passing out from lack of blood to the head it really wasn't funny. Thinking back to how bad I felt at the end of 4 hill reps on Monday. This was worse, and in a fraction of the time. I suspect this may be a bit of a kickstart for attacking races, which will be excellent.
Interestingly, the tight hip flexor thing was what lost me a lot of places on the race yesterday (race report here) and so I think there will be a lot of work done on those in the coming few months.

Sean and Zoran were excellent at looking at my form, listening to what I was saying about what I felt, and then changing things so as to avoid excessive pain (not pain from tiredness, but bad pain- which stops you training). The screening was thorough, and everything they said resonated with what I have been feeling and how I believe I need to train.
I mentioned a little earlier about how I knew there were bits that I need to train to get rid of imbalances and niggles. I have been trying to do that on my own for a fair while, and not having much success. Within 40 mins, we knew what was wrong and how it needed to be worked on.

Sean pointed out that from my goals, none of them included flexibility... the reason for that is because as I train, and ans I become able to attain the goals, flexibility should be a byproduct of everything I do- its not something that I am aiming for specifically, but something that should happen through correct training.


This weekend is Scrambling in Wales, Monday is back to S&P
Can't wait.