http://www.titleboxing.com/news/roadwork-is-not-for-runners/
An blog post on the difference between going for a run and the kind of conditioning that fighters should be doing.
Similar in concept and an expansion on the idea of Fartlek.
Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Friday, April 19, 2013
Fitness Buzzwords
http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2013/04/19/5-fitness-buzzwords/
The Nerd Fitness Blog is a great resource. And I really appreciate the article.
The Nerd Fitness Blog is a great resource. And I really appreciate the article.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
No, Not Kettlebells!
Kettlebells are not a good training tool for HEMA. Let's start there.
They are a perfectly good tool for burning calories and meeting generalized fitness goals, but not for meeting the needs of a fighter.
I do want to get out of the way one point: I'm not opposed to kettlebells. Their are two minor quibbles I have with them, neither of which is significant enough that I'd tell somebody, "don't use them". But I sure can't recommend them.
1) They cost more. For the same amount of money you can buy a larger amount of weight in dumbbells and the DBs will be adjustable at that cost, but the KBs aren't. So, I would tell people not to buy kettlebells.
2) The handles don't rotate. Many KB exercises involve the bell rotating in your hand. This will cause, and then rip open, callouses more than other weight lifting tools. So that's not good. The problem isn't awful, it's annoying, and but it can get in the way of training on those days when your hands are messed up. And that's a problem for people who train with weapons.
The best kind of strength training for HEMA is something that I've covered before. The important aspect is that good strength training for fighters is going to have one of three aspects: max force, max power or max velocity. Kettlebells are not heavy enough to elicit either maximum force or maximum power from the muscles. And they are too heavy for you to be able to generate max velocity.
Working in and around these maximums - force, power or velocity - produces the greatest benefit for the amount of time spent working out.
Max Force - Exercises which require high force production will recruit the largest motor units and the greatest proportion of your muscle fibers. This is the result of the Size Principle, and what it means is that low load exercises will simply not ever trigger the use of your biggest motor units. When you use your biggest motor units they get bigger, stronger, faster and are more easily turned on by other actions. As you train at high loads you will use your big muscles more in your fighting, so you will produce more force and power.
Max Power - Maximum power is generated in between 30% and 70% of maximum force. Different studies have found different ranges of values that elicit max power and it varies with the particular exercise and muscle groups being used. The highest power output exercises are the Olympic lifts: Clean & Jerk and Snatch. At their peak these exercise can be measured in Horsepower, with elite athletes producing over 7 horsepower. Seven horses! Kettlebells can't even get close to that. Kettlebells just aren't heavy enough. Even a small person, at 100 lbs. would need KBs around 50-60 pounds to generate max power and that person could easily train until they need over 100 pounds to elicit max power.
And their are lot's of other good reasons to do Olympic lifts, too.
Power is relevant because it is a measure of how quickly force is produced. The same amount of force in a shorter period of time is higher power output. As strikes happen faster than the muscles ability to reach maximum force the faster that force is produced the more effective the attack. (And max force still matters because in a given amount of time your muscle will produce a percentage of max force).
Max Velocity - Velocity of action drops off quickly as weight goes up. Enough so that above double-weight you get a steep drop-off in the carry-over from training to fighting. Therefore training velocity with tools above 4-6 pounds (for longsword) doesn't work well. This is why kettlebells don't do a good job of working velocity. Furthermore, velocity training is more movement pattern specific than the other two categories, so common KB exercises like swings just aren't relevant to fighting.
The better training tool for combining strength with velocity is an overweight waster (and heck, it's even historical).
You can also do a variety of plyometric medicine ball exercises for the upper body and trunk. These are best with a light med ball (again 4-6 lbs. for longsword) that bounces well.
Conditioning is not Strength Training
This is a key caveat to everything I've said so far, which has been about strength training. For conditioning purposes kettlebells can be just as good as other approaches but not with typical KB programs. Most KB programs are geared towards increasing the amount of time or number of repetitions in a fixed period of time or a fixed number of repetitions in decreasing time. These kinds of programs are usually lacking in that they do not match the energy demands of a fight particularly closely.
A typical fight involves long periods of low intensity, while the fighters jockey for position and wait for a good tempo to attack. Then there is a brief period of maximum intensity. Each exchange usually lasts no more than a few seconds (if there's no grappling). Exchanges not infrequently last less than one second.
If your kettlebell program looks like that then great. But it probably doesn't. I've talked about conditioning before. And I'll go into more detail in the future.
They are a perfectly good tool for burning calories and meeting generalized fitness goals, but not for meeting the needs of a fighter.
I do want to get out of the way one point: I'm not opposed to kettlebells. Their are two minor quibbles I have with them, neither of which is significant enough that I'd tell somebody, "don't use them". But I sure can't recommend them.
1) They cost more. For the same amount of money you can buy a larger amount of weight in dumbbells and the DBs will be adjustable at that cost, but the KBs aren't. So, I would tell people not to buy kettlebells.
2) The handles don't rotate. Many KB exercises involve the bell rotating in your hand. This will cause, and then rip open, callouses more than other weight lifting tools. So that's not good. The problem isn't awful, it's annoying, and but it can get in the way of training on those days when your hands are messed up. And that's a problem for people who train with weapons.
The best kind of strength training for HEMA is something that I've covered before. The important aspect is that good strength training for fighters is going to have one of three aspects: max force, max power or max velocity. Kettlebells are not heavy enough to elicit either maximum force or maximum power from the muscles. And they are too heavy for you to be able to generate max velocity.
Working in and around these maximums - force, power or velocity - produces the greatest benefit for the amount of time spent working out.
Max Force - Exercises which require high force production will recruit the largest motor units and the greatest proportion of your muscle fibers. This is the result of the Size Principle, and what it means is that low load exercises will simply not ever trigger the use of your biggest motor units. When you use your biggest motor units they get bigger, stronger, faster and are more easily turned on by other actions. As you train at high loads you will use your big muscles more in your fighting, so you will produce more force and power.
Max Power - Maximum power is generated in between 30% and 70% of maximum force. Different studies have found different ranges of values that elicit max power and it varies with the particular exercise and muscle groups being used. The highest power output exercises are the Olympic lifts: Clean & Jerk and Snatch. At their peak these exercise can be measured in Horsepower, with elite athletes producing over 7 horsepower. Seven horses! Kettlebells can't even get close to that. Kettlebells just aren't heavy enough. Even a small person, at 100 lbs. would need KBs around 50-60 pounds to generate max power and that person could easily train until they need over 100 pounds to elicit max power.
And their are lot's of other good reasons to do Olympic lifts, too.
Power is relevant because it is a measure of how quickly force is produced. The same amount of force in a shorter period of time is higher power output. As strikes happen faster than the muscles ability to reach maximum force the faster that force is produced the more effective the attack. (And max force still matters because in a given amount of time your muscle will produce a percentage of max force).
Max Velocity - Velocity of action drops off quickly as weight goes up. Enough so that above double-weight you get a steep drop-off in the carry-over from training to fighting. Therefore training velocity with tools above 4-6 pounds (for longsword) doesn't work well. This is why kettlebells don't do a good job of working velocity. Furthermore, velocity training is more movement pattern specific than the other two categories, so common KB exercises like swings just aren't relevant to fighting.
The better training tool for combining strength with velocity is an overweight waster (and heck, it's even historical).
You can also do a variety of plyometric medicine ball exercises for the upper body and trunk. These are best with a light med ball (again 4-6 lbs. for longsword) that bounces well.
Conditioning is not Strength Training
This is a key caveat to everything I've said so far, which has been about strength training. For conditioning purposes kettlebells can be just as good as other approaches but not with typical KB programs. Most KB programs are geared towards increasing the amount of time or number of repetitions in a fixed period of time or a fixed number of repetitions in decreasing time. These kinds of programs are usually lacking in that they do not match the energy demands of a fight particularly closely.
A typical fight involves long periods of low intensity, while the fighters jockey for position and wait for a good tempo to attack. Then there is a brief period of maximum intensity. Each exchange usually lasts no more than a few seconds (if there's no grappling). Exchanges not infrequently last less than one second.
If your kettlebell program looks like that then great. But it probably doesn't. I've talked about conditioning before. And I'll go into more detail in the future.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Where to Start
So a few folks have asked me about getting started with strength training. Unlike my normal material the following is not sport-specific.
This is just about getting started with strength training. For those who have little or no experience with the topic.
First of all: Strength training is exercises hard enough that you can only do 12 in a row or fewer. Or, with isometric exercises, something you can only hold for less than 30 seconds.
Otherwise what you are doing is endurance training. Which is not the same thing.
Primarily, it's not about which exercises you do, it's about the intensity at which you do them. Bodyweight squats are an endurance activity for most folks because they can do 15 or 20 or more. But if you did the exact same exercise while holding weights - enough weight that you could not do more than 12 - then the exercise would be strength training instead.
If I were to recommend a set of dumbbell exercises (since adjustable dumbbells are cheap, readily available and useable at home) I'd suggest the following:
1. Squats
2. Split squats
3. Straight leg deadlifts
4. Hip thrust/bridge with weight (you can start this with dumbbells in your lap. You need to put your back up against something sturdy. I push a chair up against the wall).
5. Bench press (can be done on the floor, a bench isn't necessary)
6. Bent-over row
7. Shoulder/overhead press (do this standing not seated)
8. Pull-ups (a pull-up bar can be gotten that works in almost any apartment and doesn't require tools to install). Here's a primer on doing pull-ups if you can't yet.
9. Crunches with weight (I prefer to hold the weight by my shoulders)
10. Side bends
This set of ten covers every major muscle group in the body and works them in all the major planes of motion. So it is very nearly complete.
This is just about getting started with strength training. For those who have little or no experience with the topic.
First of all: Strength training is exercises hard enough that you can only do 12 in a row or fewer. Or, with isometric exercises, something you can only hold for less than 30 seconds.
Otherwise what you are doing is endurance training. Which is not the same thing.
Primarily, it's not about which exercises you do, it's about the intensity at which you do them. Bodyweight squats are an endurance activity for most folks because they can do 15 or 20 or more. But if you did the exact same exercise while holding weights - enough weight that you could not do more than 12 - then the exercise would be strength training instead.
If I were to recommend a set of dumbbell exercises (since adjustable dumbbells are cheap, readily available and useable at home) I'd suggest the following:
1. Squats
2. Split squats
3. Straight leg deadlifts
4. Hip thrust/bridge with weight (you can start this with dumbbells in your lap. You need to put your back up against something sturdy. I push a chair up against the wall).
5. Bench press (can be done on the floor, a bench isn't necessary)
6. Bent-over row
7. Shoulder/overhead press (do this standing not seated)
8. Pull-ups (a pull-up bar can be gotten that works in almost any apartment and doesn't require tools to install). Here's a primer on doing pull-ups if you can't yet.
9. Crunches with weight (I prefer to hold the weight by my shoulders)
10. Side bends
This set of ten covers every major muscle group in the body and works them in all the major planes of motion. So it is very nearly complete.
The amount of weight you are looking for is something that will develop strength, which means higher weights and lower reps.
Start at 12-15 RM - Repetition Maximum - the number that you can do before you cannot do another with good form.
Start easy on the exercises to develop your form. In the long run good form is much more important that increasing weight quickly.
For each week pick an intensity level. Do all of your exercises at that level. Every 2-4 weeks you can increase the intensity level.
Do the workout at least twice a week and each session has a rest day in-between another session. So not more than three times per week.
Aim for multiple sets of each exercise. 2-3 sets is a reasonable workout.
But if you only have time to do one of each then start there.
You need to rest between each set to get the most out of it.
12-15RM - rest 60+ sec.
8-12RM - rest 90+ sec.
7 RM and heavier - rest 2-4 minutes
You can shorten the rest periods if you alternate exercises between different muscle groups e.g. push/pull or upper/lower. But you'll still need rest between sets. This sort of plan can be done on "light" days.
For strength training you should also have a "heavy" day where you don't alternate like this and you take appropriate rest periods.
Start easy on the exercises to develop your form. In the long run good form is much more important that increasing weight quickly.
For each week pick an intensity level. Do all of your exercises at that level. Every 2-4 weeks you can increase the intensity level.
Intensity levels:
12-15 RM
10-12 RM
8-10 RM
6-8 RM
12-15 RM
10-12 RM
8-10 RM
6-8 RM
I wouldn't go higher than that without a spotter though.
Do the workout at least twice a week and each session has a rest day in-between another session. So not more than three times per week.
Aim for multiple sets of each exercise. 2-3 sets is a reasonable workout.
But if you only have time to do one of each then start there.
You need to rest between each set to get the most out of it.
12-15RM - rest 60+ sec.
8-12RM - rest 90+ sec.
7 RM and heavier - rest 2-4 minutes
You can shorten the rest periods if you alternate exercises between different muscle groups e.g. push/pull or upper/lower. But you'll still need rest between sets. This sort of plan can be done on "light" days.
For strength training you should also have a "heavy" day where you don't alternate like this and you take appropriate rest periods.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
The Book!: Fight with All your Strength
I have fun news!
So I've been convinced to make a book of strength and conditioning instruction. And step one is market research.
What do you want to see in the book? What topics?
Here's a first draft chapter list:
I'll be doing a Kickstarter project to generate funds for professional services like editing, layout and photography. What kinds of rewards would interest you?
What haven't I thought to ask?
The book will focus on fundamentals of strength training and explain the science of why particular types of training produce the results we are looking for. The book will contain the building blocks of a successful program. I'm not going to prescribe a very specific program or follow any fads.
The question I've been asked most often is: what the difference is between a more well known (general) strength training book and what I'm working on?
Here is my answer:
My objective is to condense a lot of knowledge on strength training and conditioning, as it relates to weapon martial arts and combat sports, and put it all in one place.
For starters, the basic book on strength training that forms the foundation of my education in the topic is a college level textbook. It's over 400 pages and written as densely as any other biology textbook. But most of it is way more than a fighter needs to know to train well. And it's not at all complete.
I supplement this with several other books and research that covers upper body power development. Taking the relevant exercises from a comprehensive book on power development and putting them in one place. Then I do the same for agility books and research. And for cardiovascular conditioning.
My library also includes a stack of peer reviewed journals, so I'll be including up-to-date information on emerging modes like: mixed intensity interval training, repeated sprint and repeated effort training and rate of force development training. And the point is not that any of these is a fad, but that each of these is supported by numerous studies demonstrating consistent, useful results.
If somebody already has a general purpose book on strength training do they need to have my book? No. But I would hope that I can refine that persons training. Maybe fill in some gaps. Expand it to address previously under-served aspects of training.
So I've been convinced to make a book of strength and conditioning instruction. And step one is market research.
What do you want to see in the book? What topics?
Here's a first draft chapter list:
- Needs Analysis - What are the demands of your fighting?
- Basic Biomechanics of Fighting
- Assessment/Testing
- Dynamic Warm-up and Flexibility
- Agility and Footwork
- Core Stability Training
- Strength and Power Essentials
- Cardiovascular Conditioning
- Program Design and Periodization
- Plyometrics
- Injury Prevention
- Specifics for Different Kinds of Fighers
- Grappling and Wrestling
- Unarmed Striking
- Cutting
- Thrusting
- Wearing Armour
- Unconventional Training Tools
- Javelin and Shot put
- Sled
- Chains and bands
- Sandbag and bell
- Heavy bar, sledge hammer and battle ropes
-
Environmental Conditions and other Special Considerations
I'll be doing a Kickstarter project to generate funds for professional services like editing, layout and photography. What kinds of rewards would interest you?
What haven't I thought to ask?
The book will focus on fundamentals of strength training and explain the science of why particular types of training produce the results we are looking for. The book will contain the building blocks of a successful program. I'm not going to prescribe a very specific program or follow any fads.
The question I've been asked most often is: what the difference is between a more well known (general) strength training book and what I'm working on?
Here is my answer:
My objective is to condense a lot of knowledge on strength training and conditioning, as it relates to weapon martial arts and combat sports, and put it all in one place.
For starters, the basic book on strength training that forms the foundation of my education in the topic is a college level textbook. It's over 400 pages and written as densely as any other biology textbook. But most of it is way more than a fighter needs to know to train well. And it's not at all complete.
I supplement this with several other books and research that covers upper body power development. Taking the relevant exercises from a comprehensive book on power development and putting them in one place. Then I do the same for agility books and research. And for cardiovascular conditioning.
My library also includes a stack of peer reviewed journals, so I'll be including up-to-date information on emerging modes like: mixed intensity interval training, repeated sprint and repeated effort training and rate of force development training. And the point is not that any of these is a fad, but that each of these is supported by numerous studies demonstrating consistent, useful results.
If somebody already has a general purpose book on strength training do they need to have my book? No. But I would hope that I can refine that persons training. Maybe fill in some gaps. Expand it to address previously under-served aspects of training.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
More on Shoulder Health
To add some to previous advice about overhead shoulder exercises. If the doctor told you not to do overhead presses there are other ways of working the muscles similarly.
First, there's upright rows. As far as the shoulder is concerned it's basically the same exercise. With a history of shoulder problems it is generally advised to avoid lifting the upper arms past parallel
Second, there's incline presses. Again, similar muscular involvement, but less stress on the usual suspect in the shoulder i.e. the acromion.
Third, ask if the prohibition against overhead presses applies to all such exercises or just the barbell and machine versions. Dumbbell overhead presses allow the shoulder joint to move more 'naturally' and so are less likely to aggravate a shoulder problem.
Further, there's some variety in rotator cuff exercises that can be useful supplements to the above.
Lying face down on a bench you can do 3 external rotation exercises. With the elbows tucked at the side; with the upper arms straight out from your shoulders; and in-between, so that your arms look like a 'W' from above.
The other rotator cuff exercise is called an 'empty can'. Do lateral raises except with the hand turned with the palms facing backwards, like you would if you were emptying a can.
Lastly, scapular stability exercises will contribute to shoulder health and function. These are usually called something like 'YTI' because the three positions, viewed from above, look like a Y, T and I. The T is just a standard back fly exercise, they can be done lying on a (incline) bench or similar to make the whole set convenient to do*. The Y is the same exercise but your arms extend forward at an angle instead of straight out to the side. The I is done by extending the arms straight back/down, so that the weight is brought from a hanging position to up by your hips. With these three exercises it is important to make sure that your scapula is moving - the scapular movement is the entire point of these since doing so increases the stability of the shoulder joint. Rotation at the head of your upper arm is not helping the scapular stabilizers.
* Alternately they can be done in the same kind of position used for a bent over row, either one arm at a time with the other on the bench or both arms at the same time.
All the supplemental exercises involve small muscles* and should be done with smaller weights and for more reps, typically 12-15.
*The I exercise uses your rear delt and so can be done with larger weights.
First, there's upright rows. As far as the shoulder is concerned it's basically the same exercise. With a history of shoulder problems it is generally advised to avoid lifting the upper arms past parallel
Second, there's incline presses. Again, similar muscular involvement, but less stress on the usual suspect in the shoulder i.e. the acromion.
Third, ask if the prohibition against overhead presses applies to all such exercises or just the barbell and machine versions. Dumbbell overhead presses allow the shoulder joint to move more 'naturally' and so are less likely to aggravate a shoulder problem.
Further, there's some variety in rotator cuff exercises that can be useful supplements to the above.
Lying face down on a bench you can do 3 external rotation exercises. With the elbows tucked at the side; with the upper arms straight out from your shoulders; and in-between, so that your arms look like a 'W' from above.
The other rotator cuff exercise is called an 'empty can'. Do lateral raises except with the hand turned with the palms facing backwards, like you would if you were emptying a can.
Lastly, scapular stability exercises will contribute to shoulder health and function. These are usually called something like 'YTI' because the three positions, viewed from above, look like a Y, T and I. The T is just a standard back fly exercise, they can be done lying on a (incline) bench or similar to make the whole set convenient to do*. The Y is the same exercise but your arms extend forward at an angle instead of straight out to the side. The I is done by extending the arms straight back/down, so that the weight is brought from a hanging position to up by your hips. With these three exercises it is important to make sure that your scapula is moving - the scapular movement is the entire point of these since doing so increases the stability of the shoulder joint. Rotation at the head of your upper arm is not helping the scapular stabilizers.
* Alternately they can be done in the same kind of position used for a bent over row, either one arm at a time with the other on the bench or both arms at the same time.
All the supplemental exercises involve small muscles* and should be done with smaller weights and for more reps, typically 12-15.
*The I exercise uses your rear delt and so can be done with larger weights.
Monday, January 7, 2013
Strength v. Stability
These are my thoughts on the general, raw strength training versus stability strength training disagreements that I've seen. There are two poles on this discussion and lots of people are at some point on a continuum between these two opposite ends. For the purposes of this commentary I'm going to contrast the two poles, as doing so makes some things more clear.
And as a reminder: the context of this blog is assumed to be athletic individuals training for combat sports and martial arts. Training for general fitness, and/or with deconditioned individuals is somewhat different.
The positions:
1) All you need is conventional, basic strength training. Squats, deadlifts, barbell bench press etc. Exercises done for high weights on stable surfaces with the objective of increasing the weight that can be lifted in that exercise.
2) Functional, and therefore useful, strength training means training on unstable surfaces. Increase the difficulty of squats by doing them on one leg and/or unstable surfaces. Increase the difficulty of chest presses by doing pushups on hanging handles/BOSU/wobble-board.
The problem I see with position 2 is this scenario: you are fighting someone who goes for type 1 and you do type 2. When they are stable, because they train for high force production when stable, they can hit much harder than you. They are more likely to blow through imperfect defenses because of this. They have good technical training and footwork and agility. As such, they are almost always stable; at which they are ideal. You don't suffer as much when unstable, but that doesn't come up as much during the fight. How does strength training influence the outcome of this fight?
The conclusion I've reached is that you need to do the basic, conventional, high-load strength training. And supplement with the stability based training.
A sample 2 day a week program might look like this:
Day1
Leg Press
Split Squat
Straight Leg Deadlift
Barbell Bench Press
Cable Low Row
Day 2
Front Squat
Rear-foot elevated or Single leg squat
Single leg, straight leg deadlift
Single arm, Dumbbell Bench Press
Bent Over, Dumbbell Row
If I were going to do only one then I would do the basic strength training. My reasoning being twofold: 1) The conventional lifts do require stability, though I include the split squat as a basic lift; 2) I do stability training by doing technical and agility training.
I'm especially interested in feedback on this particular post. So please share your thoughts.
And as a reminder: the context of this blog is assumed to be athletic individuals training for combat sports and martial arts. Training for general fitness, and/or with deconditioned individuals is somewhat different.
The positions:
1) All you need is conventional, basic strength training. Squats, deadlifts, barbell bench press etc. Exercises done for high weights on stable surfaces with the objective of increasing the weight that can be lifted in that exercise.
2) Functional, and therefore useful, strength training means training on unstable surfaces. Increase the difficulty of squats by doing them on one leg and/or unstable surfaces. Increase the difficulty of chest presses by doing pushups on hanging handles/BOSU/wobble-board.
The problem I see with position 2 is this scenario: you are fighting someone who goes for type 1 and you do type 2. When they are stable, because they train for high force production when stable, they can hit much harder than you. They are more likely to blow through imperfect defenses because of this. They have good technical training and footwork and agility. As such, they are almost always stable; at which they are ideal. You don't suffer as much when unstable, but that doesn't come up as much during the fight. How does strength training influence the outcome of this fight?
The conclusion I've reached is that you need to do the basic, conventional, high-load strength training. And supplement with the stability based training.
A sample 2 day a week program might look like this:
Day1
Leg Press
Split Squat
Straight Leg Deadlift
Barbell Bench Press
Cable Low Row
Day 2
Front Squat
Rear-foot elevated or Single leg squat
Single leg, straight leg deadlift
Single arm, Dumbbell Bench Press
Bent Over, Dumbbell Row
If I were going to do only one then I would do the basic strength training. My reasoning being twofold: 1) The conventional lifts do require stability, though I include the split squat as a basic lift; 2) I do stability training by doing technical and agility training.
I'm especially interested in feedback on this particular post. So please share your thoughts.
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