Training For Speed

I’m in a phase of training for speed/explosiveness, as you might guess from the PAP workout I posted last week. Along with my training I’ve been reading some old literature on the subject that’s both fun and compelling. The best of these is a book called Speed Trap, by Charlie Francis. Francis was the coach of sprinter Ben Johnson (among others) who was most famous for testing positive for steroids after setting the world 100m record in the Seoul Olympics. Speed Trap is an honest account of the drug protocol used in those days but, more interestingly, he straightforwardly tells how his group of athletes got so fast. Francis, a former sprinter himself, taps the mind of the most successful coaches in the world (including many of the notorious eastern block) and uses his own experience as a runner to improve upon what they’d done. He had spectacular success and is still regarded as one of the greatest minds in the history of sport.

Along with Speed Trap Francis wrote other—more technical books—that can be found on his web site that still appears to be working even though he passed away in 2010. For anyone interested in training for speed this is required reading/viewing. Also found a cool interview over at T-Nation. It’s more fun than practical but has a few gems and worth a few minutes of your time. The first half covers drugs and hypocrisy in sport and, in my mind, is less interesting although you’ll get a good idea of Francis’ direct nature with quotes like, You wouldn't let a plumber loose in your house without him having trained under supervision. Yet we have coaches who sent away for a mail order course or get classified as a level four or whatever just because they passed an exam. There's a program in Canada that says, "Doesn't your child deserve a certified coach?" Then you see the work that these idiots do! I think the word is certifiable, not "certified." They take a good concept and turn it into crap.

The second half gets into some training protocol, from the importance of not overtraining and recovery: If an athlete hits a personal best, you usually stop the workout, regardless of what's left on the paper. Why is that? Well, it's dangerous. The time people get hurt is the next session after they've had a tremendous performance. Not just because they're psyched up and trying to beat their PR, but because their bodies haven't recovered from it. With very heavy weights it can take ten to twelve days to get over a maximal lift, same thing in sprinting. There's a huge difference between 95 and 100% performance. To the dangers of single rep exercises: The reason for that is once an athlete gets to a certain level of strength, you'd almost never be working at singles because it's too dangerous. Ben never worked with singles, certainly not in the lower body. Why take the risk? To stretching protocol: This used to be frowned on in the US, I know, but ballistic stretching has it's place provided the athlete is loose. Static stretching and when you're trying to increase the range should be at the end of the workout. Not only is this the safest time to do that type of stretching, but it also speeds up recovery. You can shorten your recovery by up to four hours by stretching everything out at the end of the session. That's the time to go for increased range. To supplements: There’s a lot of things out there that are very good, the problem is in how much and when. Creatine can be very helpful and very harmful. For example, jetlag can cause an athlete to lose fluid out of the muscles and into the tissue surrounding it. By taking creatine you can bring the fluid back to its normal levels inside the muscle cells and allow the proper transfer of nutrients across the cell membranes to speed recovery. You'll also have more fuel available for the activity. The downside is if you pump too much fluid in there you decrease the ability of the muscle to move over itself because it's too pumped up. Then you're at risk of injury. So there's a very fine balance, as in all things. He even discussed PAP, though not be name, and says he didn’t use it as it was yet to be perfected so it made sense. Took Marcus and P3 to do that.

Portrait Of An Athlete: Lindsey Vonn

Some of you may not believe me but I’m not always motivated. Sometimes I feel like going to happy hour instead of training. There are times when I question why I work so hard when there’s no health reason for keeping my body fat low or my anaerobic threshold peaking. The Psyche posts are for just these times, to help keep me from slacking.

Today’s Psyche is a teaser to the film In The Moment, a documentary about skier Lindsey Vonn. The entire show can be streamed on Netflix. The Vonn most of us see wins a lot of important races and socialized with celebrities at red carpet events. What we don’t see on Sports Center, E, or OMG! could not be more of a contrast.

This film may not interest a lot of people. It glamorizes nothing and, in fact, doesn’t make being a professional athlete (even one of the best that ever lived) look like a lot of fun. If you think that you work hard, sacrifice, and focus in life it will make you reassess that position.

It’s said that the best athletes are born and not made. And while it’s true that “you can’t put in what God’s left out” ask Sam Mussabini said young pupil Harold Abrams in Chariots of Fire (who would go on to win Olympic gold) no one is that unique. Sure, there are athletic measures you are born with but there are billions of people on earth. One born with unique gifts still has thousands of other similarly-talented individuals vying for one prize. The rest comes down to luck and how much you’re willing to sacrifice.

Vonn sacrifices. A lot. And while it's never going to be what trends on Twitter it is the reality of what it takes to be the best.

How To Choose The Right Exercise Program

In my last chat I was asked why P90X2 wasn’t as good for weight loss as P90X. Ironically that same week Tony Horton hosted some coaches for a workout at his house where they burned over 1,200 calories in an hour doing an X2 workout. This doesn’t mean the question was dumb. It means it requires a longer answer than I could give at that time because it starts new topic; how to choose the right exercise program.

If everyone burned 1,200 calories during an X2 workout it would be amazing for weight loss. But many people do not because P90X2 is what we call at Beachbody a post-graduate program. Its predecessor, P90X, is a graduate program and the series original, Power 90, is an intro program. Trying to do P90X2 before you’re ready is like walking into French IV when you haven’t taken French 1. You’re not ready and, thus, won’t be able get the most out of it. In fact you’ll probably feel lost.



At Beachbody we’re creating fitness solutions for the entire planet, and most of this planet doesn’t play in the NBA or NFL. P90X2 was created specifically for our customers who’ve become so fit they require an elite program on the level of the professional athlete. If someone lets you borrow a surfboard are you going to paddle into Pipeline and attempt to catch your first wave? Probably not. Choosing the wrong fitness program will drown your results just as fast. A brief rundown of the Beachbody line-up will help you understand why.

"hmm, maybe i should have started on a beach break..."

P90X2 and Insanity: The Asylum are currently Beachbody’s only post-graduate programs. They were designed for our customers who’d mastered P90X and Insanity. If you can’t do those programs it doesn’t make sense to begin something harder because you won’t have the fitness base to complete the individual exercises, much less the workouts. And if you can’t do the workouts you won’t get very fit.

As an example let’s take the workout P90X Chest & Back. I’ve had people tell me they only burned 150 calories in this workout. I’ve burned over a thousand. The difference is when you can’t do push-ups and you can’t do pull-ups and don’t modify correctly so that you fail at 10 reps or more per exercise than the difference in that workout is night and day. I’m completely pumped from my very first set to the last, 45 straight minutes pushing my anaerobic threshold—it’s everything I can do to not puke! But someone who can’t do the exercises won't get pumped will likely max their caloric burn during the warm-up! This is exactly why we have you do a fit test before you begin: to see if you belong in P90X in the first place.

For X2 we expect you to be able to do P90X. If you can’t do, say, Warrior 3 in Yoga X you’re not going to be able to do Warrior 3 curls or kickbacks--just one of numerous examples. We do offer exceptional modifications in X2 but, like X, they still require you to find a point where you fail at the required number of repetitions to work their magic. As I said in another post, you can’t claim X2 workouts mastered until you can use the same amount of weight (in its difficult positions) as you can with P90X.

In Asylum, Shaun yells at his cast that “this is not Insanity, people!” as if that program is light cardio. Most of you know that Insanity is anything but so it shouldn’t surprise you that if you can’t do Insanity you might not make it through the warm-ups of Asylum.

Beachbody’s graduate programs include: 90X, Insanity, Turbo Fire, P90X+, and Debbie Siebers’ Slim Series. These programs were based off of intro programs that are similar in style but accessible to almost anyone: Power 90, Hip Hop Abs/Rockin’ Body, Slim in 6. If you’re inspired by P90X but can’t do the fit test, a round of Power 90 will give you much better results and will ultimately have you mastering X and X2 a lot quicker than beginning with the harder program.

In addition, our intro line has many other options to fit your personality. We now have what I call gentle, moderate, and hard into programs. Our goal is to have workouts for every single demographic. We want to eliminate all possible excuses for not getting healthy.

added bonus of power 90: retro chic

If you’ve never exercised or are coming off an injury that’s impaired your ability to move you might consider Tai Cheng because it will retrain your movement patterns. Love the idea of martial arts training but want something more challenging, try Rev Abs. If you hate to exercise but love to dance you might try Hip Hop Abs, Turbo Jam, Body Gospel or Yoga Booty Ballet. Conversely those who are challenged by coordinating their moves might prefer Slim in 6 or Kathy Smith’s Project You, which use simple exercises to great effect. Those who like pumping iron should consider Power 90 or Chalean Extreme. And if you’re ultra-time crunched we’ve got 10 Minute Trainer to get you in the habit of daily exercise.

As for results; all of our programs work exactly the same. Seriously, our test groups get similar results in every program we make (we don’t release them until the do). We screen the test groups to make sure the right people are doing the right program and you should too. Of course X2 graduates are ultimately fitter than Power 90 graduates but that’s because they’ve done more homework. Just like a French IV graduate is more fluent than a French 1 there is a logical progression to getting fit and it’s much easier and quicker if you’re taking the right class.

Full Body PAP

As promised, here's the friggin’ awesome workout I’ve been doing. If you don’t have time to do PAP Lower and Upper separately here’s an idea for combining them. It takes a while but is absolutely worth it; for sure one of the best workouts I’ve ever done.

This workout riffs off of the 30 rep workout I was doing for muscular endurance during my last training block, meaning that it’s tailored to my personal sports specific movement patterns. I began doing two rounds of each complex, now I’m at three, and I’ll hit four before the block ends.

A note on PAP: This isn’t a follow along cardio routine. You need to push yourself. And it’s not endurance work. You’ve got to go 100% on the explosive movements. 100, not 99. The difference between going 100% and 95% is massive. It’s not very hard to do a lateral skater in your comfort zone (or at a pace that you’d do for 20 or 30 reps). But it hard to go as hard, high, far, and fast as you possible can every single rep. That is the key. If you’re not going to do that then you might as well go do a Zumba class.


beautiful example of double skaters at 100% from crosby slaught

Move quickly through the warm-up, which will feel like a workout by design. Take a short break. Then treat every round of each complex as though it were a competition. Have fun!

WARM-UP
A slight tweak of the P90X2 functional warm-up—the perfect warm-up

Stability ball movements from X2: twist, squat overhead reach, overhead side to side, lunge overhead reach, loading dock

World’s Greatest Stretch: from X2: lunge, alt arms overhead, 3 each side

Inch Worm: X2

Scorpion: too hard to explain so get X2 (if you read my blog you SHOULD already have it!)

Fire Hydrants: From hands and knees lift leg (like a dog), extend leg backwards, back to start, repeat. Forward and backwards 10 each side

Groiners: again from X2

Plank - 30 sec

Wall Angels - 4 contractions held

Calf raises – heels straight, in, and out: 10 each

Shoulder retractions 10 weighted

YT Fly 10 – 12/12 reps

Side/cross hops 30 seconds

Darin squats – named for Shakeology’s Darin Olien (I saw he and Laird Hamilton doing these in a workout), you support yourself holding onto a bar and squat back and forth on each leg, extending the opposite leg straight (like a reverse hurdler stretch). 12 each direction

Toe Raises – Tibealis Anterior exercise, back flat on wall feet out in front raise toes 30

END OF WARM UP

COMPLEX 1

Towel Pull-ups 5-8 (Weighted)

Jump pulls on rings ( go as high as possible hold high position for split second) 6

Banana (supine) pull down - 15

REPEAT 1, 2, or 3X

COMPLEX 2

Step up convicts (see X2) – 6 each side (as much weight as you can)

Split squat jumps 6

Heel slide - 15 reps each side

REPEAT 1, 2, or 3X

COMPLEX 3

Pullovers on a stability ball – 15

Med ball plyos – 8 (explode off/on a ball as fast as possible)

Fingertip chataranga hold 30 (or not fingertips when you fail—still hard)

REPEAT 1, 2, or 3X


samuel fuchs demostrates med ball plyos at p3

COMPLEX 4

One leg squat reach 8 each side

Lateral skaters 6

Side plank leg raise (see X2) – 30 seconds each side

REPEAT 1, 2, or 3X


see reverse pike v-ups (or whatever we called them) here.

COMPLEX 5

Squat, curl, press 8-10 (squat, curl with legs slightly bent, then push press to finish. Reverse in control)

Ball slams 6-8 (hold med/slam ball overhead, squat down slamming it to floor—make sure you can catch the rebound—bring back overhead with a jump. We wanted these in X2 but not practical in many homes. Sub reverse pike v-ups from X2 if these will break your floor cause rift with the neighbors.)

Bridge leg lift - 6 x 20 seconds on each leg 3 each

REPEAT 1, 2, or 3X

Neuro-integrated stretch (see X2 PAP and Plyo)



fun with pap: jeremy evans demostrates step-up convicts and other movements in this vid highlighting his slam dunk title training.

Integration Experiment

Today I begin experimentation with a 10-day integration program designed to lead to a short performance peak. I’ve spent most of the last couple of months training indoors and need to transition those strength gains into real world application. Of course it has some foundation because I do this sort of thing all the time but it merits recording because I’m experimenting with a type of taper diet as well.

A little over a week ago I began a 6-day diet designed to cut weight during a low volume period of training without sacrificing any fitness gains. It went okay but wasn’t perfect. I lost 8lbs in a week but performance was sacrificed a bit. This week running a similar template, diet-wise, but beefing it up to accommodate harder training with hopes of nailing what went wrong last time. It didn’t really go wrong. It worked very well in some respects. But my goal is to cut weight and sacrifice no performance so I’m attempting the template under more duress (training load) where nutritional parameters are easier to assess and try and figure how to tweak the original idea.

I begin the week 3lb downs from my high point two weeks ago, so I gained 5 of the 8 I lost back meaning the last attempting promoted too much dehydration or I was indulgent this weekend (it’s a bit of both). Goals are to lose weight while increasing performance comfort outside in three disciplines, running, biking, and climbing.

The details

I chose a 10 day period because the ultimate goal is a perfect tapering diet and you generally taper between one and two weeks for an event. This also coincides with a work trip where I’m supposed to shoot some climbing footage for the P90X2 show and I need to be able to climb whatever routes look good to the production crew.

I will be climbing, running, and riding and training everyday (not doing each daily) as well as doing easy yoga and foam rolling. I’ll be doing three full body postactivation potentiation (PAP) workout per week. These are like a combo of P90X2 Upper and Lower and I’ll post that workout tomorrow.

The diet is low carb for days, around 50% protein with very little fat. While doing this I’ll drink 2 gallons of water a day (yep!) and eat a lot of salt. This, btw, is very difficult for someone who is mainly vegetarian (likely impossible for a vegan) so I’m adding a little bit of meat and fish so that I don’t have to live on protein powder and Shakeology. Hardest thing for me is giving up all the nuts, seeds, and legumes that generally make up most of my diet.

Next I drop the water to one gallon, stop adding salt to food, and add low-glycemic carbs back into the diet. Protein consumption stays high and fat stays low. I normally eat a pretty fatty diet (all healthy plant-based fats from the aforementioned nuts and seeds as well as olives and avocados). This flushes sodium from your body but since I’m not cutting sodium completely it should help cell hydration normalize.

That is only the base template I’m working off of. It’s what I did last time and it’s getting tweaked but I see no reason to post my alterations until I know they work.

The target is increased fat mobilization (as stored glycogen is compromised) and hydration homeostasis. These two things will happen for sure but the trick here is how to do this without a loss in performance. There are many theories on this, of course, but until they’ve been applied with a positive outcome there’s no reason to consider them. My goal is to understand all the subtleties so that I can better advise people on how to do this based on their personal parameters.

yesterday's training; spring conditions on stansbury island.

10 Things To Like And Not Like About Coffee

After a period of darkness in honor of Caballo Blanco, The Straight Dope is back with a different kind of dark. This one, black as midnight on a moonless night, is some serious Friday Psyche about coffee. Here’s an excerpt from an article I wrote evaluating both the good and bad sides of the world’s favorite elixir.

From Harvard Health, "... Studies show that the risk for type 2 diabetes is lower among regular coffee drinkers than among those who don't drink it. Also, coffee may reduce the risk of developing gallstones, discourage the development of colon cancer, improve cognitive function, reduce the risk of liver damage in people at high risk for liver disease, and reduce the risk of Parkinson's disease. Coffee has also been shown to improve endurance performance in long-duration physical activities."

As you’ve probably already guessed the article is mainly positive. All 10 of the pluses and minuses listed are from major studies featuring thousands of subjects over a number of years so it’s pretty iron clad data. Some of the more surprising stats show that even excessive coffee drinking can highly beneficial.

At a 2009 conference, they reported that the likelihood of having a stroke was highest among people who didn't drink coffee and lowest among those who drank the most coffee: 5 percent of people who drank 1 or 2 cups a day suffered strokes, whereas 2.9 percent of people who drank 6 or more cups suffered strokes. So much for moderation.

The summary is that, basically, coffee is almost always good for you if it doesn’t interfere with your sleep (more important than coffee’s benefits) and you don’t load is up with a lot of junk like milk and sugar—-which can have even more dire implications than irritating Harry Callahan.

If You Knew Caballo Blanco You Won

My friend Micah True (aka Caballo Blanco) passed away while on a run in the wilds of New Mexico last week. After an exhaustive search he was found by one of his closest friends with no injury, plenty of water, and no sign of struggle. Apparently he died peacefully doing what he lived for: running free.

Why an obit would make the Friday Psyche isn’t a question if you knew him. His infectious enthusiasm will live on. The common sentiment among the Mas Locos (a group of his closest running friends) was how fitting it was that he died doing what he loved. But amongst the tributes one person sorted out our true feelings when he said “what’s most impressive is that he lived doing what he loved.” That’s why he will always be an inspiration.

Caballo Blanco was the protagonist in Christopher McDougall’s (El Oso – Micah liked referring to everyone by a totem) book Born to Run. Portrayed as a mythical hero, who ran like a ghost through the remote Copper Canyons of Mexico aiding the Tarahumara’s (or Raramuri – “the running people”) fight against extinction, it was the stuff of legend. It was also true.



The Caballo Blanco I knew, however, wasn’t the reticent character in the book. He was gregarious and full of passion, which didn’t take me long to find out. After finishing Born to Run I decided to use the interweb to see just how hard the guy really was to track down. Turned out he had a web site. Seemingly only a few seconds after hitting send on an email I had a chat request from one Micah True. Ironically, the ghost-like character that El Oso had spent a couple hundred pages trying to find was contacting me less than five minutes after I’d begun searching. In the years since I probably haven’t gone more than a few weeks without hearing what he’s up to.

Oddly I never met him. We often seemed to be in the same places at different times. I made it down to the Barrancas (local’s reference to Barrancas del Cobre—Copper Canyon) a few years back but had to leave the day before we were to rendevous for one of the pre-race hikes. My dog had a stroke and I headed north. On the bus leaving Creel I received a simple note from El Caballo supporting my choice, “Dog is great.”

Like many of the Mas Locos, as soon as I heard he was missing I offered to help. I was in LA and had to get back to Utah, by which time many Mas Locos were already en route. I put myself on call with the SAR team, packed my van with rescue gear, and drove south to get closer should I be needed. My wife and I spoke about the possibilities. Once hopeful scenario I’s concocted was that he’d decided to disappear, like the character in the book, and that we’d never find him by his own design. And even though Romney only knew him through me and the book she rejected it. “He liked people too much,” she said. “And he’d never put his friends through this on purpose.” This busted my utopian bubble because I knew it was correct. If there was one thing Micah was about it was then name he’d bestowed himself, being true.

Caballo Blanco was about truth. He was quick to point out any hyperbole, be it about helping the Tarahumara, barefoot running, or even the book that lionized him. He understood why Born to Run was written in such a popular format but his tellings were more straightforward. For example, in BTR the scene where he encounters the Tarahumara plays out like Western (and is a GREAT read). But Caballo’s actual account is different. Not Hollywood at all but with its own style that those who knew him will appreciate even more. When I asked if I could use it on my blog he replied “stories are for sharing.” Click the passage below for some fine reading:

"Well, shucks; I really want to run this race, and am an old time, loyal friend of this event; won't you let me enter?" I had pleaded with the race director, who did not even remember my name, or who I was, even though I had run the "family'' like race four times. No chance; the race had grown big now, and entry was at a premium. The "New York Times" and many publications had written the story of the 55 year old Mexican winning the race. Leadville was now a huge spot on the ultra-running map! The race and their corporate sponsor, a shoe company, had benefited considerably from all of the publicity, the feel good story of the impoverished Indians running for their communities; and not JUST running, but winning; and a 55 year old in sandals at that! A deal was made with the 'gringo' promoter who had driven the Tarahumara north, to bring another team of seven Raramuri to the '94 race. I think that part of the deal was to wear the race-sponsor's shoes for a photo op.

I received a phone call from the gringo sponsor/promoter of the team of Raramuri. He was looking for help, someone who could run and knew the course, to pace some of "his" runners. "Sure, I'll do it, providing I can run the whole 50 mile return with the runner of my choice." "They tend to run faster as they go; you think you can keep up?" he challenged. "If I can't keep up, then they don't need me," I confirmed...

What happens to the Tarahumara in his wake is hard to say. Elections that could change things are about to take place and Micah, though he’d never run for office, was a serendipitous politician. As goes the bloody history of the Americas all indigenous peoples are under constant threat. Strange as it may seem, Micah’s race, The Copper Canyon Ultra Marathon and books like Born to Run are very effective ways to thwart these would-be vanquishers of history. The more popular a culture is the harder it becomes for it to disappear. I’m guessing if last wishes were reality Caballo Blanco’s would have been for everyone to appreciate this region enough to protect its land and people.

I had a hard time writing this because so many knew him better and I’m privy, even as a fringe Mas Loco, to all of their more beautiful and personal tributes. They were his family. It seems like theirs are the words should be heard. Then again, if you want personal feelings you should probably make a personal endeavor. Caballo Blanco’s stories will always be shared in las Barrrancas. Visit and you’ll be welcomed with open arms; along all the lore you’re willing to listen to.

This year, on race weekend, the Mas Locos thread was bustling with inquiries about results. And while the race itself is always competitive that wasn’t in any way Micah’s reason for staging it. He had little interested over who finished where. If you were out there, running free as he liked to say, he could not care less about how far or how fast you went. I don’t know if anyone was disappointed when he finally posted but it made my day and reminded me to get back down there next year.

He began by summarizing the race numbers (I think it was over 500 locals and 70 visitors from around the world, both records) and how much money and corn was raised for the locals. He thanked everyone for coming and posted the results. “Everybody won.” And that’s how it was with Micah. Life was simple: be true and you win. I laughed out loud, and then went for a run.

Muscular Endurance, Part 2

Last week’s post on training muscular endurance generated some questions requiring further explanation. Let’s do a little q and a.

Jonathan Mann asks, “Would this work well alongside marathon training?”

Yes, depending...(remember this answer). All athletes benefit from training muscular endurance and, in fact, it also will help those who are just trying to change their body composition. The more efficient the systems in your body work the easier it is to target the one you need to make the biggest physiological changes. This is true whether your goal is to run a marathon fast, a quick 100 meters, or to look better in a bathing suit.

The variation lies in how much time you spend training it. A 100 meter athlete will very little of their time on muscular endurance but will still address it*. A marathoner, being an ‘endurance athlete’, would appear have more direct need to train this system but this mainly gets covered in your sports specific training so, while you’ll still want to spend a phase training muscular endurance you will be best served by periodizing your training to cover all the bases: endurance, strength, and power.

Also, as I said in my short answer to his question, you’d want to do this training away from the time you’re trying to run fast. When body composition training is occurring it always takes a toll on your performance, which is why most hard training is done during the off-season.

Off topic, but on a similar theme, there were a couple of questions on mixing running with P90X2. The answer is it depends but the above paragraph spells it out further. You can run during X2 just fine but you’ll want to do mainly base work (aerobic and/or drills). If you wanted to do X2 during the last prep phases before a race (and you care how fast you run) I would severely abridge the program. Search “P90X running steve edwards” and you’ll find an article or two I wrote on how you might do this.

Finally, Bobby from Norco writes, I was curious when you would put this into a cycle and when you would see the relative benefits (also how long they would last so you could see performance gains including this glycolytic boost)?

Of course, this depends. I like to put muscular endurance training early in a cycle in general because it will make the processes your train later more efficient. There are arguments for placing it elsewhere, all based around your ultimate goals, personal weaknesses, and how much time you have to cycle your training. It’s easier to increase endurance parameters than power parameters so if absolute strength is what you want to increase most you may begin with training that, whether you are a power or endurance athlete. The only answer here that doesn't depend is that you get the best results targeting one system at a time. This is why if time is no issue (rarely the case) systematic training is a better option than trying to improve all of your physiological processes at once.

The same answer applies to how long the results with last, which is based on what you do. If you stop training your results won’t last very long and the same is true if you over train. If you train perfectly you’ll basically never lose your results but if that were possible this entire game we’re playing and, in fact, probably even sports would cease to exist. As a general rule I like to do at least one cycle (3 to 6 weeks) of muscular endurance per year in the gym (how much sports specific muscular endurance training I do, well, depends...).

*Power athletes should all read Speed Trap, a book written by Charlie Francis, former world record 100 meter runner Ben Johnson’s coach

pic: don't confuse muscular endurance with endurance training. too much endurance training takes away from power and vice-versa, but efficient muscle cell function gained by training allows you to better target goals in either realm, power or endurance.

BEEP Chat

Video streaming by Ustream

This week's Beachbody's Eating and Exercise Police (BEEP) chat feature's a 30-minute cooking show with Ani and Steph (Julia Child's got nothin' on us) followed by Denis and I answering questions on our rendition of a talk show set.

Muscular Endurance

“What are you training?” asked ex-MLS player/now BB employee Johnny Alcaraz while watching me do 30 reps (each side) of step-up convicts last night, which reminded me that I hadn’t reported on my training in a while and should probably share this phase with the world. Muscular endurance was my answer, which I followed with some details on my particular block that’s also targeting pelvic and scapular stability. “But mainly muscular endurance.”

I’ve explained why you’d want to train muscular endurance in other articles. For a detailed explanation click on the summary below:

What 30 reps does is train your glycolytic energy system. As I said in an early post, the glycolysis is what allows a fast 100 meter sprinter to win at 400 meters. Essentially, it’s the system that uses glycogen and oxygen to recharge your body’s anaerobic system.

That article explains why women might be drawn to training muscular endurance (it ensures you can’t build bulk) but it’s also extremely helpful for almost any athlete except those in complete power sports, and even those will benefit from training this system enough to keep it efficient. Its downside is that gym sessions get long and the workouts hurt.

During 30 reps sets you can actually feel your system load change. The weight you use may seem impossibly light during the first 6-10 reps. Around 15 (or less later in the workout) you’ll start feeling it. At 20, the point where most traditional weight exercises end and about as long as your can reasonably hold your breath under duress, you’re muscles will begin to give out as you change systems. From then on it’s a fight to the finish (providing you’ve used enough weight which takes a little practice). If you do these sets correctly you’ll be dying (in my case screaming) to get your last five reps done.

This time around I’ve put a spin on the Workout From Hell format, essentially supplementing P90X2 movements. Those of you who’ve been following along know that I altered my original round of X2 when I hurt my back (getting tripped running down a mountain). It recovered quickly but I’d already designed a 3 block hangboard cycle (will be published in an article if I like it) and a supporting training that includes a three week block of muscular endurance. Here’s the workout I’m doing 3x a week. You will notice a lot of instability. Next week I transition to PAP.

Full Body 30

Functional warm-up (stability ball [SB] moves that open X2 workouts)
Plank - 30 sec
Wall Angels - 4 contractions held
Heel slide - 15 reps each side
Calf raises – heels straight, in, and out: 10 each
YT Fly on SB (see X2) – 30 reps
Darin squats – named for Shakeology’s Darin Olien (I saw he and Laird Hamilton doing these in a workout), you support yourself holding onto a bar and squat back and forth on each leg, extending the opposite leg straight (like a reverse hurdler stretch). 30
Superman (prone) pull down – lying on a bench on stomach in superman position, pull downs with a band 30
Toe Raises – Tibealis Anterior exercise, back flat on wall feet out in front raise toes 30

END OF “WARM UP”

V-Rows – Row from the V position (legs and back raised for instability) 30
Pullovers on a stability ball – 30
Step up convicts (see X2) – 30 one side
Fingertip push-up 30
Step up convicts (see X2) – 30 other side
Bridge leg lift - 6 x 30 seconds or 3 each leg
Banana (supine) pull down - 30
Super Skaters with lateral hop – skate slow and then jump 30
Push press - 30
Side plank leg raise (see X2) – 30 seconds each side
Curls in a lunge - 30
Upright rows - 30
Front tri extension w/band in a lunge - 30
Reverse curl on one leg – 30

(REPEAT EVERYTHING AFTER THE WARM-UP)

Neuro-integreated stretch (see X2 PAP and Plyo)

pic: extended side plank on unstable platform - note down turned toe for glute med activation.

Training For 9a

I haven’t found any inspiring vids in lately so this week’s Psyche is a training article from UK hardman James McHaffie. Known primarily as a trad climber, McHaffie made sport climbing headlines with an ascent of Big Bang, 9a, a route that had thwarted so many famous climbers that it held a mystical reputation as virtually impossible. What ultimately impressive about this ascent is that Big Bang was two full grades harder than anything McHaffie had climbed previously, which took a boatload of training and, per usual for sport climbing, some inspired dieting. The interview also benefits from the standard English droll wit.

From RCUK:

Climbing something at my limit and improving at it actually meant climbing less, as I’d need one and a half to two rest days before serious attempts and to be much more reflective about where/why I’d fallen.

I’ve got a proper sweet tooth which doesn’t matter too much when you’re ledge shuffling on E7s but I have had to have a break from them for steep hard sport climbs!

While McHaffie’s approach is only somewhat scientific what’s most interesting about this article is how much sense it make to the average climber. Yes, he did a lot of hard and focused training and lost weight but, unlike some of what you read/see about vision quests, he didn’t embark of some sort of Spartan adventure where it was touch and go as to whether he’d do the route or get so injured he’d never climb again. While those make great tales, not very many of us could mimic Rich Simpson’s training for Action Direct without suffering a serious injury. This plan could be followed by anyone who’s been climbing regularly, though—of course—you’ll need to substitute appropriate grades for own level.

Don’t Break Your Face

Tony’s famous saying “don’t break your face” is an almost perfect analogy for showing the evolution of P90X. Back in the Power 90 days, when our goal was to get people moving and “Just Press Play” was the Beachbody motto, he literally meant that you shouldn’t drop weight on your head. In P90X2, it’s a slogan for staying cool under fire, because the more relaxed your face is the more you can focus energy on your training.

He still jokes about dropping weight but he also talks about face control. It's a hard lesson for many people to get. When we get tired we get tight. We contract. We scream. We hold stress in places, like our face, when that energy would better serve us elsewhere. Calm, relaxed, and focused on nothing but breath and movement is how we perform best, especially under duress. In Power 90, and to some degree P90X, it was enough to simply show up and try. As you’ve become fitter we now want to coax more performance out of your body and need to evolve our techniques. It starts with your face.

In the above photo I’ll be the poster child of poor form. My screaming looks cool and sells magazines but it’s not efficient. “Focus on pulling with your arms instead of your neck,” was my congratulatory note from distinguished climbing/gymnastics coach Rob Candelaria. In contrast check out the other photos of climbers who are contemplating moves at their physical limits with the serenity of a zen monk. The one in the first shot looks about ready to take a nap.

Don’t get me wrong; screaming at the right time is helpful, even important. The old karate “kee-yaw” has a place but it’s calculated. When you lose control the end it near. The goal is to control your body, saving outbursts for when you absolutely need them.

P90X2 forces you to stay calm. Try screaming during Warrior 3 kickbacks and you’ll fall, or least teeter. You’ll handle heavier weight if you’re under control, which is our grand design. By the time to get to the PAP training your form should be so solid that you’ll know when it’s time to use a calculated outburst to your advantage. Calming your face is the first step to getting the most out of your workouts; at least it is once whether or not you actually do the workout is no longer a question.

The Value Of Mentors

Another of my mentors has passed away and, once again, there seems to be some serendipity at work. I hadn’t thought about him in many years but, oddly enough, only happened upon the news because the Asylum post (on re-living your youth) got me digging around about basketball practice. Even though I hadn’t thought of Coach Harter in ages I can remember many of the stories recounted in this outstanding article about his life like I’d heard them yesterday. In fact, I can still recite some of his quotes verbatim.

I’m certain most of you have never heard of Dick Harter. He spent most of his life as an assistant coach in the NBA who specialized in defense. But Harter once spent a period of time as the head coach of the Oregon Ducks, of whom I was a rabid fan. But it wasn’t because my family was from Oregon, or because my mom went there, but simply because of Harter’s teachings and the way they played basketball. When I became a coach (my first career) I primarily patterned my style after his. I had other influences, including my dad, Bobby Knight, John Wooden, and some of the others coaches I’d played for but Coach Harter was foremost among them. I can still remember how disappointed I was that he left Oregon before I went to college, meaning I’d never have a chance to try and play for him.

“The best coach I ever had,” says Ronnie Lee, the greatest Duck of them all and the embodiment of the spirit of the Kamikaze Kids who went on to play six seasons in the NBA. “He got everything out of me a coach could possibly get.”

“One of the fiercest competitors I’ve been around,” says Greg Ballard, who enjoyed a 12-year NBA career after starring for Harter’s Ducks. “My NBA coaches didn’t compare. I appreciate it so much, looking back. I’m so sorry that, in recent weeks, I wasn’t able to call Dick and tell him how much I loved him.”

At Oregon, Harter’s Kamikaze Kids were a thorn in mighty UCLA’s side. It seemed like every year Wooden’s team of eventually NBA Hall of Famers would have more trouble with the scrappy Ducks than in the NCAA tournament (some years they gave UCLA their only loss and broke their 98-game home winning streak). His teams played with an intensity I’ve rarely seen. His “attack on defense and rest on offense” style was something I always tried to get my teams to mimic. Our goal, I always told my players, was to be the team that everyone hated to play. We might not be the most talented group but we are going to make our opponents miserable. My basketball practices often looked more like football. This came 100% from Coach Harter.

“Toughest regimen I ever went through,” Ballard says. “Charge drills — giving up your body. Diving on the floor after loose balls. Slide drills with bricks in your hands. Climb the rope to the top of McArthur Court. Running ‘17s’ the width of the court. If you didn’t make it in a minute, you did it again.”

Often, that didn’t agree with the players’ stomachs.

“I don’t know of another program in the country where the managers had to have five-gallon paint buckets underneath each basket, so when guys puked, one was readily available,” Closs says.

“During practice, you didn’t like him that much,” Lee says. “He pushed you so hard. After you left Oregon, you finally appreciated it. He pulled everybody together, creating a bond you can’t shake. He’d say, ‘I don’t care what you think about anybody else. On the basketball court, you’re going to play as a team.’ "

Ron Lee, incidentally, was my favorite player. I had this picture (cut out of a Sports Illustrated) handing on my wall.

I still take life lessons from Harter to this day. I tried to get my teams to bond, become sort a family, and it’s still the type of relationship I try and cultivate, with friends, and colleagues. My old video/climbing store was like a family, so was The Castle/Allez magazine, and so is our Beachbody fitness staff (Denis in fact worked for the video store as an undergrad, where I also met Marcus Elliott). And this was all, in no small part, related to what I learned from Coach Harter.

“We were a collection of guys leaving our homes and coming from places all over the country to play for a coach who essentially was the head of our family,” he says. “Like any family, you share a lot of joy together. You share some pain together. Along the way you learn some lessons. It’s the latter that I’ll always remember Coach Harter for.”

“As you look back,” Lee says, “you realize the genius. If I were coaching today, I’d follow a lot of what he stressed. Diving for the ball, taking a charge, blocking out to get a rebound. Offense starts with defense. One little thing can cost you a game. I learned so much from him.”

“There were things you questioned in your mind,” Ballard says. “Some of the stuff we did didn’t seem to be related to basketball. But looking back, it was all related to mental toughness. It would translate to your toughness on the court.”

Special thanks to Kerry Eggers and the Portland Tribune.

Re-Live Your Insane Youth

Sitting here working on the next round of Insanity: Asylum workouts inspired me to post this video for the Friday Psyche. It was made by one of our coaches highlighting the results from a group challenge. It’s pretty amazing what a few psyched individuals can achieve in 30 days.

As an athlete Asylum workouts resonate more than anything else in our line-up for pure fun factor. It’s probably because they’re a lot like sports practice was back in the day. And even though I’m sure I complained about miserably-hard practice like these as much as my teammates, in retrospect it was a rollicking good time.

I always used to describe the P90X/Insanity relationship as X being training for the sport of Insanity. This is doubly true for the X2/Asylum relationship. P90X2 is what you’d do in the deep off-season to change your body and specifically target weaknesses. Asylum is like Hell Week; what you’d do just before the start of the season to bring your fitness to a peak. And as nasty as Hell Week felt at the time in my memory all they conjure up are smiles.

Get busy people. You can re-live your youth with Asylum.

One Sugary Drink Per Day Can Lead To Heart Disease

I’ve been a bad blogger lately, which is sad for you because there’s been some great stuff in the news. Hopefully my schedule will clear a bit next week so I can get to the meatier issues. Today I’m going to start with a little appetizer from Harvard; a mass study (43,000) showing that those who drank soda, any soda, were at a 20% higher risk for heart disease than those who didn’t.

While this may sound shocking a little digging shows it’s not, really. The study’s parameters were broad and, basically, only led to the not-so-surprising conclusion that those who ate a healthier diet fared better than those who did not. From ABC News:

A growing body of research connects sugary drinks with increased risk of diabetes, weight gain, high blood pressure and a number of other chronic diseases. But nutrition experts note that the current study doesn't show that sugar-sweetened beverages cause heart disease. Consuming sugary drinks every day may simply indicate less healthy lifestyles that could lead to heart disease.

"To some extent, people who drink more soda are apt to eat less well overall," said Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale Prevention Research Center. "Too much added sugar in the diet is likely a 'marker' of lower overall diet quality."

Still, it’s another indictment of the sugary drink world (soda, sports drinks, and sugary juices were lumped together, which makes sense since they’re all basically the same) and that’s a good thing. The facts still remain; sugary drinks are the single largest caloric source in the world. And until that stops the obesity epidemic is going to continue to expand.

Too Much Of A Good Thing? A Closer Look At Vitamin D

Those of you on the vitamin D bandwagon should take note of a new study showing that too can lead to increased cardiovascular inflammation. “People should have their D levels tested before taking vitamin D supplements and tested again a few times a year if they stay on them", says Muhammad Amer, MD, an assistant professor of internal medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “They should not be ignoring the fact that D is a steroid-like hormone and may be harmful at some level.”

I’ve posted on the potential pitfalls of randomly jacking your diet with vitamin D a couple times recently. Most of us who spend time outdoors have no need to supplement it. However, as per usual in the supplement industry, there’s always something trendy that everyone’s recommending. And while the theoretical downside of overdosing D has been known, until now there’s hasn’t been much quantifiable data that it was a realistic possibility.

A study published in the American Journal of Cardiology in January has changed this. It looked at 15,000 healthy adults age 18 to 85 and found that, while increasing levels of D in the blood are associated with decreased cardiovascular inflammation to a point, once D levels go beyond that point, inflammatory markers actually begin to rise.

New Hope 360 reports:

This indicates a growing risk of stiffening blood vessels and other cardiovascular problems. This latest research is among several new studies that suggest, as Virginia Moyer, MD, chair of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, recently put it: “The nutrient falls into the category of something that both benefits and harms.”

They follow the news with an interview with Dr. Amer, the study's lead author. Click on the quote to read the entire article,

Vitamin D is beneficial for your cardiovascular health because it curbs inflammation, which is an underlying reason for atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). You should be on it if you are a candidate (because your D levels are low), but you should not keep on taking it indefinitely without keeping track of your levels. Again, at certain levels in the blood, vitamin D may become pro-inflammatory. If you can be on vitamin D rather than being on expensive statin drugs that compromise your kidney, liver and muscle, why not? It can definitely benefit you—it just has to be used judiciously.

It Ain't Over Til It's Over

Alizée Dufraisse: La Reina Mora 8c+/9a FFA from Prana Living on Vimeo

Today’s Psyche presents the definition of “it ain’t over ‘til it’s over.” This girl is gone. Outta there. Her body is convulsing, her elbows are chicken-winging and her ability to control the holds is shot. It seems unbelievable that her feet can stay on such small holds shaking the way they are. When you’re belaying someone who looks like this you’re well into catch mode. Yet she somehow finds a way to hang on, which is probably why she climbs harder than almost everyone. The fight she shows is some of the most impressive climbing I've ever seen.

You have to wade through a little bit of boring/envy-ness to get there (I want to spend 3 months in Spain) but, hey, it’s a Prana vid and if they’re going to produce stuff this cool you can cut em some slack for a little yoga promo. Plus, yoga is one of the best exercises for (insert almost anything here) so it might not even be staged. Yoga makes us better at physical stuff. Period.

Here’s a little background: Alizée is one of the new school of strong youngsters taking grades to a new level. This is one of the hardest ascents done by a female, which isn’t to say it’s a cake walk for the top men. In fact, a recent Psyche shows Dani Andrada, one of the world’s best, falling all over this same route.

P90X2 A Slam Dunk!

Congratulations to P3 athlete Jeremy Evans who won the NBA slam dunk competition on All Star Weekend. In this video of Evans training at P3 you’ll see him doing a lot of the same movements we do in P90X2, including the exact same PAP movements (step-up convicts to split squats).



He began training at P3 immediately after being drafted, where Dr. Marcus Elliott and his staff have turned him into a dunking machine. Over 60% of his baskets have come via dunk, not counting this one:



When people use their athleticism to punch their meal ticket this is the kind of training they do. And it’s no coincidence Jeremy’s doing what’s more or less an X2 workout, since Elliott and P3 were integral in its design. If you want to improve your hops, or any aspect of your athleticism, P90X2’s a slam dunk.

This clip shows Evans’ winning dunks, with a guest appearance from fellow P3 athlete Gordon Hayward. Incidentally, after Blake Griffin won last year’s contest jumping over a car Evans went out and did it “just to see if I could.” He one-ups him this year by jumping over a seated Hayward, catching and dunking two balls in the process. Insane. Then he jumps over someone standing fully erect. Wow.

Bike Racing Season Has Officially Begun

Even though the Psyche isn’t always a weekly feature I was admonished by a friend for not posting one this week. That’s because I’m down with a little cold, which is nice timing since my backs not back to 100% and Finnegan--my furry daily psyche reminder--has an injured foot so we’re out of commission anyway. But I always have trouble with creativity when I’m ill and just keeping up on work is hard enough. However, thanks to Reed, Sam, and a lag in posting I’ve got a good ‘un for ya on this weekend's racing in Europe.

Varmarcke attacks on 15% cobbles
this is an awesome display of power. it also shows why bike racing outside of europe might always pale in comparison. we just don't have the roads they do in europe.

Got an email from Sam on Sat stating “for me bike racing season starts today” because it’s when the big names start to show. Nowadays professional bike racing is almost a year around sport, with cyclocross and winter 6-day races getting coverage and southern hemisphere events like the Tour of Oz and San Luis attracting major riders. But let’s face it, nobody really cares if Contador drops everyone, Greipel outsprints Cav, or Valverde returns from two years off and wins out of the gate until it happens against the big guns. And those guys tend to start their season now.

I don’t ride my bike a lot during the winter. As a weekend warrior who participates in many sports I train seasonally even though I want to perform at a reasonable level, which I think is the best way to train. In fact, I think I should be more diligent towards time off. Year around training for a sport, in my opinion, is not only a waste of effort but a hindrance. The best riders in the world take time off and amateurs should follow suite. When Contador says “I hardly rode my bike between the Tour (France) and December" there is a lesson there. You can’t peak all year. Choose targets and train for them with a purpose. I like my training to revolve around big events because it’s easier to keep your psyche up.

Last K of Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne
hard to see but note the sky train (blue stripes and helmets) leading cav to the 200 meter mark perfectly, making winning a formality for him. textbook

My Twittter is suddenly filled with post from racers who’ve been silent since September. When Sky controls the field in Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne “like a video game,” the worry over being dropped in Oman is replaced with talk of the dominant season ever. And when Boonen get played like this everyone starts yappin’ about, well, the next Boonen. Sam is right. It’s on. Time to start getting’ after it.

Last K of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad
vanmarcke tricks boonen into going too early. beautiful racing.

above: highlights from omloop. vanmarcke and boonen are clearly the strongest two in the race as on or the other is on the front almost the entire race. note vanmarcke's attack on a flat cobbled section with 20k to go that splits the field. ridiculously strong riding.

A Defense Of Injury

“I had an injury, as I always do.”
- Jerry Moffatt, explaining what kicked off a great training cycle

We should change our outlook on injuries. We think they’re bad because they keep us from doing what we want at a given time. But they also force us to change, which with the right outlook is almost always a good thing. Change forces adaptation and, as any trainer knows, the specificity of adaptation is the key to making progress.

So just after training camp, during a full-swing translation towards building biking and running fitness back up, I hit a snafu. Or rather it hit me, as one of my dogs decided a snowy downhill run was a good time for some impromptu tackle football. Regaining my footing from her cross-body block wrenched something connecting to the old L5S1 injury and, voila, I’m back to traction exercises and back care yoga while my endurance training gets shelved a few weeks.

It’s not my first rehab rodeo and before I’d even assessed the damage I’d refocused my training schedule. A couple of years back, in the midst of recovering from the injury highlighted above, I took one of Kristen Ulmer’s seminars on the mental aspects of sport. Part of this was focusing on the beauty of injuries and how the changes they force on your life give you a new lease; license, or an excuse, to re-focus on something new. Reflection during this lesson confirmed it; many of my best performances have come in the wake of an injury.

The serendipity of this story is that Ben and I had become overly enthusiastic about sending a new route in the Coop. We were fit enough to get close but consistent redpoint attempts tend to make you weaker over time. Training makes you stronger, meaning if we stopped trying to climb and trained we would simply be able to do the route without all the fuss. When I called Ben to inform him that it was time to get serious about training he said, “I know what you mean. During one go (redpoint failure) I landed on the floor and just happened to be looking at The Beastmaker. I swear it was saying ‘Buddy, if you want to do that route you're staring at the answer.’”

Fingerboard (hangboard) training is almost perfect traction for the back. It’s also the single best way to get seriously strong for climbing. Its only downside is that it's hard to focus on because it's not necessarily fun. I haven’t had a meaningful climbing road trip, where I was peaking strength-wise, since sometime last century. Granted I've been focused on other sports but still; The Year of the Van beckons. My injury being the key to great success.